The café seemed suddenly too warm.
“He told you that I would take care of you?”
“He said you were generous. He said you would never turn away a woman with a newborn.”
I sat back.
For the first time, I understood the cruelty of his plan.
He hadn’t merely intended to humiliate me by bringing his mistress into my house.
He wanted to put the woman holding the money under my roof, where he could watch us both. If questions arose, he could claim that Vesna had controlled the company and that I had willingly taken responsibility for her.
And if Vesna discovered too much, she would be living in a house he could no longer enter without my permission.
He was trying to control every exit.
“Vesna,” I said quietly, “I need you to answer one more question.”
She looked at me.
“Has Richard ever threatened you?”
She hesitated.
