Chapter 2 - The Man at the Balcony Door.
Julian closed the balcony door behind him.
The soft click of the latch sounded much louder than it should have.
Victoria kept the phone pressed to her ear.
Her father was still on the line.
Julian glanced at the screen and then at her face.
"You really called him."
It was not a question.
Victoria stepped sideways until the glass door remained within her peripheral vision.
"Yes."
Julian exhaled slowly through his nose.
"Put the phone down."
Nathaniel heard him.
"Victoria, do not argue with him."
Her father's voice remained controlled.
"Walk back inside."
Julian extended one hand.
"Give me the phone."
Victoria almost laughed.
The request was so revealing in its confidence.
He still believed he could tell her what belonged in her hand.
"No."
His mouth tightened.
"You're turning one mistake into a disaster."
"Your mistake?"
"Ours."
Victoria stared at him.
Julian lowered his voice.
"You provoked my father."
The sentence landed harder than she expected.
Her cheek throbbed as if her body understood the insult before her mind did.
"So you hit me."
"I lost my temper for one second."
"You hit me."
"Keep your voice down."
Victoria looked through the doors at the guests inside.
Several people were pretending to resume their conversations.
Most were still watching.
"Why?"
Julian blinked.
"Why what?"
"Why should I keep my voice down?"
He took another step closer.
"Because people are filming."
Nathaniel spoke through the phone.
"Good."
Julian heard him.
His eyes narrowed.
"Nathaniel, this is a private matter."
Victoria's father answered without raising his voice.
"Then stop performing it in public."
Julian's nostrils flared.
For a fraction of a second, his polished expression cracked.
Victoria saw the same man who had struck her.
Then the mask returned.
"Victoria, your father has hated me from the beginning."
"My father barely spoke to you."
"Exactly."
"That's not hatred."
"You don't understand what he has been doing behind your back."
Nathaniel cut in.
"Victoria, go inside now."
This time she listened.
She reached for the door handle.
Julian moved first and placed his palm against the glass.
He did not touch her.
He did not need to.
His body blocked the doorway.
Every nerve in Victoria sharpened.
"Move."
Julian's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Your father is coming here to destroy our engagement."
"You did that yourself."
His face went still.
Victoria realized the sentence had reached him.
Not emotionally.
Strategically.
"Don't say that."
"Why?"
"Because you don't mean it."
"I do."
The words came with surprising ease.
Her hand no longer trembled around the phone.
Julian studied her for several seconds.
Then he stepped aside.
"Fine."
Victoria opened the door.
Warm ballroom air rushed around her.
Camille was waiting only a few feet away.
Her dark eyes went immediately to Victoria's cheek.
"Oh my God."
Victoria shook her head once.
"Not here."
Camille looked at Julian with open disgust.
"I saw it."
Julian stopped.
"You saw what?"
Camille's expression sharpened.
"Don't try that with me."
Victoria's pulse jumped.
A witness.
A real witness who was willing to say it aloud.
Julian glanced toward the ballroom.
Conrad was crossing the floor toward them with the hotel's security director, Martin Shaw.
Shaw was a broad-shouldered man in his fifties with an earpiece and the strained expression of someone who had already been given conflicting orders.
Conrad reached them first.
"Victoria, I'm told there was an unfortunate incident."
Victoria stared at him.
"Your son slapped me in front of a hundred people."
Conrad's expression remained sympathetic without becoming human.
"Julian tells me you both became emotional."
Camille made a sound of disbelief.
Victoria felt something inside her go cold.
"I didn't hit him."
Conrad turned to Camille as if noticing her for the first time.
"This is a family matter."
"She isn't your family yet," Camille replied.
The word yet hung strangely in the air.
Victoria looked down at the engagement ring on her left hand.
She had worn it for eleven months.
An antique sapphire surrounded by diamonds.
Julian had proposed on a private terrace in Paris.
At the time, she had believed the tears in his eyes.
Now she could not remember whether he had ever cried when no one was watching.
Security director Shaw cleared his throat.
