“Is that supposed to impress me?” I asked.
“No,” she said sweetly. “I just thought you should know.”
Jane’s face rose unbidden in my mind, calm, determined, and trusting, but whenever she spoke of this woman, there was pain, heartbreak, and misery. I curled my hand into a fist around my glass.
Whatever game Mallory thought she was playing, she’d just made one thing very clear. This wasn’t over and I had a very bad feeling about how hard she was trying to make it personal.
I should’ve walked away. That was the smart move, but I didn’t. I just watched her smile at me with that same catlike confidence, her voice pitched low and intimate like we were co-conspirators instead of enemies.
“In fact,” she crooned, “I’m here because a little birdy told me Thayer was looking for a buyer.”
Every muscle in my body locked as she swirled her champagne and kept looking intently into my eyes. “My husband is a man of means, and with my insight into the company, it was very easy to persuade him to take a look.”
I glared at her, the noise of the club fading into a dull roar. “You need to stop talking.”
She smiled wider. “Why? I thought transparency wasso importantin business.”
I leaned in, close enough that she couldn’t pretend this was banter. “You’ve done enough to ruin that family.Myfamily. You need to leave. Now. Or I will make your life hell.”
She laughed softly. “Oh, Alex.”
“You think Nora pushing for charges is the worst you’ll face?” I spat at her. “Jane’s money only goes so far with the lawyers, sure. But mine? My money and influence go a whole hell of a lot further.”
For the first time, something different than pleasant aloofness flickered across her face. Not fear necessarily, but calculation perhaps. “You really do love her.”
“Yes,” I said. “You should be very afraid of what that means for you.”
Mallory stepped closer instead of backing down. “You’re adorable when you’re threatening.”
She leaned in, brushing her lips near my cheek in a mockery of a goodbye. “Good luck, Alex. I’ll see you soon, I’m sure.”
Then she was gone, her heels carrying her away like she hadn’t just lit a fuse and walked off smiling. I stood there with my drink clenched in my hand and jaw tight enough to crack my teeth.
I didn’t know why the fuck that woman was so obsessed with my wife’s family, but I was entirely convinced that ruining them five years ago hadn’t been enough for her. When Jane had told me that Mallory had fled after her father’s arrest, I’d wondered why she’d return now, knowing what Court’s lawyers were trying to do.
After that little exchange, I finally had my answer and it wasn’t good news. She’d come to pick the bones of the wreckageshe’d left behind, and for some reason, she was confident that she would be entirely untouchable by the law while she did it.
There weren’t many things in this life that scared me, but her casual nonchalance about the potential consequences of her presence in this very country, and the way she’d approached me to share her intentions? That sure as hell did.
CHAPTER 39
JANE
For the first time in my life, everything felt like it was falling into place. It was such a strange, fragile realization that I didn’t trust it at first.
I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something to go wrong the way it always had before. But days kept passing, and instead of disappointment or betrayal, there was calm. Momentum. A sense that I was finally moving forward instead of being blasted two steps back when I so much as thought about taking one.
Alex was amazing. Truly, infuriatingly, nauseatingly amazing. The more time I spent with him, the more certain I became that I couldn’t have asked for a better partner if I’d tried to design one from scratch.
He listened. He showed up. He didn’t treat my life like a problem he needed to solve or a burden he needed to manage. He treated me like an equal. Like his wife, not a complication. He’d also been keeping his promise, looping me in on everything happening with the company and the board.
No vague reassurances. No behind-the-scenes maneuvering without my knowledge. Every update and every developmentwas shared openly, honestly, and sometimes with a touch of dry humor that made even corporate warfare feel survivable.
It felt inevitable now, like it wouldn’t be long before the board finally did what they should have done months ago and appointed me CEO. The thought made me giddy. So happy it should’ve been illegal.
On top of all that, my uncle was currently in town. Or at least, so I’d heard. Andrew, the human equivalent of a shrug, had finally graced the city of Chicago, where he supposedly lived and worked now, with his presence.
I’d been trying to get a meeting with him for weeks, sending emails, phone calls, and a few polite follow-ups that grew progressively less polite, yet I’d received nothing in response. So when word filtered through the office that he was actually here, in the building, I grabbed my notebook and went straight to his floor.
