I decided that “We’ll see” was the best option.
“Very good, ma’am. The far elevator goes directly to the penthouse.”
“Thank you.” I followed his directions, trying to look like I was comfortable with this kind of grandeur instead of the way I really felt, which was as if I were a tourist in someone else’s life.
It was the first time since Brendan’s retirement party that I felt uncomfortable, especially since Ronan and I had been learning all the ways we fit perfectly since. In bed, yes, but also in the ways our minds met, in the way we could simply exist together in the same small space. His townhouse wasn’t tiny, especially by Boston standards, but it wasn’t a mansion either.
But that was exactly what I found on the other side of the elevator’s doors.
The Quayden penthouse was objectively beautiful. Pristine, untouched, and completely devoid of color except for a modern painting slashing across the far wall of the house-sized foyer and the blue skies and green parks through the windows. It had more in common with a museum than a home.
I looked down a hallway to my left, where a series of closed doors seemed to repeat for days. To the right, another led to more open spaces toward which my footsteps echoed on the marble floor.
There wasn’t a book in sight.
I hated everything about it.
“Hello?” I called as I ventured further toward the open doors. “Is anyone here?”
Echoes of sensible oxfords clipped down the hall, and a moment later, Ronan’s assistant emerged from the far end.
Ruth Delgado was easily the most competent person I had ever met. According to Ronan, the fifty-something woman had served as Brendan’s executive assistant for the entire time he had worked at Blackguard—nearly twenty years. She went to work for Ronan when Brendan left and had proven herself indispensable by managing his schedule like a drill sergeant, anticipating his moves before he made him, and telling him when he was screwing up (but only when his other family members weren’t there).
Now four solid weeks into his new role, Ronan was sure of one thing: Ruth Delgado was one of the few people at Blackguard he could trust.
“Hi, Ruth,” I greeted her with a smile. “How are you today?”
“Very well, Mrs. Black, thank you.”
“Please, I keep telling you. Call me Laney.”
“And I keep telling you, Mrs. Black—I could never do that. It wouldn’t be appropriate.” She gestured back toward the direction from which she had come. “This way, please.”
I followed her into a football-field-sized living room bordered with picture windows looking out onto the Common, Cambridge, and beyond. Squinting, I thought I could make out Charlestown from here.
“Were you able to find the building all right?” Ruth asked as we both sat down on a white couch, in front of which several folders were laid out on a long coffee table.
I nodded. “The driver you sent took me straight here.”
Ruth looked relieved. “Good. He’s new, so please let me know if you have any issues. Mr. Black says you still don’t yet have a security detail?”
I shook my head. “It hardly seems necessary. It’s Ronan everyone wants, right?”
“Hmmm. Yes. But you’re married to one of the most powerful people in the country, my dear. When the news isannounced publicly tomorrow night, you’ll become a target.” She looked uneasy. “You do know what happened to Ms. Bishop, don’t you?”
“Ms. Bishop… oh, you mean Simone. It was horrible. But those men are gone now, right?”
For some reason, the kidnapping that had rocked the Black family seemed more theoretical to me. Ronan never talked about it—in fact, the few times it had come up, he immediately changed the subject and searched for a cigarette.
He only seemed to smoke when he was stressed.
“Of course, Mrs. Black. I’m assured the whole business was taken care of in Nevada.”
That made me still. “Wait. Are you saying that’s why Ronan was in Las Vegas the weekend we met?”
For the first time, Ruth looked uneasy, like she had made a mistake. “Oh, well. I really couldn’t say. When his brother was working as COO and then Interim CEO, your husband spent a fair amount of time in Las Vegas on behalf of the company. Blackguard has quite a bit of… unofficial business in the area, or so I’ve been given to understand.”
I frowned. “What do you mean, ‘unofficial’?”
