Presumed Guilty

"Yes that fits in, that's when she really began to have these jealous outbursts."

"She did that to save you."

"How was that supposed to save me?"

"She figured that you would leave her, and no longer unwittingly carry the information, then they would lose interest in you. But she under-estimated your staying power, you refused to leave her. But they were getting more insistent, and threatening. When that woman moved into the house next door, she realised that something had to be done and soon."

"Why didn't she just tell me, I'd have understood?"

"She thought that if you didn't know what was going on you'd be safe, and that if she told you, you might do something silly."

"You're probably right there."

"You're a good man Matthew, I would have hated you to leave her, but I knew that you must. I had to try to distance myself from you to further put some distance between you and them. But then something else happened, I didn't count on Paige falling in love with you. She told me that she's been in love with you for a long time."

I looked at Paige. "Try three years, I didn't understand until now why Emily was putting you through all of that pain, but you refused to leave her, and I didn't understand that, the men I'd known would have left at the first sign of what you were going through. I decided that you were the strong man that I wanted, and it sort of grew from there, and yes, I'm going down that path but I won't stop until I reach the end." She reached over and held my hand. "Give me a chance, at least give me a chance."

"All right, you'll have your chance, but I'm not going to rush into this, but I will concede that I like you, like you a lot."

"That's a starting point I guess, but what would you call a reasonable time to wait?"

"I can't answer that, I think that we should take it slow for now and see how it progresses, if you love me like you say that you do, you'll wait for as long as it takes."

"Oh well, I've waited two years already, another two won't kill me." The look she gave me told me that if I managed to hold out for two years it would be a miracle. I was almost looking forward to this.