"Not yet. I think there's something else going on." I pinched the bridge of my nose. Maybe Chelsea had immediately called her. Chelsea could have ignored our agreement and told Blake that I'd given her five million dollars, and Blake was beside-herself angry with me.
Maybe Blake had run into her sister here at my building, and Chelsea had told her. Or maybe Blake had just seen her sister leaving and drawn her own conclusions.
"I'll walk home," I told Ian.
"Sir?"
"Jesus Christ, it's not that far," I snapped. "If you hear from her, call me immediately.”
I fumed as I walked from my office through Downtown Crossing, past Suffolk Law School, and into the park. It was quiet at this hour, with the swan boats closed and the screaming children stuffed back into their minivans and driven home to whichever suburb they were from. I stalked down the path, not even seeing the trees around me, their limbs heavy with fragrant blooms.
"Hey!" a familiar voice shouted. I stopped, confused, until I realized that it was Herman Pace. I'd practically walked right past him.
I stopped. "Hey."
"What's your problem? And don't say nothing because you look like you just took a bite of moldy cheese."
I shrugged. "Work stuff. Nothing I can't handle."
"How's that beautiful wife of yours?" he asked.
"She's turning out to be somewhat of a disappointment."
He sat up straighter. "Why's that?"
"It's complicated." I have feelings for her and it's totally f'd up. I can't even deal with it.
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "That's the problem with you rich people—the same thing that's wrong with celebrities. Can't be happy with what you've got. Everything's too complicated. Or it's not perfect. You all are getting married and divorced and remarried faster than the rest of us can keep track of."
"Really?" I asked. "You're keeping track of celebrity marriages these days?"
"People throw those magazines away in the trash every day—which is where they belong. But I can’t help it if I get sucked into the headlines." He adjusted his wool hat, which he wore every night, even in the summer. "How'd she disappoint you?"
I groaned. "I really don't want to talk about it. I need to think it through."
"Well, go on and do that. But don't make a woman like that wait too long. She might not stick around."
I bristled at the thought. "Are you talking from experience?"
"I learned the hard way." He motioned me on. "Let me be a lesson to you."
Confused anger thrummed through me as I headed home. I stopped in the bar at The Stratum, which I never did, but I couldn't bear to go upstairs yet. I ordered a Manhattan and nursed it, not even seeing the people around me. Blake must've seen her sister at my office, and she must've thought the worst. And now she was gone.
Even since Elizabeth had left me, and involved me in an ugly personal scandal, I'd chosen to live my life alone. And it had been fine, almost perfect, until Blake had shown up… My phone buzzed, and I picked it up without even looking at the number. It had to be her.
"Lucas?" It was my sister, Serena.
"What?" I snapped.
"I just got off the phone with my attorney. He said that based on his team's research, he believes the social provisions in our trust are voidable. He's putting together a brief and calling Rupert first thing in the morning."
"That's just fucking perfect." I finished my Manhattan in one gulp.
"What's your problem?" she asked, but I hung up before giving her an answer.
My problem? Blake left me tonight, and I don't know where she is.
She left me because she thought I'd gone behind her back and done something with Sister Act.