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“Wow,” said Tess. “She was going to be the first black prime minister of Canada and she let that white man drag her down? Unbelievable!”

“Why you putting the blame on her?” Cory asked.

“Because she’s the one with everything to lose, Cory. Mr. Skeffington was just being Mr. Skeffington.”

“Mr. Skeffington has everything to lose too,” Cory shot back. “He’s going to lose Joy.”

Tess realized it too. She looked at Joy. But Joy was busy searching online for that video that was supposedly “circulating.”

“We need to find that video that news lady was talking about,” Tess said as she began searching for the video too.

But Cory was more concerned about Joy. “Are you okay, Joy, baby?”

“Of course she’s not okay, Cory,” said Tess as she continued searching the internet. “What a ridiculous thing to ask.”

But Joy ignored Tess. She felt numb, as if her body wouldn’t let her believe it could be true. As if she refused to believe for a second that William could hurt her like that.

But they said the video was authentic. They said it was definitely William and that woman. And just the thought of it spurred Joy into action too. She searched with even more vigor.

But before she could find it, Cory looked toward the entrance and saw Maximus Bluff and Bobby Latham enter the club.

“Uh-oh,” he said. “It must be true, Joy. It must be true!”

Tess and Joy looked at Cory. Cory began pointing toward the entrance with an effeminate shake to his fingers. “The chief-of-staff and our security chief is heading this way. Something’s wrong girl. Something’s wrong.”

Joy knew it, too, as she and Tess were looking where Cory was pointing. But Joy kept her eyes trained on Bobby. Bobby was the highest-ranking black person at SPR, and after William warned him off of having interest in Joy, he and Joy had become good friends. Her first job at SPR was working as Bobby’s assistant, although that didn’t last long.

That was why, when she saw that shattered look on his face, she knew immediately that every word that anchorwoman had spoken was true. Her heart began hammering.

“Hello Tess. Hello Cory,” Bobby said.

“Hello, Mr. Latham,” said Cory. “What’s the matter, Mr. Latham?”

Bobby looked at Joy. “Mrs. Skeffington, you need to come with us.”

“Why she got to come with y’all?” Tess asked him.

“Stay out of it, Contessa,” Cory said.

“I just wanna know on whose orders does she have to go with them?”

“On Mr. Skeffington’s order,” said Max with clenched teeth. It was bad enough.

Then Bobby looked at Joy again. “Please, Joy. Come with us.”

Joy wasn’t certain if she wanted to even be in the same room with William right now. But she knew she had to. She had to look him in the eyes and hear it from him. Directly from him.

She stood up. Tess and Cory stood up too. They were going to be there for her. Somebody had to!

But Max stopped them right there. “Mrs. Skeffington is calling it a night,” he said. “We’ll see you two at the office tomorrow.”

Max Bluff wasn’t the kind of man anybody liked, but everybody respected. They also knew that he, just like Bobby, had a lot of power off of Mr. Skeffington’s back. Tess and Cory knew not to argue with him or Bobby as they escorted Joy out of the club. Michael Iverson, Joy’s bodyguard, hurried out behind her.

Then Cory and Tess looked at each other. If they didn’t know how serious William Skeffington’s womanizing was before, they knew it now.

And even with that, Tess had a feeling that the half still haven’t yet been told.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN