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“Do you think Audrey is after more money?” How much did her silence cost the Wolf family?
“He matched her boarding school salary for eighteen years. The agreed-to payment schedule is right here.”
“That’s a lot better than what she would have made in prison, but it’s nothing compared to what you’re worth.” I don’t even know how much Henry is worth. I’ve never asked, and honestly, I don’t care. When I told him I’d love him if he gave all this up and worked alongside my father on the farm, I meant it.
“That’s what’s in writing.” His lips are pressed in thought. “I can’t see my father not taking good care of them. Violetisa Wolf.”
“So he may have paid her more? Or meant to, but then he died.”
“There’s nothing about either of them in his will. No paper trail anywhere.”
Because he had no intention of Henry ever meeting Violet.
Eerie silence hangs throughout the penthouse. And here I thought planning a wedding around Mama’s demands would be my biggest challenge in the coming months. Now it seems I’m about to become a stepmother, and to a girl who is only six years younger than me, no less. “What are you going to do?”
“What am I supposed to do? I can’t have a daughter.”
And yet you do.
Henry looks at me, and for the first time since I’ve met him, through all the trials he’s faced—Scott trying to sabotage his takeover of Wolf Hotels with a threat of fake rape charges by his ex-assistant, Scott manipulating my insecurities opening weekend to destroy Henry and me, Henry’s father’s death, which turned out to be murder, his near-death experience in the mine—he looks genuinely lost.
Henry wanders over to the window to stare out into the night sky, his back to me, the contract dangling from his fingertips.
This is jarring—the invincible Henry Wolf, who always has a plan, who moves forward at breakneck speed, hurdling over problems to get to his destination, is facing something he doesn’t know how to tackle.
A fifteen-year-old girl.
“Why would Audrey let Violet show up here unannounced like this? And in the middle of the night?” he asks, but I’m not sure he’s looking for an answer.
“Maybe she doesn’t know Violet came.”
“Which would mean Audrey had no plans to break the deal with my father. Maybe she doesn’t want me in Violet’s life.”
“What doyouwant?” I’m sure teenage Henry never imagined he’d be revisiting his indiscretions later, in the form of another human being. Is he looking for a way out of it now?
His jaw tenses, but he doesn’t answer the question. “There’s a Philly address here.”
“That’s a long way for her to travel, alone.”
“This contract was signed sixteen years ago. I doubt they still live there.”
“Dyson could help you track them down, if that’s what you want.”
“It’s not about what I want, is it? It’s about what’s right.” His shoulders drop as if weighed down. “I could do without a life-altering shock for a week or two. Is that too much to ask?”
I close the distance and curl my arms around his waist. He smells delicious—of cedar and spice. “We’ll figure it out.”
Henry rests his chin on top of my head, allowing me to hold him in silence while his thoughts sink into the depths.
Finally, he sighs, breaking the spell. “I need to comb through this in detail, see how my father’s lawyers tied her up so I know what I’m dealing with. I’ll see you in bed.”
A dismissal. He wants time alone to absorb and think. “Don’t stay up too late,” I warn him, but it’s futile. If I know Henry at all, he won’t come to bed until he has every answer he’s looking for.
* * *
“Dyson found them.”
I blink against the daylight slipping through the crack in the curtains, taking a moment to gather my bearings. Henry stands in the doorway to the bathroom, a white towel wrapped around his waist, his hair damp. I’m not sure he even made it to bed.
