THE BILLIONAIRE HUSBAND SIGNED HIS PREGNANT WIFE'S DIVORCE PAPERS—THEN DISCOVERED THE BETRAYAL THAT COULD DESTROY HIS EMPIRE

Claire's father, Richard Bennett, had died when she was nineteen.

At least, that was the story she had been given.

A sudden heart attack. A small funeral. A closed casket because the hospital had advised against an open viewing.

Her mother had refused to discuss the details.

Claire had never questioned it.

Now Paige was telling her that the man who raised her might have hidden a secret powerful enough to put her unborn child in danger.

“Explain,” Claire demanded.

Paige sat down.

“Your father worked in corporate investigations before he became a financial adviser. He uncovered evidence that several security companies were selling client information to private buyers.”

“Grant's company?”

“Not at first. Northstar was involved. So were people inside Calloway Protective Solutions.”

Claire shook her head.

“My father died years before Grant started his company.”

“Grant's company existed before it became successful. Your father invested in the original operation through a trust. He believed Grant could build something legitimate.”

Claire felt the room closing around her.

“Why would you know any of this?”

“Because Richard Bennett was my mentor.”

Paige explained that she had met Claire's father shortly before his supposed death. He had been investigating a network that used shell corporations to purchase confidential security data. When he disappeared, the investigation was buried.

Paige had joined Grant's company to find the missing records.

Her relationship with Grant, she admitted, had begun as an act of manipulation. She had wanted access to his private files and believed becoming indispensable to him would open doors.

“But you fell for him,” Claire said.

Paige's eyes filled.

“I thought I did.”

“And you let him destroy our marriage.”

“I know.”

“You don't get to call that a sacrifice.”

Paige lowered her head.

Claire was furious, but she could see the fear beneath the other woman's carefully composed expression.

“Who is holding me here?”

“Someone who believes your father's records are still in your possession.”

“They aren't.”

Paige looked directly at her.

“Then why did you hire Rebecca Sloan four months ago?”

Claire went still.

Paige continued.

“Your father contacted Rebecca before he disappeared. He left instructions that would only become active if someone tried to use your identity in a financial crime.”

Claire remembered the envelope her mother had given her shortly before she died. It contained a letter, a photograph, and a small brass key. Claire had kept them in a box at her sister's house.

She had never understood the key.

Now she suspected it was the missing piece.

Paige stood.

“We need to leave before he arrives.”

“Who?”

Before Paige could answer, footsteps sounded outside.

A man's voice called through the door.

“Paige, open up.”

She went pale.

Claire recognized the voice from business dinners and charity events.

Martin Cole.

Grant's chief financial officer.