Chương 4
“You chose here when you invited someone you apparently expected not to show up.”
“I didn’t invite her.”
Elena looked at the place card on the nearby table.
“No.”
Her voice came out strange.
“You hired the hotel.”
Vincent’s eyes flickered.
Madison said nothing.
Elena understood before either of them confirmed it.
“You knew I worked banquets here.”
Vincent rubbed the back of his neck.
“We knew you’d worked here.”
“How?”
No answer.
“How did you know?”
Madison whispered, “A background report.”
Elena stared at her.
“A what?”
Madison’s eyes filled, but she did not cry.
“A background report.”
“On me?”
“Yes.”
The word barely existed.
Elena took a step back.
Her hip struck the table.
One champagne flute tipped and spilled across the white linen.
No one reached for it.
The liquid spread in a pale gold stain.
Adrian’s voice was suddenly very calm.
“Who ran it?”
Vincent shook his head.
“Don’t.”
“Who?”
“It was legal.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It was a private investigator.”
Elena heard Mr. Kim say her name from somewhere behind her.
She raised one hand without looking.
Not yet.
She needed one more minute.
Maybe two.
“What were you looking for?” she asked.
Vincent’s mouth tightened.
“It wasn’t about you personally.”
She almost laughed.
“You paid someone to investigate me.”
“It was about something connected to you.”
“What?”
Vincent looked at Adrian.
That was the first time Elena saw real calculation replace panic.
Adrian noticed it too.
His shoulders went rigid.
“No,” Adrian said.
Vincent looked away.
“What is connected to her that involves me?”
Madison whispered, “Vincent, tell him.”
“I’m trying to keep this from becoming worse.”
“It’s already worse.”
“Madison.”
“No.”
Her voice strengthened.
“I’m not standing here while you keep making me part of this.”
Vincent stared at her.
“You agreed.”
“I agreed when I thought she knew.”
Elena felt the room narrow again.
“Knew what?”
Madison pressed her lips together.
Vincent said, “This is insane.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Finish the sentence.”
Madison looked directly at Elena.
“About the money.”
For several seconds, Elena had no idea what she meant.
Then something old and ugly moved at the edge of memory.
A hospital corridor.
A plastic chair.
Her mother’s purse open in Elena’s lap.
A lawyer’s business card tucked behind an expired insurance card.
She had thrown it away without calling.
“What money?”
Vincent’s face told her she was close.
Adrian’s eyes had not left his brother.
Madison said, “The account.”
“I don’t have an account.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“I know what accounts I have.”
Madison shook her head.
“Not this one.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What account?”
She swallowed.
“An escrow account.”
Elena’s mouth went dry.
“For what?”
Madison turned toward Vincent.
“You tell her.”
He closed his eyes.
A muscle moved in his cheek.
When he opened them, he looked older.
“Your mother’s accident.”
Elena stopped breathing.
The quartet kept playing.
Somewhere in the service corridor, a metal cart crashed against a wall and a worker muttered an apology.
The ordinary sounds made the words feel even more impossible.
“My mother didn’t have an accident.”
Vincent said nothing.
“She had a stroke.”
His gaze dropped.
“She had a stroke while driving.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“No.”
“She lost control of the car.”
“I know how she died.”
“I’m not saying you don’t.”
“You weren’t there.”
Vincent’s face tightened.
Adrian looked from him to Elena.
The confusion in Adrian’s expression was genuine.
That mattered.
Whatever this was, he had not known.
Elena held onto that fact because everything else was moving too quickly.
Vincent said, “There was another vehicle involved.”
Elena stared at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Her voice rose enough that several guests shifted.
She lowered it again.
“The police report said she crossed the median.”
“She did.”
“Then what vehicle?”
Vincent looked at Adrian again.
Adrian’s expression changed slowly.
He understood before Elena did.
“No,” he said.
Vincent rubbed his forehead.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Tell me it wasn’t one of ours.”
Elena felt her stomach drop.
Vincent said nothing.
Adrian’s hand closed into a fist at his side.
“Vincent.”
“It was a company vehicle.”
“What company?”
“Our company.”
Elena looked between them.
“What company?”
Neither answered quickly enough.
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
Adrian finally said, “Moretti Construction.”
The name struck her with a memory she had not summoned in years.
A blue logo on the side of a truck visible beyond flashing police lights.
She had noticed it while standing behind the yellow tape.
She had forgotten it because the emergency room called before she could ask anyone what it meant.
Her knees weakened.
She gripped the table.
Adrian reached toward her.
She recoiled.
He stopped immediately.
Vincent said, “The truck didn’t hit her.”
Elena turned on him.
“You said another vehicle was involved.”
“It was.”
“Did it hit her?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
Vincent opened his mouth.
Adrian answered for him.
“It forced her off the road.”
Silence.
Vincent looked at his brother with naked anger.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know you.”
“You know nothing about this.”
“Then tell us.”
Vincent’s face reddened.
“The driver changed lanes.”
Elena stared at him.
“Into her?”
“He didn’t see her.”
“Into her?”
“Yes.”
Her hand slipped from the table edge.
Adrian caught the tray before it slid off with the spilled flute.
He set it down without looking.
Elena could barely hear him.
“And your company paid her family.”
Vincent shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why is there an escrow account?”
“Because she never cashed the settlement check.”
Elena’s face went cold.
“I never received a check.”
Vincent looked at her.
For the first time, there was no evasion left in his expression.
Only dread.
“I know.”
Madison covered her mouth.
Adrian stared at his brother.
Elena whispered, “How do you know?”
Vincent did not answer.
She stepped toward him.
“How do you know I never received it?”
Madison closed her eyes.
Vincent looked at the floor.
May you like
Elena felt the answer forming before he spoke.
When he finally lifted his head, his voice was almost inaudible.
