Page 104

After a long week of feeling out of place and useless at the office, on Friday evening I just want to cuddle up with Dex. I want to enjoy my new relationship, hidden away from the world. I thought weekends would be ours, ordering takeout, falling asleep on the couch, watching sitcom re-runs. But instead, we have a fancy charity ball to attend.
By six o’clock, I’m sitting in my enormous bathroom in a salon chair that was specially delivered to prep me for a black-tie affair. The event cost Dex nearly one hundred thousand dollars for a table. That’s just the door fee. He’s expected to make a much more generous contribution to a cause and he’s not even sure what they do. It’s something I’ve witnessed based on the small glimpse I’ve gotten into his world, from the tail end of his phone conversations that I’ve caught, or from the very brief complaints he makes here and there before he recomposes himself. It’s very clear that Dex may have the money. But he’s not really the boss. If anything, my husband is bullied and pushed around by his status. Told what he should want, believe in, and support. Dex is like a shuttlecock, being smacked back and forth over a net, used for everybody else’s agenda. This is what he meant by money not necessarily being power. Sometimes, wealth is a prison.
Denny’s been an enormous help since she’s been back. She’s running interference as the stylists ask if they can cut my bangsand re-dye my hair a “sensible color”—their words, not mine. She bats them away like she’s protecting me from a hungry pack of scavenging hyenas. Denny’s normally domineering personality can be off-putting, but tonight, I’m incredibly grateful.
“What about a little lavender eyeshadow? And then a deep plum at the corners.” She runs her fingers through a tendril of my hair. “Let’s lean into the purple, not dye over it,” Denny says.
I smile at her through the mirror. “Love it. Except red for my fingernails. For Dottie.”
Denny nods, holding up her own red manicure. “Couldn’t agree more.”
The nail tech smiles. “I have the perfect jungle red in my other bag. I’ll be right back.”
Much to her dismay, the stylist doing my hair and makeup unsubtly rolls her eyes. “Purple…goodness,” she grumbles. “I’ll see what I have.”
Once they both leave the bathroom, Denny and I finally have a moment of privacy. “Dex told me about your mom. I’m so sorry.” I reach out to squeeze her hand.
“I told you about my relationship with my mother,” Denny replies. Her bright red lips curl into a tight, cool smile. “Nothing to be sorry about.”
“Loss is loss,” I say. “I don’t think you have to be on great terms with someone to miss them when they’re gone.”
She sighs. “Can I be honest, Lennox?” Denny steps in front of me and leans against the bathroom counter, now facing me, instead of looking at me through the mirror. “When I first met you, I thought Dex was thinking a little more with his dick than his brain, but your resiliency… I would’ve booked a one-way ticket to Bora Bora after that article Tearney put out. But you were unbothered.”
I laugh. “Are you kidding? I cried myself to sleep for three nights straight. But I’ve seen people come back from so much worse. I figured I’d wait it out.”
She lifts her brows. “Your dad?”
I nod. “It got dark for a while.”
“You know Harrison made a really big blunder once. He did some business with a corrupt bank. By the time he got to the bottom of the shell accounts he apparently funded, it was too late. The SEC was so far up his ass. The entire legal team was terrified. It looked like Hessler Group was going to have to strip down to pieces and sell off their assets piece by piece. He nearly took down an empire in one drunk bumble.”
My eyes pop open wide. “How did he get out of that one?”
Denny smirks. “Bribery. A little blackmail. And a whole lot of lying. That’s the Hessler way,” she says. “Until Dottie, that is. She was the only one who ever operated like she wasn’t afraid to lose her wealth. Every decision she made was for the good of the people, so to speak.”
“Dex is like that,” I add.
Denny lifts her brows. “You sure? I see more Harrison than Dottie in Dex. He’s his spitting image.”
Denny’s like a snake, I swear. Let your guard down, and she’ll strike when you’re least expecting it. Triggered at her accusation, I can’t stop the word vomit. “That’d be impossible since Dex isn’t Harrison’s. He’s all Dottie, both in looks and heart. I’m really proud of the man he is.” I instantly regret the words.Fuck.Why did I do that? Me and my big mouth. My heart accelerates to the speed of a hummingbird’s wings, and I quickly try to digress. “Quick question about the dinner tonight. I really don’t know what to do when there are more than two forks. Dinner fork, salad fork—those make sense. But what’s the tiny trident for?” I give her an innocent, toothy smile.
Denny levels her stare, her bright eyes fixed on mine. “Mhm… What do you mean Dex isn’t Harrison’s? I was there the day he was born. I held him hours after Melody gave birth to him. What are you insinuating about my family, Lennox?”
Shit. That went left, fast. “No, no, Denny. I didn’t mean…” I sigh. “Dottie left some letters.”
Denny blinks at me silently. I glance toward the opening of the bathroom as the nail tech returns. Denny holds up her hands, her eyes never leaving mine. “Rachel, we need another moment. Would you mind putting two bottles of champagne on ice? Everything you’ll need is underneath the bar. Dom will be fine.”
“Aren’t we running out of time, though?” Rachel asks.
“Dex is the guest of honor.” Denny’s tone is calm and even but wildly intimidating. “They’ll hold the whole damn event for him if necessary.” Rachel scuttles back out of the room with a simple head nod.
“Lennox,” Denny continues, “if there are three forks to the left of the plate, the outer fork is usually for fish, such as a smoked salmon appetizer. Now, would you care to explain what was in these letters? Or, if easier, may I read them myself?”
No. Hell no.I know Denny was like another daughter to Dottie, but I have the strangest gut feeling Dottie would never want to share these stories with her. She wouldn’t understand Dottie’s connection to Jacob and how it impacted her entire life.
“I do wonder if Melody was Harrison’s by blood. By choice, of course. But I’m not sure if maybe Melody was conceived prior to Dottie meeting Harrison,” I explain.
She takes a few controlled inhales and exhales before responding. “That’d make sense. Harrison had some medical issues in early adulthood. Hethoughthe was infertile,” Denny says. “If Dottie was pregnant prior to meeting him, perhaps that was his way of securing an heir. Not to mention, an unwedmother would have no prospects at the time. It wouldn’t be the first scandal the Hessler’s covered up.”