Chapter 3 - VANESSA’S WARNING
Vanessa Hale arrived before midnight.
I almost refused to see her.
Adrian didn’t ask me to reconsider.
That was probably why I agreed.
Six years earlier, I had imagined Vanessa hundreds of times.
Beautiful.
Victorious.
Living the life Adrian had taken from me.
Reality was different.
She looked tired.
No diamonds.
No smug smile.
Just a camel coat and the expression of someone who had spent too long expecting a door to explode inward.
Her eyes found me.
“Evelyn.”
“Vanessa.”
Then she saw the children sleeping through the glass wall of the adjoining bedroom.
Her face softened.
“They look like him.”
I hated her for saying it.
Then hated myself for caring.
Adrian stood several feet away.
“What is Julian doing with your vehicle?”
Vanessa turned.
“He stole access to one of my security companies.”
“Why?”
“To make you think I’m involved.”
I laughed.
“Convenient.”
She looked at me.
“You have every reason not to trust me.”
“At least we agree on something.”
Vanessa accepted that.
Then she pulled out her phone.
“Three weeks ago, someone contacted me asking questions about Evelyn.”
My skin went cold.
“What questions?”
Where I lived.
Where I worked.
Whether I had children.
Whether Adrian ever contacted me.
Vanessa had lied.
She said she knew nothing.
“Why protect me?”
I asked.
Her answer surprised me.
“Because I know what Malcolm Mercer does to women he considers inconvenient.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Your uncle approached my father before your divorce.”
Silence.
“When?” Adrian asked.
“Seven years ago.”
We had still been married.
“What did he want?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“He wanted me back in Adrian’s life.”
My stomach turned.
Adrian stared.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
“Why would Malcolm care who I loved?”
“Because you were becoming independent.”
She explained.
Adrian had begun cutting Malcolm out of shipping decisions.
Refusing certain routes.
Closing cash businesses.
Reducing the criminal side of Mercer operations.
Malcolm feared losing control.
Then he learned something.
Adrian was happy.
Married.
Planning to leave more of the family’s old network behind.
“So he called you,” I said.
Vanessa nodded.
“He knew Adrian and I had unfinished history.”
The words hurt anyway.
Adrian looked at the floor.
That told me enough.
“Did you come back because Malcolm asked?”
“At first.”
My breath caught.
Vanessa didn’t hide from it.
“I was selfish. I still loved the idea of what Adrian and I had been.”
Adrian’s voice was cold.
“You told me Evelyn was holding me back.”
“Yes.”
“You told me she would eventually leave when things became dangerous.”
“Yes.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“And you believed me because part of you wanted to.”
That was the first truly honest thing anyone had said.
Adrian did not defend himself.
Good.
Vanessa turned to me.
“I helped break your marriage.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
I said nothing.
Sorry did not rebuild six years.
Then she continued.
“But Malcolm did something worse.”
Adrian looked up.
“What?”
“He arranged the threat that made you think Evelyn would be killed if she stayed your wife.”
I stared at Adrian.
“What threat?”
His face changed.
There it was.
A secret he had never told me.
Vanessa whispered:
“He didn’t divorce you only because of me.”
I slowly turned toward Adrian.
“What did you hide?”
For the first time since O’Hare, Adrian looked afraid of me.
May you like
And he said:
“Two nights before I gave you those papers, someone left photographs of you sleeping inside our bedroom on my desk.”
