“All right. Let me give him a ring.”
Nadia picked up the phone that connected her right to Ethan’s office. Monica paced before her desk, fingers tapping against her purse.Who is picking Abigail up from school today?Usually, it would be her. Was Henry busy? Or should Monica rope Eva into doing it? There was no way this conversation with Ethan was ending before school was out.
She had just texted Henry when Nadia said she could go in. Aware that Nadia’s eyes watched over her, Monica marched back into Ethan’s executive office, where he got up from his desk and welcomed her with a hug and a kiss. It wasn’t their first time seeing each other since Abigail came home, but it was the first time they were alone – and Nadia was grateful for the brief humanity they shared.
“Show me.” That was what Ethan said as he sat on a couch along the wall. Monica sat across from him in a lounge chair. After passing over the folder of her current investors, she sank into the chair most unladylike, her migraine slowly returning as she rubbed her forehead and fished through her purse for medicine.
Ethan was quiet as he flipped through her papers.If nobody can figure it out, then what chance do I have?Ethan was more up-to-date on who went by what name and who was doing business with who. It was Monica who was good at greasing wheels and getting down to what a person was actuallylike.Which didn’t help her in this predicament.
“Onyx Blue,” he said out loud. “I haven’t heard of this one before. It must be new. As in, incorporated and they immediately started investing in your businesses.”
Monica shuddered. “That’s what I’m afraid of. When I did some research on the way over, I couldn’t find any trace of them on the internet, let alone what else they invested in. And obviously, my accountants could not tell me.”
“The question is who would do that?”
Monica could only think of a few people. “There are the Monroes…”
“The company would have been something like Culver Hospitality,” Ethan said. “They’re not shy about lumping that all in together. Monica…” He was still staring at the people in front of him. “According to this, Onyx Blue is your biggest shadow partner. They’ve eclipsed most of the money I’ve invested in the past few years.”
So, it’s probably not the Monroes…Could it have been Henry? Were they in trouble because he was filtering money through his wife’s company and acting as if he wasn’t?He wouldn’t.Henry was that level of stupidity. And even if he was, Monica would know about it.
She didn’t like who was left on the list.
“You know who loves onyx?” Monica placed her feet on the floor, still hunched over her lap as she refused to look Ethan in the eye. “Has a lot of onyx jewelry, even though it doesn’t go with his usual aesthetic, so he doesn’t wear it much?”
She glanced at Ethan, who looked like he was about to throw the papers on the floor.
“Jackson.”
When she said his name out loud, it brought power to the situation. It made itreal.Monica bit her lip as she forgot all about the medicine she wanted to find in the bowels of herbag.No medicine can wash his face down my throat.It was impossible, considering their history.
Let alone their history withEthan.
“It’s… possible.” He held the paper between both hands, but it shook. “But why? What does Jackson have to gain with putting money intoyourbusinesses? No offense, Monica, but our payouts aren’t exactly anything to write home about if you’re not doing it out of the goodness of your heart or a member of the Château or the Salon as well.”
“That’s true. And if it was about getting in my head, he would be so much more obvious about it. Like this, I would have no idea unless I was in trou…” She cut herself off, something dawning on her. “Oh, God.”
“What?”
“What if he’s laundering money through me?”
Ethan paled. “I’ve kept an eye on his finances ever since… well, since the incident. He had some slumps and a bad investment a few years ago, but he’s been a golden boy ever since his parents left him tens of millions of dollars. Jackson is a lot of things, but an idiot with money is not one of them. He has investments as old as us. He doesn’t go on extravagant trips. His biggest expense outside of his wardrobe is taking care of the women who live with him.”
“Yes, like Paisley. That’s his top girl now.”
An eyebrow lifted Ethan’s forehead toward his hairline. “You know about Paisley?”
Crap…Monica held her purse close to her stomach. “Yes. I’ve met her. I’ve… been back to that place recently.”
Ethan was quiet for a long moment. What was he thinking? What did he think ofher? He knows how important it was for me to never give that man the time of day after I escaped.Since embracing Henry and becoming Mrs. Warren, Monica hadno reason to dwell on the past – outside of keeping important lessons in her heart.
“He knew where Abigail was,” Monica explained. “Because he is close friends with Jean-Pierre Beaumont.” All the more reason for Monica to have nothing to do with them and Abigail. “I didn’t have a choice. I was willing to… Eva went with me. She insisted.”
“Does Henry know?”
Thatwas the first thing he was going to ask? “There are a lot of things that Henry doesn’t know,” Monica muttered. “Such as that.”
She hoped Ethan would leave it at that. Instead, he asked, “Did something happen there?”
