Madison set down her cup.
“You were busy.”
His jaw tightened.
“We need to talk.”
“About Aspen?”
That stopped him.
For half a second, Nathaniel Pierce looked like an ordinary man caught in an ordinary lie.
Then the businessman returned.
“Who told you?”
Madison almost admired the question.
Not Did I hurt you?
Not How much do you know?
Who told you?
Control first.
Damage second.
“Does it matter?”
“It matters if someone is accessing private information.”
“Private?” Madison repeated.
He looked away.
There it was.
The arrogance beneath everything.
His betrayal was private.
Her discovery of it was the offense.
Madison opened the drawer beside her and removed a thin folder.
Nathaniel’s eyes moved to it.
She had printed only three things.
The Aspen photograph.
A copy of one transfer.
And the lab report.
She placed the photograph on the counter.
Nathaniel did not touch it.
Then the transfer.
His expression hardened.
“You’ve been going through my accounts?”
“Our accounts were never where I found these.”
That answer worried him more.
“Madison.”
She placed one finger on the third page but did not slide it toward him.
“Is Veronica pregnant?”
Nathaniel’s face changed.
Not guilt.
Something almost tender.
“Yes.”
Madison nodded.
“And she told you the child is yours.”
His eyes narrowed.
“She doesn’t need to tell me what I already know.”
Madison studied him.
“How do you know?”
He gave a humorless laugh.
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Turn this into some interrogation because you’re angry.”
“I’m not angry.”
That frightened him.
