Trina placed the back of her hand to her cheek.

Oh, shit.

“They’re warm, aren’t they, Miss Trina?”

“No,” she lied.

“Why do I doubt your ability to tell me the truth right now?”

“Because you’re not a naturally trusting person?”

“I trust that I have wiggled under your skin enough to make your cheeks warm when you’re talking to me.”

She ignored her hot face.

He started to laugh.

“You’re really full of yourself, Wade Thomas.”

“Maybe,” he said. “But I have a confession to make myself.”

“Oh?” This she wanted to hear.

“Yeah, my cheeks are warm right now, too.”

“Are we done in here?” Avery stood in the center of Fedor’s bedroom, hands on her hips, and looked down on all the boxes they’d managed to pack.

Trina had decided the best way to flush out his ghost completely was to tackle his personal space and get it out of the way.

“I think so.” She looked at the stack of suits all tucked into garment bags. “Let’s see if there is something other than the Salvation Army or Goodwill to donate these to. I can’t help but think a college student in need of a good suit would be more appropriate.”

“Good point. I’ll get online and see what’s out there.”

She looked at Fedor’s tray of watches, all designer, all expensive. “Suicide prevention,” she said aloud.

“What?”

“I need to donate the money earned from the sale of all this to organizations that help prevent suicide.”

“That sounds very philanthropic of you.”

Trina thought of the conversation she’d had with Wade about her future. Although the sale of the Hamptons home and all its contents was only one task, it certainly gave her something to occupy her time.

“It isn’t like I need the money.”

Avery snorted. “I might.”

Trina shot a look at her friend. “What?”

Avery shrugged. “I burned through a million dollars this year.”

Avery was one year out from her divorce and the five-million-dollar agreement between her and her ex. The money should have set her up for life.

“A million dollars?”

“Well, nine hundred and forty-five thousand.”

“How?”

Avery sat on the edge of the bed, hands on her knees. “There is the Aston.”

The fancy car would account for a quarter of the million gone.

“Okay . . .”

“I shopped a lot. Shoes, handbags . . . jewelry.”

“Three quarters of a million dollars’ worth?” Trina couldn’t imagine. And she had more money than God.

“I shopped in Paris, and London . . . and Rodeo Drive. There might have been a couple of chartered flights.” Avery looked embarrassed.

“A couple?”

“Okay, five.”

“At what, thirty thousand each?”

Avery glanced at the ceiling. “No, more like twenty K . . . each way.”

“Two hundred grand on plane tickets.” Trina did the math.

“Right, not including first-class tickets everywhere else I went. When I wasn’t on Sam’s jet.”

Trina sat beside Avery on the bed. “Your money isn’t going to last if you keep burning it like that.”

“I know. I should probably invest some of it.”

“You should probably invest all of it and put yourself on a budget.”

Avery winced.

“Or get a job.” Trina smiled.

“I like my lifestyle.”

“Didn’t you say you married Bernie to get your parents off your back and out of your life?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think is going to happen if you run out of money?”

Avery leaned her head on Trina’s shoulder. “You’re right. I know. I’ve been living in la-la land for a long time.”

“Unless you want to shackle yourself to another sugar daddy, this time for real, I suggest you figure it out.”

“I’m not good at anything other than shopping and spending.”

“Don’t forget partying and making everyone around you smile,” Trina added.

Avery lifted her head from Trina’s shoulder. “My marketable skills are zip. I hated school, never really held a job. I’m about as privileged as they come,” she confessed.

Trina scanned the room full of Fedor’s things. Expensive things. The desire to call a one-stop auction house or estate sale agent was huge. But they would want a big cut, and the money sent to charity would be less. An idea started to form in Trina’s head.

She stood and crossed to the set of watches collecting dust. She picked up one she couldn’t name and handed it to Avery. “What do you think this is worth?”

Avery took it, rolled it around in her hands. “It’s an Omega . . . so somewhere between two and three thousand.”

Seemed like a lot of money for a watch.

Avery put the watch back and pulled out a different one. “But this, this is a Piaget. You can’t get out of that store for less than twenty grand.” She peered closer. “This has constellations, I’m guessing it’s one of their higher end models.”

“How high?”

Avery shook her head. “I have no idea, as much as a hundred grand.”

Trina squeezed her eyes shut. “For a watch?”

“Could be. I’ll have to look it up.”

“It was just sitting in his closet. I’m afraid to look in the safe.”

“Is there a safe?”

“Yeah, a couple of them, the biggest one is in his office.”

“Do you know the combinations?”

Trina shook her head no.

Avery looked around the room again. “This place is holding a fortune, not to mention the house itself. You sure you want to give it all away to charity?”

“Feels like blood money.”

Avery lost her smile and Trina looked away.

“You didn’t kill him.”

Her eyes landed on their wedding picture. “I didn’t save him either.”

“That wasn’t your job.”

“I was his wife.”

“Trina.”

She placed both hands in the air as if to stop Avery’s words. “I know it was in name only. I’ve still been dealing with that guilt for a year.”

“I don’t understand why you’re feeling guilty. You didn’t ask for this.”

Trina squeezed her eyes shut and felt moisture gather. “Fedor started having feelings for me.”

Avery paused. “Oh, no.”

Trina’s eyes started to mist. “At first I thought it was just our friendship. We seemed to be able to talk about anything. He was losing his mom, so we talked a lot about that. But he started lingering and looking at me differently.”

Avery set the watch down and placed a hand on Trina’s shoulder. “Did he say anything?”

“He started to one night, at dinner. I felt it coming and made a comment about how nice it was to have a male friend who wasn’t trying to make more out of our friendship. He got the hint. Not that it seemed to stop his feelings. If I had let him talk, or maybe tried to feel something more for him . . .”

“Stop it. This isn’t your fault.”

“I know that, intellectually. Still doesn’t stop me from feeling guilty.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? We could have been working through this.”

Trina started to cry for the man she never loved. “I pushed it out of my head. Coming back here reminded me of all the conversations and little things.”

“We can close this down and come back another time.”

Trina shook her head. “No. I need this behind me.” She turned a full circle. “Who knows, maybe there will be something in this house to clue me in to why Fedor did this.”

“Losing his mom and falling in love with someone who isn’t feeling the same is a strong reason,” Avery pointed out.

“I know, but Fedor wasn’t that weak. Or at least I didn’t think he was. He was a man who found solutions. Even with his overbearing father.”

“There is a solution to Ruslan?”

“Yeah, ignore him.”

“That didn’t work for us last year.”

No, it hadn’t. Ruslan had researched Alliance, the company that arranged her and Fedor’s marriage, and went after Lori. Not in a legal way, but by kidnapping her brother and attempting to hold him hostage for proof that their marriage wasn’t completely real. By the time that unfolded, Ruslan’s people were either dead or gone forever, and no ties to Ruslan had been kept intact. Which prevented any legal action against the man. Yet they all knew who was behind it. Since that day, Ruslan had dropped out of the picture. After six months, Trina shook loose the bodyguards and extra protection.

Fedor’s estate had ended up in the company lap, which Trina said she would manage, and Alice’s estate had ended up in Trina’s bank. None of which Trina had wanted. Ruslan, on the other hand, wanted it all. There simply wasn’t any way he was going to get it. Fedor hated his father, and from what Trina had figured out, the man had abused his wife before they divorced. So Alice and the entire Everson family hated him, too.