Chapter 2

2.

Right after dinner, Julian's trusted man Frankie came to summon me to the lake-view suite. Scarlett wanted to apologize to me in person.

"No need." I lifted my teacup. "Let her focus on Julian."

This routine was ancient. I had no interest in playing along.

Frankie's face tightened with discomfort. "Madam, it's the boss's order. You know I can't disobey."

Lucia tried to step in and refuse for me. I pressed her wrist down.

Apparently this Scarlett was even less patient than I'd imagined.

Fine. Let's play.

Frankie and I had barely reached the suite door when I heard Julian's voice inside. That doting tone was something I'd never once heard in three years of marriage to him. "Stop crying. You're about to be a mother. How are you still acting like a child?"

"You only care about this baby." Scarlett's voice dripped with coy reproach. "Fine. I'll leave as soon as I've had him. Your heart's only in the child anyway. You don't care about me at all."

Julian didn't get angry. This man once destroyed an entire kitchen because the chef overcooked his steak by one minute. And he didn't get angry.

I heard him pull her into his arms. "You're not going anywhere. You and the baby―you're both mine."

A maid announced my arrival.

Scarlett caught sight of me at that moment. The softness on her face vanished in an instant. Replaced by something precise. A smiling, calculating assessment.

Her eyes traveled from my shoes to the pearls at my ears. The look of someone appraising clearance inventory.

Then she smiled.

It was a smile I'd seen a thousand times in the hallways of Manhattan private schools. Sweet enough to rot your teeth. Poisonous enough to kill.

"Mrs. Moretti," she said, putting weight on the title like she was savoring an expired joke. "You must be here to congratulate me. Julian says I don't need to do anything. Just rest and take care of the baby."

She tilted her head and continued in that tone of sharing a secret. "You know, Julian says I make him feel like a real man. Not a business partner. He says being with you feels like sitting in a board meeting. With me, he finally feels like a living, breathing man."

She finished and looked up at Julian, eyes bright. "Darling, when our son is born, don't you think this estate could use some redecorating? Some of these rooms feel too much like a law firm."

Julian was scrolling through his phone off to the side. He grunted an absent "Mm."

I stood in the doorway. Didn't move. Lucia's fingers tightened around my sleeve.

Scarlett's smile widened.

She stood and walked up to me. Lowered her voice until only the two of us could hear. "Mrs. Moretti, honestly. If I were you, spending every day guarding a man who has no use for you, I'd have taken the money and left a long time ago. Don't you feel embarrassed? He doesn't want you. He hasn't wanted you for a long time. He just doesn't know how to fire an employee who happens to be his wife."

She stepped back. Her voice returned to that sugary public volume. "Oh my god, I didn't mean it like that―please don't misunderstand―"

Before she could finish, she tripped over the sofa leg. Stumbled backward two steps. Her glass of sparkling water splashed all over her dress.

Julian finally looked up.

He saw Scarlett standing drenched in front of me. Eyes red-rimmed. He saw me facing her with no expression at all.

"Genevieve." His voice dropped. "Did you touch her?"

I looked at him.

"No."

"She's standing in front of you, soaked. And you're telling me you did nothing?"

"Check the hallway cameras."

Julian stood. He pulled Scarlett behind him, walked up to me, and looked down. That appraising stare. Like he was evaluating a malfunctioning asset.

"I've noticed something interesting," he said slowly. "Ever since Scarlett moved in, wherever you show up, something happens to her. She just wants to get along with you. She's carrying my child. She swallowed her pride to come apologize to you. And this is how you humiliate her?"

Scarlett peeked out from behind him. Eyes red. Voice small as a wounded child's. "Julian, don't blame her. It really wasn't her fault. I lost my footing. Maybe... maybe the baby kicked."

The vein at Julian's temple jumped.

"Now." He pointed at the door. His voice went cold. "You're going to the glass conservatory. You'll stay there until Scarlett says she's fine."