“He’s not here this weekend.” Maybe once he understood that part, he and Ellery would leave. “Next time, call before coming over. If there’s nothing else you need, you need to leave. Like I said.”

  He looked around the room, seemly noticing the decorations for the first time. His eyes fell on Julie. “It’s a fucking baby shower.”

  I assumed it was a rhetorical question and remained silent.

  Vincent glared at his wife. “Did you know about this?”

  She shook her head, and Vincent sighed.

  “Damn fucking baby shower,” he mumbled. “Of fucking course it is.”

  I inched closer to the coffee table I’d placed my phone on. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but nothing about the current situation felt normal. Julie took a seat on the couch and placed a protective hand on her belly. Her head shot up at the sound of a car door closing.

  “That’s Daniel,” she said, standing up.

  “Tell Nathaniel I’ll be back.” Vincent jerked his head in Ellery’s direction and walked back to the front door. Though she shot him a confused look, or, more accurately, shot his backside one, she followed without a word.

  They both walked past Daniel, ignoring his warm smile and not returning his hello.

  “Do we know them?” Daniel asked Julie after the Mannes’ car pulled out of the driveway.

  I didn’t hear her reply because I was on the phone the second I was certain they had left and weren’t coming back.

  “I was getting ready to call you. We just got out.” The sound of Nathaniel’s voice, so comforting and yet miles away, made me want to cry. I dropped onto the couch and sniffled.

  “Abby?” His voice was tinged with worry. “What’s wrong?”

  I tried to make my voice normal, but the shaky whisper I got out was the exact opposite. “I need you.”

  Chapter 10

  NATHANIEL

  The drive from Manhattan to Wilmington on a typical day takes almost three and a half hours. After receiving Abby’s phone call, I made it to our Delaware home in just over two and a half. And that was after ensuring my aunt Linda could stay with the kids. No doubt I could have made the trip in less time, but Daniel was at the house, and after giving me an abbreviated version of what happened, he assured me he would stay there until I arrived.

  I wasn’t sure what Vincent was thinking or what game he thought he was playing, but he’d picked the wrong man to fuck with. Though I prided myself on my self-control, all bets were off once you messed with my kids or my wife. I’d go to jail and not show a bit of remorse, but I’d make sure you wouldn’t think of them again without peeing your pants for fear of what I’d do to you.

  Darkness had fallen by the time I pulled into the driveway. Seconds later, I stood in our living room. Daniel and Julie were on the couch, looking at a laptop perched on Daniel’s knees. Abby stood in a corner talking to someone on the phone.

  She looked calmer than she sounded when she called me. In fact, when she turned toward me, there was no fear or concern present in her eyes. There was only resolve and a hint of her kick-ass spirit. For the first time in three hours, I allowed myself a deep breath. A wave of relief swept over me as the tension left my body.

  From the sound of things, Abby was wrapping up her conversation. “Thank you so much for your time,” she said to whoever was on the other end.

  “Did you know Vincent worked at Dartmouth the same time you were a student there?”

  Fucking hell. I’d forgotten to discuss with her what Jeff had discovered about the man. Though I failed to see what his old job at Dartmouth had to do with him and Ellery dropping by our house unannounced today. “Yes,” I said. “Jeff told me a few weeks ago. I kept forgetting to tell you. Did you talk to him?”

  “Jeff?” she asked. “No.”

  “How did you find out about Dartmouth?” I asked.

  “I found out,” Daniel said from the couch, answering for her. “Abby told me about the altercation you had with Vincent at Luke’s, and I made a few phone calls to people I know in California.”

  “And they told you about his job history?” I asked.

  “Among other things.”

  I narrowed my eyes. He sounded cryptic, and I wasn’t able to tell if he was doing it on purpose or not. “What other things?”

  “You were in college when you first starting exploring your Dominant side, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  Daniel nodded. “I wasn’t sure. The guy I know in LA is a senior member of a BDSM club there. According to him, not too long after Vincent and his wife moved there, Mr. Manne tried to get a membership for them.”

  Tried. Which meant they weren’t allowed in for some reason. Why had there been nothing about a failed attempt at membership on the application? “Why weren’t they allowed membership?” I asked, putting aside my first question to discuss with Luke.

  Daniel nodded to Abby.

  She walked over to stand by my side. “Apparently, there was some question regarding the validity of Vincent’s references. I was just on the phone with the club manager. She couldn’t give me any details because they didn’t note them in the file, and it was so long ago, no one was working at the time he and Ellery applied.”

  “Did she at least have the names of his references?”

  “Yes. It was the only reason she gave me the information she did after learning who I was,” Abby said. “He listed your name.”

  Her words shouldn’t have been a surprise to me. Not after everything else I had heard about Vincent Manne, but the fact that he used my name as a reference for a BDSM club wasn’t anything I’d ever thought possible.

  “I don’t remember ever getting a call for a reference on a Vincent or an Ellery Manne.” It wasn’t a common name, and I felt confident that had I received a call asking for a recommendation for either Vincent or Ellery Manne, I would have recalled doing so when I interviewed Ellery for her current position.

