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The way we did battle was so different. I used to think power looked like her. But there were so many different versions of power. So many different versions of control.
Of love.
Family.
“The roof? Really?” she asked and wrenched her elbow away from Raj. “I’m fine from here.”
The door clanged shut behind her and it was just us in the early sunshine. Bees working their way from flower to flower.
“Your message was compelling, Poppy, I hope you weren’t lying.”
“No. I have information on Bryant Morelli that you’re going to be interested in.” I lifted the file and the thumb drive.
She held out her hands, her face set in an expression of “so?”
“Apparently Bryant Morelli was paying the Senator to keep very close tabs on you. There are photographs, video surveillance. Your phones were bugged.”
“What?” She honestly looked stunned. And at this point I had enough faith in my ability to read Caroline that I believed she was telling the truth. Caroline did not know what Bryant was doing.
“For years. At least as long as we were married. Probably long before.”
“That fucking weasel, it’s why he approached me at that god damn luncheon. I should have known.” She turned, facing the skyline, gathering her composure. “No one is what they seem, Poppy. I thought I’d learned that lesson.”
For a second I felt pity for her. And then I remembered all the ways she’d fucked with me over the years.
“How deep does the surveillance go? All the way into Halcyon? Into my family?” I heard the question she wasn’t asking. Who else betrayed me?
“Honestly, Caroline, it just seemed like Bryant was interested in you. It looks like he skipped opportunities to spy on your family and on the business. He could have really done some damage. But he didn’t.”
Caroline blinked. Again and then again and I realized, all at once, that she seemed to be blinking back tears.
“Are you all right?” I asked her.
“I don’t know why I’m surprised,” Caroline said and then took a deep breath. “That man has been a part of my life for so long. For, and I’m not kidding, Poppy, as long as I can remember, my life has been tied to Bryant’s. And it wasn’t always a war.”
I held my breath. Every part of this was unexpected. I’d gone into this ready to fight and now I was on the verge of comforting her?
“What are you saying, Caroline?”
“I’m saying he wasn’t always like this. So…hard. So full of violence. He was always intense, but it wasn’t so unhinged.”
“Did you have a relationship with him?”
“I did. But I met Lane not too long after that…” She shrugged. “Bryant does not accept losing.”
“You’re saying he has spent billions of dollars to watch you. From afar?”
“It’s almost romantic, isn’t it?” Caroline said.
This is what passed for romance in Caroline’s life? It was sad, that’s what it was. I thought of Ronan downstairs and how he could turn me inside out with a touch. How I would walk to the ends of the earth to keep him safe.
No. I’d take Ronan’s romance forever.
“So, why did you bring me here?” Caroline said.
I explained Bryant’s demands that Ronan come and work for him and this information might be the only thing that could keep Ronan safe, but only if I returned it to him.
Caroline shook her head. “Bryant will never keep his word.”
“I know,” I said.
“He’ll tell you you’re safe and then when he wants to pull the chain—”
“I know, Caroline,” I said wondering how deep their relationship went. How dangerous it had gotten. “That’s why I’m giving you the file.”
Caroline’s eyes went wide, the grief that had clung to her on this roof vanished. “You’ll give me that?” she asked.
“I want Ronan free of both of you,” I said. “You’re the only one who can manage Bryant.” And now that I knew the origins of their relationship, I saw why she had that power. Because he gave it to her.
Obsession.
Love?
I held out the documents and she took them. Though when she pulled them I didn’t let go. “I’ve made copies,” I said. “And there’s enough information in here that could damage your legacy for a long time. Fuck me on this Caroline and I will ruin you.”
I let go of the files and she clutched them to her chest.
“I’ll keep you safe, Poppy,” Caroline said. “The way I promised your mother I would.”
“Don’t bring my mother into this,” I said.
“Fine. I’ll protect you the way I always should have.”
Again, I felt that longing to believe her. To let her promise mean something to me. But that was a child’s dream and Caroline had shown me her true colors enough times that I knew not to believe her. It was why I’d made copies, after all.
I’d learned my lessons from this woman.
Good and bad.
