Chapter 9 - The Night Dante Came Back
Evelyn Ashford had once been Evelyn Vale.
Not by marriage.
By birth.
Lucian’s father and Cordelia’s mother had been cousins.
The Vale family had owned a minority interest in Port Mercer generations earlier.
Cordelia stared at Lucian.
“You knew?”
“Not until recently.”
“Are we related?”
“Distantly enough that our attorneys would call it genealogical trivia.”
Despite herself, Cordelia laughed.
Dante did not.
Lucian’s historical claim was not ownership.
It was a right of first refusal if Port Mercer were sold outside Evelyn’s descendants.
Which meant Lucian could block Arthur.
Not Cordelia.
For the first time, the legal maze contained something that protected her.
The annulment hearing was scheduled for forty-eight hours later.
That night Dante came to the townhouse alone.
Cordelia met him in the library.
“I signed everything Rachel sent.”
He handed her the papers.
No objections.
No claims.
Full waiver of any interest in her inheritance.
Cordelia read the signature.
“Why?”
“Because I should have done one thing right before now.”
Her eyes burned.
“Dante.”
“I’m not asking you back.”
“Good.”
“I know.”
He smiled sadly.
“I wanted to tell you something without using it as a defense.”
She waited.
“Elena and I ended romantically almost a year ago.”
Cordelia frowned.
“The messages—”
“Were part real, part performance. She had begun feeding me information about Henry. I continued letting her believe I might come back.”
“You kissed her?”
“Yes.”
“Met her secretly?”
“Yes.”
“Lied to me?”
“Yes.”
“Then the technical category doesn’t matter.”
“No.”
She appreciated that he understood.
Dante looked around.
“Vale treats you well?”
“He treats me like I can make decisions.”
“That sounds pointed.”
“It is.”
Dante smiled faintly.
“I deserve that too.”
Before leaving, he stopped.
“I did love you, Cordelia.”
She looked at him.
“Maybe you did.”
His face softened.
“But love that requires the other person to live inside a lie isn’t enough.”
Dante nodded.
“No.”
He left.
Cordelia cried after the door closed.
Lucian found her later.
He did not ask why.
He sat at the opposite end of the sofa.
After a while Cordelia said, “You can sit closer.”
He did.
Not touching.
Just closer.
“You know what’s embarrassing?”
“What?”
“I miss him.”
“That isn’t embarrassing.”
“He betrayed me.”
“Feelings aren’t verdicts.”
She looked at Lucian.
“You always talk like that?”
“Only when I’m trying not to say the wrong thing.”
“And what’s the wrong thing?”
His gaze held hers.
“That I’m glad you left him.”
Cordelia’s breath caught.
Lucian looked away first.
“I shouldn’t have said it.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re seven days out of a wedding.”
“Six.”
“That improves nothing.”
She smiled.
Then the lights went out.
Lucian stood instantly.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“Of course not.”
Emergency lights illuminated the hallway.
A guard shouted from downstairs.
Then a crash.
Lucian moved in front of Cordelia as they descended.
The front door stood open.
One guard lay unconscious.
A black envelope rested on the floor.
Cordelia picked it up.
Inside was a photograph of her sleeping in the townhouse the previous night.
Someone had been inside her bedroom.
On the back were six words:
DIVORCE HIM AND YOU DIE TUESDAY.
Lucian’s expression became lethal.
Cordelia looked toward the dark staircase.
May you like
A floorboard creaked above them.
Someone was still inside the house.
