With their eyes still locked, Tony reached for the button to close the window between them and Eric. Claire didn’t look away until she noticed his next move. With the hand not holding his wife’s neck, Tony unzipped the slacks of his tuxedo. He wasn’t truly thinking—he was reacting. That didn’t matter. When Claire began to protest, he trumped her. Physically she was no match for him, and the idea that she’d attempt to push herself away may have been comical if it hadn’t fueled his rage. Tony seized her hand and twisted it back. Holding her neck, he rested his head against the leather seat, entwined his fingers in her hair and directed her movement. It didn’t take her long to remember how to follow his number-one rule. Not all demands required audible words. He’d trained her well.
Before they left the limousine, Tony told Claire to fix her makeup; there would be people in the building where they were about to enter. The world didn’t need to know that his wife needed a refresher course on appropriate behavior. Dutifully, Claire appeared composed as they walked through Trump Tower’s lobby, yet when he gently put his arm around her waist, she tensed. It was enough insubordination to tell Tony that Claire’s lessons were not complete. He leaned close and whispered, “I have more ways you can demonstrate your devotion, Mrs. Rawlings. We’ll review when we reach our apartment.”
Tony woke during the night. They’d be heading to Iowa in the morning, yet his head pounded with the memories of Simon Johnson. Once they were back to the apartment, Claire had done her best to show her devotion. Tony reminded himself that she wouldn’t have misbehaved if Simon had not approached her. That didn’t absolve her of her inappropriate behavior. He planned to remind her about her duties, again, once they returned to the estate. A breach like what occurred couldn’t be repeated. Perhaps she needed some time alone at the estate, showing her devotion to her husband, instead of out with friends or communicating with her sister. Perhaps that would help to reinforce his stance. After all, he couldn’t tolerate public failure.
Claire’s consequences weren’t enough to quell Tony’s fury. Simon Johnson was also guilty. He’d had the audacity to approach Tony’s wife in a public forum. Tony slipped from their bed and made his way to his apartment office where he pulled out his private laptop.
He began to search Simon Johnson. The man had made quite a success of himself. He was founder of a gaming company in Palo Alto, California, called SiJo Gaming. Though not as wealthy as Tony, he was doing very well. It seemed as though he’d left Shedis-tics, a Rawlings subsidiary, years before. If he still worked under the Rawlings umbrella, Tony thought he could influence Johnson through business. After all, Tony had done it before; however, this was different. Johnson’s success made him a potential threat. Tony wanted Claire totally dependent upon him. He couldn’t allow there to be an ex-boyfriend with the financial means to help Claire if she asked. By the way Johnson looked at her, and she at him, that wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility.
If business intervention weren’t possible, Tony needed to look elsewhere. In an unnamed file, he found the cell phone number he sought.
The way he looked at it, it was a business decision. Claire’s behavior reflected upon him; he had a reputation to uphold. He’d invested a lot of time and money into his wife. As with anything else in business, he evaluated the facts. Positives were accentuated and negatives needed to be eliminated. If an adversary was identified, it became a liability. Liabilities can hinder the projected outcome—and needed to be removed.
Admittedly, this was different than any other call he’d authorized. Simon Johnson was not on Nathaniel’s list. That didn’t mean that Tony couldn’t justify his decision.
Claire was on his list, and as long as she performed well and personified a Rawlings, Tony was doing his part to rid the world of a Nichols—a child of a child. When she failed, when she exhibited her independence and innate strength in a non-Rawlings matter, she reminded Tony that he’d failed to directly, fully fulfill Nathaniel’s directive. In order to avoid this type of a failure in the future, ridding the world of Simon Johnson would work to assure Claire’s success. He was helping her.
After the short call, Tony made his way back to their bed. He felt a slight twinge of his conscience when he found Claire sleeping on her edge of the massive mattress. It was how she used to sleep when he first brought her to the estate. He wanted to pull her close and apologize for some of his earlier behavior, but that wouldn’t teach her the lesson he needed her to learn. It would only show weakness, and that wasn’t acceptable.
When they returned to the estate, Claire’s disobedience would result in new rules, and her recently earned liberties would need to be reevaluated. It only made sense: actions had consequences. Nevertheless, by the time he slid under the covers, the sound of Claire’s soft breathing and the knowledge of his call dissipated the last hues of red. With a renewed sense of calm, Tony drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Eleven
The beginning of the end … coffee?—January 2012
(Consequences—Chapter 46)
If a relationship is to evolve, it must go through a series of endings.
—Lisa Moriyama
Tony paced the length of his office. Although his decision was set, he couldn’t shake the conflicted feeling that nagged deep inside of him. He told himself that this was a test—only a test. He’d presented Claire with more tests than he could count, and when she passed this one, everything could continue as it had been. Would she pass? Tony knew in his heart that this wasn’t the same as other tests he’d created; this was bigger and potentially life changing. It wasn’t a test: it was her final examination—the fulfillment of a personal deal he’d made a lifetime ago. It started out as an idea, a seed, and like things do, it grew.
Twenty-two months ago, when he brought Claire to his home, Tony didn’t know what to expect. He never in a million years planned to have feelings for her—she was the enemy, a Nichols. In hindsight, Catherine had seen and warned him. She knew his interest in Claire was more than that of curiosity. That being said, Tony fought those feelings with all he had. He’d never admit it to anyone, but in a significant way, Claire was his biggest success and his biggest failure. He’d brought her to Iowa to pay the penance of her family’s sins, but during her sentence she’d won him over. Oh, he’d changed her, but she’d changed him, too. He was no longer her warden but her husband. In essence, she’d derailed his plans.
Unlike any other failure, and he’d had very few, Tony didn’t mind. He enjoyed her—more than enjoyed, he craved her. She fulfilled a part of him he’d never known existed, yet despite all the ways he’d changed her, he knew that she was still a Nichols. She acted, dressed, and looked different, but was it real? After all, deep down, she was still the same woman who he’d acquired. It was a reality he couldn’t shake. Maybe it was the way the subject snuck into conversations. Catherine would say something like, I saw the photos of the two of you in the magazine. Claire is doing so well, and you two truly make a handsome couple. Sometimes I forget that she’s a Nichols.