Chapter 45
Chapter 45:
She slid it back into her purse. She wasn’t ready to give it to him yet. Not tonight. Tonight she just wanted to sit in the quiet safety of his home and pretend, for one small moment, that all of this was real.
The next morning, Uncle Vincent cornered her in her office. He slammed a glossy brochure onto her desk.
“Company retreat,” he said, his voice tight. “This weekend. Catskills p>
Jocelyn didn’t look up from her laptop. “I’m busy, Vincent. I have a forensic audit to supervise p>
“It’s mandatory for senior leadership,” Vincent said, a malicious glint in his eye. “Unless you’re afraid to face the team you just disrupted. They need to see you. They need to know you’re not just a tyrant who fires people from an ivory tower p>
“I’m not going to play camp counselor with you p>
“Bella Douglas is going,” Vincent dropped the name like a grenade. “She’s a special guest. Representing our creditors p>
Jocelyn stopped typing. Bella.
When they had last met, Bella had already begun to soften toward her.
Her phone rang. It was Bella.
𝘛𝗁𝗼𝘶𝘀аոd𝘴 𝗈𝘧 𝗿𝘦𝗮𝖽𝘦𝘳𝘴 оո 𝗴𝗮𝗅𝗻𝗼𝘷еlѕ.𝖼о𝗺
“Jos,” Bella’s voice was uneasy. “Are you coming to the woods? Aspen is dying to see you. She says you wouldn’t dare show your face after everything. She thinks you’re hiding p>
It was a trap. A blatant, childish trap.
“Tell Aspen to save me a s’more,” Jocelyn said, her voice icy. “I’ll be there p>
She hung up. She couldn’t show weakness. Not now.
She went home to pack.
Gaston was leaning against the bedroom doorframe, watching her throw sweaters into a duffel bag.
“Camping?” he asked, an eyebrow raised in amusement.
“Corporate retreat,” Jocelyn muttered. “More like corporate torture. Vincent is trying to humiliate me p>
“And you’re going anyway p>
“If I don’t go, they win. They think I’m weak p>
Gaston crossed to the closet and pulled out a black waterproof jacket — technical gear, high-end, smelling faintly of cedar and him.
“Take this,” he said, tossing it to her. “It gets cold in the mountains at night p>
Jocelyn caught it. The fabric was heavy and warm. “Thanks p>
“My security team flagged the guest list,” Gaston said, examining his cufflinks with studied casualness. “Douglas will be there. I don’t like it p>
Jocelyn paused. “Kieran? How did he get invited p>
“He’s leveraging a small debt to make a nuisance of himself. Pathetic, but predictable p>
“Right. Well, if I get eaten by a bear, I’ll call you p>
Gaston looked at her, his dark eyes serious. “Call me before the bear gets close p>
The drive to the Catskills was long and winding. The trees were turning — a riot of red and orange against a grey sky.
The retreat center was less camp and more five-star resort in the woods, the log cabins worth more than most houses.
Jocelyn parked the Porsche. As she stepped out and pulled Gaston’s oversized jacket around her shoulders, she saw them.
Kieran and Aspen.
They were standing by the main lodge. Aspen was wearing head-to-toe Chanel, looking absurd against the backdrop of pine trees. Kieran had his arm in a sling, his face still bruised. They looked like a matched set of broken dolls.
Aspen saw her first. Her eyes lit up with venom.