It wasn’t that Anton had ever been unkind. On the contrary, if anything, he’d been indifferent. Perhaps that was worse. He seemed to take Catherine for granted—she just was. It never appeared as though he worried if she would or wouldn’t be there, if she would or wouldn’t carry out his objectives—he never asked. Smirking to herself, she admitted that his complacency worked to her advantage on more than one occasion.

Maybe her name wasn’t Rawls, but what did a name matter? Now that she had the legal documents confirming her title as executor, Anton’s office was gone. It was hers—as was the house, the grounds, and the estate. Catherine Marie leaned back against the plush leather chair and scanned the room. The regal decor was very similar to Nathaniel’s office from a quarter century ago. She’d always liked that. Smiling, Catherine decided the view from her current side of the desk was definitely the more appealing perspective. She also decided the room could use a feminine touch.

Catherine opened the drawer on the lower right to inspect Anton’s private files. She fingered the tabs; in this paperless world, it surprised her he’d kept so many printed documents. Thankfully, the Iowa City Police hadn’t felt the need to confiscate everything as evidence.

They did take all of Claire’s documents. That didn’t matter to Catherine; she’d already gone through everything on Claire’s laptop and was honestly impressed with the amount of research Claire had accomplished during her short time in California. Catherine never imagined Claire would uncover Patrick Chester. The entire turn of events was far better than Catherine could ever have imagined or planned. The only possible better scenario would have included Chester actually killing Claire. If he had then Catherine would have been able to watch Anton’s anguish first hand.

Reminiscing, Catherine admitted she did get the pleasure of witnessing some of it right after Claire’s disappearance; however, to see Anton’s face in Geneva when he realized Claire wasn’t taken, but instead, she’d left him again, and disappeared with his money and his bastard child—oh, that would have been priceless! Well, not priceless—it cost Catherine whatever amount of money had been in those accounts.

It wasn’t that Catherine originally planned on extending Nathaniel’s decree to his grandson. Anton was safe as long as he stayed focused and on task. All the time and effort planting seeds, watering them, and watching them grow, paid off on more than one occasion. Everything was going the right way until—until his damn obsession with Claire Nichols.

Catherine knew something had changed after the Nichols’ funeral. At first, she feared Anton had discovered her undertakings, or the true extent of them. That wasn’t it. He’d been watching the Nichols family for a while; however, Catherine misinterpreted the depth of his fixation. How unrealistic of her to think Anton’s actual desire was to honor Nathaniel. Although Anton claimed that was his goal, his actions proved otherwise. Bringing Claire to the estate was even acceptable—at first. It was when he began to take her out into public that Catherine knew his motivations were changing.

That was all right. Catherine could adapt too. As long as Catherine was covertly in control, she was able to keep her goals in sight. Besides, Claire and Anton were both so easily read and played. Even though it appeared to be a high stakes game of poker, it was more like Old Maid. The trick for success was in knowing the opponents. The fact that they didn’t know they were opponents also aided her effort.

Catherine knew Anton better than he knew himself. She knew his limits and his needs—not sexually, of course. No, Catherine understood Anton’s craving for control. It was his unspoken aspiration to be like Nathaniel. The grandfather he knew dominated everyone and everything. Some might say it was a disservice that Nathaniel showed so few people his gentler side. In hindsight, that omission proved very useful to Catherine. She could fuel Anton’s need and depend upon his impulsiveness. Truly, it was a comical contradiction. For a man who prided himself on control, with the right triggers, he could lose it all. Anton didn’t hold the monopoly on impulsivity. Catherine could also continually depend upon Claire’s impulsiveness.

To be good—very good at manipulation, a person must understand their opponents’ motivation. Anton possessed a lifelong yearning to please Nathaniel. Claire was much simpler. She craved interaction and affection. The smartest move Catherine ever made was sending only Carlos into that suite while Anton was away. Looking back on it, the move had been pure genius. In a way, Catherine hoped it paralleled Claire’s current situation. Oh well, perhaps Claire could learn the language of wherever she was?