Chapter 3 - The Secret Behind His Orders
"Open the door, Caspian. I know you're in there."
Victoria Reed's voice floated through the thin apartment door.
Sloan stood frozen beside the kitchen table, clutching the photograph of Victoria standing next to Victor Hale.
Six months ago, she had believed running away from Caspian would protect her unborn child.
Now his mother was standing outside her apartment.
And the man in the photograph was supposed to have disappeared.
"Caspian," Sloan whispered. "Don't open it."
But Caspian wasn't looking at the door.
He was staring at the photograph in her hands.
"Where did you get that?"
"It was inside the envelope."
"Who delivered it?"
"I don't know!"
Another knock interrupted them.
"Sloan, sweetheart, please. We need to talk."
Sloan almost laughed.
Sweetheart.
Victoria Reed had never called her sweetheart.
Not when Sloan was dating her son. Not when she attended uncomfortable family dinners. Certainly not when Victoria offered her half a million dollars to disappear from Caspian's life.
The sudden affection was more frightening than an insult.
Caspian approached the door.
"Mother, leave."
A pause.
Then Victoria answered.
"Not until you understand what she's done."
Sloan's stomach tightened.
Caspian's expression changed.
"What exactly has she done?"
Victoria lowered her voice.
"She's been lying to you about that baby."
Sloan felt the blood drain from her face.
Caspian looked back at her.
For one horrible second, she wondered whether he believed his mother.
Then he turned toward the door.
"Say another word about my son, and this conversation is over."
Silence.
Sloan stared at him.
My son.
He had said it without hesitation.
She wasn't prepared for how much those two words affected her.
Outside, Victoria sighed.
"You're making a terrible mistake."
Caspian unlocked the door but left the security chain attached.
Victoria stood in the hallway wearing an expensive cream-colored coat and pearl earrings. Her perfectly styled hair looked untouched by the chaos she had apparently created.
Beside her stood a younger man in a charcoal suit.
Sloan recognized neither his face nor the silver briefcase he carried.
But Victoria's eyes immediately dropped to her pregnant stomach.
For the first time since Sloan had known her, the older woman appeared genuinely speechless.
"My goodness," Victoria whispered. "It's true."
Caspian's hand tightened around the door.
"How did you find this apartment?"
Victoria ignored him.
"Sloan, you've gotten so much bigger."
Sloan instinctively wrapped her cardigan around herself.
Even now, Victoria somehow managed to make her feel like an unwelcome guest in her own body.
"Why are you here?"
Victoria smiled.
"Because we need to discuss my grandchild."
Caspian slammed the door.
"She knows," Sloan whispered.
Caspian immediately turned the deadbolt.
"Apparently."
"No. You don't understand. She knew before today."
She held up her phone.
The message about the original pregnancy test was still displayed.
Caspian read it again.
His expression hardened.
"Tell me exactly what happened the morning you discovered you were pregnant."
Sloan stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because someone knew about the baby before I did."
She wanted to argue.
Instead, she lowered herself onto the couch.
Her son kicked.
A small, unexpected movement.
She pressed her palm against her stomach and waited until the sensation passed.
Caspian noticed.
"Are you okay?"
"He's moving."
His expression softened immediately.
"Does he do that often?"
"Mostly when I'm stressed. Or when I eat oranges."
Caspian almost smiled.
"You still eat oranges every morning?"
She looked away.
"Sometimes."
For a moment, they were simply two people expecting a baby.
Then another knock shattered the illusion.
Caspian ignored it.
"Tell me about the test."
Sloan swallowed.
"I bought it after my night shift. I was exhausted, and my period was late. I thought it was stress."
She remembered standing in the bathroom of Caspian's penthouse.
The marble floor had been freezing beneath her bare feet.
Two pink lines appeared almost immediately.
She had sat on the edge of the bathtub, holding the test with both hands.
She remembered laughing.
Then crying.
Then laughing again.
For almost ten minutes, she imagined the life she and Caspian might have together.
A nursery.
Sunday breakfasts.
A little boy with his father's dark hair.
She had even opened her phone to send Caspian a photograph.
But before she could press send, she remembered the conversation she'd overheard the previous night.
Make an example of him.
The happiness disappeared.
"I put the test in my purse," she continued. "Then I went downstairs."
"Where?"
"To the kitchen."
"Was anyone there?"
Sloan frowned.
"Your mother."
Caspian went completely still.
"Mother was at the penthouse that morning?"
"Yes."
"She told me she hadn't seen you that week."
Sloan looked up.
"She was there when I came downstairs. She said she wanted to apologize for what happened at lunch."
Caspian's expression darkened.
"What happened next?"
"She made coffee."
"Did you drink it?"
"No. I told her I wasn't feeling well."
"Then?"
Sloan closed her eyes.
She remembered leaving her purse on a kitchen chair.
Victoria had asked whether she wanted something to eat.
Sloan went into the pantry to look for crackers.
When she returned, Victoria was standing beside her purse.
At the time, she thought nothing of it.
Now the memory made her skin crawl.
"She was alone with my bag."
Caspian looked toward the door.
