“There’s more to Fall’s assuming leadership of Durand and the surrounding consequences than I realized when we talked before,” Thad said in a muted tone. “Sebastian Kehoe had a right to be sharp with us for assuming that Fall was made the head of Durand Enterprises because he was related to Alan or Lynn Durand. There were those on the Durand board at the time that felt that Fall had undue influence on Alan Durand, especially at the end of Durand’s life when he was so sick.”
“Who thought that? Kehoe, no doubt,” Alice said, rolling her eyes. “It’s pretty clear Kehoe is jealous of Dylan.”
“Not just Kehoe,” Thad whispered heatedly. “I saw you talking to Dr. Gates before dinner. Sidney Gates, the psychiatrist?”
“Yeah,” Alice said, shifting uneasily in her heels.
“Sidney Gates voiced his doubts about Fall’s fitness as CEO at the time, as well.”
Alice’s folded arms collapsed, falling at her sides. She couldn’t believe that. Weren’t Sidney and Dylan close? She shook her head.
“No. That can’t be right. Besides, even if Kehoe or Gates had doubts about Dylan’s worthiness to be the CEO after Alan Durand died, they’ve been proven wrong. In spades. You know as well as I do that Durand Enterprises is more diverse and financially robust under Dylan’s regime than it was under Durand’s management, which was brilliant in and of itself.”
“Maybe so, but there’s more, Alice,” Thad said, holding her stare. “There are those at Durand who feel that Dylan’s interest in you isn’t . . .”
Alice waited tensely, holding her breath when Thad trailed off. Her heart had sunk to the vicinity of her navel at the words those at Durand. Had Dylan’s and her secret been discovered and was now generally known? Or did Thad just mean that Dylan’s exclusive hiring of her, his high praise of her to people like Stalwalter, and his brief but notable attention toward her at the previous house party at Castle Durand had set some Durand higher-ups on edge? It was obvious Thad was struggling to be tactful, but Alice wasn’t all that sympathetic.
“Spit it out, Thad.”
“They feel his interest in you isn’t entirely honest. There’s something behind it,” he finished, his gaze running over her face.
“Who thinks that?” Alice demanded, her voice trembling with emotion. She took an aggressive step toward him. “Who is thinking about Dylan and me at all? You never did tell me how you even found out we were involved. No one is supposed to know about us!”
Thad grimaced. “It’s a reliable source, Alice. This person is concerned about Fall taking advantage of you.”
“Because I’m so far out of his league?” she asked, her voice shaking uncontrollably.
She was on high boil all of a sudden, and she hadn’t even realized she was growing hot. Everything in front of her eyes seemed to be cast in a red haze. “Because no one can figure out why he’d be interested in a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, a girl who comes from the wrong family, and the wrong school. The wrong fucking life,” she grated out between bared teeth. “Well, maybe Dylan knows more about my life than you think, Thad.”
He looked shocked by her sudden flare of temper. She wasn’t surprised. Alice herself was a little shocked.
“Jesus, Alice, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to imply that you aren’t in Fall’s league. You know how I feel about you. If anything, I think the opposite.” He reached out and grasped her elbow, his expression fierce. “Fall doesn’t deserve you.”
She whipped her arm out, throwing Thad’s hold off her. “I don’t deserve this,” she hissed, only vaguely aware of what she meant. “I never thought I’d say this in a million years, but sometimes I wish my life could just go back to what it was before I ever set foot in this damn place.”
“Alice, what the hell—”
“Just leave me alone, Thad.”
She turned and made a beeline for the grand staircase.
*
WHEN Dylan stepped into the entry hall, the only person he saw standing there was Thad Schaefer, his back turned to him.
“Where’s Alice?”
Schaefer spun at his sharp question. The hair on the back of Dylan’s neck stood on end when he took in Schaefer’s stunned expression.
“What did you say to her?” he ground out, stepping toward him rapidly. Schaefer blanched beneath his tan.
“Nothing! I mean . . . I don’t know what I said,” Schaefer said, clearly at a loss. “She just got upset all of a sudden and told me off.”
“All of a sudden?” He suppressed a nearly overwhelming urge to wring the kid’s neck until his pretty-boy face turned beet red. “Where’d she go?” he demanded instead.
Thad pointed at the grand staircase. “She looked desperate. Like she was—”
“What?”
“Running from me, or from something. I don’t know what I said that upset her so much.”