Declan stopped with me.
Ethan hurried toward us, anger beginning to replace the shock on his face.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
I looked at him.
His expensive shirt was slightly wrinkled where Vanessa had gripped it.
There was lipstick near the corner of his mouth.
He hadn’t even thought to wipe it away.
“That’s an interesting question,” I said.
His jaw tightened.
“Grace, this isn’t what it looks like.”
I almost laughed.
Instead, my gaze drifted toward Vanessa, who had followed him at a cautious distance.
Not toward her face.
Toward the small silver-edged corporate travel card protruding from the clutch she held against her hip.
I recognized it immediately.
I had approved the original company card design years earlier.
So that was how he had paid for paradise.
I lifted my eyes.
“Are you going to introduce us properly, Ethan?”
Vanessa looked away.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Can we discuss this somewhere private?”
“We already have a private meeting scheduled.”
His gaze moved toward Declan.
“With him?”
Declan remained silent.
Ethan turned back to me.
“Grace, you have no idea what you’re interfering with.”
For a moment, I saw the husband I had known.
The man who could make a warning sound like concern.
The man who always expected me to retreat.
But there was another man inside that familiar face now.
Someone frightened.
Not of losing me.
Of losing control.
The elevator doors opened.
Ethan glanced at the folder.
“What’s that?”
I held it tighter.
“Something you should recognize.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Grace…”
“Tell me something first.”
“Not here.”
“Who signed my name?”
He went completely still.
I watched understanding spread across his face.
And suddenly I knew.
The affair had surprised him.
My arrival had terrified him.
Mais le dossier noir lui avait fait comprendre que le véritable danger n’était pas la femme qu’il avait trahie.
C’était le partenaire commercial qu’il avait oublié, qui possédait encore une partie de son empire.
« Grace, » murmura-t-il, « dis-moi que tu n’as pas montré ces documents à Pierce. »
Je n’ai pas répondu.
Parce que, pour la première fois depuis notre mariage, je voulais qu’Ethan expérimente ce que c’était que de ne pas savoir ce qui allait se passer ensuite.
