Chapter 2

Dad doesn't ask why I stayed away.

He doesn't say he warned me.

He says, "Where are you?"

I give him the hotel name.

"Are you hurt?"

"Not like that."

"Lauren."

The way he says my name nearly breaks me.

"I found something. I'm sending it to you."

I send the link.

Then the recording.

"Please don't play it where Mom can hear."

He's quiet for a moment.

"Where's Blake?"

"Upstairs."

"Stay away from him."

"I'm outside."

"Good. Nathan's in the city. I'm calling him now."

"Dad, there's something happening tonight."

I tell him.

"Listen to me. You don't have to go anywhere with that man."

"I know."

"Send Nathan the address. Let him handle it."

"I will."

"Your mother and I are here."

I close my eyes.

"Okay."

By the time I get back to the apartment, my phone has a message from Nathan Brooks.

Your father called. I'm available whenever you're ready.

I've known Nathan since I was seventeen. He used to drive my father to meetings. Now he oversees security for the family.

I send him the name of the bar Blake mentioned yesterday.

He calls immediately.

I answer from the hallway.

"Seven o'clock," I tell him. "I'll confirm the room."

"Are you alone right now?"

"Yes."

"Keep your phone with you. I'll meet you before you go inside."

I agree.

Then I unlock my apartment.

The television is still on.

A game is paused on the screen. There's a takeout container on the coffee table, beside an ashtray Blake promised he wouldn't use indoors.

I paid someone to clean this place on Tuesday.

It's Thursday.

In the bedroom, I stop beneath the smoke detector.

Is it there?

Or inside the clock?

I look at the shelf opposite the bed.

The little speaker Blake bought last month.

I turn away before I start searching everything.

This room used to be the only place where I could stop working. Stop thinking. Take off the clothes I wore to meetings and just be tired.

He took that, too.

I get my passport, my laptop, and the folder containing my company documents.

I put them in my work bag.

Then I sit on the couch and wait.

Blake comes home just after five.

He's on the phone.

"Tell them I've got it covered."

He sees me.

His expression changes so quickly that I almost doubt what I heard at the hotel.

"Hey, babe."

He ends the call.

"You're home early."

"So are you."

He bends to kiss me.

I turn my face.

His mouth brushes my hair.

"You okay?"

"Headache."

"Working too hard."

He says it with such easy concern.

As if he hasn't spent the afternoon telling strangers what he plans to do to me.

He drops his keys on the table.

"About tonight. Vanessa booked a private room. Seven o'clock."

"I don't want to go."

He pauses.

"You haven't even met her."

"I'm tired."

"Then get out of the house for a few hours. It'll do you good."

I look at the takeout container between us.

"I'd rather stay home."

His smile fades.

"Lauren, I already told her we were coming."

"Tell her I can't."

"She went out of her way for you."

"For me?"

"Yes. She knows people. Investors. Business owners. People who could actually afford what your company charges."

I stare at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I'm trying to help."

He sits beside me.

Not too close.

He knows how to do this. How to make himself sound reasonable while I feel difficult.

"You've been stressed about losing clients. I thought you'd appreciate it."

My stomach twists.

He knows.

Of course he knows.

He's the reason it's happening.

"Did you tell her that?"

"That business has been slow? Yeah. Why?"

I look away.

He takes it as surrender.

"Come on. One evening. Have a drink, meet a few people. You don't have to stay late."

"Who's going?"

"A few of her friends."

"Names?"

He gives a little laugh.

"What is this, a background check?"

"I'm asking."

"Grant. Derek. Some other guy. You don't know them."

"Do you?"

"A little."

He puts his hand on my knee.

I have to make myself stay still.

"Vanessa's excited to meet you."

"Is she?"

"She thinks what you've built is impressive."

I picture the room upstairs.

His friends laughing.

His voice saying, She wanted a husband.

"All right," I say.

He squeezes my knee.

"There you go."

I stand before he can touch me again.

At the bedroom door, he calls after me.

"Wear the black dress."

I turn.

"The fitted one. With the stockings."

I know the dress.

It's in one of the photographs.

Blake leans back on the couch.

"You look good in that."

I go into the bathroom and close the door.

For a while, I just stand there.

Then I take the dress off its hanger.

I don't change in this apartment.

I put it in a garment bag and tell Blake I'm getting ready at the office.

He barely looks up from his phone.

"Don't be late."

An hour later, I meet Nathan in the lobby of my building.

He takes one look at me.

"Lauren."

I shake my head.

If he's kind to me right now, I won't make it through the next sentence.

"Blake thinks I'm meeting him there."

"I want to confront him with Vanessa there. If I do it at home, he'll deny everything and blame her."

Nathan nods.

"My team will be inside. You can leave whenever you want."

"I want you close."

"I will be."

When I reach the bar, Blake is waiting by the entrance.

His eyes move down my dress.

For the first time all day, he looks pleased to see me.

"There she is."

He takes my bag before I can stop him.

I hold on.

"I've got it."

"Suit yourself."

He puts a hand against my back and guides me toward the private rooms.

"They're going to love you."