Page 23 of Indecent Proposal

“Well.” Susan smiled sadly. “Richard’s death was sudden.”

“Yes. Did you have any reason to think him… depressed, or anything like that?”

She shook her head. “He was really happy about the wedding and getting married to Claire, looking forward to it. But that was a few months ago, before I quit. I don’t know what might have changed since then.”

“How did his relationship seem?” I pressed. “Was the wedding planning stressing him out?”

“Oh, no, I mean—he wasn’t really in charge of planning. His mom and Claire’s mom were doing a lot of that, you know?” Susan paused. “I did wonder, sometimes. If things were really all right.”

“What makes you say that?” This was the first I’d heard someone sense that things weren’t actually perfect between Richard and Claire.

Susan shrugged. “He doesn’t—didn’t—really always have the best self-awareness. If something didn’t confirm to his worldview, he simply didn’t see it. So sometimes, I would hear him say things about Claire and I would just wonder… if she was really as in it as he was.”

“Was there ever anything suspicious about the work itself?”

“At Hardman?” Susan shook her head. “No, nothing that worried me. I did sometimes worry about Richard quitting, though.”

Another first. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he was a big earner for them, and he had a lot of great clients that he managed. If he had moved to another firm he probably would’ve been able to take those clients with him. Your clients trust you, not the company, y’know? At least if you’re doing your job right.”

“But it backfires if someone is poached,” I reflected out loud.

Susan nodded.

“Could Hardman or someone else have retaliated violently if Richard tried to leave?” I asked.

Susan paused, apparently mulling the question over in her mind. “It’s not Hardman I worried about getting violent.”

My brows raised. “Oh?”

“Look, this is all speculation, but I sometimes got the impression that the people who were trying to recruit Richard weren’t the kind of people who stayed on the ethical side of the business.” Susan sighed and leaned back in her seat, staring into the middle distance. “I took messages, you know? I would listen to things, even if I didn’t mean to. I would pick up the phone first. And I worried a bit. Richard was kind of naïve, the way I think a lot of people raised in wealth are naïve. Everything’s given to them easily, so how could someone be fucking them over? No one’s tried that before. It was never anything I could put my finger on, it was just… I think someone wanted not just to poach him but to use him to get information on Hardman clients.”

Well, that was an interesting angle. It fit, though. Claire had said that Richard hadn’t noticed the fact that she was unhappy. That her request for the two of them to take a break had been a surprise to him. It was entirely possible that someone would want to take advantage of that when he managed the money of millionaires.

“Thank you, Susan, you’ve been really helpful.” I meant it, and a few minutes later we parted ways.

So, someone had been trying to recruit Richard and use his contacts for another purpose. Richard hadn’t been aware of a nefarious undertone that Susan had picked up on—at least, he hadn’t when Susan had been there. But Susan had left a few months ago. During that few months’ time, had Richard realized that there was something more than just simple corporate headhunting going on?

The past few months had also been when Richard had spent more time at work, but none of his coworkers knew what he was doing. His friends didn’t know. And he hadn’t put up a fight when Claire had asked for a break—why?

Because he wanted her to be safe, and knew he was doing something dangerous?

However. She’d been the one he’d called while he was in his most desperate hour. Which meant that in a moment of panic, she had been the person he trusted the most. Not any of his coworkers who might better understand what was going on. That said something to me. Not necessarily anything romantic. Some people might think it sweet—he trusted his fiancée more than anyone—but not me.

To me, it said that he couldn’t trust his coworkers. If I was in his position, those were the people I’d call. They’d be the ones to make sense of whatever corporate thing I was dealing with.

Maybe it was someone else. Or maybe it was someone within Hardman Holdings itself. I was going to keep looking into both possibilities.

I decided that evening to check up on Claire. I knew logically that she was most likely fine since she hadn’t used the burner phone I’d given her, but… I couldn’t stop thinking about her. And there was no harm in a short look, right? Especially now that she knew there were cameras inside the cabin, too.

I popped open the feed to watch the last couple days—and nearly stood up from the chair in shock.

I watched Claire doing yoga. On the front porch. Outside the cabin.

As I stared at the video screen, she stretched into various sinuous poses, showing off her flexibility, her ass, even those gorgeous breasts as she tipped her chest in a backwards arch.Fucking hell.

There was no way she wasn’t doing this on purpose. No fucking way. She knew the rules, and I’d also made it clear she’d get some kind of punishment if she broke them, and here she was, blatantly disregarding them. Reveling in it. Even… showing off for the camera a bit.

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