Schemes Come to Naught novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: The Friendly Rival

I asked Valeria that night.

I did it badly, standing at the kitchen island with a glass of water I wasn't drinking.

"You went to Navarro's in August," I said. "You sat at table nine."

She didn't flinch.

She put down the tablet she was holding and her face softened, and for a second I thought she might cry.

"Oh, Dex. She told you."

"Carmen did."

"I was going to tell you." She came around the island and took my hand. "I was so scared, honey. You'd decided to leave, and I knew she was the kind of woman who'd fight. I wanted to know what we were walking into."

"You asked whether she had a lawyer."

"I asked because I wanted to protect you." Her eyes were wet. "If she'd had a shark behind her, we would have done the trust differently. I wasn't spying. I was frightened, and I handled it clumsily, and I'm sorry."

I looked at her hands holding mine.

They were warm and steady.

Every part of me wanted to believe her, because the alternative was too large to look at.

"You should have told me," I said.

"I know."

"No more going behind my back."

"Never," she said, and kissed my knuckles. "I promise."

I slept badly anyway.

On Tuesday we had dinner with the director of a regional dental group, a sharp woman who bought forty percent of our licenses.

She had picked a steakhouse downtown.

Valeria wore the red dress and was charming through two courses.

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