Chapter 10 - THE FIRST NIGHT OF MARRIAGEThey returned to Virginia early.
No announcement.
No photographs.
The official explanation was Blake had an urgent business matter.
The truth was that the honeymoon had become unbearable.
On their first night back, Sloane stood in the kitchen of the Georgetown townhouse they had purchased together six months earlier.
Her wedding flowers still sat in vases.
White roses going brown at the edges.
Blake poured whiskey.
“You asked about the camera.”
“So?”
“You never answered.”
“There’s nothing to answer.”
“Did you know it recorded the hallway?”
“I assumed.”
“Did you ask anyone about it?”
Sloane opened the refrigerator.
“Why would I?”
Blake watched her.
“Because you were planning to confront my mother.”
She slammed the refrigerator door.
“I wasn’t planning anything.”
“Then why did you tell the photographer to move her?”
“Because her dress looked awful in the pictures.”
“You approved that dress.”
Sloane froze.
Blake remembered.
Months ago Sloane had been sitting beside him when Evelyn sent photographs of three possible gowns.
Blue.
Silver.
Navy.
Sloane personally selected sapphire.
“It works with the florals,” she had said.
Now Blake felt sick.
“You told her to wear it.”
“It looked different in person.”
“You told Mom she was ruining the photographs because of a dress you chose.”
Sloane rolled her eyes.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Is it?”
“You know what your mother does.”
“What?”
“She acts innocent. She smiles. She says polite things. But she questions everything.”
“She questioned the shares.”
That hit.
Sloane’s expression sharpened.
“She told you?”
“She told me she saw a message from your mother.”
“Cassandra has nothing to do with this.”
“What did the message mean?”
Sloane looked away.
Blake stepped closer.
“What changes when I get the shares?”
“Our future.”
“How?”
“Your father stops controlling everything.”
“My father owns the company.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
Sloane laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The scared little son.”
Blake’s face hardened.
“Careful.”
“No. You be careful.”
She stepped closer.
“You spent two years telling me you were taking over. You told my father you would control major investments. You told me we could move certain family assets under Mercer management.”
Blake felt exposed.
“I said it was possible.”
“You said it was happening.”
“I was going to get the shares.”
“Going to.”
Sloane’s voice became soft.
Dangerous.
“Was any of it guaranteed?”
Blake did not answer.
Her face changed.
“Oh my God.”
“Sloane.”
“You lied.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“You made me believe the succession was decided.”
“It was.”
“Until your mother got involved.”
“No. Until I—”
He stopped.
Until I shoved her.
He couldn’t say it.
Sloane saw.
“That’s right.”
She picked up her wine.
“You did that.”
Blake stared at her.
“So did you.”
“I slapped her.”
“Yes.”
“And you pushed her.”
“Yes.”
They stood facing one another.
For the first time, neither could hide behind Evelyn.
No mother interfering.
No father controlling them.
Just two adults and what they had chosen.
Sloane spoke first.
“Fix it.”
Blake laughed once.
“With Dad?”
“With your mother.”
“What?”
“She controls him emotionally.”
“You don’t know my parents.”
“I know Harrison loves her.”
“Yes.”
“So get Evelyn to tell him it was nothing.”
Blake’s face turned cold.
“You want the woman you slapped to help you get my shares back.”
“Our future back.”
He looked at her.
Suddenly, he remembered the hallway.
Sloane’s tiny satisfied smile after he ordered Evelyn to apologize.
He had seen it.
Ignored it.
Chosen it.
And now the expression returned.
Not triumphant.
Expectant.
As if Blake existed to solve the consequences she did not want to face.
He took his whiskey.
Walked upstairs.
“Where are you going?”
“To bed.”
“We’re not finished.”
“I am.”
That night, on the first night they slept in their marital home after the wedding, Blake lay beside his new wife and stared into the darkness.
For the first time, he wondered whether Sloane loved him.
Then came the more uncomfortable question.
May you like
Did he love her?
Or did he love the man he felt like when she told him he deserved everything?
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