CHAPTER 2: THE MAN SHE MARRIED
Adrian’s champagne glass slipped from his fingers.
It struck the marble floor but didn’t break.
Claire watched it roll beneath the table as the guests began whispering.
Her husband looked confused.
Then wounded.
Then furious.
“You married me knowing who you were?” he demanded.
Claire touched the bruise beneath her eye.
“You married me knowing exactly who I was.”
The accusation spread through the ballroom like electricity.
Adrian stepped forward, but Richard’s security team immediately moved between them.
“That’s insane,” Adrian said. “I met you at a hospital fundraiser.”
“No,” Claire replied. “You arranged to meet me at a hospital fundraiser.”
Evelyn Whitmore’s expression remained perfectly controlled.
Only her hands betrayed her. They trembled slightly as she reached for her purse.
Richard noticed.
“Put it on the table.”
Evelyn gave him a cold smile.
“You may own this hotel, Richard, but you don’t own me.”
“Tonight, I own every exit.”
Claire looked toward the enormous charity-auction display in the center of the ballroom. Behind a collection of diamonds and antique watches stood a black steel case.
That case had been the reason she attended the gala.
It contained records from the night of the fire.
At least, that was what her anonymous source had promised.
Adrian followed her gaze.
His expression changed for only a second, but Claire saw it.
He knew what was inside.
Richard placed himself between Claire and Adrian.
“Did you give her that bruise?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“She broke into my mother’s office.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I grabbed her. She fell against the desk.”
Claire laughed quietly.
The sound was more disturbing than tears would have been.
“You locked the door first.”
The guests nearest them began stepping backward.
Adrian looked around, suddenly aware that every phone in the ballroom was recording.
“This is a private family matter.”
“No,” Claire said. “The fire was a family matter. The forged death certificate was a family matter. The people who disappeared afterward were family matters.”
She pointed toward the black steel case.
“But what’s inside that box could destroy half the people in this room.”
Someone near the rear exit began pounding on the locked doors.
Then all the lights went out.
A woman screamed.
There was the sound of running footsteps.
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When the emergency lights came on three seconds later, the steel case was gone.
And Adrian was holding a gun.
