Chapter 15
Useful Or Wanted
Adrian broke a glass after the board meeting.
Not by throwing it. That would have been easier. He held it too tightly while reading the survivorship clause, and the crystal gave way in his hand.
Elena crossed the study before Mara did.
"Sit down."
"It's nothing."
"Your hand is bleeding."
He looked at his palm as if mildly offended by biology.
Elena took the towel from Mara and waited. Adrian gave her his hand without being asked twice. That, more than the blood, told her how furious he was.
The cut was shallow. The silence was not.
"If doctors certify you recovered, I lose protection," Elena said.
"Yes."
"If they don't, you lose control of the company."
"Yes."
"Convenient."
His laugh was brief and ugly. "My mother has always appreciated efficiency."
Elena wrapped the towel around his hand. His fingers flexed once under hers.
"Legally," he said, "I cannot protect you unless you remain my wife."
She looked up.
There were careful men and then there was Adrian Marlowe, who could turn a sentence into a locked room by refusing to soften it.
"Is that why you want me to stay?"
His jaw tightened.
Useful. Wanted. The difference mattered more than she wanted it to.
He could have answered with strategy. He could have said she held votes, evidence, proximity to the forged documents. All true. All insufficient.
Instead he looked at her hand around his and said nothing.
The unanswered space did more damage than an answer.
Elena released him first.
"When you know which one it is," she said, "tell me before someone else decides for us."
She reached the door before he spoke.
"Elena."
She stopped but did not turn.
His voice came rougher. "I already know. I'm deciding whether saying it puts you in more danger."