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I put the call on speaker and set the phone down between us.

Theo braces one hand against the back of the chair. “Which period?”

“The years between Bane leaving Spencer Stone’s security team and Wolf Shield securing its first major commercial contracts.”

I stop marking the report. Theo’s expression loses every trace of humor.

“How many inquiries?” I ask.

“Three so far. Two entertainment sites and a freelance reporter. The wording is similar enough that I doubt they developed the question independently.”

I lean back against the desk and think through who has access to that part of my history. The answer comes before she continues.

“We traced the earliest inquiry through a publicist.”

Theo looks at me.

“Whose publicist?” I ask.

“Spencer Stone’s.”

My attention moves toward the conference table, where Celeste’s photograph sits beside Haven House reports and the first outline of the program I intend to build in her name.

Spencer has spent months trying to reach Emma, using photographers, gossip sites, new phone numbers, and a public apology outside my building until she shut down every route he tried.

Going after my employment history gives him another one.

He knows I left his security team and disappeared from his world before Wolf Shield began securing major contracts, but he has no idea what filled the gap between those events.

Theo folds his arms as he looks from the phone to me. “How much does he actually know?”

“Probably less than he thinks.” I close the Haven House file and push away from the conference table. “Which won’t stop him from deciding what he wants everybody else to believe.”

Theo’s expression hardens. “And if he starts digging?”

My attention drops to Celeste’s photograph beside the shelter reports.

He’ll find the years he’s looking for. He just won’t find the scandal he expects.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Emma

SEPTEMBER 15TH

Sprout charges through the nursery doorway with a stuffed elephant clamped between his teeth, forcing Bane to abandon the half-built dresser and Babs races after the dog and Biddy tries to block his escape with both arms spread wide.

“Get him, Daddy!” Babs shouts as Sprout darts around the crib.

Bane reaches down when the dog passes him and catches him around the middle, lifting all seventy pounds of offended golden retriever off the floor. Sprout keeps hold of the elephant.

Biddy hurries over and points at the toy. “That’s the babies’ elephant.”

“I’ve informed him,” Bane says, tightening one arm around the dog before reaching for the toy. “He disagrees.”

Babs grabs the elephant’s back leg and pulls. “I can get it.”

Sprout pulls in the opposite direction.