Chương 7
“You laughed.”
“Yes.”
“You stopped.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Ashley was quiet.
“I saw Evelyn.”
“That’s when you knew who I was.”
“No.”
Adrian waited.
“I didn’t know who you were. I knew something was wrong because Evelyn looked terrified.”
“That’s different.”
“I know.”
“So why did your smile disappear?”
A long breath came through the phone.
“Because Madison had been talking about you before she poured the water.”
“What did she say?”
Ashley hesitated.
“She said the salon was getting sloppy.”
“What does that mean?”
“She said upscale places shouldn’t let people camp outside.”
“I wasn’t camping.”
“I know.”
“What else?”
“She said she had already asked you if you needed money.”
Adrian frowned.
“She did.”
“What did you say?”
“That I was waiting.”
“And then?”
“She asked what for.”
“What did you say?”
“A meeting.”
Ashley was silent.
“She told us you were probably lying.”
“Brooke?”
“Brooke said maybe we should just go inside.”
That surprised him.
“And you?”
“I said nothing.”
“Then Madison poured the water.”
“Yes.”
“Did she say anything immediately before?”
Ashley’s voice became smaller.
“She said, ‘Maybe this will help.’”
Adrian looked down at his hand.
The hand was steady.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because she called me last night.”
“About what?”
“She wants us to agree you were verbally aggressive.”
“Was I?”
“No.”
“Did I raise my voice?”
“No.”
“Did I insult her?”
“No.”
“Threaten her?”
“No.”
Ashley exhaled.
“She said we don’t have to lie. She said we can say the situation felt threatening.”
Adrian leaned back.
“Did it?”
“No.”
“Then don’t say it did.”
“I know.”
“That seems simple.”
“It isn’t.”
“Why?”
Ashley laughed once, without humor.
“Because you don’t know her.”
“People keep telling me that.”
“She can make things very unpleasant.”
“For you?”
“For my business.”
Adrian looked at the ceiling.
“What business?”
“Small clothing label. Mostly online. We do event pieces. Madison introduced me to two department-store buyers. She helps with placement. She can stop helping.”
“That’s not the same as hurting you.”
“No.”
Another pause.
“But she can hurt me too.”
“How?”
“She can tell people I’m difficult. Unstable. Disloyal. She has a way of making opinions sound like information.”
Adrian understood that kind of person.
He had met men who could ruin a contractor’s year with three sentences over lunch.
“What do you want from me?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think about it.”
Ashley was quiet long enough that he checked whether the call had dropped.
Then she said, “I want to tell the truth without turning into somebody’s weapon.”
That answer made him sit up.
“Mine or hers?”
“Either.”
Adrian looked at the Luxe lease.
“Good.”
“What?”
“That’s the right concern.”
“I thought you’d want a statement.”
“I might.”
Her breathing changed.
“Okay.”
“But not today.”
“Why?”
“Because today you’re scared.”
She went silent.
“And scared people sometimes say what they think the safest person wants to hear.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No.”
“You think I’d lie to help you?”
“I think you laughed when you didn’t think it was funny.”
That landed.
Ashley said nothing.
Adrian regretted the line almost immediately.
It was true.
It was also crueler than necessary.
He closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For using yesterday to win an argument.”
Ashley inhaled.
“That’s fine.”
“No.”
Another silence.
Then she said, “Thank you.”
“Take a day.”
“And if Madison keeps calling?”
“Don’t answer.”
“She’ll know why.”
“Yes.”
“That might make it worse.”
“Yes.”
Ashley gave a strained little laugh.
“You’re not very comforting.”
“I’ve been told.”
After the call, Adrian sat with the phone in his hand.
He disliked what the conversation had shown him.
Not about Madison.
About himself.
For twenty-four hours he had been telling everyone he would not use power carelessly.
Then the moment Ashley resisted him, he had reached for the sharpest fact available.
You laughed.
It had worked.
That was the problem.
On Thursday morning, Evelyn arrived at Cole Urban Properties fourteen minutes early and spent nine of them sitting in her car.
She had run Luxe Hair Studio through two recessions, one divorce, a pandemic shutdown, a burst pipe, three lawsuits that never reached court, and the period during which every client decided she wanted the same impossible shade of silver.
She had never been more frightened of a business meeting.
Her daughter called while she was watching employees enter the building.
“You going in?”
“In a minute.”
“You’ve been saying that for ten minutes.”
“Are you tracking me?”
“You shared your location.”
“I regret raising you.”
“Too late.”
Evelyn watched a man carry two boxes of printer paper through the lobby.
“What if he doesn’t renew?”
“Then you find another space.”
“You say that like commercial real estate grows on trees.”
“I’m trying to be supportive.”
“Try something else.”
Her daughter was silent.
Then, “Do you think he’s that kind of man?”
Evelyn looked at the building entrance.
“No.”
“Then why are you sitting in your car?”
“Because I am occasionally irrational.”
“That’s actually comforting.”
“Goodbye, Claire.”
“Call me after.”
Evelyn ended the call and stared at her reflection in the rearview mirror.
She had changed earrings twice that morning.
She suddenly hated both choices.
Inside, Daniel Pike greeted her in the lobby.
“Coffee?”
“No.”
“Water?”
She looked at him.
He winced.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“It was automatic.”
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Stop talking.”
He led her to the conference room.
Adrian was already there.
He wore a dark button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms. His tattoos remained visible. The wheelchair was positioned at the long side of the table rather than at the head.
That detail irritated Evelyn.
It looked intentionally modest.
She suspected it was not.
“Morning.”
“Good morning.”
Daniel sat.
Evelyn remained standing.
“Are you renewing the lease?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Would you like to sit down first?”
“No.”
Daniel opened a folder.
Adrian said, “Yes.”
Evelyn stared.
“Yes what?”
“We’re offering renewal.”
She sat.
Daniel looked disappointed that his folder had become unnecessary.
May you like
Adrian continued.
“Five years. Three-year option. Rent increase consistent with the schedule we discussed before acquisition. No punitive change.”
