Triton’s in-house security chief, watching her closely.
“Relax, Rich.” Quentin Rowe passed in front of the security man and
headed over to Sidney. He sat down next to her. “So, how’re you
doing?” he asked gently. “We have some Valium on board. Carry a
constant supply because of Nathan.”
“He uses Valium?” Sidney looked surprised.
Rowe shrugged. “Actually, it’s for the people traveling with Nathan.”
Sidney managed a weak smile in return, a smile that abruptly vanished.
“Oh, God, I can’t believe it.” She looked out the window with reddened
eyes. Her hands flew to her face. She spoke without looking at Rowe.
“I know this looks bad, Quentin.” Her voice was trembling.
“Hey, no law against someone traveling on his own time,” Rowe said
quickly.
“I don’t know what to say–”
Rowe held up a hand. “Look, this isn’t the time or place. I’ve got
some things to do. You need anything, just let me know.”
Sidney looked at him gratefully. After he disappeared into another part
of the cabin, Sidney leaned back in her chair and once again closed her
eyes. The waves of tears slid down her puffy cheeks.
From the front of the cabin, Richard Lucas continued his solitary watch.
Sidney would sob anew each time she recalled her last exchange with
Jason. In anger, she had hung up the phone on him. Here was a stupid
little episode that didn’t mean anything, an act replicated a thousand
times over the life of many successful marriages, and yet was that to be
his last memory of their lives together? She shuddered and gripped the
armrest. All her suspicions over the last few months. God! He had
been working so hard trying to land a terrific new job, and she could
only see the absurd image of him bedding more attractive women. Her
guilt was numbing. The rest of her life would be forever tainted by
that single, terrible misjudgment of the man she loved.
When she opened her eyes, she received another shock. Nathan Gamble was
sitting next to her. She was startled to see tenderness in his face, an
emotion she had certainly never witnessed in him before.
He offered her the glass in his hand.
“Brandy,” he said gruffly, looking past her out the porthole at the dark
sky. When she hesitated, he took her hand and wrapped it around the
glass. “Right now you don’t want to be thinking too clearly,” he said.
“Drink.”
She put the glass to her lips and the warm liquid cascaded, down her
throat. Gamble sat back in the leather and motioned Lucas to leave. The
Triton CEO absently rubbed the armrest as he surveyed the cabin. He had
removed his suit jacket and his rolled-up shirt-sleeves revealed
surprisingly muscular forearms. The plane’s engines droned deep in the
background. Sidney could almost feel the electrical currents running
amok through her as she waited for Gamble to speak. She had seen him
completely devastate people at all levels of authority with his
relentless disregard for personal feelings. Now, even through the veil
of utter grief, she sensed the presence of a different, more caring man
next to her.
“I’m very sorry about your husband.” Sidney was dimly conscious of how
in at ease Gamble seemed. His hands were constantly in motion, as
though matching the maneuvers of his very active mind.
Sidney glanced at him as she took another swallow of brandy.
“Thank you,” she managed to say.
“I really didn’t know him personally. Company as big as Triton, hell,
I’m lucky if I meet even ten percent of the management-level people.”
Gamble sighed and, as if suddenly noticing the ceaseless dance of his
hands, folded them across his lap. “Of course, I knew him by reputation
and he was moving up quickly. By most accounts he would’ve made very
good executive material.”
Sidney winced at the words. She thought back to Jason’s news that very
morning. A new job, a vice presidency, a new life for them all.
And now? She quickly finished the brandy and managed to forestall a sob
before it broke the surface. When she glanced again at Gamble, he was
looking directly at her. “I might as well get this out now, although