“I will be ready,” she said.
I ended the call as Daniel came around the desk. “There is a sitting room down the corridor, ma’am. Security will make sure you aren’t disturbed.”
“Thank you.”
Brooke stepped into my path. Her perfume was expensive and cold.
“You’re making a mistake,” she whispered.
I looked at her carefully, noticing what I had ignored before: the tension beneath the polish, the way she kept glancing toward the elevators, the fear sharpening behind her eyes. Cruelty often hid insecurity, but fear hid something else.
“What did he promise you?” I asked.
Her face drained.
It was answer enough.
I took Emma’s hand and followed Daniel.
The sitting room was small, paneled in dark wood, with a fireplace that seemed ornamental but gave off real heat. Through the closed door, the gala became a distant murmur, like another world separated by more than walls. Emma climbed onto the velvet sofa and placed the necklace in her lap, smoothing it with both hands.
“Will Daddy still like it?” she asked.
I sat beside her. “It’s beautiful.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Six years old, and already she knew when adults softened the truth instead of answering.
I drew a breath. “I don’t know what Daddy will do tonight. But I know this necklace was made with love, and that makes it beautiful no matter what anyone else does.”
She considered that. Then she leaned against me, small and warm and trusting, and I wrapped my arms around her while my own world rearranged itself in silence.
My phone vibrated.
Marcus again.
“Are you alone?” he asked.
“With Emma.”
His voice shifted, softening. “Hey, button.”
Emma lifted her head. Even frightened, she smiled. “Uncle Marcus?”
“That’s right. Your mom and I need to talk about boring grown-up business for a minute. Are you being brave?”
“I made Daddy a necklace.”
“I bet it’s the best necklace in Manhattan.”
“It has purple hearts.”
“Then it’s definitely the best.”
Emma smiled a little more and tucked her face into my coat.
Marcus waited until her breathing steadied before speaking again.
“Listen to me,” he said. “I froze three pending guarantees tied to Adrian’s expansion package. Nathaniel’s bank has suspended review of the bridge loan. Andrew’s office isn’t touching this directly, obviously, but his counsel confirmed Adrian used your marital status in disclosures last quarter.”
My throat tightened. “In what way?”
“He listed Blackwood family support as a material relationship connected to spouse-backed continuity.”
“That sounds like nonsense.”