Chapter 2 - TAKE HER WITH YOU
“I remembered that now.”
The memory should have hurt.
Instead, it clarified something.
Vanessa had not stumbled into my marriage.
She had been invited.
Grant watched me from beside the black suitcase, waiting for tears that never came.
“So?” he asked. “Are you going home?”
I looked at Vanessa.
“No.”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
“Evelyn—”
“Take her on the plane.”
For the first time that morning, Vanessa’s expression changed.
Grant blinked.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
I nodded toward the jet waiting beyond the glass.
“Take Vanessa with you.”
A tiny smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
It was almost insulting how quickly he misunderstood.
He thought I was surrendering.
Vanessa apparently thought so too. Her shoulders relaxed, and one manicured hand settled against Grant’s arm.
“You’re being surprisingly mature about this,” she said.
I looked at her.
“Am I?”
Something in my voice made her smile disappear.
Grant stepped closer.
“We’ll discuss everything Sunday.”
“No, Grant.”
“When I get back, then.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
I rested my hand beneath my stomach as our son shifted again.
“We’re never discussing our marriage again.”
Silence.
That landed.
Grant lowered his voice.
“Don’t make decisions while you’re upset.”
“I made them while you were sleeping.”
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
“You went through my computer?”
“You left it open.”
“That doesn’t give you permission—”
“Interesting time to become concerned about boundaries.”
Vanessa glanced toward the receptionist.
Grant’s cheeks darkened.
He hated public humiliation.
Apparently only when it happened to him.
I reached inside my handbag and removed a white envelope.
Grant stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Something you should read after takeoff.”
His hand remained at his side.
I extended it farther.
Finally, he took it.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
That frightened him more than anger would have.
He ripped open the envelope.
Inside was one sheet of paper.
His eyes moved across the first lines.
Then stopped.
The blood drained from his face.
Vanessa leaned toward him.
“What is it?”
Grant folded the paper immediately.
“Nothing.”
That word told me everything.
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed.
“What is it, Grant?”
“Business.”
She looked at me.
I smiled faintly.
“Apparently you two have plenty to discuss on the flight.”
Grant grabbed my elbow.
Not hard.
But hard enough.
“Evelyn. Outside. Now.”
The woman in the white suit behind me moved immediately.
Grant finally seemed to remember she was there.
Rebecca Sloan had been my father’s corporate counsel for twelve years before opening her own litigation firm.
She stepped between us.
“Remove your hand from my client.”
Grant released me.
“Client?”
Rebecca’s expression never changed.
“Good morning, Grant.”
His breathing slowed.
Dangerously.
“You called Rebecca?”
“I made several calls.”
“What exactly is happening?”
I looked at the paper in his hand.
The document was simple.
Notification that the Mercer Family Trust had exercised its contractual right to suspend Grant’s authority over certain company assets pending an emergency board review.
Including the jet.
Grant looked through the glass.
Then at me.
“You can’t ground the aircraft.”
“I didn’t.”
His eyebrows drew together.
“The jet can leave.”
I looked at Vanessa.
“With both of you.”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“I’m not understanding this.”
“You will.”
Grant stepped closer again, but Rebecca shifted subtly between us.
“Where are we supposed to land?”
“Denver, apparently.”
Grant studied me.
“You know something.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Enjoy the flight.”
His eyes hardened.
Then he smiled.
There it was again.
That infuriating confidence.
“You’re bluffing.”
“Then get on the plane.”
For several seconds neither of us moved.
Finally Vanessa touched his arm.
“Grant, we’re going to miss our slot.”
He looked at her.
Then at me.
And something ugly entered his expression.
Maybe pride.
Maybe spite.
Maybe the desperate need to prove I could no longer control him.
“Fine.”
He took Vanessa’s suitcase.
“Come on.”
Vanessa passed me without speaking.
Grant stopped beside me.
“You’re going to regret turning our marriage into a corporate war.”
I met his eyes.
“You turned our marriage into a corporate expense account.”
His face went rigid.
Then he walked away.
Rebecca and I watched them cross the tarmac.
Vanessa climbed the stairs first.
Grant paused before entering the aircraft.
He looked back.
I raised one hand.
Not goodbye.
Just acknowledgment.
He disappeared inside.
The cabin door closed.
Rebecca exhaled.
“You really let him leave.”
“I needed him to.”
She studied me.
“You’re terrifying when you’re calm.”
“My father used to say the same thing.”
The engines began turning.
I watched the aircraft taxi away.
My phone vibrated.
One message.
Unknown number.
HE TOOK THE BAIT.
Rebecca saw my expression.
“What?”
I showed her.
Her face tightened.
“Who sent that?”
“I don’t know.”
Another message arrived.
DO NOT LET GRANT KNOW YOU FOUND THE SECOND TRANSFER.
My stomach went cold.
Rebecca read it twice.
“Who else knows about the transfers?”
“You. Daniel. My accountant.”
“And the board member?”
“Only that I wanted an emergency meeting.”
Rebecca looked toward the departing jet.
“Then someone else was watching Grant before you were.”
The aircraft accelerated.
Seconds later, its wheels left the runway.
I stared until it disappeared into the gray morning.
My phone rang.
This time, I recognized the number.
My father.
The man Grant believed had retired three years earlier.
“Dad?”
There was no greeting.
Only his calm voice.
“Evelyn, listen carefully.”
Something in his tone made Rebecca straighten.
“Grant isn’t flying to Denver.”
I looked toward the empty sky.
“What?”
“His flight plan was changed seventeen minutes ago.”
“To where?”
A pause.
Then my father said:
“Vail.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
The house.
The secret transfers.
Vanessa.
It all connected.
Except for one thing.
My father continued.
“And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“The house Grant bought?”
“Yes.”
“He didn’t buy it for Vanessa.”
I stopped breathing.
“Then who did he buy it for?”
My father was silent for two seconds.
“Come to the office.”
“Dad—”
“Now, Evelyn.”
The line went dead.
Rebecca stared at me.
“What did he say?”
May you like
I looked toward the runway.
“The affair isn’t the biggest secret.”
