Every Vow You Break(53)

“Are you just saying that, or do you agree with me? I need to know. I think I’m going insane here.”

He pressed the heels of his hands against his knees and raised his shoulders, then after a moment said, “I’m going to tell you something I’m not supposed to tell you. It might have something to do with what’s happening here and it might not, but either way I think you need to hear it.”

“What is it?”

He stood nervously. “Ah, Jesus. So what I’m about to tell you will make you hate me, and that’s the last thing I want, but it’s the right thing to do.”

“Seriously, what is it?”

“Okay. Just please let me tell the whole story before you judge.

Okay?”

“Sure. Okay. Whatever.”

“So when we met at the vineyard in California, it wasn’t an accident. I was paid to meet you.”





CHAPTER 22

The sun must have gone behind a cloud, because the interior of the bunk dimmed for a moment, then returned to normal.

“What?” Abigail said.

“I was paid. To meet you.” Eric’s whole body was tense, but he was looking directly at her.

“Who … who paid you?” Abigail asked.

“I don’t know exactly. I mean, I know. It was through my agent in San Francisco. I have an acting agent, even though he obviously doesn’t get me work that often. But he told me that someone had seen my headshot and wanted to know if I was available for a job that wasn’t exactly an acting job. It was good money, a lot of money, so I agreed to at least hear about it. I didn’t talk directly with whoever was hiring me—it all went through my agent.”

“And it had to do with me?”

“Yes,” he said. “I was told who you were, and where you would be on the weekend we met. They would book a room for me at the same hotel, and my job was to try and get to know you, and to try …”

“And to try to sleep with me,” Abigail said, her voice trembling.

Eric took a breath through his nostrils, his lips pursed. “Yes.

Basically, that was it. I mean, I wasn’t told I had to sleep with you or anything. I was just told that my job was to meet you, try and get to know you, and … seduce you. Then I was supposed to report back exactly what had happened. That was emphasized by the client, apparently. They wanted to know exactly what transpired.”

“Jesus,” Abigail said, and she couldn’t think of anything else to say for a moment. Her mind was spinning, and her stomach hurt.

“I know,” Eric said.

“It must have been … Do you think it was Bruce?” Abigail said.

“I mean, of course it was Bruce. He was testing me. Jesus.”

“I really don’t know,” Eric said. “That was part of the deal, my not knowing. I never met the client. I only reported back to my agent.”

“And you weren’t told why you were doing this?” Abigail said, feeling a flush of anger. “You didn’t think to ask why you were being tasked with trying to fuck a complete stranger.”

“I did think to ask. I did ask, actually,” Eric said. “I just wasn’t told, and, obviously, I feel incredibly guilty that I took the job.

There’s no excuse, but I needed the money. I know that’s not good enough. I know that’s not really a reason. And if I’m completely honest, I was intrigued.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.”

“No, hear me out. They showed me a picture of you, so I’d be able to recognize you, obviously.”

“What was the picture from? Where’d they get it?”

“They showed me your Facebook page.”

“Uh-huh,” Abigail said.

“And even just looking at it, I felt something … I was attracted to you. Look, I know it’s creepy, but I did.”

“Did they just show you this picture? Did they tell you things about me? I mean, what else did they know?”

“They told me you’d like my acting background because your parents ran a theater. They said you liked old movies. They said you were funny. That’s about it.”

“Did they tell you my favorite poet was Poe?”

He paused, and Abigail could tell he was thinking about lying.

“Yes,” he said. “They did.”

Abigail squeezed both her hands into fists and clenched her jaw. She let out a partial scream.

“I know, I know, I know,” Eric said. “I know how you must feel.”

“You don’t,” she said. “Trust me on that.”

“Okay, I don’t.”

Abigail took a breath, told herself that she could feel rage later.

Right now she needed to hear the full story. “So you memorized an Edgar Allan Poe poem in case I brought it up?”

“Yes. I mean, I knew that poem already, if that means anything.

But I brushed up. I know it sounds terrible. It is terrible.”

“And they never said why you were being asked to do this?”

“I asked, but my agent didn’t say. When I was told that it was a bachelorette party, then, obviously, I guessed.”

“You guessed that you’d been hired by my fiancé to see if I’d cheat on him?”