Deirdre immediately recognized the crux of his announcement. “What happened?”

“She told the journalists you’ll be attending her wedding, so now, if you don’t go, that will make things really tough to explain.”

“She said I was going to attend. Right on the journalists’ faces.” Deirdre’s expression darkened. She had mistaken the certainty in Charlene’s words earlier today as a bluff—she did not know it was planned.

Still, something puzzled her. Why would Charlene go to all these lengths to forc