Page 89 of To Have and to Hold

“Eugenie,” I said, and laid my steady stare on hers. “Have you always disliked Jack Beauregard?”

The teacup hit its saucer a bit too hard. “What makes you say that, young man?”

“Jack graduated top of his class, with DA Abrams a close second. Jack got offered an associate’s position at one of the top law firms in the country, a position I believe DA Abrams also applied for. I’m not one to judge if that irked you just a little. I’m a hell of a competitor, too, and I don’t accept anything below champion.”

“It ended up all right in the end, didn’t it?” Eugenie smirked. “My husband is now on track to become a senator. And then…who knows?” She added softly, “And where did you say Jack was? Back to his roots? Milking cows?”

She blinked, and there might as well have been cobra eyes regarding me before she blinked again.

“He did move back to his home and started a family,” I said. “In fact, the very woman we’re searching for is Jack’s daughter. Emme Beauregard.”

“Such an unpleasant thing to happen to a parent.” Eugenie gazed down at the floor, her brows suffering greatly at Jack’s loss. “It’s why Dexter and I decided never to have children. All they do is break their sires’ hearts.”

“We’re doing our best not to cause such heartache,” Knox spoke up. “Which is why it’s crucial we gather information from all sources, including you and your husband. You can see now why we’re here. You both have a connection with Emme’s family.”

Eugenie scoffed. “If you can call it a connection. I haven’t seen that man in years. Never met his daughter, either.”

“I’m not sure that’s fair to say,” I said. “Didn’t you and DA Abrams meet Emme at a function recently? A few months ago?”

Eugenie fluttered her hand. “I meet so many individuals at these constant events Dexter wants to attend. I may very well have met her, but don’t assume I remember her.”

No doubt, with her razor edge, Eugenie would’ve noticed Emme the instant Emme uttered her father’s name.

“Moving on,” Knox said after an unobtrusive elbow to my arm. “Do you and DA Abrams own any property outside this penthouse?”

Eugenie smacked her lips at Knox like she was regarding a snail crawling across her couch, and to kill it, she’d have to stain the velvet. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m doing us all a favor and getting straight to the point. Vacation homes, anything like that?”

“No.”

“None?”

Eugenie sighed. “We rent a house in the Hamptons every summer, but don’t you dare repeat that. I’d hate for it to get back to our friends that we’re…” She had extreme difficulty stating her next word. “Renters. But Dexter doesn’t want the added stress of multiple homes. His success is here, in the heart of New York City. He has no interest in owning—and maintaining—multiple properties across the globe.”

Knox smiled, and it was so vapid I nearly laughed. “Thank you so much for your candidness, Mrs. Abrams. We’ll get back to you.”

As he stood, I followed, but I attempted one last prod. “I don’t suppose you give us a list of Dex’s mistresses’ addresses?”

“My boy,” Eugenie said, her lower jaw working as if she were chewing on my tongue. “I will be sure to report your nuisance to Dexter once he gets home. Maybe start clearing your desk now.”

“Right. I’ll just ask his secretary then,” I said, and after receiving a rewarding startle, I went with Knox into the hallway and then out to the hallway.

As we were waiting for the elevator, Knox hooked a thumb into the front of his pants and pulled, glancing down. He then looked to me and asked, “You still have yours?”

“I think a piece of it is still dangling.”

“That is one bitter-ass woman.”

“What do you expect?” I asked as we headed into the elevator. “Sociopath recognizes sociopath.”

“That was such a complete waste of our time. A girl’s been taken by a psycho and that woman is up there drinking tea. Did you get anything from this?”

I spent some time pondering. “She’s filled to the brim with resentment, hates her husband, but needs him in order to climb the rungs to ultimate power, allows him mistresses—probably prefers it—since it means she doesn’t have to fuck him. Despises Jack Beauregard for the same reasons. He was incredibly successful in his field and direct competition to her own ascension.”

“You think she was hiding something?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” I said. The doors dinged open to the lobby. “It’ll come as no surprise when we discover she knew exactly what her husband did twenty years ago, and was probably the one who suggested Abrams rope Jack into it somehow in order to start his fall.”

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