Perhaps it was my tone. Perhaps it was the fact that I had not cried, shouted, or begged her to explain. She had expected a humiliated wife. Instead, she was watching a woman ask a question she suddenly feared hearing answered.
“I suspended the Blackwood credit guarantees,” Marcus said. “Nothing illegal. Nothing theatrical. The agreements allow us to withdraw review-based support if there is evidence of undisclosed liability or executive misconduct.”
My eyes moved to the broad staircase leading to the private reception floor.
“Evidence?”
“I’ll explain when you’re alone.”
That answer unsettled me more than the first.
Mila pulled one hand free from beneath my palm and looked up.
“Mommy, can I hear now?”
I realized I was still covering one of her ears.
I lowered my hand immediately and crouched beside her.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“Are we going upstairs?”
Her paper necklace glimmered with crooked streaks of purple glitter. One of the red heart stickers had folded over at the edge. She had insisted on making it herself because, in her words, store necklaces did not tell Daddy she loved him enough.
