Chapter 6 - Bennett Hale’s Mistake
By eight-thirty, Marin had almost relaxed.
That should have been her first warning.
The Whitlocks had moved from dinner to the adjoining terrace lounge, where floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked Boston Harbor. Rain clouds had finally cleared, leaving the city glittering beneath a cold black sky.
Music played softly.
Clara was dancing badly with her fiancé.
Thomas and Evelyn argued cheerfully about cake flavors.
Aunt Nancy had cornered Adrian twice.
He had survived.
Barely.
Marin stood near the windows with a glass of sparkling water when Bennett approached alone.
She saw him reflected in the glass.
“Can we talk?”
Her stomach tightened automatically.
Old habits.
Old reactions.
She hated that.
“About what?”
“Us.”
“There is no us.”
“You know what I mean.”
Marin turned.
Celeste was across the room speaking with Clara.
Adrian stood near Thomas.
His gaze found Marin immediately.
She gave a tiny shake of her head.
I’m fine.
He stayed where he was.
But watched.
Bennett noticed.
“So this is real?”
Marin almost laughed.
“You came over here to ask if my relationship is real?”
“I’m surprised.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try.”
He shoved one hand into his pocket.
“You never liked men like him.”
“Men like what?”
“Powerful.”
Marin’s eyebrows rose.
“I dated you.”
Bennett’s mouth tightened.
That had been unkind.
Also satisfying.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
He looked toward Adrian.
“There are stories about him.”
“I know.”
“Bad stories.”
“Most of them are about his father.”
“You believe that?”
Marin thought about Corwin.
The photograph.
Adrian’s security.
“No,” she said. “Not completely.”
Bennett frowned.
“At least you’re not stupid.”
“And there it is.”
“What?”
“The reason we never would have worked.”
His face changed.
“That’s unfair.”
“No. It’s actually incredibly clear now.”
“Marin—”
“You always thought loving me meant correcting me.”
“I was trying to help you.”
“You told me my business was a hobby.”
“I said it wasn’t stable.”
“It employs eight people.”
“Now.”
She stared.
He realized too late.
“See?” she whispered. “You still do it.”
“Do what?”
“Reduce everything I’ve built because admitting I built something without you makes you uncomfortable.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then why are you here?”
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
Marin’s anger vanished.
In its place came something far more liberating.
Indifference.
Bennett was not trying to protect her.
He wanted confirmation that she had not moved forward more successfully than he had.
“You’re happy with Celeste?” Marin asked.
He glanced toward her.
“Yes.”
“Then go be happy.”
“Marin.”
“I mean it.”
She smiled.
“You don’t owe me regret, Bennett. And I don’t owe you loneliness.”
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then his gaze hardened.
“You’ve known him what? A few months?”
Marin said nothing.
“He’ll get bored.”
The cruelty was quiet.
Familiar.
“He’ll realize you care about work more than anything else.”
Marin flinched.
Tiny.
But Adrian saw.
He crossed the room.
Bennett continued.
“I’m just saying you have patterns.”
“Enough.”
Adrian’s voice was calm.
Bennett turned.
“This is private.”
“No,” Marin said.
Both men looked at her.
She walked toward Adrian.
Then stood beside him.
“This stopped being private when you decided to explain my flaws to another man.”
“I’m trying to help.”
Adrian’s expression was almost emotionless.
“That phrase appears to do a remarkable amount of work for you.”
Bennett looked at him.
“You don’t know what our relationship was.”
“No.”
“Then stay out of it.”
“I know what she looks like when you speak to her.”
Silence.
Marin’s heartbeat accelerated.
Bennett laughed once.
“You’ve got no idea who she is.”
Adrian answered without hesitation.
“She runs her own company. She works when she’s exhausted because she feels responsible for people who depend on her. She pretends criticism doesn’t hurt when it comes from people she loves. She forgets to eat when she’s busy. She likes olives, hates carnations, has a cat that prefers strangers, and apologizes when other people inconvenience her.”
Marin stopped breathing.
Adrian’s gaze remained on Bennett.
