Chapter 4 - Claire Asks the Question He Cannot Escape
Nolan stood before Maya could.
“Stay here.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Absolutely not.”
“Maya.”
“You don’t get to start ordering me around again.”
“I’m not ordering you.”
“You just said stay here.”
Nolan exhaled.
She had a point.
“Fine. Please stay here.”
“No.”
Despite the situation, Nolan almost laughed.
Some things about Maya had not changed.
They walked into the corridor together.
Wade Dalton waited near the reception desk.
At forty-six, Wade had the kind of polished appearance that made people trust him before he spoke. Gray at the temples. Expensive navy overcoat. Perfectly knotted scarf.
He looked like a man arriving for a board meeting.
Not like someone who had intercepted photographs of newborn children.
His expression changed when he saw Nolan.
“Nolan.”
“What are you doing here?”
Wade smiled slightly.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
Maya folded her arms.
“This isn’t his office.”
Wade looked at her.
“Maya.”
She stared back.
“Don’t say my name like we’re friends.”
Nolan stepped between them slightly.
“How did you know we were here?”
Wade’s expression remained calm.
“I called the center.”
“They wouldn’t give you information.”
“People give information all the time when you ask correctly.”
Something inside Nolan hardened.
“Why?”
Wade looked at him.
“Because I’m concerned.”
“About?”
“You.”
Maya laughed.
Wade ignored her.
“You disappeared from Christmas lunch. Marcus is pulling archived security records. You canceled two meetings this morning. Something is obviously happening.”
Nolan stared at him.
“How do you know Marcus is pulling records?”
Wade’s confidence slipped.
Barely.
But Nolan saw it.
“Routine executive visibility.”
“No.”
“Nolan—”
“You monitor corporate security requests?”
“I’m COO.”
“You’re not Marcus’s supervisor.”
Wade’s jaw tightened.
Maya watched both men.
Nolan stepped closer.
“Did you intercept Maya’s letter?”
Wade looked at Maya.
Then back.
“What letter?”
“The one you signed for.”
“That was eighteen months ago.”
“So you remember.”
Wade realized the mistake.
“I sign for dozens of things.”
“You said ‘that was eighteen months ago.’ I never told you when.”
The hallway went quiet.
Wade adjusted his coat.
“You’re clearly upset.”
“Did you destroy it?”
“Of course not.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t remember.”
“It contained photographs of my daughters.”
The word daughters changed Wade’s face.
Not surprise.
Annoyance.
That frightened Nolan more.
Wade glanced toward Maya.
“So she finally convinced you.”
Nolan’s voice dropped.
“Careful.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“From eighteen-month-old children?”
“From making emotional decisions.”
Maya stepped forward.
“No. You don’t get to do this again.”
Wade’s smile disappeared.
“Maya, this is between Nolan and me.”
“No. You came into my apartment while I was pregnant.”
Nolan watched Wade closely.
Wade didn’t deny it.
“You told me Nolan wanted nothing to do with me.”
“I communicated what I understood.”
“You offered me money.”
“I offered practical help.”
“You told me to disappear.”
“That is not what I said.”
“You said, ‘A clean separation would be healthier for everyone.’”
Nolan’s hands curled.
“Did you?”
Wade sighed.
“Nolan, you were negotiating the NorthStar acquisition. Your life was chaos. You told me you believed the pregnancy was suspicious.”
“I did not authorize you to approach her.”
“I solved a problem.”
The sentence hung in the air.
Maya looked at Nolan.
Nolan looked at the man he had trusted for eleven years.
“A problem?”
Wade immediately recalibrated.
“Poor choice of words.”
“No,” Nolan said. “Probably the most honest thing you’ve said.”
Reception staff pretended not to listen.
Nolan lowered his voice.
“Leave.”
“Nolan.”
“Now.”
Wade’s expression hardened.
“You’re going to regret letting this affect business.”
Nolan stepped close enough that Wade finally stopped smiling.
“You seem confused about what I’m going to regret.”
Wade held his gaze for several seconds.
Then turned and left.
Maya exhaled.
“That man scares me.”
Nolan looked toward the door.
“He should.”
“Why?”
“Because I think this is bigger than you.”
Her face tightened.
“Meaning?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Maya shook her head.
“Your world always has to turn everything into strategy.”
“This isn’t strategy.”
“It sounds like it.”
Nolan looked at her.
“Why would my COO care whether I had children?”
Maya had no answer.
Neither did Nolan.
Yet.
They returned to the office.
Maya put the photographs back into her envelope.
“I should go.”
“Can I ask you one thing?”
“You’ve asked a lot.”
“The man Wade photographed you with two years ago.”
Maya froze.
“What photograph?”
Nolan told her.
Restaurant.
Tall man.
Wade’s implication that Maya was seeing someone else.
Her expression went from confusion to disbelief.
Then anger.
“That was my brother.”
