Once Upon a Marriage

He was grinning at them.

Gabi threw a pillow at him.

And Marie grabbed the remote. Definitely time to start the movie...

Facing the screen, her hand on the play button, she froze. And peripherally realized that Liam had come farther into the room. Gabi was completely still.

“And tonight, gathering at the...” Marie stared, the news announcer’s voice fading out and back in, like a cell phone losing reception. “...and with all the domestic violence issues suffered by the NFL this past year, some of the NFL’s biggest stars are in attendance...”

She shook her head. Knew when Liam sat down on the arm of the couch beside her.

“It’s a no-press-allowed affair, but a local shelter, who helped plan the affair, passed along a couple of pictures...”

Still photos. That were plastered on the screen.

A woman standing at a podium, obviously one of the speakers. A gorgeous, rich, smiling woman. And her name on the caption. Along with the name of her escort for the evening.

Marie dropped the remote.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

ELLIOTT HAD JUST dropped Sailor off at the airport with her sincere thanks for a successful evening, on all counts, when his phone rang.

Seeing Liam’s name come up on the dash screen, he pressed the answer button on his steering wheel immediately.

“Tanner.” He said the one word clearly and quickly. His mind geared to process just as rapidly. Something had happened. He shouldn’t have left...

“You’d mentioned earlier about dropping your client off at the airport for an eleven o’clock flight. Are you alone?” The man’s tone was different.

“Yes.” He pulled onto the main thoroughfare that would take him to the downtown area where the historic Arapahoe stood among other stately homes—most of them housing boutique businesses now.

“So you’re free to talk.” The streets were dimly lit. Traffic was light.

“Yes. Is something happening there? Are you all okay?” He’d ascertained no hint of alarm in the other man’s voice, but Liam’s usual congenial conversational approach was most definitely missing.

“We’re fine. The girls are in on the couch. Marie was going to go downstairs to wait for you, but Gabi insisted that she stay up with us.”

All things Liam—or Marie—could have told him when he got home.

“Soooo...” Liam paused. “You were working tonight?”

His neck tensed. “Yes.”

“I don’t suppose you can tell me what you were doing. Or with who.”

Dread filled his gut. “You know I can’t.”

“But you were working.”

“Absolutely.”

“Good. I guess I’ll see you when you get here, then.”

Whoa. That was it?

Sitting back in his seat, one hand on the steering wheel, Elliott said, “Hold on a minute. You mind telling me what’s going on here?”

“Caught a glimpse of the news this evening. A piece about a high-end fund-raiser attended by some pretty impressive people. A domestic violence benefit. Not a cause Connelly has ever supported—though I don’t know why not and I think we should—so I didn’t know about it until tonight.”