28. Theo

Iflick the light on as I enter the apartment. After leaving Bianca at the Palace, I"d gone around driving to clear my head. Having my way with her like that should have made me feel better. But if anything, I feel worse.

I feel… cheated.

I slowly make my way inside, not thinking whether Bianca is home yet or not. I"m honestly not in the mood for a confrontation right now.

But as I reach the living room, it"s to see her sitting quite daintily on the couch, a book in her hand.

"Theo! I was worried," she says, a mask of concern on her face.

"Really? Why?" I ask drily.

"It"s late, why else? After what happened at the lake house…" She trails off.

"I"m fine," I simply say and make for the bedroom. Halfway there, I stop, turning slightly towards her.I don"t know what comes over me when I say the next words, "I fucked a whore tonight." I watch her face slowly morph into a combination of expressions, as if she"s trying to find the right one to fit my confession. She settles on an amused one, regaling me with a fake laugh too.

"Ha, ha, you"re funny, babe." I just raise my eyebrows at her, waiting for her to continue.

"You"re not mad that I fucked another woman?" I repeat.

"Theo, what are you saying?" She makes another attempt to laugh it off.

"Or maybe," I start as I walk towards her, planting myself in front of her. My thumb goes to her freshly scrubbed face.

"You"re not mad because that woman was actually you."

"Theo…" she stammers, and for the first time, I see a trace of real emotion on her face.

She knows she"s caught.

"Whatever are you saying? Have you been drinking?" She puts the book next to her and stands, attempting to bypass me.

"Really? That"s all you have to say?" I grab her hand and fling her back on the couch.

"What about these handprints on your lovely throat?" I move her hair to the side to trace the evidence of her guilt.

"Theo… I."

"No." I cut her words. "Let"s have it now that we started it. I know… Pink."

I watch her eyes widen, her head shaking in denial.

"Don"t insult me further by denying it. I know… everything."

"How?" She finally composes herself, and the change is immediate. It"s like she"s an entirely different person.

Neither Pink nor Bianca.

Her expression is cold, detached.

"Your apartment," I simply state.

"I see. Marcel?" she asks, probably realizing who"d done the investigation. I nod.

"What do you think you know, Theo?"

"What… you"ve got to be kidding me," I say, suddenly pissed at her. How dare she be so calm, so uncaring?

"I know you are Pink. I know about your drug problem, and I also know that you are some sort of Russian killer. Does that cover it?" I ask her sarcastically.

She gives a mirthless laugh.

"Wow, I have to say I never imagined this day would come. Or how it would proceed."

"Just tell me one thing… Why me? Why go through so much trouble just to get to me?"

"I wanted you." Her answer shocks me. "I wanted you, so I got you, the only way I knew how."

"By playing a hooker. For God"s sake, B!"

"I told you. I wanted you." She shrugs.

"Then, why the whole innocent act?"

"I wanted to keep you, too."

"So what, you figured the hooker could fuck me while the innocent could marry me?"

"Well, isn"t that exactly how it happened?" She has the gall to smirk at that.

"You lied to me. God… I don"t even know what"s true anymore. You told me I was your first kiss, your first everything. Shit…" I curse aloud.

"I do admit that maybe I wasn"t entirely truthful. But I didn"t lie about that. You were and still are the only man who"s ever touched me."

"Entirely truthful? Are you hearing yourself? What"s wrong with you? Our entire marriage is a lie," I say, exasperated, and watch her eye twitch.

"Since everything is out in the open, I might as well be honest with you." She raises her eyes to look at me.

"I"m not normal. You are correct. I don"t feel remorse. I don"t think I ever have. One psychiatrist diagnosed me with Antisocial Personality Disorder. I guess in popular culture, that"s what you"d call a sociopath." She is completely serious as she talks. "I"m not a Russian assassin, by the way. I am mostly a freelancer. Although… I do have close ties to the Russians," she says proudly, and I"m just standing in front of her, looking flabbergasted. "I used to take on more assignments in the past, but I haven"t worked as much ever since I married you. Now, I just do it to take the edge off every now and then. Like a hobby." The way she speaks about murder is how any other woman would talk about a grocery list.

"You killed Martinez," I state, and she shrugs.

"I"d kill anyone to keep you safe."

"What the fuck… B, that"s not normal."

"I told you. I"m not normal." She frowns.

"Those bugs were yours, weren"t they? That"s how you knew about Martinez in the first place. How long? How long have you been tracking me?"

"Since we got married. I had to keep you safe." Arguing further seems like a moot point when her reasoning seems to be mainly keeping me safe… by killing people. I push that thought away and bring up the other topic.

"What about drugs? I still can"t believe I never once suspected you used…"

For the first time, she appears to be ashamed.

"That… I"m trying to quit."

"Fuck!" I say once more, pacing about the living room.

"Now that all is out in the open, we can improve our relationship. I can be Pink for you every time you want." She licks her lips suggestively, and I"m just… stunned.

"You really don"t understand, do you?"

"What? You know the truth now. I don"t have to hide anymore."

"You hurt me, Bianca. You lied and manipulated me into marrying you. You"re a fucking killer, for God"s sake. And you want us to just continue as if nothing happened? As if I"m not looking at a stranger right now?"

"Well… yes." She cocks her head to the side as if contemplating the idea.

"This isn"t real…" I throw my hands in the air.

"There"s no relationship anymore, Bianca. There never fucking was one, it seems," I tell her even though my own heart is breaking as I say this. "There"s no us. I want you out. Out of the house, out of my life. I never want to see you again. It"s over."

"But Theo…" she protests, but I"ve had enough. I don"t recognize my own voice as I yell at her.

"Get the fuck out. Don"t even think about coming near me again. You disgust me."

I turn my back and leave her, heading into one of the guest rooms for the night and locking the door. Isn"t it funny that now I"m worried she might even kill me?

I laugh at my own stupidity and maybe at how this all fits. Perhaps it"s fate, after all.

My own wife, a sociopath… a cold-blooded killer. A pretender.

Yeah, maybe it is karma.

Since I am the biggest pretender of them all.