Chapter 4 - BETRAYAL, CONTROL, AND GOODBYE
The deeper they looked, the uglier it became.
Tristan’s investment company had been funneling money through a charitable trust where Marcus and Mara had met six months earlier. Celia Morrow had consulted for that same trust.
Several payments connected both of them to a rival criminal network attempting to weaken Marcus’s businesses from inside.
The worst discovery came from Mara.
She found Marcus in his office late one evening.
“I kept something from that charity dinner.”
He stood.
“What?”
“A seating chart.”
Marcus waited.
Mara placed a folder on his desk.
“I was fighting with the event coordinator about an unpaid invoice, so I photographed paperwork before I left. Celia told me to destroy one version because it had handwritten changes.”
She opened a photograph.
Beside Tristan’s name was a note.
Private meeting, 11:20. West gallery. D. Rourke representative.
Marcus stopped breathing.
“D. Rourke?”
Mara produced another photograph.
A receipt.
One signature.
Declan Rourke.
Marcus’s cousin.
The man who had grown up with him.
The man whose father had helped raise Marcus after his mother died.
The man who controlled half of Marcus’s legitimate corporate investments.
Marcus stared at the signature.
Mara watched the betrayal land.
“Marcus.”
“Go upstairs.”
Her expression hardened.
“No.”
“Mara.”
“Don’t do that.”
His eyes lifted.
“Do what?”
“Turn into stone because someone hurt you.”
“This isn’t hurt.”
“Then what is it?”
He looked away.
“Failure.”
“Trusting someone isn’t failure.”
“In my world it is.”
“Maybe that’s what’s wrong with your world.”
His gaze snapped back to hers.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Mara softened.
“I trusted Tristan.”
Marcus said nothing.
“I kept thinking if I became easier, quieter, prettier, more agreeable, he’d become kinder. He didn’t.”
She touched the folder.
“Being wrong about someone doesn’t mean you were weak. It means they made a choice you didn’t expect.”
Marcus looked at her for a long time.
“You say things no one else says to me.”
“Maybe everyone else is scared you’ll throw them out a window.”
“I’ve never thrown anyone out a window.”
“Comforting.”
“A balcony once.”
She stared.
His mouth twitched.
“I’m joking.”
“Are you?”
He didn’t answer.
She laughed despite herself.
Then the newspaper article appeared.
Mystery Mother Could Become Mrs. Rourke Before Christmas.
Mara marched into his office holding the page.
“Did you tell anyone we’re getting married?”
Marcus looked up.
“No.”
“Did someone suggest it?”
Silence.
Her anger sharpened.
“Marcus.”
“My attorneys mentioned it.”
“Oh my God.”
“I rejected the idea.”
“You rejected it?”
“Yes.”
“You discussed marrying me with lawyers before discussing it with me?”
“I said no.”
“You still don’t understand.”
He stood.
“What do you want from me?”
“The truth before it becomes a headline!”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“There it is.”
His jaw tightened.
“Everything is protection with you.”
“Because people are trying to kill you!”
“And that doesn’t mean you own my decisions!”
“I never said I did.”
“You don’t have to say it. You’re used to people obeying before you finish a sentence.”
Marcus’s eyes flashed.
“And you’re so determined never to depend on anyone again that you treat every offer of help like a trap.”
The words hit.
Hard.
Mara stepped backward.
He regretted them immediately.
She saw it.
But neither could pull them back.
Mara’s voice became quiet.
“I want to stay with June.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“So is staying here and forgetting who I am.”
“You’re not leaving without security.”
She stared at him.
Marcus closed his eyes.
When he opened them, his voice changed.
“Please.”
The word surprised them both.
“Owen will drive you. No guards inside June’s apartment unless you request them. You choose everything else.”
Mara swallowed.
“Okay.”
At the front door, Marcus stopped her.
“I meant what I said before.”
“What?”
“I will be there for our daughter.”
Mara nodded.
“I believe you.”
Something in his face softened.
“But learn how to be there without taking up all the air in the room.”
May you like
Then she left.
