Part 2
“He works for us.”
“No. He works for the staffing company contracted for the event.”
“You understand what I mean.”
“Yes,” Evelyn said. “That is the problem.”
Owen wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. A small red mark appeared on his skin. Not wine.
Evelyn removed one glove, reached into her travel bag, and took out a clean linen handkerchief. She held it toward him.
He hesitated before accepting it.
The delay told her more than the fear in his eyes. He had already been punished for accepting something, touching something, or failing to understand a command quickly enough.
“Mr. Alden,” she said, “take him to the library. Call Dr. Shaw and the staffing manager. No one leaves the apartment until I know what happened.”
Julian laughed once.
“You’re detaining people now?”
“I’m preserving witnesses.”
“This is absurd.”
Mr. Alden placed a hand near Owen’s elbow without touching him.
Owen looked at Evelyn.
“Ma’am, I can just go.”
“No.”
The word came out colder than she intended.
He flinched again.
Evelyn softened her voice.
“You are not in trouble. Sit somewhere safe until you have been examined.”
Owen nodded.
Mr. Alden guided him toward the library.
The white cloth remained on the floor beside the shattered decanter. Burgundy liquid continued moving slowly along the slight slope in the marble, finding the black inlay and collecting against it.
Julian watched the two men disappear.
Then he looked at Evelyn.
“What do you think happened?”
“I know only what I saw.”
“And you froze my money.”
“I froze access connected to my family’s companies.”
“You called one of your people and ordered them to humiliate me before asking me a single question.”
Evelyn looked at his tumbler.
“Put that down.”
He did not.
“It is a glass.”
“It is one of six matching tumblers. The decanter belonged to the same set.”
His eyes lowered to it.
The first crack in his confidence appeared.
Evelyn saw him begin to understand that she was not only angry about the valet. She was counting objects.
Tracking positions.
Reconstructing sequence.
Julian placed the tumbler on the narrow console beside the staircase.
The base made a soft click against the stone.
“There,” he said. “Now can we speak like adults?”
Evelyn took off her other glove and laid both across the handle of her travel bag.
“What happened?”
“Owen dropped the decanter.”
“Why is his lip cut?”
“He slipped.”
“On what?”
“The wine.”
“The wine spread outward from the decanter. His knees are inside the outer edge of the spill. If he slipped after dropping it, his clothing would be wet across his side or back.”
Julian looked at the floor.
Only Owen’s knees and cuffs had been stained.
Evelyn continued.
“His tie is pulled. The top button of his vest is in the wrong hole. There is bruising beginning beneath his left jaw.”
“You saw bruising from the elevator?”
“I see it now.”
“He became agitated.”
“Before or after you hit him?”
Julian stared at her.
“I did not hit him.”
“Did you touch him?”
“He stepped into me.”
“That was not my question.”
His mouth tightened.
“He grabbed my sleeve.”
“Why?”
“Because I took the decanter away from him.”
“Why did he have it?”
“He was pouring wine.”
“That is a valet’s responsibility?”
“He was standing nearest the bar.”
“He was hired to receive coats, park vehicles, and assist guests arriving from the private garage. Mr. Alden serves drinks.”
Julian spread his hands.
“You know the job description of every temporary worker now?”
“I approved the staffing plan this afternoon.”
“You were in Zurich.”
“I can read in Zurich.”
The elevator doors remained closed now. Their brushed silver surface reflected Julian in broken vertical lines.
He rubbed his wrist beneath the watch.
“Fine. I asked him to pour.”
“Asked?”
Julian gave her a long look.
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“He fumbled it.”
“The decanter fell.”
“Yes.”
“You became angry.”
“I told him to clean it.”
“You struck him.”
“No.”
“You shoved him.”
“No.”
“You grabbed him.”
“He tried to walk away.”
Evelyn held still.
Julian realized too late that he had answered.
“What did you grab?”
His face changed.
“I stopped him.”
“By what part of his body?”
“His vest.”
“Hard enough to pull his tie and misalign the buttons.”
“He was refusing a direct instruction.”
“He was leaving after being injured.”
“He wasn’t injured until he threw himself onto the floor.”
Evelyn looked toward the library door.
“Thrown himself.”
Julian’s expression sharpened.
“You know what I mean.”
“No. I know what you said.”
He stepped close enough that she could smell the wine on his breath. Not drunk, but no longer on his first glass.
“You returned to your apartment and treated me like a criminal in front of staff.”
“You behaved like one in front of staff.”
His eyes darkened.
For a second, Evelyn saw an expression she had noticed only twice before and dismissed both times. Once when a driver scratched Julian’s rented Aston Martin in Miami. Once when a waiter at a charity dinner corrected the vintage of a bottle Julian had ordered.
In each case, the anger had vanished the moment Julian noticed Evelyn watching.
Tonight he had not expected her.
Her flight from Zurich had been scheduled to land the following morning. A meeting ended early, and she switched to an earlier departure without telling him because she imagined surprising him before the foundation dinner.
She had spent the flight thinking about flowers.
The embarrassment of that thought arrived suddenly.
Not because flowers were foolish.
Because she had been planning tenderness for a man who felt safest when no one important was looking.
Julian lowered his voice.
“You have no idea what he said to me.”
“What did he say?”
“He accused me of stealing.”
“Stealing what?”
Julian looked toward the library.
“A watch.”
“You are wearing your watch.”
“Another watch.”
“Whose?”
May you like
“He claimed one of the guests’ items had gone missing.”
“The guests have not arrived.”
