Page 91 of Don't Tell

"He's Adrian Maddox. He's the son of Henrik Maddox."

She looks at me.

"From the Maddox acquisition. His father owns a company I bought when I was twenty-three. He has been the threat behind why I was cuffed in the hotel, the woman at the bar, the theft from the safe, the flowers, the painting, the man I have been telling Marisol to keep an eye on since the morning you rescued me from the bed."

She doesn’t move.

"He has been orchestrating it for years, Suzanne. He approached you because you are mine and because the easiest way to get to me at this point is through you."

I watch her face process. She is quiet for a long moment.

"Does he know?"

"What?"

"Does he know what actually happened with his father? Does he know why you bought the company?"

"I'm not sure."

"Cade."

"I don't think so. I don't — "

"You have to tell him."

"No."

"Cade, yes."

"He's not going to know anything because you're not working with him. He is a problem I’m going to handle. He doesn’t need to be told a goddamn thing."

She looks at me.

She isn’t angry anymore. She has moved past anger. She is somewhere I have not seen her be.

"It's me and you against them, Cade."

"What?"

"Me and you against them. Not me and you against each other."

"Suzanne — "

"I have been meeting this man halfway for weeks. I made compromises for you. I'm trying. You have to meet me halfway."

"Suzanne, the man tried to ruin me and drugged me at a bar. I’m not going to — "

"That is the problem. You didn’t want to talk just now. You were fine overriding me. You did it the moment he walked in the door. You did not want to explain."

I open my mouth.

"You never told me his name, Cade. You told me about his father. You told me about the acquisition. You told me he existed. You never told me his name."

I have nothing. I’m standing in my own foyer and the woman I love is telling me a true thing, and I have no defense.

"Suzanne, I'm sorry."

"I can't keep waiting for you to trust me, Cade. I'm exhausted."