Family Man

thought of having to see him again.
    She had seen almost nothing of him during his marriage to Eden. Most of her memories of him went back to the time when she herself had been dating him.
    On the surface Nate had been everything she thought she had wanted in a man. To her he had shown a sunny, open personality. His sense of humor had been quick and lively. He had been interested in her long-range plans to open a small take-out restaurant. He had befriended Matt. The fact that he was good looking, with chiseled features, hazel eyes, and sandy brown hair was a pleasant bonus.
    But looking back on the whole thing, Katy knew that something in her had sensed the wrongness in Nate Atwood almost from the start. He was too good to be true, and deep down she had known it. It was why she had never gone to bed with him.
    During those exciting weeks with Nate she had found herself constantly testing the waters, unconsciously searching for the flaw.
    She had discovered it the evening she had walked in on Nate and Eden wrapped in each other's arms in a poolside lounge chair at the mansion. Later she realized the damning scene had been orchestrated for her. Neither Nate nor Eden had wanted to tell her what was going on, so they had simply arranged for her to find out for herself. Everyone knew Katy swam nearly every day after work.
    When she had recovered from the shock of the discovery Katy had experienced an even greater surprise. She had watched Nate Atwood change personalities before her eyes. He was no longer the easygoing, friendly man she had known. Instead, like some clever chameleon, he turned himself into a mysterious, exotic lover for Eden.
    He hinted at a past that included work for the CIA. He dropped the names of famous gangsters and politicians. He arranged for Eden to awake in a bed strewn with fresh blood-red roses. He gave her a string of black pearls. He quarreled with her in front of a crowd when he found her dancing with another man.
    The quarrel had ended passionately when he had swept Eden off the dance floor and into a waiting limousine. Eden told Katy later that he had made love to her in the back of the limo while the chauffeur drove aimlessly around the city.
    Eden had been enthralled right up to the point at which she had eloped with Nate. Shortly after the wedding, however, the realization that she had made a mistake had started to show in her eyes. If there was one thing a Gilchrist understood, it was passion, and Eden had eventually recognized that Nate's passion for her was not based on love. She had confided to Katy that she planned to get a divorce. Katy, recognizing the potential danger in Nate, had gone to Justine to get the best possible legal protection for Eden. It had paid off.
    Until now.
    “I thought Nate had an office in Seattle,” Katy said as Eden drove her black BMW onto the Mercer Island Bridge.
    “He moved it to Bellevue after the divorce,” Eden said bitterly. “I wish he had moved it to the other side of the world. Katy, tell me how you think you can threaten him. I'm going crazy with worry. I can't eat and I can't sleep.”
    “I'm going to threaten him with Luke,” Katy explained.
    “Luke?” Eden was horrified. “You can't bring Luke into this.”
    “With any luck I won't have to bring him into it,” Katy said wearily. She gazed out the windows at the wind-ruffled waters of Lake Washington. “I'm hoping that the threat alone will be sufficient.”
    Eden shook her head. “I don't think anything is going to work. Oh, God, Katy, what have I done? How could I ever have thought I was in love with Nate?”
    “Beats me,” Katy said dryly. “But you were sure you were at the time.”
    Eden gave her a piteous sidelong glance. “I was so wrong about him.”
    “Hey, don't keep beating yourself over the head because of it. I liked him a lot in the beginning, too.”
    The offices of Atwood Investments were in a gleaming new high rise in Bellevue. Eden parked the BMW in the garage. Katy could see how anxious she was when she took the keys out of the ignition. The jangling sound disturbed Katy. It made her realize how tightly strung her own nerves were.
    “How much have you given him to date?” Katy asked as they got into the elevator.
    “I don't even want to think about it. Thousands. I am absolutely desperate, Katy.”
    They got out of the elevator and walked down the hall to Nate's office.
    “What will we do if he's not here?” Eden asked.
    “We'll wait for