Chapter 4 - SHE HAD BEEN WATCHING ME BEFORE WE MET
Trinity stopped denying things after that.
Not everything.
Just enough.
She had seen me before our “accidental” first meeting.
Her father’s firm had researched the Caldwell Meridian acquisition team.
My name appeared.
So did my home address.
“You watched my house?”
“Once.”
“Why?”
“My father wanted to know whether you were vulnerable.”
I laughed.
“Apparently I was.”
She looked ashamed.
I almost hated her.
Then I remembered Dakota standing at our kitchen island while I texted Trinity beneath the counter.
Hate became complicated.
“Did Robert tell you to sleep with me?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you to meet me?”
“Yes.”
That was enough.
The affair had been real for me.
For Trinity, at least in the beginning, it had been access.
I looked toward Dakota.
For eight months I had imagined myself managing two women.
My wife.
My mistress.
Now I realized I had been the least informed person in the triangle.
The irony burned.
Dakota approached carrying a small meal tray.
“Vegetarian pasta?”
I stared at her.
“How are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Serving food like your marriage isn’t exploding.”
Her eyes held mine.
“Because one hundred eighty-six other people bought tickets that have nothing to do with your marriage.”
I had never respected her more.
That made the shame worse.
She placed the tray down.
“Also, crying into first-class pasta is against company standards.”
Trinity gave a broken laugh.
Dakota almost smiled.
For one bizarre second, the two women I had lied to shared something I wasn’t part of.
Then Dakota became serious.
“Richard asked me not to tell you about the package before the audit committee acted.”
“You helped my company investigate me?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I gave them what belonged to them.”
“What?”
“Receipts from our joint account. Copies of the corporate card charges that came to the house. And the Florence itinerary you accidentally printed on our home printer.”
My stomach dropped.
“You saw that?”
“Of course.”
“I thought—”
“That I didn’t notice a hotel reservation for two?”
I had no answer.
Dakota leaned closer.
“You were always very impressed with how clever your lies were.”
Then she walked away.
The sentence stayed.
Three hours into the flight, Margaret asked Dakota to cover another cabin section.
Before leaving, Dakota stopped beside me.
“The envelope has a second pocket.”
I frowned.
“What?”
She tapped the back.
I hadn’t noticed.
Inside was another folded document.
Not from Dakota.
From Richard Caldwell.
ETHAN — YOU NEED TO KNOW WHY THE AUDIT STARTED.
I unfolded it.
The first paragraph destroyed what remained of my confidence.
Eight months earlier—two weeks before I met Trinity—Caldwell Meridian received an anonymous warning that a competitor intended to compromise a senior acquisition executive through a personal relationship.
The company had investigated.
They found nothing.
Then Richard wrote:
We now believe the intended executive was you.
At the bottom was the anonymous warning.
One sentence.
WATCH ROBERT VALE’S DAUGHTER.
And beneath it, a signature.
May you like
DAKOTA COLEMAN.
My wife had warned my company about Trinity before I even met her.
