NOX’S HAND ON my thigh kept me seated, kept me quiet as I listened to one of the most unbelievable stories I’d ever heard.

How is this possible?

How can it be true?

After the shock eased a bit, I tried to take in the scene. I focused not only on their words but also the way my mother and Oren stared at one another. They were well into their private history and stories of stolen moments and secret rendezvous when it hit me—my momma had an affair.

My mother screwed around on Alton.

I suppose that should have upset me. After all, shouldn’t I look to my parents as a moral compass? But the reality didn’t upset me. I’d known most of my life that Alton cheated on my mother. After the last two weeks, I believed it had happened right under her nose. What I never imagined was that my mother had done it too—that she’d actually experienced happiness.

“I couldn’t do as he asked.” Momma’s chest heaved. “Telling Oren to leave me and going back to you and Montague…” She looked at me. “…was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” She turned back to Oren. “I wanted you to find someone else.”

“That’s when you moved to London,” Silvia said to Oren matter-of-factly.

Oren turned toward her. “It was. You all had each other.”

Nox’s grip tensed. When I looked up, his jaw was set, hard and rigid.

“I didn’t know who you were,” Silvia said to my mother, “but I knew about you.”

“You did? How?” Nox asked.

“Angelina.”

His lips pursed.

Silvia nodded. “Get that look off your face, Lennox. She approved.”

Oren shifted in his chair. “I didn’t know that she told you.”

“It really is nice to finally meet you, Adelaide.”

My momma’s eyes glistened with moisture. “Thank you, Silvia, that means more than you know.”

A stillness fell over the dining room, a calm like that following a storm. Maybe that was what it was. The storm had passed and we were all here.

“Now it’s my turn,” Momma said, “to thank you. I don’t know who all is responsible for saving me…” She smiled, her eyes sparkling in a way I couldn’t recall witnessing. “…kidnapping me but thank you.”

We all turned toward footsteps on the wooden floor.

“Good afternoon,” Deloris said. “It appears you’re all having a party and I wasn’t invited.”

“Mrs. Witt,” Oren said, with a grand gesture. “Please, join us.”

She sat between Chelsea and Silvia, nodding at each and scanning our grouping. The dining room table was large, but in its current form we were nearing capacity. Deloris looked at my mother. “Mrs. Fitzgerald, I’m Deloris Witt. Nice to meet you.”

“Witt?” Momma turned to me. “Is she the one who spoke to Alton and me after the incident in the park?”

“Yes.” I looked from one to the other. “Momma, Deloris. Deloris, this is my mother.”

Momma nodded. “Nice to meet you, Deloris. You’re a strong woman. My husband was not impressed.”

With a slight smile Deloris continued as she scooted her chair forward, “I’ve been working on many different things and different avenues. I’d say the most important bit of information right now is that the medical examiner just released information on the body found at Carmichael Hall.”

She had the full attention of everyone in the room. Six sets of eyes opened wide in anticipation.

“Her identity has been confirmed as Melissa Summers. They haven’t said specifically how she was killed or where exactly she was found, only that a concerned employee called the police. They are estimating the time of death as only hours before discovery.”

The lunch I’d eaten earlier churned. That meant she was killed on Saturday, hours before our party.

“Hours?” Chelsea said. “Had she been there all along? Was he holding her there somewhere?” Her cheeks paled with each question.

Deloris shook her head. “They haven’t said.”

“He wanted me to come to Carmichael Hall on Saturday after I visited… you,” I said, turning to Momma.

She stared in silence waiting for more.

“But you had complications. Jane and I stayed with you.” I turned to the rest of the table. “He was angry. I mostly avoided his calls, but we did speak a few times.”

Chelsea nodded. “He wanted me to come over when Alex couldn’t. He blew up my phone, but Jane had asked me to help with things around town. Everywhere I went, I was afraid he’d be there. But he wasn’t. Was he with her… killing…?” She tucked her hands on her lap and looked up at me with round hazel eyes. “Do you think? Did she die because of us?”

“What?” Nox said. “She died because of that animal. Why would you say it was because of you?”

I covered his hand, the one that was still on my leg. “Not because of us, but in place of us…” Nox’s hand tensed. I looked to Chelsea. “…one of us.”

Pushing my chair back, I hurried around the table and wrapped my arms around my best friend. As she trembled in my embrace I looked up to Deloris. The anger I’d felt back in the hotel with Nox, learning that they’d been the ones to bring Chelsea into this mess came back to life. “This is your fault.” And to Nox. “And yours. This is your doing!”

“Alex,” Deloris said, “this is Edward Spencer’s doing. Chelsea, we’ll get you out of your agreement. You don’t even need to speak to anyone at Infidelity. I’ll take care of it.”

“Like you took care of her before?” I asked, my skin prickling with rage.

“There was always an out,” Deloris said.

“So instead of owning up to your part, you’re blaming Chelsea for not leaving him, for not walking out on her agreement, the one you told her to take?”

“No. That’s not what I’m saying. I take full responsibility for my role. As you both know, Chelsea’s agreement was meant for someone else. I turned away in a crisis and when I looked back, it was too late.” She looked at Chelsea. “Financial compensation will never take away what you went through, but you will get it, as long as you don’t press charges against Edward Spencer.”

