Page 136 of Discretion at Its Finest

More Than Ten Years Later

The meeting room hummed with low conversation. California sun spilled across the table, catching the silver in my watch and the edge of Genevieve’s hair as she sat beside me, legs crossed gracefully, posture elegant and disciplined as the fitted cream dress I picked out for her early this morning skimmed along her body.

She was listening to one of my executives dissect quarterly projections, but her attention drifted every few seconds, toward me, the window, toward the ocean beyond the skyline. She’d been doing that more often lately. Thinking too loudly. Feeling too much.

I should’ve been paying attention too. But when she got like this on days like these, she had all my attention, despite her acting as if she didn’t love it.

She’d been doing better these days. Her reconnecting with Brielle had calmed the storm in her mind. But the rejection from Eugene, that was what had broken her all over again.

When they reconnected all those years ago, it didn’t take me long to realize it was more than just one call. Only took me a few hours after the first to tap into the phone and find out Brielle had been onto her, knew she was more than just a distant relative. And even then, she accepted her so easily. It gave my Vieve a purpose again, brightened her days, calmed her nights. I couldn’t take that away from her. Not again.

Of course she’d gotten attached again, and against my better judgement, I let her.

And even though it took a few nights of her on her knees under my desk thanking me for staying calm about her breaking the one phone call rule and a few hundred thousand dollars’ worth of tech and connections to make sure Brielle’s husband wouldn’t be able to trace her, it was all worth it.

The only downside of this was Eugene’s refusal. His silence and rejection. She’d tried to hide her feelings about it from me… My wife, who couldn’t lie to save her life.

I could’ve put a stop to it years ago. Protected her from having hope. Shielding her away from being hurt. Keeping her hidden because she was mine. But she needed her daughter. They needed each other.

Though all I could think was how fragile this new balance was. How fast it could unravel.

How dangerous it was for her heart to be cracked open again—and how much more complicated it would be if anyone realized she wasn’t dead. Or that I wasn’t.

My phone vibrated once against the polished table. The hand that wasn’t holding my wife’s picked it up. My eyes roamed over the message and my blood ran hot the longer I read. Slowly, I lowered the phone, pushing myself to my feet before I felt her tug my hand, her head snapping toward me instantly.

“Reid?” she whispered, voice soft, barely meant for the room to hear. “Honey… is everything okay?”

I lowered my head, brushing my lips against her temple, letting my fingers caress the tenseness out of her shoulders.

“I just need a minute. I’ll be back,” I assured her.

She watched me carefully before nodding reluctantly, turning back to the gentlemen who were conveniently not listening and definitelynotwatching our interaction.

I left the room in a haste, my rage growing as I dialed the number, holding the phone to my ear.

“Reid Kaufman,”Lockwood drawled, his usual twisted amusement curling through the speaker.“To what do I owe the pleasure this fine afternoon?”

“You incompetent bastard.”

“Shouldn’t have answered the phone…”

“You told me the Newman problem was handled.”

He paused for a moment.“Handled is… subjective.”

“It’s been fifteen fucking years, Lockwood. Marissa is alive,” I clipped out. “Gregory and Cheryl, the people who terrorized my children, the family that almost killed my daughter, could still be fucking alive.”

A low exhale slid through the receiver. It wasn’t surprise. It sounded more like annoyance.“So the letter reached you.”

I stopped pacing. “You knew already?”

“Reid,”Calvin began, tone straining under false patience,“if I had known there was a loose end—”

“A loose end?” I snapped. “The resurgence of the people I had you erase, the safety of my family is more than just that.Youare about to become a fucking loose end if this is not fixed. You hadone job, Calvin.”

“No,”he corrected coolly,“I had three. Eliminate the Newman family tree. Keep your son from losing his goddamn mind. And keep tabs on the daughter you don’t even know belongs to you.”

“You want to repeat that?”