For several seconds, nobody moved. Rainwater ticked from the roof of the covered walkway behind Derek, and somewhere inside the stable a horse stamped against the floor. His phone remained raised in one hand, its camera pointed at Luna and me. Luna\u2019s expression changed first. Whatever uncertainty had followed our kiss vanished behind the cool, unreadable face she wore in board meetings.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelete it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Derek lowered the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you recorded us without permission.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOutside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn private property.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family\u2019s private property.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMother owns Blackwood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna stepped away from me. The movement was small, but I felt it as distinctly as if a door had closed.<\/p>\n
Derek noticed.<\/p>\n
His smile deepened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s more interesting than the kiss.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way you two behave when you remember someone is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could have denied it. Instead, I walked toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive her the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Derek looked at me as though I had suddenly become mildly entertaining.<\/p>\n
\u201cCareful, Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said that yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd apparently you ignored me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m developing the habit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna caught my arm before I got closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Derek\u2019s gaze dropped to her hand on my sleeve.<\/p>\n
Everything became evidence around him. A touch. A pause. A badly timed glance.<\/p>\n
I understood then why Luna hated being at Blackwood. In her family, nothing was allowed to remain ordinary.<\/p>\n
Derek slipped the phone into his pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should both relax. I\u2019m not publishing your romantic moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow generous,\u201d Luna said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be a first.\u201d<\/p>\n
His smile vanished.<\/p>\n
Then Eleanor\u2019s voice came from the terrace.<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek.\u201d<\/p>\n
We turned.<\/p>\n
She stood beneath the awning, one hand around a coffee cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAdmiring the newlyweds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were filming them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Derek shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor walked toward us.<\/p>\n
There was nothing dramatic about her movement, yet Derek\u2019s posture changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at Luna.<\/p>\n
Then me.<\/p>\n
Finally he removed the phone and handed it over.<\/p>\n
Eleanor tapped the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlock it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Derek exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re being ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you are thirty-six years old, recording your sister kissing her husband from behind a building. One of us has earned the right to be ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
Derek entered his code.<\/p>\n
Eleanor deleted the video, opened the recently deleted folder, and removed it there too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere.\u201d<\/p>\n
She returned the phone.<\/p>\n
Derek\u2019s face had hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHappy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. But less embarrassed by you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He walked away without another word.<\/p>\n
Eleanor watched until he disappeared inside.<\/p>\n
Then she turned to Luna.<\/p>\n
\u201cI apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to apologize for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been doing it for most of his life. The habit is difficult to break.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna glanced at me.<\/p>\n
Eleanor noticed that too.<\/p>\n
Unlike Derek, she did not seem interested in turning the glance into evidence.<\/p>\n
She merely said, \u201cLunch is at one,\u201d and returned toward the house.<\/p>\n
The moment she was gone, Luna started walking toward the stables.<\/p>\n
I followed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAway from the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stopped beside an empty paddock.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdam.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tone told me what was coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to discuss what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recording?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kiss.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shoved my hands into my pockets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we agreed it wouldn\u2019t happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe said that while standing six inches apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat weakened the credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes searched my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot confuse the arrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not confused.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what was that?\u201d<\/p>\n
I could have made it easy for her.<\/p>\n
Stress.<\/p>\n
Performance.<\/p>\n
Adrenaline.<\/p>\n
Instead I said, \u201cI wanted to kiss you.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when you kissed me back?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
Small.<\/p>\n
Dangerous.<\/p>\n
True.<\/p>\n
The wind moved through the wet trees.<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean we have to turn it into something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut pretending it didn\u2019t happen seems equally stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
She folded her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you suggest?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat we admit we\u2019re attracted to each other and do absolutely nothing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyebrows rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is your solution?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s terrible, but it\u2019s honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
To my surprise, she laughed softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou make terrible plans with impressive confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou married one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The laughter faded, leaving something warmer behind.<\/p>\n
Then her phone rang.<\/p>\n
Victor.<\/p>\n
Whatever softness had entered her face disappeared.<\/p>\n
She answered.<\/p>\n
I watched her listen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you find?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her gaze shifted toward the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cSend it securely.\u201d<\/p>\n
She ended the call.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cameras in my penthouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still can\u2019t prove who installed them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the devices transmitted through a server owned by a private security consultancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose consultancy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone who used to work for Sterling.\u201d<\/p>\n
