Then he began to laugh again, this time properly. The sound was low, dark, and far more controlled than the emotions rolling through him.
“So that’s what the money was for,” he said calmly.
Jonathan’s brows drew together. “What are you talking about?”
Ryan rose slowly from his chair.
He straightened his blazer with a small, absent flick of his fingers, then turned fully to face them both, the space between them charged.
“I can assure you,” he said, “Eve will never leave me for any amount of money. The only reason she accepted that money was to help the people who took her in when she had nowhere else to go.”
He paused, remembering the way Eve had told him. No self-pity. No justification. Just simple, painful honesty.
“She gave them every cent,” he said. “Handed over the entire amoun