Sloan followed his gaze.
"You think she found the test?"
"I think we need to ask her."
Caspian opened the apartment door twenty minutes later.
Victoria was still standing in the hallway.
The younger man had disappeared.
She looked irritated rather than concerned.
"Finally."
"Where's your companion?" Caspian asked.
"He had another appointment."
"Who was he?"
"My attorney."
Sloan stood behind Caspian.
"Why would you bring an attorney to my apartment?"
Victoria's eyes shifted toward her.
"Because I anticipated an emotional conversation."
Caspian stepped into the hallway and closed the apartment door behind him.
Sloan immediately reopened it.
"No."
He turned.
"Sloan—"
"Whatever she has to say, she can say it in front of me."
Victoria smiled faintly.
"Still stubborn, I see."
Sloan met her gaze.
"Still interfering in other people's lives, I see."
Caspian almost laughed.
Victoria did not.
"May I come inside?"
"No," Sloan answered.
Caspian crossed his arms.
"Did you know Sloan was pregnant before she disappeared?"
Victoria's expression barely changed.
"What an extraordinary question."
"Answer it."
"How could I possibly have known?"
Sloan stepped forward.
"You were at the penthouse the morning I took my pregnancy test."
Victoria blinked.
"I visited frequently."
"You were standing beside my purse."
"Really, Sloan. Are we discussing the location of handbags now?"
Caspian's voice became dangerously quiet.
"Mother."
Victoria looked at him.
He held up the photograph showing her beside Victor Hale.
"Then perhaps you'd prefer discussing this."
Her face changed.
It happened so quickly that Sloan almost missed it.
But Caspian didn't.
He had spent his entire life recognizing his mother's carefully controlled expressions.
And now, for the first time, Victoria Reed looked frightened.
"Where did you get that photograph?"
"Someone left it inside Sloan's apartment."
Victoria reached for it.
Caspian pulled it away.
"Who is Victor Hale?"
Victoria's lips tightened.
"You know perfectly well who he is."
"Why were you meeting him outside Sloan's apartment?"
"I wasn't."
"The photograph says otherwise."
Victoria glanced at Sloan.
"You're making a mistake involving her in this."
Sloan felt anger rise inside her.
"Stop talking about me as though I'm not standing here!"
Victoria's composure finally cracked.
"You have absolutely no idea what you've involved yourself in!"
The hallway fell silent.
Caspian stared at his mother.
"Then explain it."
Victoria looked toward the stairwell.
For a moment, Sloan thought she might actually tell them the truth.
Instead, she straightened her coat.
"Victor Hale was not the man you believed him to be."
Caspian's expression hardened.
"What does that mean?"
"It means your father trusted the wrong people."
"My father has been dead for eight years."
"That doesn't mean his mistakes died with him."
Sloan felt another movement beneath her hand.
Her son was kicking again.
She suddenly wanted nothing more than to close the door and forget the Reed family existed.
But Victoria was looking at her stomach with an expression Sloan couldn't understand.
It wasn't affection.
It wasn't disgust.
It was calculation.
And that frightened Sloan more than anything.
Caspian told his mother to leave.
Victoria refused.
Finally, he threatened to call the building manager and have her escorted out.
That worked.
But before she walked away, Victoria turned toward Sloan.
"Pregnancy changes everything, dear. You should be very careful whom you trust."
Sloan stared at her.
"Is that a threat?"
Victoria smiled.
"Consider it maternal advice."
Then she disappeared down the stairs.
Caspian closed the door.
Sloan immediately locked it.
"She's hiding something."
"Yes."
"You've known that for years, haven't you?"
Caspian didn't answer.
Sloan turned toward him.
"How many things have you hidden from me?"
He removed his jacket and placed it over the back of a chair.
"More than I should have."
Her heart sank.
"Then start talking."
He sat opposite her.
For several seconds, he seemed uncertain where to begin.
Finally, he said, "My father didn't build his business entirely legally."
Sloan remained silent.
"By the time I inherited the company, there were contracts I didn't understand. Partners I didn't trust. Financial arrangements that should never have existed."
"Your father's criminal connections?"
"Some of them."
"And you continued working with those people?"
"At first, I didn't know how deeply involved the companies were."
Sloan studied him.
"What happened when you found out?"
"I started separating the legitimate businesses from everything else. I brought in independent auditors and attorneys. I cooperated with investigators when I discovered evidence of financial crimes."
"Victor Hale?"
Caspian nodded.
"He managed several of my father's old accounts. When I began reviewing them, he became nervous."
"Why?"
"Because he had been stealing money."
"From you?"
"From the company. From investors. From people who trusted my father."
Sloan felt her stomach twist.
"And you ordered someone to make an example of him."
Caspian looked directly at her.
"I ordered my legal team to pursue him publicly. I wanted anyone still abusing those companies to understand that the old arrangements were over."
She searched his face.
"Why didn't you tell me about any of this?"
"Because I was ashamed."
The answer surprised her.
Caspian looked down at his tattooed hands.
"I spent years trying to escape the reputation my father left me. I wanted you to see who I was becoming, not who people believed I had been."
