Page 31 of Motion to Dismiss

“Did you ever know what he actually did for the family business?” I ask. “Like, the main details?”

“No, I only knew bits and pieces,” she says. “He was wealthy, successful, and a lot more experienced than me, and that’s all I focused on at the time. I mean, I knew he operated in the gray areas and cut out middlemen to sell all types of supplies, but I never thought…”

She stops talking as the waiter sets down a basket of bread.

The moment he walks away, she immediately knocks back her glass.

“Well, maybe—” I pause. “Maybe he didn’t start off as terrible as he eventually became, and⁠—”

“He’s a monster, Scarlett.” She cuts me off with a deep-throated cry. “I married a monster, and there’s no pretty way to put it.”

“I damn near turned into one myself.” Her cries come harder. “And I almost ruined you. I almost made you as fucked up as I am.”

Completely speechless, I rub her back.

“I promise you, Scarlett.” Her watery eyes meet mine. “If you give me a chance to be the mother I should’ve been to you, I will be. Please.”

I wipe her tears with my fingertips, but they refuse to stop falling.

For a while, neither of us says anything.

“I never thought Lucas would throw his own children under the bus.” She sucks in a breath. “Antonio and Ryan have no idea what’s coming their way.”

I still for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“They have several pending charges as well, but—” She shakes her head. “They’re brainwashed into believing their father has some huge master plan for their legal woes.”

“Doesn’t he?” I ask. “I doubt Jameson Tate would ever let any of them get near a guilty verdict.”

My heart skips a beat at the thought of Jameson.

“Only your father has Mr. Tate now.” Her voice is strained. “He’s going to let them take the fall, make sure their commissary accounts are always full whenever they’re locked away, and then carry on with business as usual.”

My heart drops, and I struggle to find the words to convince her she’s wrong.

But I can’t point to a single moment of softness in my father’s history, or any memory that suggests he’s capable of putting someone else before himself.

“What do you think he’ll do to you when he finds out about the divorce?” I change the subject.

“I can’t worry about that.” She squeezes my hand. “The last thing Francis did for me was create an emergency getaway plan for me to follow in case I ever needed to disappear. And since practically all the men left on your father’s team are new, they won’t know where to start looking for me.”

“What about me?” I ask. “If he calls me, what should I say or do?”

“Oh, Scarlett.” Her face pales. “Your father wiped his hands clean of you once he got arrested. He thinks you’re to blame.”

“I…” The pain ripping through my chest is unbearable. “I’m not. I didn’t. I mean, even if I wanted to turn him in, I wouldn’t know where to begin, and I didn’t find out about⁠—”

I stop stuttering when she pulls me close, taking her turn to comfort me.

“It’s okay,” she says. “At least you’re free now. You can live and do whatever you want without his shadow hanging over you, Scarlett Winters.”

The way she says my new last name makes me look up.

“We might’ve had the same idea with that.” She smiles. “I picked Autumn for my new last name. Think it fits?”

“It’s perfect.”

I’m not sure how long we sit in that dining room holding each other, but when the staff flicker the lights to signal that it’s time to close, it feels like we’ve only been here an hour.