I smile at my friends . They both came running when I called. Bel’s on her honeymoon but she decided to postpone her European trip with her new husband just to be with me today.

This is my crisis management team, I suppose.

We’re at my studio while Dave is in his office in the villa doing his own business.

We arrived from New York yesterday.

Dave went straight to work, but he told me not to go out yet. His tone was not commanding but asking.

Of course, it’s necessary to keep out of the press’ radar at this point. I’m still furious at Dave, but I’m not so blind as not to see what must be done for the greater good. I have to think of DNK and the people who work for the company. My cooperation is badly needed even if I abhor every minute of it.

I told him I wanted a divorce in the heat of the moment. I still mean it. Our marriage is a sham.

I also want justice for what was done to us by some unscrupulous sorry excuse for a human being. I’m suffering because of it, and by God, I’ll find out who did it and take him down.

“Okay, start from the beginning. I wanna hear it all,” Holly says.

They’re both trying hard not to judge me as they wait for me to start explaining. My marriage to Dave is all over the news now. The rags have labeled it Another Knight bombshell. A t least, they’re over the rape/abuse issue. I still cringe at the words they used to describe my relationship with Dave.

“I love him,” I tell my BFFs without batting an eye.

It’s true. Even though I hate him right now, I still love him so much. It’s the only thing that hasn’t changed since this whole debacle exploded.

They both just stare at me, then at each other, then back at me.

Bel starts to fidget with her phone.

Holly is more candid. “Daddy syndrome much? You both. What’s with older men, huh?”

Bel and I look at each other. Her deep blush must reflect on my face too. Bel bursts into a giggle. I’m forced to join her. I’m pretending, but it’s necessary.

Just like that, the tension is gone.

“You’re both on honeymoon and I’m here, watching you two blush like virgins. Not! At least I lost my V-card first,” Holly says grudgingly.

I can’t help but laugh at that for real.

“I can’t blame you both though. Nick is to die for and Mr. Knight…well…I have to say, I had some…uhh dirty thoughts about him a few years ago.”

My eyes widen. “Holly!”

My friend smiles at me incorrigibly. “He was in his trunks getting a tan by the pool and I was gawking like an idiot behind the hedges. Man, he looked drop-your-panties hot!”

I’m scandalized. “What?! You never told me this.”

“Like I’d tell you, girl, your Daddy is quite well-hung judging from that big bulge in his trunks.”

“Holly!” I glare at her, but I can’t stop grinning. It’s a welcome reprieve from the dark clouds hanging over me the past few days.

Bel collapses on the bed, laughing hard.

“Well, he is, isn’t he?” Holly waggles her eyebrows at me.

I smash her with a throw pillow, blushing hard. “Shut up!”

We end up having a pillow fight on the bed.

“Okay, guys, let’s get serious here.” I drop back on my ass on the bed.

They both shut up and pay attention.

“I need your help,” I say seriously.

“We’re listening,” Bel says.

“See, this scandal,” I make the quote-unquote gesture with my fingers, “has affected Dave’s business. Knight stocks kind of plummeted since the pictures came out, and Dave lost a deal with Eli Templeton.”

“Oh, damn, I’m sorry,” Holly mumbles. “But if Eli Templeton has withdrawn from the deal because of the photos, I say he’s a hypocrite. He has a mistress.”

I look at Holly in shock. “He has a mistress?”

“Yup. The old goat still gets some business done, apparently.” Holly laughs.

I can theorize on tidbits like that. “Listen, I want to get to the bottom of this. I want to find out who did this and why. I have a hunch on who did this but I want proof.”

“Who?” Bel asks.

“Marion.”

Holly raises a brow. “The stepmom wannabe?”

I snort. “Over my dead body.” That came out on instinct. Dammit!

Holly snickers. “Poor bitch. She can only dream of it now.”

Marion can have another shot at Dave once we’re divorced. The thought makes me even more furious inside.

“Okay, I’m in the mood for some Sherlock shit.” Holly opens her laptop. “Let’s start with the basics. Let’s treat this situation like a movie plot and analyze it from all angles. Who are the key players in this story? Bel, take notes.”

Bel is typing on her phone. “On it.”

“The key players are Dave, Eli, me. But since the deal involved a huge family asset, let’s include the whole Templeton family. Marion, Katerina, JD, and Damien, Eli’s son from his first marriage. I’m pretty sure they have something to say about the deal,” I throw in.

Holly is now warming up to it. “Now, we establish motive. Why would anybody do that? Release a photo of you and Dave in a compromising situation? Something that could damage both your reputation?”

“Revenge?” Bell suggests.

“Or something to be gained from it. I mean, in this time and age, one wouldn’t do something like that without gaining something. Money or something of value,” I counter.

Bel and Holly nod in agreement.

“So if revenge is the motive, who are the people who hate you and Dave enough to do that?” Holly fires the right questions. It pays to have smart friends.

I shrug. I’m not good at accusing people, but my hunch is strong.

