PART 5
A slow chill moved through me.
“What did you say?”
“I told him yes.”
“Anything else?”
“He asked whether Mr. Carter was going downtown.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
Not proof.
But a pattern.
“Margaret.”
“Yes?”
“Please do not tell anyone we spoke.”
“Of course.”
“And thank you.”
“Mrs. Carter?”
“Yes?”
“I should have told you earlier.”
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
She hesitated.
“But sometimes people who work in large houses learn not to ask why powerful men need information.”
I understood.
“Margaret.”
“Yes?”
“You can call me Savannah.”
A pause.
Then:
“All right, Savannah.”
That small thing nearly made me cry.
Daniel resigned two days later.
Roman told me before I heard it anywhere else.
“He admitted giving Adrian access to old security logs.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
I closed my eyes.
“Of course.”
“He has a mother in long-term care.”
That complicated things again.
“Did Adrian ask him to send the photo?”
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“And Daniel did?”
“He used an old corporate messaging account.”
“Why?”
“Adrian told him it involved a family matter.”
I laughed without humor.
“Did Daniel know what was in the photo?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s not much of an excuse.”
“No.”
“What are you going to do?”
Roman looked at me.
That question mattered.
Old Roman would have answered before I finished.
Now he took a moment.
“I terminated him.”
“And?”
“I am not pressing charges.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Why?”
“Because there is no clear criminal issue related to the message itself, and because he admitted everything once confronted.”
“That sounds almost reasonable.”
“I have my moments.”
“Adrian?”
Roman’s expression changed.
“My attorneys are handling the property dispute.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
“I know.”
I waited.
Roman exhaled.
“I have stopped speaking to him.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
“But?”
“But I am done letting my father’s unfinished wars determine every relationship I have.”
I looked at him.
Something in that sentence sounded different.
Not temporary.
Not strategic.
Tired.
“You really mean that.”
“Yes.”
“What changed?”
Roman looked at my stomach.
“You left.”
I stayed silent.
He continued.
“I spent years believing the worst thing that could happen was losing control of the family.”
“And?”
“The worst thing was coming home and realizing I had turned control into the thing that drove my own family away.”
The baby moved.
Roman saw my hand shift.
His entire face softened.
May you like
“Can I?”
He meant touch my stomach.
