Chapter 1
Claire Bennett had spent eleven months pretending to be ordinary.
Julian Vescari’s assistant.
Quiet.
Efficient.
Forgettable when useful.
None of those things were true.
She was the hidden head of the Bennett organization.
And every morning she entered the Vescari estate for one reason.
Andrew.
Her brother had died eighteen months earlier.
Officially, he had been killed during a failed dockside meeting.
Unofficially, Claire knew someone had lied.
Too many people had stopped talking afterward.
Too many names disappeared from conversations.
And one of the last names Andrew had written in his private notebook had been Julian Vescari.
So Claire got close.
Not as Claire Bennett.
Not as a boss.
As an assistant.
Then the lake changed everything.
Gabriel Knox shoved Julian’s wheelchair backward without hesitation.
The black chair disappeared over the stone edge.
Julian went beneath the water.
Victoria watched.
“Let the lake keep his secrets.”
Claire had never moved faster.
She jumped.
Cold water swallowed the gala noise.
Julian was sinking awkwardly, his jacket snagged beneath one wheel.
Claire reached him.
Freed the fabric.
Pulled him upward.
By the time she dragged him onto the stone steps, his face was pale and his breathing weak.
Then something slipped from his coat.
An envelope.
Water-soaked.
Sealed.
Claire grabbed it before the current could carry it away.
The handwriting stopped her heart.
Andrew.
Julian looked at her.
Weakly:
“Your brother gave me that.”
Claire froze.
Gabriel moved first.
He crossed the terrace and seized Claire’s shoulder.
“Give me the envelope and walk away.”
Then he shoved her against the wall.
Hard.
Claire hit stone.
Gabriel punched her upper arm.
“Now.”
Claire looked down at Andrew’s handwriting.
Then at Gabriel.
“No.”
His expression changed.
He swung again.
Claire slipped beneath it and hit him once across the face.
Gabriel flew backward through the projection screen.
Metal poles collapsed.
Cables burst from the AV case.
The white screen folded over him.
Victoria came next.
Not to help Julian.
Not to help Gabriel.
For the envelope.
Claire pulled it behind her.
Victoria swung.
Claire caught her wrist.
One slap.
One hard kick.
Victoria crashed backward into the music-stand rack.
Guests screamed.
Programs scattered across limestone.
Then the envelope tore slightly.
Something slipped out.
An old photograph.
Andrew.
Younger.
Smiling.
Standing beside Julian.
Not enemies.
Not strangers.
Friends.
Claire stared.
Then Bennett bodyguards appeared behind her.
The disguise was over.
Victoria saw them.
Her face changed.
Claire looked at her.
“You tried to drown the man who kept my brother’s last secret.”
Victoria pushed herself upright beneath the fallen stands.
Then smiled.
Cold.
Cruel.
“Your brother had many secrets.”
Claire’s expression hardened.
Victoria continued.
“Most of them got him killed.”
Julian looked up sharply.
“Victoria.”
She ignored him.
Claire stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria smiled wider.
“It means Andrew should have learned when to stop asking questions.”
Then she looked at Claire.
“And apparently stupidity runs in the family.”
Claire’s hand tightened around the envelope.
Julian whispered:
“Don’t open it here.”
Claire looked at him.
“Why?”
He stared toward Gabriel.
Then toward the ballroom.
“Because they aren’t the only ones who want it.”
Behind the French doors, three guests quietly began leaving.
Claire noticed.
So did Julian.
May you like
And suddenly the gala was no longer full of witnesses.
It was full of suspects.