“She laughs when she’s nervous. She twists the ring on her right hand when she’s uncomfortable. And she drove forty minutes tonight in a car with a warning light that should concern any reasonable person.”
Marin whispered, “It’s always on.”
Adrian looked at her.
For one absurd second, they almost smiled.
Then he faced Bennett again.
“You’re right. I don’t know everything about her.”
His voice softened.
“But I know enough not to tell her who she is.”
Bennett had no answer.
Neither did Marin.
Celeste appeared.
She looked between them.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes,” Marin said.
And for once, it was true.
Bennett walked away.
Celeste hesitated.
Then she touched Marin’s elbow.
“Can I say something?”
Marin nodded.
Celeste lowered her voice.
“I’m sorry.”
Marin blinked.
“For what?”
“The timing.”
“You didn’t owe me anything.”
“I knew you two had just ended things.”
Marin appreciated the honesty.
Celeste looked toward Bennett.
“He said it had been over emotionally for months.”
Marin’s throat tightened.
Maybe it had.
Maybe not.
It didn’t matter anymore.
“I hope you’re happy,” Marin said.
Celeste gave a complicated smile.
“I’m figuring that out.”
Then she left.
Marin stood silently.
Adrian moved beside her.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
Then she looked at him.
“You remembered I hate carnations?”
“You mentioned it while insulting the arrangement in the hotel lobby.”
“I was critiquing professionally.”
“You called them funeral pom-poms.”
“They are.”
His mouth twitched.
She smiled.
And then emotion arrived unexpectedly.
Not sadness about Bennett.
Something warmer.
More dangerous.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said.
“Do what?”
“Defend me.”
“I wasn’t defending you.”
“No?”
“You didn’t need defending.”
The words landed in a place Marin had kept guarded for years.
Before she could answer, Luca appeared at the edge of the room.
One look at his face and Adrian’s warmth vanished.
“Excuse me.”
He stepped away.
Marin watched them speak quietly.
Luca handed Adrian a phone.
Adrian read something.
His face hardened.
Then he looked directly at Marin.
She knew instantly.
Something had happened.
Adrian returned.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
She did not argue.
They quickly told Clara that Adrian had received an urgent call.
Five minutes later they were outside.
Luca opened the SUV.
Marin stopped.
“My car.”
“Someone can bring it.”
“What happened?”
Adrian looked around the driveway.
Security had multiplied.
Three men now stood near the entrance.
“Adrian.”
He reached into his coat and showed her Luca’s phone.
A photograph.
Her apartment building.
Taken minutes earlier.
Below it:
Six hours can become a lifetime.
Marin went cold.
“Corwin?”
“We think so.”
“You think?”
“We’re confirming.”
She stepped closer.
“Why is he doing this?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“He wants something from me.”
“What?”
“Control.”
“Over what?”
“My company.”
“How does frightening me help?”
“Because he thinks I care about you.”
Marin’s breath caught.
Neither moved.
The night seemed to quiet around them.
“He thinks wrong,” she whispered.
Adrian looked at her.
The lie hung between them.
Both heard it.
Neither believed it.
Then Luca approached.
“We need to move.”
Adrian opened the SUV door.
Marin climbed inside.
As he followed, his phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
A voice spoke rapidly.
Adrian’s face became unreadable.
Then:
“No. Lock everything down. Nobody approaches Whitlock Floral until I say otherwise.”
Marin turned.
“What happened at the shop?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
“Adrian.”
He looked at her.
“No omissions.”
He exhaled.
“Someone broke in.”
Her heart dropped.
“Paige?”
“She’s safe. Everyone’s safe.”
“What did they take?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why—”
Adrian’s phone displayed an image from the security feed.
He showed her.
Inside Marin’s shop, every white rose had been removed from its bucket.
They were laid across the floor.
Dozens of them.
Forming one word.
CHOOSE.
Marin stared.
“Choose what?”
Adrian already knew.
His expression told her.
“Me,” he said quietly.
And for the first time that night, Marin realized she had stepped into a conflict that had begun long before she met Adrian Vale.
A conflict in which she had become leverage.
May you like
And by morning, she would discover exactly what Richard Corwin wanted Adrian to choose.
---