Holly nods. “Marion. Yeah, possible. I saw with my own eyes, she really wanted your dad… uhm, husband. Sorry, it takes getting used to.”

“That night of Bel’s wedding, I chatted with JD and he asked me on a date.”

Holly shakes her head. “Tsk tsk, the plot thickens. Sister wants Dave. Brother wants you. It’s almost an incest by affinity.”

I roll my eyes at Holly. Her dry humor is not funny today. “Dave and JD got into a little pissing contest that night. JD stalked off fuming, and then…Dave kissed me.” I didn’t elaborate on the rest.

“Okay, so it’s possible JD was so pissed off he came back and spied on you guys,” Holly speculates.

I sigh. “I can’t believe JD would do that out of spite. He didn’t seem the type. He was actually very nice to me that night.”

“Oh girl, never underestimate scorned boys,” Bel chimes in while typing on her phone. “That’s why I married a man.”

Holly snorts. “She likes to rub it in.”

“My hunch is still on Marion,” I insist. “You’re right, Holly. She wanted Dave. Maybe she got pissed off when she saw us kissing.”

“Ho-ho-ho, hell hath no fury like a bitch deprived of her T-bone.”

“Holly! Gross!”

Holly looks at Bel innocently. ”You don’t like T-bones? I thought you were having a lot.”

Bel hits Holly with a pillow again. Holly laughs.

I raise my hand. “Okay, guys, now that we have those premises, let’s consider the other side. How would someone gain from spreading those photos to discredit Dave? Who stands to gain if the sale pushes through? Who stands to lose?”

“Hmm, this is tricky. A sale is also a gain. I’m sure they’re gonna make a hefty profit . Maybe we should ask Dave for his thoughts on this?” Holly suggests.

I give her a face. “You kidding me? He’s plotting to kill the culprit as we speak.”

“I would too, if someone did this to me.” Holly’s fingers are working fast on her laptop. “Let’s dig some old shit here.”

I wait quietly as Holly works on her laptop.

“Hmm, I knew she looked familiar…” Holly is mumbling.

I perk up. “What? Found something?”

“Remember that slut we saw JD was screwing at the balcony of our house?”

“Yeah. What about her?”

Holly shows us what she found. “Voila!”

My eyes widen. “She’s a Playboy bunny and…Eli Templeton’s mistress?!”

“She was all over the tabloids months ago. The talks died down though. Now I’m shocked that she’s screwing JD, too. I mean, father and son? Eww.”

My goodness! I have a feeling something nasty is up with the Templetons.

“I heard Eli wanted to divorce Katerina,” Bel pipes in.

“Says who?” Holly asks Bel.

“Well, I overheard Mom talking to her friends a few months ago. They said Katerina was whining about the contents of her prenup and might get out of the marriage with only a few millions.”

Holly snaps her fingers in excitement. “This is getting more interesting! I have a feeling it was no innocent hook up between JD and the slut. I mean, she’s not even JD’s type, at all.”

“Yes, that’s an angle we can explore.” Then I remember something. “Shit…wait!”

I jump out of the bed to grab my bag from a table, rummaging for my cellphone. I frantically scan my photos, until I find what I’m looking for. Not a photo but a video.

I play it, my heart racing. Bingo!

“What is it?” Holly inquires from the bed.

I raise the phone. “I think I may have found something that will make someone talk. I mean spill some family secrets. Holly, you will have to do this for me. I can’t leave the villa. Dave won’t let me.”

Holly grins. “Does it involve kicking someone’s ass?”

“Maybe.”

“Then I’m on.”

D AVE

“W hat do we have ?” I ask Callum. He finally arrived from his meeting with the boys at Homeland Security.

I’ve been impatiently waiting for new reports from him. I didn’t go to my office today. I’m withering inside like a dying tree.

Anya has shut me out. I don’t know how to talk to her, how to make things right with her after New York. I made a mistake, a huge mistake and I don’t know how to deal with Anya who hates me with a hate I fully understand. So I just focused on finding the root of our problem. The bastard has to pay for all this pain he’s caused me and Anya.

“The fucker changed his name two years ago. That’s why there weren’t reported movements of him. He’s now called Michael Smith,” Callum reveals.

“How many Michael Smiths do we have in the US?”

“Thousands, but his Social Security is the same.” Callum turns his laptop screen toward me.

I’m looking at a clean-shaven, well-groomed man in a business suit, a far cry from the loser I met six years ago. “He actually cleaned up?”

“Yeah, and he’s been operating under the radar as a businessman in San Francisco.”

I shudder at the thought that this fucker was so close, practically under my nose. I wouldn’t be able to sleep until this bastard is put away as far as possible from Anya at all costs.

“Can you connect him to the pictures?”

Callum shakes his head. “Not yet. But if he did this, he will call soon. If he already used one of his aces to blackmail you for more cash, expect that he has more up his sleeve.”

“I don’t want to wait for his call. I want him dead.”

“I want more concrete evidence, Dave.”

