Chương 6
“Then you should figure out where you left it.”
He looked at her for a long time.
Then he picked up his luggage.
Vanessa remained where she was.
Daniel glanced at her.
“Come on.”
She did not move.
“Vanessa.”
“I’m not going with you.”
His face registered genuine surprise.
“Are you kidding?”
“No.”
“Where are you going?”
“A hotel.”
“We can talk at the hotel.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Vanessa, do not do this.”
She laughed, soft and tired.
“Do what?”
He lowered his voice.
“You have no idea what Evelyn is going to do next. You should be very careful about what you say.”
Evelyn felt a chill.
Vanessa did too.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you worked on Harbor North.”
“I designed materials from information you gave me.”
“And you sent them.”
“Because you hired me.”
“You introduced people.”
“You told me the information was approved.”
Daniel looked briefly at Evelyn.
Then back at Vanessa.
“I’m saying everybody should take a minute before they start rewriting history.”
No one moved.
Vanessa’s voice dropped.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
“It sounded like one.”
“It’s advice.”
Evelyn said, “Daniel.”
He turned.
“Leave.”
His face tightened.
Then, very slowly, he smiled.
It was the social smile.
The one he used when a dinner had gone badly and he intended to claim otherwise.
“All right.”
He picked up the handle of his suitcase.
At the gangway, he stopped.
He looked back at Evelyn.
“I loved you.”
Past tense.
Maybe accidental.
Maybe not.
Evelyn said nothing.
Daniel walked onto the dock.
He never looked back again.
Vanessa stayed.
Not because Evelyn invited her to.
For several minutes she simply stood near the stern while the crew continued working around her.
Eventually she said, “I need to ask you something.”
Evelyn was exhausted.
“No.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Fair.”
She lifted her garment bag.
Then stopped.
“I knew you were engaged.”
Evelyn looked at her.
Vanessa swallowed.
“I’m not going to insult you by pretending I didn’t.”
The marina lights caught the red gemstone at her throat.
“He told me it was over. He told me you both knew it was over. I chose to believe that because it was convenient for me.”
Evelyn’s eyes burned.
She looked away.
Vanessa continued.
“I didn’t know he was lying about the yacht.”
“That’s the part you’re worried about?”
“No.”
“Sounds like it.”
Vanessa flinched.
Good, Evelyn thought.
Then hated that she thought it.
“I’m worried about all of it.”
“You should be.”
“I am.”
Evelyn folded her arms.
“You came onto my yacht with my fiancé.”
“Yes.”
“You slept in a room my staff prepared.”
Vanessa’s face reddened.
“Yes.”
“You wore his hand on your back in front of people who work for me.”
Vanessa looked down.
“Yes.”
The answer was so quiet that Evelyn’s anger suddenly had nowhere clean to go.
She wanted Vanessa defensive.
Smug.
Cruel.
Something easy.
Instead Vanessa stood there accepting humiliation with the miserable posture of someone who had already rehearsed worse things alone.
Evelyn said, “Why are you still here?”
Vanessa looked toward the dock where Daniel had disappeared.
“Because I don’t think I should leave with him.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“I know.”
“Then go.”
Vanessa nodded.
She started toward the gangway.
Halfway there she stopped again.
“I have the Harbor North messages.”
Evelyn’s body went still.
Vanessa did not turn around.
“Texts. Emails. Draft notes. Voice messages.”
“Keep them.”
Vanessa looked back.
“I was going to delete everything.”
“Don’t.”
“Because you want them?”
“Because Daniel just told you to be careful about rewriting history.”
Vanessa stared at her.
Evelyn’s voice remained low.
“Keep what you have. Don’t edit it. Don’t forward it around. Don’t post anything. If someone qualified tells you to preserve it, preserve it.”
Vanessa looked surprised.
“You’re not asking me to send it to you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know what this is yet.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed slightly.
For the first time, Evelyn saw some of the woman Daniel had probably been drawn to—intelligent, sharp, impatient with ambiguity.
“You think it could be fraud.”
“I think I’m not going to accuse somebody of a crime because I’m angry at him.”
Vanessa looked toward the marina.
“He told people you were behind the fund.”
“I know that.”
“He told me to say it.”
“That matters.”
“He told me your silence was deliberate.”
Evelyn felt something cold move through her again.
“What does that mean?”
“That if anyone asked you directly, you wouldn’t confirm anything, but you wouldn’t deny it either.”
“Why would I do that?”
“He said you preferred plausible deniability.”
Evelyn almost admired the construction.
It sounded like her.
That was what made it dangerous.
She had spent years being careful in public. She rarely discussed investments before they closed. She did not put her name on speculative projects. She avoided promises.
Daniel had converted caution into implied consent.
Vanessa said, “I’m sorry.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Don’t ask me to make you feel better.”
“I’m not.”
“Good.”
“I just needed to say it once.”
“Then you said it.”
Vanessa nodded.
She stepped onto the gangway.
“Vanessa.”
She turned.
Evelyn looked at the red pendant.
“Did he give you that?”
Vanessa touched it automatically.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
Evelyn nodded once.
Daniel had told her he was in Boston three weeks ago.
She had sent him a picture of a rug.
He had replied four hours later with a thumbs-up.
Evelyn looked away.
“Good night.”
Vanessa left.
By one in the morning, the Aster Vale was almost silent.
The catering team had gone.
The jazz trio had packed its instruments.
Crew members moved through the salon collecting glasses and straightening furniture with the efficient discretion of people trained to restore luxury after strangers used it.
Evelyn had changed out of her gown.
May you like
She sat barefoot in the small owner’s study wearing black trousers and a gray sweater someone had brought from her cabin.
Her engagement finger looked wrong.
