Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO HID THE WATCH

Vanessa Rainer had watched her husband strike me without moving a muscle.

Now she stood beside the champagne fountain, staring at the security guard who had discovered his mother's watch.

"That's impossible," she said.

Dominic turned toward her.

"Vanessa."

She lifted her chin.

"I haven't been inside my office all evening."

Warren Pike cleared his throat.

"Ma'am, the watch was found in your handbag. The bag was inside your private office."

Vanessa's expression changed.

Only for a second.

But I saw it.

Adrian did too.

"Preserve the bag and the camera footage," he told Warren.

Dominic looked toward him.

"This is my club."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Then you should be particularly interested in finding out what happened."

I stood beside the table, holding Adrian's coat closed around my shoulders.

My cheek still burned.

But something else was beginning to trouble me.

The missing watch.

The public accusation.

The sudden arrival of a man from my past.

It felt too carefully arranged.

Then Vanessa looked directly at me.

Her expression was cold.

"You planned this."

I stared.

"What?"

"You knew Adrian Cross would come running if you called him."

I almost laughed.

"Lady, I came here to earn enough tips to keep my apartment."

She stepped closer.

"You expect us to believe that?"

I looked toward the contents of my purse scattered across the table.

"Seven dollars. An overdue rent notice. A subway card. You searched everything I own."

Vanessa folded her arms.

"People can pretend to be poor."

"And rich people can lie."

The ballroom fell silent again.

Dominic rubbed his forehead.

"Enough."

But Vanessa wasn't finished.

She looked at Adrian.

"Did she tell you why she disappeared seven years ago?"

My heart stopped.

Adrian went still.

Vanessa smiled.

"Apparently not."

I felt the air leave my lungs.

"How do you know anything about that?"

She reached into her evening bag.

Then remembered security had taken it.

Her smile faltered.

Adrian looked toward Dominic.

"Your wife seems unusually interested in Claire's past."

Dominic frowned.

"Vanessa?"

She looked away.

Then said quietly:

"I know what kind of woman she is."

Something inside me snapped.

I stepped forward.

"No. You know what someone told you about me."

For seven years, I'd survived by staying invisible.

I'd changed my last name.

Moved apartments.

Worked jobs where nobody asked questions.

And kept one phone charged in case the nightmare I'd escaped ever returned.

Now that nightmare was standing beneath a chandelier, smiling at me.

Adrian noticed my expression.

"Claire?"

I shook my head.

"Not here."

His face changed.

He knew that tone.

He'd heard it before.

Seven years earlier, on the night I left his penthouse.

The night I'd discovered someone inside his organization was planning to use me against him.

Then Warren returned carrying a sealed evidence bag.

Inside was the watch.

Platinum.

Heavy.

With a square face and an old-fashioned engraving.

Dominic stared.

"My mother's initials."

I looked closer.

Something about the watch seemed familiar.

Then I noticed the engraving beneath the clasp.

A tiny silver rose.

My stomach tightened.

Because my mother had worn a necklace with that exact symbol.

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