  “According to the notes in the file, they never called you,” Abby said. “The lady I spoke to wasn’t sure why. She said there were a few reasons she could think of why a call wouldn’t be made. In most cases, the applicant admits the reference wasn’t legit. But she had an applicant about six months ago who listed an invalid reference for a Dom she’d played with. As it turned out, the Dom’s ex was a club member and called BS on the applicant’s reference because the Dom in question had moved to Spain with her during the time in question. She was studying abroad for a semester and knew the applicant was full of it.”

  I sat down on the couch. “I don’t like the way this is heading.”

  They listened as I filled them in on everything that had happened between me and both of the Mannes, including the strange conversation I’d had with Ellery the day after the dinner. I also went through everything I’d learned from both my own research and what Jeff had told me.

  “Let me get this straight,” Abby said. “This guy loses both parents at a relatively young age, very similar to you. He ends up working at the college you attended, during the same time you were there, and he used your name as a reference while attempting to gain membership at a BDSM club, and later he and his wife show up at a BDSM club you actually have membership at? That’s leaving out the part about how his wife works for you and how she just mentioned the crush her husband has on you.”

  “It sounds like you have a stalker,” Daniel said.

  “Worse than that,” Julie added. “It sounds like you have someone trying to live your life.”

  Chapter 11

  ABBY

  I had never known Nathaniel to sit contentedly and wait for something to happen. If there was something he wanted, or a goal he wanted to reach, he’d map out Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and more times than not, Plan D.

  It came as no surprise then that as soon as Daniel and Julie left, he looked at me and said, “Here’s what I’ve been thinking.”

  I loved him with my entire heart, but there were times I wasn’t sure he was human. At least not fully.

  “Nathaniel,” I said, walking from the foyer to the kitchen, knowing he’d follow, “I’m just as anxious as you are to understand whatever this is and put an end to it, but let’s slow down a little.”

  He looked at me as if I’d spoken Greek. “Slow down?”

  “Yes,” I said. “When was the last time you had something to eat? I don’t know about you, but I’ve only had shower finger foods since breakfast. After Vincent showed up, and with everything that happened afterward, I lost my appetite. Now that I’ve been able to have a bit of breathing room, I think I’d be in a better place to process everything if I could eat first.” My stomach growled in agreement.

  “I had something to eat with the kids,” he said. “But it was before the play.” He ran a hand through his hair. “The play. Was that today? It feels like years ago.”

  With that said, we pulled together a light dinner, and by unspoken agreement, didn’t talk about anything having to do with the Mannes or whatever the hell it was Vincent was up to. I’d spoken with the kids while Daniel was on his way here, so I’d heard their thoughts on Wicked, but I’d yet to hear Nathaniel’s.

  After hours of speculation on what Vincent could be wanting, wondering why he’d shown up at our house, and not wanting to imagine what might have happened if I’d been here alone, or if Daniel hadn’t arrived when he did, it was a relief to sit and chat with my husband about our kids and the theater trip.

  We had finished eating and were still sitting at the table talking when the doorbell rang. I could only assume my face went pale because Nathaniel took my hand.

  “It’ll be a good thing if it’s Vincent,” he said, lifting my hand to his lips and brushing my skin with them. “Because that means I can end whatever this is tonight.” He leaned over to give me a kiss and stood up. “You can stay in here if you want.”

  “I’ll be damned if that little piece of shit will make me cower in my home.” I stood up. “I’m going with you.”

  He held out his hand with a grin, and I took it with one of my own. While I knew he wouldn’t have thought less of me if I’d stayed in the kitchen, that grin of his made me melt inside.

  We were both so certain it was Vincent at our front door that the sight of Ellery on our doorstep left us speechless. Nathaniel recovered first.

  “Mrs. Manne,” he said, and it didn’t escape either her or me that he didn’t use her first name.

  He glanced behind her. Looking for her husband, if I had to guess. As far as I could see, she was alone. That was assuming Vincent wasn’t hiding behind a bush. I looked around to make sure nothing appeared suspicious or out of place. Everything seemed to be normal, from what I could tell.

  She flinched at his formality but said nothing about it. Instead, she followed his example with her reply.

  “So sorry to bother you again, Mr. West,” she said. “I only came by to let you know that you’ll have my resignation when you come into the office on Monday morning. I didn’t know Vincent was so unbalanced.” She shook her head. “I blame myself. I spent so much time working, trying to earn enough to keep up with what he was spending. It never occurred to me he was unwell.”

  Nathaniel looked over her shoulder one more time. “Come on inside, Ellery. Let’s sit down and talk.”

  Ellery frowned, and if I had to guess, I’d say coming inside and talking to us was the very last thing she wanted to do. But I had to give it to her, she didn’t say a word in opposition. She merely nodded and stepped over the threshold.

  Nathaniel led her into our formal living room. We didn’t use it very often, but it seemed to fit the current situation.

  “Answer this for me before we talk about anything else,” Nathaniel said after we all sat down. “Why did Vincent come to the house looking for me today?”

  “He wants to blackmail you,” she said. “He has somehow gotten into his head that your life and success have been at the expense of his. That if he’d been given the opportunities you had, his life would have been better, and he’d be a success right now.”