Sloan's eyes filled with tears.
"You should have trusted me."
"I know."
"You let me fall in love with someone I didn't completely understand."
His expression crumpled.
"And you disappeared without giving me the chance to explain."
She looked away.
He was right.
That was the part she hated most.
They had both made decisions out of fear.
And their son was already paying the price.
Sloan's phone rang shortly after six.
It was her landlord.
She answered immediately.
"Hello?"
"Sloan? It's Mr. Patterson."
"Is everything okay?"
"I wanted to ask whether you were expecting visitors."
She looked toward Caspian.
"Why?"
"A woman came by this afternoon asking about your lease."
Sloan's stomach tightened.
"What woman?"
"Older. Very well dressed. Said she was your mother-in-law."
Sloan closed her eyes.
Victoria.
"What did you tell her?"
"Nothing. I told her I couldn't discuss tenant information."
Relief washed through Sloan.
"Thank you."
"But there's something else."
She sat straighter.
"What?"
"She asked whether you'd be renewing your lease after the baby arrives."
Sloan stared at the wall.
"How did she know about the baby?"
"I assumed you'd told her."
"No."
Mr. Patterson hesitated.
"Well, she left something for you."
Sloan's pulse quickened.
"What?"
"An envelope. I slipped it under your door before you came home."
She looked toward the kitchen.
The white envelope.
The photograph.
The handwriting.
"Mr. Patterson, did you see her put anything inside?"
"No. She handed it to me already sealed."
Sloan slowly lowered the phone.
Victoria had delivered the envelope.
But why would she leave a photograph exposing her own connection to Victor Hale?
Unless she hadn't known what was inside.
Unless someone had switched it.
Or unless the photograph was a warning intended for someone else.
Caspian watched her expression.
"What happened?"
She told him.
His phone rang before she finished.
This time, he answered.
"Reed."
A man's voice spoke rapidly.
Sloan couldn't hear the words.
But she watched Caspian's face become increasingly serious.
"Where?"
A pause.
"When?"
Another pause.
Then Caspian stood.
"Don't let anyone touch it. I'm coming."
He ended the call.
Sloan stared at him.
"What happened?"
He hesitated.
She stood.
"Caspian."
"Victor Hale's former accountant contacted my attorney."
"And?"
"She says she has evidence proving Victor was working with someone inside my family."
Sloan's heart pounded.
"Your mother?"
"We don't know."
"Where is the accountant?"
"At my attorney's office."
Sloan reached for her cardigan.
Caspian frowned.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm coming with you."
"Absolutely not."
She stopped.
He immediately recognized his mistake.
"Sloan, I didn't mean—"
"No. You don't get to decide where I go."
"Someone is watching you."
"Which is exactly why I'm not staying here alone!"
They stared at each other.
Then Caspian sighed.
"Fine. But we're doing this carefully."
Sloan grabbed her purse.
For the first time since leaving Boston, she wasn't running away from the truth.
She was going toward it.
Forty minutes later, they arrived at a discreet office building overlooking downtown Providence.
Caspian's attorney, Daniel Mercer, was waiting in the lobby.
He was a silver-haired man in his fifties who looked as though he hadn't slept properly in several days.
When he saw Sloan, he stopped.
"Miss Bennett."
She frowned.
"You know me?"
Daniel glanced at Caspian.
"Of course."
Sloan had never met him.
That realization immediately made her uncomfortable.
Caspian noticed.
"Daniel, where's the accountant?"
"Upstairs."
"Does she have the documents?"
"Yes."
Daniel hesitated.
"There's something you should know before you speak with her."
Caspian's expression darkened.
"What?"
"She claims Victor Hale wasn't the person who arranged the surveillance of Sloan."
Sloan felt cold.
"Then who was?"
Daniel looked directly at her.
"She says the surveillance began three months before you met Caspian."
The world seemed to stop.
Three months before?
That was impossible.
She hadn't even known Caspian existed.
"Why would anyone watch me before I met him?"
Daniel looked deeply uncomfortable.
"That's what we're hoping she can explain."
They entered the elevator.
Sloan gripped her purse.
Caspian stood beside her, close enough that she could feel his presence without him touching her.
For the first time, she didn't move away.
The elevator doors opened.
Daniel led them down a quiet hallway.
Then his phone vibrated.
He read the message.
His expression changed.
"What?" Caspian demanded.
Daniel looked up.
"The accountant says she won't speak unless Sloan comes in alone."
Caspian immediately shook his head.
"Absolutely not."
Sloan stepped forward.
"Then I guess she's going to speak to me."
She approached the conference-room door.
Through the frosted glass, she could see a woman sitting at the table.
There was a thick folder in front of her.
Sloan reached for the handle.
Before she touched it, the woman inside spoke.
"Sloan Bennett?"
Sloan froze.
The voice was familiar.
Terribly familiar.
The woman continued.
"Before you come in, there's something you need to know about your mother."
Sloan slowly pushed open the door.
The woman turned around.
May you like
Sloan's purse slipped from her fingers.
Because sitting at the conference table was the nurse who had signed her mother's death certificate.
