Chapter 1
“No. Your son was marrying into mine.”
Warren froze.
Two of my bodyguards stepped forward behind me.
I lifted one finger.
They stopped.
I did not need Preston dragged from the sofa to prove whose room this had become.
The metal golf club rested at his feet.
His chest rose hard beneath the white dress shirt he had intended to wear beneath a wedding jacket.
Warren pointed at my men.
“Get them out.”
“No.”
“This is between my son and his bride.”
I looked at Preston.
“There is no bride.”
His face changed.
That finally reached him.
I crossed to the vanity, picked up my engagement ring, and closed my fingers around it.
Not putting it back on.
Just removing it from the room where Preston had assumed it meant I belonged to him.
Then I looked at Warren.
“He said something before he swung.”
Preston’s eyes went toward his father.
Interesting.
“What?” Warren asked.
I repeated it exactly.
“This is how my father taught my mother to obey.”
Warren’s expression barely moved.
Too controlled.
I continued.
“What happened to her?”
Preston snapped:
“She left.”
Warren said at the same time:
“She abandoned us.”
Two answers.
Almost identical.
Almost.
I looked at one of my oldest capos standing in the hallway.
Domenic Vale had known every important East Coast family for forty years.
His eyes were on Warren.
Not Preston.
“Domenic.”
He looked at me.
“Did Isolde Hale abandon them?”
Warren turned sharply.
That was answer enough.
Domenic hesitated.
“Boss…”
“Answer.”
His voice lowered.
“No.”
Preston stood.
“What?”
Domenic looked toward him.
“Your mother didn’t disappear the way your father told people.”
The room became completely still.
Preston laughed once.
“She ran away.”
Domenic shook his head.
“She ran.”
A pause.
“Those are not the same thing.”
Warren stepped toward him.
“Enough.”
I moved between them.
“No.”
My voice stayed quiet.
“You walked into my bridal suite and tried to tell me what family I was joining.”
May you like
I held his stare.
“Now we’re going to discuss what happened inside yours.”