  My mind couldn’t make sense out of what she was saying. How did Vincent rationalize that line of thinking?

  “I can’t see how that’s at all possible,” Nathaniel said, echoing my own thoughts. “As far as I can remember, the night the two of you came over for dinner was the first time I’d ever spoken to him.”

  “I know. But the truth is, it doesn’t matter.”

  Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. “How does he intend to blackmail me?”

  “He plans to tell you he’ll expose your BDSM lifestyle unless you hook him up with Meagan DeVaan so she can find an on the air job for him.”

  “That’s why he was filming me at the club?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “I didn’t know he was doing anything at the time. The subs in the group I was with that night were in a separate room going over club protocol.”

  If Nathaniel found her explanation to be less than believable, it wasn’t obvious by looking at him. I didn’t want to point fingers, but I found it hard to believe Ellery had no part at all with any of this, that she was completely innocent. She had to know something.

  “I don’t understand why he thinks Meagan would listen to anything I had to say,” Nathaniel said. “She’s Abby’s friend.”

  Ellery shrugged. “He doesn’t care. He knows she’s your business partner’s wife. That’s all it took.”

  “Because I work with her husband, I should be able to convince Meagan to give Vincent a job on the air?”

  I supposed it made sense to Vincent, though I couldn’t see how. Based on what Ellery just said, he must have given up on his Broadway dreams. Which meant Nathaniel wouldn’t have to eat his shoe. I swallowed my snort at that one.

  “That’s the way he explained it to me when I realized we were coming to your house today,” Ellery said.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “But it makes little sense to me how you didn’t know your husband was working out a master plan to blackmail Nathaniel.”

  I knew, of course, that not every couple, married or not, was as close as Nathaniel and I were. But I failed to see anyone being that in the dark about the actions of their spouse. Especially since, from the sound of things, Vincent had been planning this for quite some time.

  “Mrs. West,” Ellery said, “it’s obvious in the way you and Mr. West interact with the other how close and intimate your marriage is. But most people don’t have that connection with their spouse. I certainly have nothing of the sort with Vincent. The division between us has grown more with each passing year he doesn’t work. And I have done nothing to correct that. In fact, most days I work late for the sole reason of not having to go home and deal with him. Maybe that makes me weak. I don’t care. I’m tired of carrying the burden of sole breadwinner only to hear him complain about how everyone has it out for him.”

  She stopped for a second, and I thought she’d finished, but she was only taking a breath. “I meant what I said earlier.” Ellery looked directly at Nathaniel. Her unwavering gaze told me she was serious. “You’ll have my resignation on Monday. Even if it wasn’t for this whole mess with Vincent, I liked the West Coast. I didn’t want to move back to this side of the country. That was all Vincent. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed working for you and I like the work that I do. It’s just…. this isn’t my home anymore. I’m moving back to California, and I told Vincent I wanted a divorce.”

  Nathaniel said nothing for a long moment, and for once I wasn’t able to discern what he was thinking.

  “You’re a valuable asset to West Industries, Ellery. I’d hate to lose you. What if you could keep your job as CIO but work from California? I’ve needed to open a satellite office on the West Coast for some time now, but I’ve never researched it in too much detail because my life is here, and I refuse to spend a lot of time on the opposite side of the country, away from my family. Would you be willing to take that on?”

  It was a tremendous opportunity for her, and for Nathaniel to place that much trust in her, she must be really indispensable.

  Ellery looked gobsmacked. “I… I…” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know what to say, Mr. West. It’d be an honor.”

  “Excellent,” he said. “And don’t call me Mr. West. I’ve told you, I’m Nathaniel.”

  “Thank you, Nathaniel.”

  Nathaniel clapped his hands. “Now that we’ve taken care of that, let’s come up with a plan on how to deal with your soon-to-be ex.”

  Chapter 12

  NATHANIEL

  Two weeks later

  As it turned out, we didn’t need to involve Meagan. Not that it would have been a problem if we had, but Meagan was on a popular news network, and I didn’t want to assume she could act.

  Our initial plan had been for Meagan to call Vincent in for an employment interview. She’d be wearing a wire and would stroke his ego in the hopes of him singing like a bird. According to Ellery, he was a sucker for that kind of thing.

  Outside of the concern Meagan couldn’t keep the ruse up was the fact Luke didn’t want his wife involved at all, but Meagan put her foot down and told him she was going to do it whether he liked it or not.

  It was Jeff who ended up finding the missing pieces. He said something hadn’t added up right with the information he’d found, and he’d kept digging into Vincent Manne. It took some serious digging and calling in a lot of favors, but what he found was golden.

  I was not the first person Vincent Manne had blackmailed, but I was the first one to do something about it. From what Jeff had found, there were several outstanding warrants for Vincent Manne, most of them listed under aliases he’d used.

  Hell, maybe he was a better actor than we’d given him credit for.

  “I hope he doesn’t catch on that this is a trap,” Abby said.

  We were sitting in my Manhattan office waiting to hear from the undercover officer, currently pretending to be a producer for a new Broadway show. Because Vincent had evaded law enforcement for so long, they were taking zero chances of him getting away.