“What?” Nox and I said together.

“It’s part of the Infidelity agreement. If Chelsea makes a statement against him that includes Infidelity, it will null and void her agreement and risk exposing Infidelity. She can report him to the company, but she can’t break the nondisclosure or confidentiality portion of her agreement. If she abides by it, Infidelity will pay its full one-year obligation.”

“B-but you said we were going to Savannah to make statements,” Chelsea said, looking up at me.

“I thought we were.”

We all looked to Deloris. “Now that they know the time of death, they’ll want to know where you both were on Saturday. Were you in contact with him? Did you ever see Melissa during the months you lived at Carmichael Hall?”

“I didn’t,” Chelsea said. “I never saw her. Oh God. The place is big, not as big as Montague, but there are other buildings, places I never went.” Chelsea turned to me. “Do you really think he had her there all those months?”

We both knew the answer. He’d made it perfectly clear that he intended to keep the two of us. We just hadn’t realized he’d not only had two, but three women at his disposal.

“Can I answer those questions? Will it hurt Infidelity?”

“You can. You can do whatever you want. I would suggest you do only that. Answer the questions. Don’t make accusations. Answer questions in regard to Saturday, to Mr. Spencer in general. Avoid the nature of your relationship from a legal perspective. Speak about it in general emotional terms.”

Chelsea’s hand moved to her battered cheek. “But they’ll see.”

Deloris nodded. “Which could be the nail in his coffin. Pictures speak louder than words.”

“What about me?” I asked.

“Technically, you don’t have to make a statement. A wife can’t be made to testify against her husband.”

My gaze met Nox’s as the small hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. “I’m not married.”

“Then that’s where we need to start. I believe we have proof that the marriage is illegal, at the very least that it was signed without the knowledge of either of you, thus fraudulently.” She shrugged. “However, there is the slight problem that our proof was not legally obtained.”

“What proof?”

“I bugged your phone.”

My nose scrunched. “My phone? The one Alton gave me? How?”

Oh, shit. I still need to find it.

Deloris tilted her head. “The how isn’t as important as the audible recordings. Saturday morning Edward Spencer called you. I recently replayed the conversation.”

“That would have been before he…” It was hard to say it out loud, to say before he killed Melissa.

“During the call,” she went on, “Mr. Spencer specifically states that the two of you are going to be married. He doesn’t say that you’re already married.”

“That’s right! Can the recording help?”

“Not in a court of law. In the state of Georgia they’re only admissible if one of the two parties is aware of the wiretap.”

“I could say I knew.”

Deloris shook her head. “I’d rather not. However, I suspect we can stop this farce from ever getting that far. I can send the recording to Fitzgerald’s attorney. It will show him that we have evidence to fight the claim. That should help as well as a few other loopholes.”

Oren repeated, “Loopholes?”

Silvia laid a phone on the table. Though it wasn’t making noise, the screen was bright. “It’s the house phone,” she said, explaining how it was attached to her cell phone. “The caller ID only says Georgia.”

At first no one responded. How many times would it ring?

Finally, Oren nodded to Silvia, who connected the call.

“Hello?”

We all hung on each of Silvia’s responses.

“Yes.”

Her eyes darted to my mother. “Mrs. Fitzgerald?”

Momma’s head moved back and forth.

“I’ll talk to them,” I volunteered. Deloris had already said they’d tracked me down.

“No,” Nox said. “Give me the phone.”

Silvia asked the person to please hold before she pushed something on the screen. “It’s a Ralph Porter, representing Alton Fitzgerald. He’s looking for…” She bobbed her head toward Momma. “…Mrs. Fitzgerald.”

Nox reached for the phone. “This is Mr. Demetri.”

A familiar concoction of anger and fear stewed inside me, simmering below the surface.

“If we hear from her, we’ll let you know… Yes…” He looked at me. “…Miss Collins is here.” The way he emphasized my name made me worry Ralph had referred to me as Spencer again. “No, she’s unavailable at this time… I’m not sure. Perhaps you could try again tomorrow?… We’ll be looking forward to that… Yes, I understand you’re concerned. I hope you locate her soon… Goodbye.” Nox handed the phone back to Silvia.

“Even after we’re gone, if they call, only say that we’re unavailable.” He turned to my mother. “No one will give up your location until you’re ready.”

Momma’s eyes were closed. One hand was near her neck while the other was on the table, encased in Oren’s.

“You don’t have to talk to anyone you don’t want to,” Oren confirmed.

Her neck straightened. “I do and I will. Just not now.”

“When you’re ready, amore mio.” He searched her expression, his eyes narrowing. “Do you want to go back upstairs? Is this too much?”

Momma’s head moved back and forth.

“Shall we move on to the will?” Deloris asked.

Heavy footsteps approached. “Mr. Demetri.”

“Yes?” Oren and Nox answered in unison.

I reached for Nox’s hand, unsure who the man was who’d entered the dining room.

He was tall and dressed similarly to Isaac with a nondescript dark suit. “Sirs, there’s a guest who demands your presence.”

Oren stood. “I said no one was to be allowed on the property.” His eyes flickered to Deloris. “No one not already approved.”

“Sir, it’s—”

It was then the voices came from the front of the house. I didn’t know who it was but the man’s Brooklyn accent was thicker than Oren’s.