"Ms. Ashford, would you like medical assistance?"
"No."
"Would you like us to call police?"
Conrad turned sharply toward him.
"That won't be necessary."
Victoria looked at Conrad.
"He asked me."
Conrad smiled faintly.
"Of course."
Victoria turned back to Shaw.
"I want the security footage preserved."
Shaw hesitated.
The hesitation lasted less than a second.
It was enough.
Nathaniel was still listening on the phone.
"Ask him whether anyone has accessed the cameras since the incident," he said.
Victoria repeated the question.
Shaw's eyes shifted toward Conrad.
Camille noticed.
So did Julian.
"Mr. Shaw?" Victoria asked.
The security director swallowed.
"Our system is managed by hotel operations."
"That wasn't my question."
"There was a request to review the footage."
"From whom?"
Conrad's voice cut through the exchange.
"This is becoming theatrical."
Victoria ignored him.
"From whom, Mr. Shaw?"
Shaw glanced again at Conrad.
Then at Julian.
"Mr. Vale's office."
Camille folded her arms.
"That was fast."
Julian stepped forward.
"I wanted to make sure no one leaked an embarrassing family argument."
Victoria felt the last remnants of shock turning into clarity.
"You were trying to control the footage."
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
"From yourself."
The words slipped out before Julian could soften them.
Camille's eyes widened.
Conrad looked at his son with irritation.
Not because the statement was cruel.
Because it was careless.
Nathaniel spoke through the phone.
"I'm five minutes away."
Victoria did not ask how he had arrived so quickly.
Her father maintained an apartment less than a mile from the hotel.
He had once joked that Chicago traffic was the only force on earth more stubborn than he was.
She had not laughed at the time.
Now the memory nearly undid her.
Julian noticed her expression soften.
"Victoria, listen to me."
"No."
"We can fix this."
She looked at the ring again.
"You keep saying we."
"Because we're getting married in six weeks."
Victoria slowly removed the sapphire ring.
Every person standing nearby became still.
Julian's face lost color.
"Don't."
Victoria held the ring between two fingers.
"You don't get to hit me and then schedule my forgiveness."
She placed the ring on a passing waiter's empty silver tray.
The waiter froze.
No one moved to retrieve it.
Julian stared at the ring as though it were a live explosive.
"Victoria."
She turned away.
The elevator doors across the ballroom opened.
Nathaniel Ashford stepped out wearing a dark overcoat over an open-collar white shirt.
He had clearly left home without changing for the gala.
His gray hair was slightly disordered.
Two people accompanied him.
One was Victoria's longtime family attorney, Rebecca Sloan.
The other was a woman Victoria did not recognize.
She carried a laptop case and an evidence bag.
Nathaniel's eyes found his daughter instantly.
Then they moved to the mark on her face.
He stopped walking.
Victoria had seen her father furious many times.
She had never seen him look like this.
He did not shout.
He did not threaten Julian.
He simply walked to Victoria and asked, "Did he touch your phone?"
"No."
"Good."
Rebecca Sloan stepped toward security director Shaw.
"I'm formally requesting preservation of all surveillance recordings from this floor, all access logs, and all internal communications concerning those recordings."
Conrad laughed once.
"Rebecca, don't be ridiculous."
Rebecca did not look at him.
"I'm not speaking to you."
The unknown woman opened her laptop case.
Victoria saw a portable forensic drive inside.
Shaw's face tightened.
"There may be a problem."
Nathaniel turned toward him.
"What problem?"
Shaw looked at Victoria.
"The ballroom camera files from the last hour have already been deleted."
A murmur passed through the nearby guests.
Julian said nothing.
Conrad smiled faintly.
But the woman beside Nathaniel did.
"That's fine," she said.
Everyone looked at her.
She lifted the forensic drive.
"Deleted isn't the same as gone."
Then her expression changed as she read something on her laptop.
"Unless someone wiped the backup too."
She turned the screen toward Nathaniel.
May you like
The remote deletion command had been issued ninety-two seconds after Victoria called her father.
And it had come from Julian Vale's phone.
