I left the folder where it was. “What arrangement?”

“Lucas should be on the business.”

“Why?”

She gave me an irritated look. “Because he’s your husband.”

“That’s not a reason.”

Her voice dropped. “Sign the papers, Camilla.”

I looked at the folder, then back at her. “No.”

For the first time all evening, Beatrice looked genuinely caught off guard.

“You haven’t even read them.”

“I have.”

She stopped moving.

“What?”

“I’ve already seen them.”

The room around us had gotten noticeably quieter.

Beatrice picked up her phone. “Fine. We’ll call Lucas.”

“Go ahead.”

She gave me a look like I had just made a very stupid decision.

Then she put him on speaker.

“Mom, What Did You Do?”

Lucas answered on the fourth ring. “Hey.”

Beatrice sat straighter. “Lucas, I need you to explain something to your wife.”

There was a pause. “Where are you?”

“Lumina.”

Another pause followed, longer this time. “Why?”

Beatrice frowned. “I brought the girls for dinner. It doesn’t matter. Camilla is making a scene over the bill.”

Lucas sounded tired. “What bill?”

Beatrice glanced at me. “Eighty-six thousand seven hundred forty dollars.”

Nothing came through the phone for several seconds.

Then Lucas said, “What?”

Beatrice rolled her eyes. “Don’t start.”

“Mom, what did you do?”

That got everyone’s attention.

She leaned closer to the phone. “We had dinner.”

“For eighty-six grand?”

“There are thirty-nine of us.”

“Thirty-nine?”

“Yes.”

Lucas let out a breath. “Jesus Christ, Mom.”

Her friends were no longer pretending not to listen.

Beatrice lowered her voice. “Just tell Camilla to take care of it.”

“I can’t tell her that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s her restaurant.”

Beatrice’s face went still.

A woman across the table frowned. “I thought you said it was Lucas’s restaurant.”

Beatrice held up one finger without looking at her. “One second.”

Then she spoke into the phone again. “Lucas, explain to her that this is a family business.”

“Mom, stop.”

“No, you stop. Tell her.”

There was a long breath on the other end.

“I don’t own Lumina.”

Nobody at the table moved.

Beatrice looked around quickly. “Well, not technically yet.”

Lucas immediately cut in. “What does ‘yet’ mean?”

She tapped the folder. “I have the papers.”

His voice changed. “What papers?”

“The ones you gave me.”

“Mom.”

“What?”

“Why do you have those with you?”

She looked irritated. “Because somebody has to get this handled.”

Lucas went silent.

I leaned toward the phone. “She wants me to sign them tonight.”

“Camilla—”

“Is that what you wanted?”

“Can we talk about this at home?”

Beatrice frowned at the phone. “Answer her.”

That surprised even me.

Lucas stayed quiet for another second before saying, “I thought putting my name on the business made sense.”

“Your name?” I asked. “Or your control?”

“That’s not fair.”

“Which one?”

He didn’t answer.

Beatrice pushed the check toward the phone like Lucas could somehow see it. “Fine. Forget the papers for a second. Pay this.”

Lucas gave one short laugh. “With what?”

Beatrice froze.

One of her friends looked directly at her.

“You told us you were paying.”

“I am.”

Then Beatrice looked back at the phone. “Lucas.”

“I don’t have eighty-seven thousand dollars.”

“Then use the business account.”

I stayed quiet.

Lucas didn’t.

“I can’t.”

Beatrice frowned. “Why?”

He hesitated.

That hesitation told the whole room there was another problem.

“Because Camilla removed my access.”

A woman near the end of the table slowly set down her wineglass.

Beatrice looked at me. “You did what?”

“I removed his access.”

“Why?”

I kept my eyes on Lucas’s name glowing on her phone.

“Ask him.”

The Money Lucas Thought I Wouldn’t Find

“Lucas?”

He didn’t answer his mother.

I waited a few seconds. “Tell her.”

His voice came back quieter. “Camilla, not here.”

“You’re on speaker because your mother put you on speaker.”

“Take me off.”

Beatrice reached toward the phone, but I put my hand flat on the table. “Leave it.”

She stared at me.

I looked at the phone. “Did you transfer money out of Lumina’s account without my approval?”

Lucas sighed. “I told you I was going to put it back.”

Several people at the table reacted quietly.

Beatrice shook her head. “Wait. What money?”

Lucas snapped, “Mom, please stop talking.”

“Don’t speak to me like that.”

“Then take me off speaker.”

I kept my voice even. “How much do you owe?”

“Camilla.”

“How much?”

“That has nothing to do with tonight.”

“It has everything to do with those papers.”

He went quiet again.

Beatrice looked between me and the folder. “What is she talking about?”

I let Lucas answer for himself.

Eventually he did.

“I have some debt.”

Beatrice frowned. “How much?”

“Mom.”

“How much, Lucas?”

He muttered the answer so quietly I almost missed it.

“Around forty.”