She started toward the house.<\/p>\n
I followed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGraham Voss.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name meant nothing to me.<\/p>\n
Luna noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was my father\u2019s director of security.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father fired him six months before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now Voss is working with Derek?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you suspect it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside, Luna locked us in a small upstairs sitting room and opened the encrypted report Victor had sent.<\/p>\n
Voss\u2019s company had rented server capacity matching the transmission route used by the cameras. That alone proved little. Security firms routed data for hundreds of clients.<\/p>\n
But Victor had found something else.<\/p>\n
Two months earlier, Derek had paid Voss Consulting ninety thousand dollars.<\/p>\n
The invoice described the work as \u201crisk assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could mean anything,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think it means us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Derek started preparing before I approached you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That chilled me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna enlarged the invoice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe date.\u201d<\/p>\n
I read it.<\/p>\n
Eight weeks before her proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Derek know you were looking for someone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why hire your father\u2019s old security chief?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
A knock sounded.<\/p>\n
Luna closed the laptop.<\/p>\n
Eleanor entered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything all right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWork,\u201d Luna said.<\/p>\n
Eleanor\u2019s mouth tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou came here for one weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father used that answer too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna stiffened.<\/p>\n
Eleanor regretted the sentence immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. You\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her mother glanced at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdam, would you give us a minute?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
I headed for the door.<\/p>\n
Luna touched my wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor looked at her daughter\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
Again, no judgment.<\/p>\n
Just recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She sat opposite us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father\u2019s trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek has been asking questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is hardly new.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor clasped her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked whether your father ever discussed the marriage provision with me before signing the final trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the provision was not intended to force you to marry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why put it there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Even the rain seemed quieter.<\/p>\n
Eleanor continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father believed Derek was becoming increasingly obsessed with controlling the company. He worried that if something happened to him, you would have nobody whose interests were legally aligned with yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could have written protections directly into the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat protections?\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew about this for three years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew he changed the trust. I did not know the final language.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stopped discussing company matters with me toward the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor\u2019s gaze moved toward the windows.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he had begun to suspect someone close to him was leaking information.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt Luna go rigid beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never named anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you think it was Derek.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think your father feared what Derek was becoming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna paced once across the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were grieving. Then you took control of Sterling. Then every conversation between you and your brother became a battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It is an excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna stopped.<\/p>\n
Eleanor looked at her daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course there was.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father kept a private archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat archive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecords. Correspondence. Notes about the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me that if the family ever reached a point where trust became impossible, the archive would explain why he made certain decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you never looked for it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Derek?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe he still is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pieces began rearranging themselves.<\/p>\n
Derek\u2019s obsession with the trust.<\/p>\n
Voss.<\/p>\n
The cameras.<\/p>\n
The altered access records.<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cWhat if the marriage isn\u2019t the only thing he\u2019s trying to prove?\u201d<\/p>\n
Both women looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Luna asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if he thinks being close to you gives me access to something your father left?\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
Before she could answer, her phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
Naomi.<\/p>\n
Luna read the message.<\/p>\n
Then read it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
She handed me the phone.<\/p>\n
Naomi had sent a photograph from Sterling headquarters.<\/p>\n
Someone had broken into Luna\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Nothing obvious had been stolen.<\/p>\n
Except one thing.<\/p>\n
The framed photograph of her father that had sat behind her desk for years.<\/p>\n
Beneath Naomi\u2019s message was another.<\/p>\n
Security found this under the frame.<\/p>\n
A second photograph showed a small handwritten note.<\/p>\n
Three words.<\/p>\n
Ask your husband.<\/p>\n
I looked at Luna.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never met your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would someone write that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face had gone pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
But something in her eyes told me she was no longer certain.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, nobody moved. Rainwater ticked from the roof of the covered walkway behind Derek, and somewhere inside the stable a horse stamped against the floor. His phone remained … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16829,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16803\/revisions\/16829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}