“Stay with her, Ben… please.”

We’d barely had enough time to straighten our clothes before he had suddenly appeared in the doorway. But the startlingly loud sound of the woman’s voice had pulled us apart pretty fast. She’d been screaming Sutton’s name… and something about the press…

“Stay with Ben, Emi. I’m sorry… I’ll be back as soon as I can. And I’ll explain somehow… I promise you.” Chase’s face was white. He turned to Ben. “Get her out of here,” he said quietly. “Take her to the office…. The cabin. Anywhere but here. Just get her out of here.” He took hold of Ben’s arm and I could see his knuckles whiten. “And no photographs.” Ben nodded and in the next second, Chase was gone.

“What is it… what’s happening? Ben… tell me.” He had me by the elbow and was guiding me fast, past open doorways, down a narrow set of stairs that led to the kitchen. I glanced in one of the rooms and caught a flash of a naked woman. She was bent forward, sucking the man sprawled on the bed. Behind her another man was holding by the hips, fucking her in hard, short thrusts. Her breasts hung down, swinging with his movements…

“The woman you work with… Where is she?” Ben’s voice startled me as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back.

“I sent her for another case of champagne…,” I replied, pulling against his grip on my arm. “She isn’t back yet. I want to know what’s happening. And why Chase told you to take me…”

“Not now,” he cut me off firmly, but his face was lined with concern. Something inside told me to trust him… I just needed to know what I was trusting him with. “I’ll explain what I can in the car, but I need to get you out of here… please…”

“It’s no good. Not here…”

Ben had pulled the car in across the street from Envisager. The tower was lit to the top, and the main entrance thronged with news cameras and reporters. Vans lined the street, and glaring light were being set up to illuminate the glass lobby.

“That woman, the one who was upset…” I felt foolish for being so slow to put the pieces together. “She did it… she told the press, right? That’s what this is all about… She’s trying to create a scandal about the party…” I flashed back to what I’d overheard on the phone, and Sutton talking about giving a woman more money…

Ben pulled back out onto the road. “I’m sorry, Emily. But if they’re here, they’ll be at his townhouse, too. It’s gonna have to be the cabin.” He shifted gears and accelerated as we hit freeway traffic. “It’s not much more than an hour. But it’s private… not even a handful of people know where it is.”

“I don’t understand all the cloak and dagger, Ben,” I said, watching the side of his face as he drove. “I get it, that this girl can cause a huge scandal, especially if word gets out about that party… Was she his girlfriend… or his ex?”

“They were involved,” he said, shifting again and speeding up. “Briefly.”

“And she wanted to make a scene… but that’ll blow over. The publicity’s bad, but it has nothing to do with the company. Nothing to do with Chase. And less than nothing to do with me.”

“You’re involved because you matter to Chase,” he replied. He gave me a quick, sideways glance, enough for me to see that he didn’t like our situation any better than I did. “I’m sorry, I can’t explain any better than that, Emily, but it’s for him to tell, not me.” I saw kindness in his face when he smiled at me. “But I’ll stay with you until he comes… And I know he’ll do his best to help you understand.” He turned his eyes away and slowed the car as we turned off onto an unpaved road, lined with trees. In the darkness, they loomed over us, narrowing the road and the sky ahead into nothingness. “If you need to let anyone know you won’t be home tonight, call now,” he said. “Cell coverage can be spotty out here.”

I reached for my bag and shuffled inside with unsteady hands. I should call Tam… have her tell Mrs. Williams I’d be spending the night at Reese’s… The thought of worrying Gran made my hands shake even more… Then Ben’s hand rested, warm and unexpectedly comforting, on my shoulder. “Chase will come as soon as he can,” he said reassuringly. “It’s gonna be okay… at least, I hope it will be.

Chase is an unusual man, Emily. And he’s led an unusual life.” He shot me a glance filled with concern. “I also know there are things he would change… if he could…”

The road turned into a winding gravel drive and in the distance was a split log cabin, with a stream nearby that shined silver in the moonlight. Ben pulled up and shut off the engine, turning so he could face me properly. “Just remember that none of us can change the past, Emily,” he went on. “We’ve all made mistakes… and some of us have learned from them. I’ve known him for a lot of years and he isn’t the same man he used to be.

And he’s always found it easier to have more faith in other people… than in himself.”