"I don't know." He tucked the recorder into his jacket pocket. "I don't know much of anything right now."
Isabella glanced around the ballroom. The guests were starting to move again, collecting their coats, checking their phones, pretending they hadn't just witnessed anything worth remembering. The Sterling Foundation's annual charity gala had come to an abrupt end.
"You should sit down," she said. "You're still shaking."
"I know."
She didn't offer to help him. Didn't grab his arm or push his wheelchair closer. She just stood there, waiting, letting him decide.
Ethan lowered himself into the empty wheelchair. The relief was almost shameful—the way his legs sang with gratitude at the reprieve.
"Not exactly the triumphant ending I imagined," he said.
"Endings are overrated." Isabella pulled a stray chair over and sat down beside him, close enough that they could talk quietly. "It's what comes next that matters."
"And what comes next for you?"
She considered the question. In the distance, the police lights were still flashing outside the gates—red and blue, red and blue, painting the marble floor in shifting colors.
"I have no idea," she said. "What comes next for you?"
Ethan looked at the empty doorway where Brooke had disappeared. At the shattered champagne glass Chad had left behind. At the three hundred witnesses who had seen everything and done nothing.
"A lot of legal paperwork," he said. "And probably some uncomfortable conversations with my family."
"The Vance family—they're prominent, aren't they?"
"We own half the shipping industry on the East Coast."
"Ah." Isabella nodded. "So this is going to be a very public mess."
"Extremely."
"Good." She smiled—a real smile this time, tired but genuine. "I hate private messes. They're too easy to sweep under the rug."
Ethan found himself smiling back. It felt strange—like using a muscle he'd forgotten he had.
"You're not what I expected," he said.
"Neither are you." Isabella stood up and smoothed her uniform. "I should go. My shift technically ended two hours ago, and I'm pretty sure my boss is going to fire me for abandoning the sea bass."