Nolan felt the floor drop.
“You told me your brother lived in Seattle.”
“He did.”
“Why was he here?”
“Our mother was having surgery.”
Nolan shut his eyes.
Maya laughed bitterly.
“Oh my God.”
“I never asked.”
“No.”
“I should have.”
“Yes.”
“Wade knew who he was?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he ever meet him?”
Maya thought.
“Once.”
“When?”
“At your birthday dinner.”
Nolan remembered.
Maya’s older brother, Evan Bennett, had visited Chicago.
Wade had shaken his hand.
They had spoken.
Wade knew.
The photograph had never been evidence.
It had been theater.
Nolan felt ashamed by how easily he had accepted it.
Maya looked exhausted.
“I need to pick up the girls.”
Nolan’s heart reacted instantly.
“Can I—”
“No.”
He stopped.
“Right.”
Maya softened slightly.
“Not yet.”
Two words.
But not a permanent refusal.
Nolan noticed.
Maya did too.
She looked away.
“I’ll call you.”
After she left, Nolan remained at the center.
His phone rang.
Claire.
He answered.
“Where are you?”
“Lincoln Park.”
“Still with Maya?”
“She just left.”
Claire was silent.
Then asked, “Did you see the letter?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Wade intercepted it.”
“What?”
Nolan explained.
When he finished, Claire said, “Come see me.”
Her sister lived in River North.
Claire met Nolan downstairs rather than inviting him up.
They walked to a quiet hotel lounge.
Neither ordered alcohol.
Claire looked tired.
“Tell me everything.”
So Nolan did.
Not the abbreviated version.
Everything.
The pregnancy.
His suspicion.
Wade’s photographs.
The accusation.
Maya’s brother.
The letter.
The hospital photographs.
Wade appearing at the resource center.
Claire listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she asked one question.
“Do you still love her?”
Nolan had prepared for anger.
He had not prepared for that.
“Claire—”
“Don’t answer quickly.”
He looked down.
“I don’t know.”
“That means yes.”
“No.”
“It means you don’t know.”
She smiled sadly.
“There are some questions where uncertainty is information.”
Nolan looked at her engagement ring.
“This isn’t about choosing between you.”
“Maybe not for you.”
“Claire.”
She removed one glove.
Turned the diamond around her finger.
“Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
She studied him.
“But?”
“I don’t know what my life looks like anymore.”
Claire nodded slowly.
“That’s the problem.”
“I didn’t know about them.”
“I believe you.”
“That matters.”
“It does.”
She looked toward the windows.
“But Nolan, three weeks ago you asked me to marry you because you believed you had resolved your past.”
“I thought I had.”
“You hadn’t resolved it. You buried it.”
The truth stung.
Claire continued.
“And now two little girls have appeared, and suddenly I’m watching you become someone I’ve never seen before.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re terrified.”
He gave a humorless laugh.
“Yes.”
“You’re guilty.”
“Yes.”
“And when you talk about Maya, you sound…”
She stopped.
“Like what?”
“Alive.”
Nolan stared at her.
“That’s unfair.”
“Probably.”
Claire touched the ring again.
“I’m not leaving today.”
He exhaled.
“But I’m not planning a wedding while you figure out whether another family is waiting for you.”
“They’re not a family.”
Claire looked at him.
“They could be.”
Nolan didn’t answer.
That frightened him.
Claire stood.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“You’re focusing on Wade.”
“Yes.”
“And maybe you should.”
“But?”
“What if Wade manipulated you because he knew exactly how easy you were to manipulate?”
Nolan flinched.
Claire’s eyes softened.
“I’m not trying to hurt you.”
“I know.”
“You want Wade to be the villain because then you can be the victim too.”
Nolan stared at the table.
“But you weren’t.”
“No.”
“You hurt Maya before Wade ever intercepted that letter.”
“I know.”
“And if you want any chance of being those girls’ father, don’t forget that.”
Claire walked away.
Nolan remained seated.
She had asked whether he still loved Maya.
He truly did not know.
But later that evening, while sitting alone, Nolan received a photograph from an unknown number.
Maya.
The image showed Holly and Hope asleep in matching pajamas beside a Christmas tree.
Between them lay one stuffed rabbit.
Below the photograph Maya had written:
They asked about the man in the car.
Nolan stared at the message.
Then typed:
What did you tell them?
Maya replied:
That I used to know you.
Nolan’s heart sank.
A second message appeared.
Then Holly said you looked sad.
For the first time since seeing them at the bus stop, Nolan cried.
Quietly.
Alone.
Because an eighteen-month-old daughter who did not know his name had looked through a windshield and recognized exactly what he was.
Sad.
And Nolan understood something Claire had been trying to tell him.
Finding Wade’s lie might explain how Nolan had lost two years.
It would not earn him the right to get them back.
That part would require something much harder.
May you like
He would have to become a man Maya could trust again.
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