Perfect Partners

of thing occurred.”
    “Diana…”
    Diana massaged her temples. “You have to understand, it isn’t what’s happened so far that has me frightened; it’s what
could
happen. I know Daddy is getting worse. I can feel it.”
    “Are you telling me you think he’ll come after Joel once he hears what’s happening with Copeland Marine?”
    Diana got to her feet, her eyes tortured. “It’s Keith I’m worried about. Don’t you see? Daddy has spent three years telling me that he wishes he’d never encouraged me to marry Keith. He treats Keith like dirt. He ignores him half the time, and the other half of the time he taunts him. I’m terrified of what he’ll do when he discovers Keith will be the one giving the orders around Copeland Marine.”
    “I see,” Letty whispered, absorbing the implications.
    “If Joel walked into Daddy’s office and took charge directly, that would be one thing.” Diana moved to the dressing table and picked up a brush. She stared at it as if wondering what it was and then set it back down again. “Joel is tough. Strong. He could handle Daddy. But Keith is different.”
    “What you’re really saying is that you don’t think Keith can handle your father.”
    Diana’s eyes widened in frustration. “He hasn’t been able to handle him for the past three years. Why should he be able to do it now?”
    “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him why he’s so determined to take over Copeland Marine and save it?” Letty suggested softly.
    “I know why he wants to save it.” Diana snatched up a tissue and carefully blotted her eyes. “It was part of the deal. He married me because Daddy dangled the lure of Copeland Marine in front of him.”
    “Why did you marry him?”
    “Because Daddy handpicked him for me, and I thought that because Daddy approved of him, he was the one man in the world I could safely marry.”
    Letty took a deep breath. “I see. You were afraid to marry anyone else because of what your father might do?”
    “Yes. I thought I was playing it safe. But the joke was on me. I fell in love with Keith in spite of everything.”
    Letty thought about that. “I don’t think Keith would have stuck around to be treated like dirt by your father for three years just because he hoped eventually to get his hands on the firm. Keith’s very smart. That’s obvious from the five-year plan he put together. He would have seen the writing on the wall back at the beginning and cut his losses, unless he had another reason for sticking around.”
    Diana stared at her. “What other reason could there have been?”
    “Well, it sure wasn’t the prospect of taking over a failing company like Copeland Marine. Why on earth would he want that mess?” Letty smiled. “Has it occurred to you that Keith married you and has tolerated your father all this time simply because he loves you?”
    Diana wadded up the tissue in one hand. “It’s not that simple. It’s never that simple when you’re Victor Copeland’s daughter. God, I thought it would be all right when I married Keith. Now I’m more vulnerable than ever. Keith has been talking about having children, but I can’t even bear the thought. A baby would be one more hostage for Daddy to use to control us.”
    Letty shivered. “Diana, has your father ever been violent with you? Ever hurt you?”
    She shook her head. “No. Not physically.” Her smile was grim and tremulous. “I was his little golden girl for years. And as long as I played that role, I got anything I wanted. But whenever I tried to do anything on my own or make my own decisions, he got so
angry
.”
    “And his anger frightened you?”
    Diana nodded. “I finally told him I didn’t care if he cut me off without a cent. I was tired of being a bird in a gilded cage, as Joel used to call me. But after that scene in the barn I realized Daddy might do something a lot worse than just take away my inheritance if I made him too angry.”
    “So you’ve been living with what amounts to emotional blackmail for fifteen years?” Letty concluded, incredulous.
    Diana bit her lip and looked away. “In a sense. And, heaven help me, I’ve had to blackmail others in order to keep them safe. Every time Keith talked about leaving Echo Cove and starting over somewhere else, I told him I didn’t want to leave. I told him I wanted him to stay at Copeland Marine. But the truth is, I was afraid of what Daddy would do if we defied him.”
    Letty got to her feet and walked