I skewer Callum with a threatening look. I know he’s just covering my back, but I just can’t sit still while that sleazefuck roams freely with too many secrets that could further ruin my family’s reputation. If it comes out that Anya is Caro’s daughter from an illicit affair with this formerly convicted felon when she was only seventeen, we’ll never hear the end of it.

“If he doesn’t call within two days, put him away.”

Callum nods.

“You will do no such thing!”

Fuck.

I sigh harshly and swivel around to face her. Sneaky little witch. I don’t want her to hear any of this. But God, I’m glad she sought me out again. My body immediately reacts to her presence.

Anya storms into my study, carrying a laptop. “I can’t believe you ordered to have a man killed!”

I ignore her disapproval. I owe her an apology, a big one, but this matter with Theo is something she’s absolutely off limits from, especially now. I don’t want her to find out about the fucker.

“We’re in the middle of an important discussion, Anya.”

She looks too edible in her pink sundress that brings out her lovely tan. I’m starving for her. Blood surges to my loins. I inhale deeply.

“I have something. I think I know who released the photos.”

I straighten up. “What are you talking about? I told you to stay out of this!”

She smirks at me. “Yeah, you did.” She joins us at the table and opens her laptop. She begins typing, her face so focused on what she’s doing. She’s gnawing on her bottom lip, and it’s making me harder. I wish Callum is not in the room. I could spread her on the table and—

“I sent Holly to confront JD Templeton today.”

“JD Templeton? What does he have to do with this?”

“Watch this.” She turns the laptop toward me. Callum leans over to my side and we watch the video.

JD is making out with some girl. She looks a bit familiar. I think I’ve seen her before.

“What is this shit? How in hell did you get this video, Anya? Why are you even watching this?” I demand from her.

“I’ll tell you later, but that girl with JD is Eli’s mistress.”

I knew Eli had a mistress but I didn’t give a shit before until he pulled out of our deal because of a photo scandal. Yeah, the old fuck is a big hypocrite. “And?”

“So, I sent Holly to talk to JD a while back. Well, Holly sort of blackmailed him to talk or she’ll send this video to Eli. JD doesn’t want to get in trouble with his father, of course. He confessed that it was Marion who took the photos and released them on social media.”

This totally floored me. “Marion? What the hell…? Why would she do that?”

She gives me a mocking look. I still find her jealousy of Marion irrational, but I’m liking it now that I’m afraid she’ll really divorce me. She can be jealous as fuck now and I won’t mind one bit.

“I can only guess why. All I know right now is what JD told Holly. But then again, JD could be lying, too. There’s something going on with the Templetons. According to Bel’s Mom, Eli was going to divorce Katerina for this floozy and JD didn’t want that, of course, so he seduced the girl to keep her away from his father. The girl actually thinks JD is in love with her. They were at the Lobbs’ party and I accidentally took a video of them together.”

“I don’t get it. Marion has been helping me convince her stepfather to sell the hospital to me, but because of the scandal, Eli changed his mind. Why would she sabotage the sale?”

“Maybe Marion was playing safe. If Eli sells, the hospital goes to you and if you happen to like her and by any chance marry her, jackpot. Or maybe she was just covering her tracks? Who knows?”

I shake my head. “What a ridiculous ploy. Never gonna happen. And the hell with Eli. If he doesn’t want to sell, I’ll find another hospital to buy.”

Her eyes lighten up a bit, but it’s gone in a flash. She pulls the laptop back to her and types on the keyboard. “Holly and Bel gathered these photos from social media and a lot from JD. JD kind of intimated to Holly that he smells something fishy happening in the family business and seemed glad to cooperate with us. This is not only about spite. Marion is up to something. I can feel it.”

I give Callum a glance. He nods. I have to give it to my girl. She’s so smart to have figured this out on her own.

“Let me take a look,” Callum butts in.

She pushes the laptop toward Callum.

While Callum is busy, I take the opportunity to break into her cold, thick armor. “So, JD asking you for a date was just an act?” I attempt to tease her.

She leans back in her seat and crosses her arms over her chest. “No. He really likes me. He called me a while back to apologize for what his sister did and reminded me about our date.” She said this with a challenging look in her eyes.

My temper flares. I know she’s getting back at me for what I did. I want to tell her she can’t date anyfuckingbody, but I swallow the bile of my jealousy and say nothing. I won’t say a thing but I’ll kill JD first before he can lay a hand on her.

She stands up. “Okay, get to work.”

I watch in combined frustration and longing as she sashays out of the room like a boss. I’m tempted to run after her and show her who’s the fucking boss, but I curtail my old habits. She demands respect. Dammit, I want her respect, too.

I’m forty-two, but Anya is teaching me some hard lessons in real manhood.

“Dave…” Callum calls my attention.

I glance at him. “Find anything?”

He nods. He turns the laptop toward me.

A chill runs down my spine.

“Go. Dig deep,” I command him.

Callum leaves the room in haste.