“Because you’re Adelaide Durand? Because you’re the Durand heiress that was kidnapped twenty years ago?”
His quietly uttered words struck her like bullets, denting her mental armor. Maybe a few penetrated. Her throat had closed. She couldn’t reply. He put his hand on her upper arm.
“Alice?”
“You overheard me that night? You knew what it meant?” she asked in a quiet, choked voice. She still studied his T-shirt-covered chest, unable to look into his eyes. He was the first person outside of Dylan and Sidney who had confronted her with the truth. It felt intimidating, like her identity was too new, too fragile, and still forming to talk about it in the everyday world.
“After I overheard you and Fall talking, I just . . .” He looked uncomfortable. “I sensed how important it was, what you were saying . . . what was happening to you. But I didn’t really understand it, at first. So I asked my dad about it. He didn’t recall anything about the name Addie, but he did recall that the Durands had a daughter named Adelaide and that there was a tragedy that involved her. So I did some research, and I found some articles about the kidnapping. Since Fall has been so focused on you and so protective, I put two and two together. Sort of, anyway. I still don’t get how Fall found you.”
“It’s a long story,” Alice said quietly. She glanced up at him. “Please don’t say anything to anyone, Thad. The truth will come out, eventually. We’re having genetic testing done, but it takes time. I’m not ready for it to be known yet.”
He nodded tensely. His gaze strayed over to Rigo, who still watched them with a tight focus from a distance. “I guess it’s good,” Thad said slowly. “That he’s watching over you.”
“I’m sure it’s overkill. But it makes Dylan feel better.”
“And it doesn’t bother you? That Fall knows who you are, and started up a relationship with you?”
She stared into his green eyes, and saw only concern. A chill passed through her. “No, it’s not like that, Thad. Dylan and I have a long history, together. Longer than you realize. Deeper than you realize. Don’t judge him. I owe everything to him.”
“You don’t owe him anything, Alice.” His mouth tightened and he shook his head, cutting her off when she opened her mouth to refute him.
“I was starting to think you were right after the Alumni Dinner, that maybe I was misjudging Fall. He can seem decent enough at times. But over the weekend I found out . . . everything. I figured out why he’s so focused on you.” He glanced aside, making sure Rigo remained in the distance before he continued in a more hushed tone. “Don’t you remember, what I told you the first week of camp? About how the majority of Durand shares are tied up in a trust, and how Fall is hamstrung in his control of the company without being able to touch that wealth?”
“Yes, I remember,” Alice said, anger making it easier to meet his stare. “Dylan explained it all to me. He’s not making a secret of it. Why would he?”
“Because he got you into bed within months of finding out you weren’t only worth billions of dollars, but were the key to controlling Durand Enterprises. Isn’t it obvious how much he’ll benefit by having you in his right pocket? No one more so than Fall.”
“Be quiet,” she spat in a hushed tone. She glanced over at Rigo. He looked ready to walk over to them, so she held up her hand again to reassure him. A cool calm had come over her, hearing Thad spout something so vindictive against Dylan. “I’m hardly in his right pocket. That’s insulting. And you don’t know Dylan like I do. His motivations are far from selfish in this.”
Thad gave an incredulous bark of laughter. “Right. He gets to sleep with a gorgeous woman who also just happens to be the heiress of the company he leads, but can never completely control. Does Fall strike you as the type of guy who wouldn’t want total and complete control of his domain? He’s drawing you closer into his circle of influence. By the time the news breaks about who you are,” Thad hissed, “he’ll already be in the most prime position of power when it comes to you. God, Alice, can’t you see what he’s—”
“Stop it!”
This time, she didn’t care when Rigo lurched toward them. She spun and started toward her cabin.
“Alice—”
She ignored Thad. “It’s okay, Sal,” she said quietly to Rigo when he approached her. “I’m going to my cabin now. Good night.”
She was done listening to Thad Schaefer.
Or she wished she were, anyway.
His accusations kept repeating in her head over and over. She didn’t believe a word of his allegations.
So why was it she cringed each time she recalled them as she tried desperately to sleep that night?
MAYBE it was her sense of growing unrest that made her do it, or maybe it was a weak sentimentality that she didn’t know she possessed until that summer. Probably, it was just the fact that her unsettling conversation with Thad had told her one thing loud and clear: The storm was on the horizon. It was coming, whether she was ready for it or not.
Whatever the cause, the next day during the lunch break, she returned to her cabin and grabbed her cell phone. She headed toward the back terrace.
“Uncle Al?” she asked quietly a moment later, staring out blindly at the sunlit beach. There was a long pause on the other end.
“Alice? Is that you?”
“Yeah. It is. How are you doing?”
“Good. All right, anyway. Can’t get rid of this cough,” he said, clearing his eternally congested throat and coughing a few times as if to prove his point. She didn’t like the sound of his lungs.