Chapter 2 - The Other Woman
The elevator opened onto the hotel’s top floor at 3:46 a.m.
Two security men waited outside.
Mave looked at Silas.
“More secrets?”
“Security.”
“Those words seem interchangeable with you.”
Silas dismissed the men.
The suite had two bedrooms.
Mave immediately chose the one farthest from his.
“Bathroom?”
“Inside.”
“Exit?”
“Stairwell at the end of the hall.”
Silas blinked.
“You’re memorizing exits?”
“Three men broke into your townhouse.”
“My townhouse?”
“You gave me a key. You didn’t give me the deed.”
That landed.
Silas removed his coat.
Mave saw the blood on his cuff again.
“You’re hurt.”
“Not mine.”
“Good.”
He stared at her.
She folded her arms.
“Don’t mistake basic human concern for forgiveness.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
His phone rang.
Silas answered.
“Speak.”
Mave watched his expression change.
“When?”
A pause.
“Bring her here.”
Mave straightened.
“Bring who here?”
Silas ended the call.
“Vivien.”
Mave laughed in disbelief.
“No.”
“She was followed leaving the hospital.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Mave—”
“I am not spending sunrise having coffee with your wife.”
“You deserve answers.”
“I deserved them yesterday.”
Silas had no response.
Twenty minutes later, the elevator opened.
Vivien Creel Carbone stepped out.
Mave recognized her immediately.
Same dark hair.
Same elegant face.
But the woman from television had looked composed.
This woman looked exhausted.
She stopped when she saw Mave.
“Mave Holloway.”
Mave’s eyes narrowed.
“You know my name?”
Vivien looked at Silas.
“Oh, this is worse than I thought.”
“Vivien,” Silas warned.
“No. You’ve clearly done enough talking.”
Mave almost laughed.
Almost.
Vivien walked closer.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“For being married to my boyfriend?”
“For finding out on television.”
Mave looked between them.
“How long have you known about me?”
“Seven months.”
Mave’s face changed.
Silas stepped forward.
“Mave—”
She held up one finger.
“Not one word.”
Silas stopped.
Mave faced Vivien.
“Seven months?”
Vivien nodded.
“And you were fine with it?”
“Our marriage isn’t—”
“Don’t.”
Mave’s voice hardened.
“Do not tell me your marriage isn’t real. There’s a certificate somewhere saying otherwise.”
“There is.”
“Then explain it without insulting my intelligence.”
Vivien sat down slowly.
“My father was Daniel Creel.”
Mave recognized the name.
“Creel Shipping?”
“Yes.”
Vivien continued.
“Four years ago, my father died. His partners tried to seize the company. My inheritance included controlling shares that couldn’t legally transfer while I was married.”
Mave looked at Silas.
“So you married her.”
“Yes.”
Vivien answered instead.
“Silas’s father arranged it. I needed the Carbone name. The Carbones needed my shipping votes kept away from their rivals.”
“Romantic.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Did you live together?”
“No.”
“Sleep together?”
Silas’s expression hardened.
Vivien answered calmly.
“No.”
Mave stared at her.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No,” Vivien said. “I expect Silas to prove it because he’s the idiot who hid it.”
Silas looked almost offended.
Mave actually laughed once.
Then hated herself for it.
Vivien reached into her bag and placed a folder on the table.
“Divorce papers.”
Mave looked down.
They had been signed.
Weeks earlier.
Silas’s signature was already there.
Vivien’s too.
“The marriage was supposed to end tonight,” Silas said.
Mave looked up sharply.
“That’s what you meant.”
“When I told you everything would change.”
“You were going to tell me after?”
“I was coming home to tell you everything.”
“That’s still lying until the final convenient minute.”
“Yes.”
The immediate answer surprised her.
Silas continued.
“I thought I could close the marriage before I put the truth in your hands.”
“You mean control the truth.”
“Yes.”
Again.
No excuse.
Mave looked away.
Vivien’s phone suddenly buzzed.
She checked it.
Her face drained.
Silas noticed.
“What?”
Vivien turned the screen around.
A photograph showed all three of them through the hotel window.
Taken seconds earlier.
Underneath:
NOW WE HAVE THEM BOTH.
Silas looked toward the glass.
“Everybody away from the windows.”
Mave didn’t move.
She stared at the photograph.
“Who knows this floor?”
Silas answered quietly.
“Very few people.”
Mave met his eyes.
“Then stop looking outside.”
Silas understood.
May you like
“The person hunting us is already inside your organization.”
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