Chapter 492
It explained why none of his bodyguards had come to his aid during the fight at the bar. Bryanna wanted to demonstrate, firsthand, that without the family behind him, he would stand alone when it mattered. She was pushing him to choose the company over Kristine.
Colton glanced across the room. Kristine sat quietly on the sofa, scrolling through her phone.
Despite everything that had happened the night before, she seemed less hostile today. That morning, she had gone through the business cards she’d collected at the party and added every contact to her phone — a small but notable shift. The tightness in Colton’s chest that had been building for weeks loosened slightly. He believed that if he kept his pride in check and treated her well, she would find her way back to him.
He turned back to Bobby. “What’s the status of the investigation into the deer sculpture?”
Kristine’s hand stilled almost imperceptibly. Colton noticed.
A quiet smile crossed his face.
Bobby delivered his report. “Mr. Yates, I sourced those senior conservators for Miss Lloyd as you requested and assembled the team. I haven’t been able to confirm yet whether Miss Lloyd actually performed the restoration herself, but I’ve already spoken with the specialists and I’m still looking into it.”
Colton glanced back at Kristine. She was staring at her phone, her expression perfectly neutral — performing indifference a little too well. It irritated him. He waved Bobby off. “That’ll be all.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bobby left, and quiet settled over the room.
Colton walked over and plucked the phone from Kristine’s hands. “Who are you talking to?”
She let him look without a word of protest. When he handed it back, she gave him a dry look. “Don’t worry. I’m not messaging Asher behind your back.”
Colton’s expression went rigid.
After a beat, he pushed the phone back into her hands. “I thought you were past him by now.”
Something flickered in Kristine’s eyes as she took it back.
At that moment, a new message appeared on the screen. She turned it so he could see. “Iris wants me to come to her spa. Am I allowed to go?”
Colton read the message. It was exactly what it appeared to be — a genuine invitation. “That’s fine.” He reached out to touch her hair.
She moved away immediately, the look on her face making her feelings unmistakably clear.
“Sallie,” she called to the household manager waiting near the door, “I’d like to go upstairs now.”
Colton stepped forward. “I’ll carry you.”
“I don’t need your help,” Kristine said flatly.
He held back, and let Sallie Hardy help Kristine up the stairs.
He stood there watching her go, a heaviness settling in his chest. She had been warmer over breakfast. Why the sudden coldness again?
He pressed his fingers to his forehead, then made his way up to his study and closed the door behind him. He woke up his computer, and a mirrored display of Kristine’s phone filled the screen. He had installed a monitoring app on it — one that captured every website she visited and every message she sent, in real time.
He went through it carefully. There was nothing suspicious.