Chapter 4 - THE MARRIAGE NOBODY KNEW ABOUT
Dominic and I had married six months earlier.
Quietly.
In a courthouse outside Boston.
No reporters.
No elaborate ceremony.
Just two witnesses.
A judge.
And a promise.
I'd met Dominic two years before that.
Not at a gala.
Not at a nightclub.
But in a conference room where I'd been hired to investigate suspicious cargo-loss claims.
Dominic had expected a team of consultants.
Instead, I arrived alone.
Carrying three binders.
He looked at me.
“Where's your team?”
I placed the binders on the table.
“Which part of the investigation would you like them to handle?”
He frowned.
I smiled.
“The part where someone forged the cargo manifests?”
His expression changed.
“Or the part where your terminal manager approved shipments that never arrived?”
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he smiled.
“Sit down, Ms. Keene.”
I did.
And three hours later, I'd identified a pattern his internal auditors had missed.
Dominic didn't ask whether I was married.
Didn't comment on my appearance.
Didn't explain my own profession to me.
He asked questions.
Listened.
Disagreed when necessary.
And respected my answers.
Six months later, he invited me to dinner.
I refused.
Twice.
The third time, I accepted.
Not because he was wealthy.
May you like
Not because people feared him.
But because he'd never once treated my intelligence as something surprising.
