I glanced at Jessa. She was surrounded by people who loved her—Vivian had engaged her in a chat, Richard listening, Brooks and Archer nearby, Penny glowing.
“I’ll be right back.” I gave her a wink and slipped away from her.
The P.I. led me into a quiet side corridor lined with framed Plaza memorabilia. There, he handed me some papers.
“I wouldn’t have come, but I know you’ve been waiting for my report,” he hinted, pitch low.
I flipped the cover. COLE FAMILY – FINANCIAL OVERVIEW. It always surprised me how much background information he could dig up. I never questioned his methods; he got paid handsomely for thoroughness and his silence, a relationship that carried over from my father to me.
The report listed many things. Medical debt. Credit cards. Rental evictions. Loans. It wasn’t ruin, but certainly a tough overview of a struggling family. The father was listed as MIA.
“And this part?” I tapped a page in the back: UNVERIFIED COMMUNITY REPORTS. My mouth went dry.
“Holly Creek gossip,” he said. “That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I went up there for a few days, followed her family around to complete my investigation with qualitative observation. I overheard the mother telling someone at a diner how her daughter had left town because she was pregnant and wanted a fresh start in the city. No father named.”
“Pregnant?” My eyebrows shot to my hairline. He might as well have punched me by how gutted this reveal made me.
“But it’s not confirmed. Can’t manage that because of privacy laws, obviously—but I cross-checked what I could. The rumor mill has weight up there.”
“Pregnant,” I repeated, the word left me cold.
“Could be nothing,” he added quickly. “Small towns talk. But it’s circulating there. If anyone connects it to you, that’s a story.”
I stared at the packet.Fresh start in the city.The timeline was suspicious.
“If you need more?—”
“No, thank you. I’ll have the money sent your account in the morning,” I replied, voice strained.
He nodded and melted back into the ballroom’s edge. I stood alone; the carpet opening up to swallow me whole, holding a report that turned my world upside down.
If it’s mine, why didn’t she tell me?
If it’s not, why is she in my home?
Atlas’s joke—oh, God—what if Atlas was right?
No, she wouldn’t use me?—
But… if she was pregnant, then whatever happened, whatever the truth, everything between us was based on a web of deceit.
“Griffin.” Sam slid out of the shadows and startled me, clapping his hands. He clocked the report I held with a shit-eating grin. “Congratulations. Looks like she played you beautifully.”
“You overheard that?” What a snake in the grass he was.
“About our potential public disaster?” He smirked. “Face it, Griff. Small-town girl shows up before your IPO, says the right things, wins over your kid, and you—then bam! A secret baby comes to light, distracting you from properly leading the company into its biggest game yet. If I were your enemies, I’d call it a clean play.”
“You think someone hired her to disrupt—” I struggled with the image I had of her—a charming small-town woman with unmatched inner strength… or was she really a struggling woman willing to take a payout to bring me down. Then again, she wouldn’t need one of my enemies hiring her; I’d offered her five million. “No. I don’t believe it. She wouldn’t do that.”
“Wouldn’t what? Secure her future?” He lifted a brow. “A woman desperate for money and leverage? Anyone could steer that—DeSoto, Hawthorne, hell, any shark who’d love to see West Games bleed.”
The floor tilted, throwing my entire life off balance. The worst part? I agreed with him. But a sliver of hope still worked its way through the muck.
“Back off,” I warned. “I-I think I know her better than you.”
He shrugged. “I know investors and public perception. Right now, she may play the part well in a red dress. But if this gets out it looks less like love and more like strategy.” His smile sharpened. “And you fell right into the trap. All this time you wasted on her instead of the IPO.”
I should’ve put him through the wall. Instead, I shoved past him, the papers folded in my fist, blood roaring in my ears. I returned to where I left her, but she wasn’t around.
