Chapter Seven

The black SUV pulled into the garage of the Vane Penthouse.The steel gates rolled down behind us blocking out the bit of daylight. Julian didn't move to get out. He just sat there the engine humming quietly.

"You changed your mind quickly " he said, his voice low and even. He didn't turn to look at me. His reflection in the tinted glass was fixed on my face. "An hour ago you looked like you wanted to jump out of a moving vehicle. Now you're ready for a briefing?"

I kept my eyes steady. I had my hands flat against my thighs feeling the texture of my suit jacket. "An hour ago I was reacting. Now I'm thinking. There's a difference."

Julian turned to me his shoulder shifting against the seat. He reached out. Grabbed my chin forcing my head up. His grip was tight his thumb pressing hard into my jaw. He searched my face looking for the girl from the diner.

I didn't give it to him. I stared back at him keeping my expression blank.

"You're lying to me " he murmured, his thumb dragging across my lip. "I can hear it in your pulse. I can see it in the way you aren't breathing."

"I'm breathing fine Julian " I said, my voice low and even. "If you want me to sit at that board table and play the part of your asset I need to know whats going on. You wanted a partner who could handle the pressure. Here I am."

He stared at me for a moment trying to find the crack in my facade. When I didn't flinch a dark smile spread across his face. He let go of my jaw. Slapped his palm against the back of the drivers seat.

"Upstairs " he commanded. "Lets see if you can keep that composure when things get tough."

The private lift shot up forty-two floors in silence. When the doors opened into the penthouse the air felt charged, heavy with tension.

Arthur Vane was standing by the windows, a glass of scotch in his hand. He didn't look like a man who had just had his plans derailed by a rogue reporter. He looked like a wolf waiting for its prey.

Beside him stood Vivienne her arms crossed tightly over her chest. The second she saw me her eyes turned cold.

"She has nerve coming here " Vivienne hissed, taking a step forward. "Julian she ruined the Montgomery merger on television. The board is scrambling. The stock is already dipping."

"The stock will recover by tomorrow morning " Julian said, walking past her throwing his jacket onto a chair. He went to the bar pouring himself a drink. "Elena didn't ruin the merger, Vivienne. She controlled the narrative. If she had panicked we'd be dealing with an investigation. Instead she turned it into a family affair."

Arthur turned around slowly his gaze shifting from Julian to me. He weighed me up like an item at an auction.

"She spoke well " Arthur admitted, his voice deep and gravelly. ". She's a liability. My son thinks he can tame a thing by building a better cage but a cornered animal always bites. You brought her into our house, Julian. Now her fathers name is tied to ours."

"That was your doing, Father " Julian replied, his voice calm. "You leaked the investigation to the press. You wanted to use her to force my hand to make me look weak in front of the Montgomerys. It didn't work."

"It worked enough to show me you're compromised " Arthur snapped, slamming his glass down on the table. The sound echoed through the room. "You've spent five years pouring money into a hole in Chicago just to keep this girl on a leash. Do you think the board doesn't notice when six-figure sums vanish from our accounts?"

My heart skipped a beat but I forced my face to stay frozen. Five years of money. He had just confirmed what Viviennes papers showed. It wasn't Julians private lie; it was a corporate reality.

Julian didn't deny it. He didn't even blink. He just set his glass down his movements slow.

"The board answers to me, Arthur.. So do you. The merger goes through on Friday morning as scheduled. Vivienne you will sign the disclosures tomorrow at noon. Elena will be handling the compliance files."

Vivienne let out a laugh. "You're letting her touch the compliance files? The girl whose father we put away?"

"She works for me now " Julian said, his voice dropping into a register that signaled the conversation was over. "If either of you has an issue with that you can take your shares. Sell them back to the firm at a loss. Now get out of my office."

The door to the penthouse clicked shut behind Arthur and Vivienne leaving a suffocating silence.

Julian didn't speak to me. He picked up his tablet his face closed off as he began scrolling through data. He treated me like a piece of furniture he had reacquired.

Good. Let him think I was compliant. Let him think the threat to my father had broken my spirit.

"I'm going to change " I said, my voice steady.

He didn't look up from the screen. "Don't be long. We have the audit documents coming in at eight."

I walked down the mirrored hallway toward my bedroom. A perfect replica of my childhood space.. I didn't stop there. I kept walking past the bed past the wardrobe to the small office Julian had set up for me.

My heart was racing now a contrast to the cold mask I was wearing. I had to start spying on him while he was distracted.

I sat down at the desk. Opened the corporate laptop. It required a scan. I pressed my thumb against the glass pad waiting for the light.

Authorized.

My fingers flew across the keys. I didn't look for the marketing files I was supposed to be working on. I went straight for the Vane Enterprises server navigating through the layers of encryption I'd spent the last month learning.

I needed to find Onyx Holdings. The subsidiary company listed on Viviennes papers.

The search engine whirled. Access Denied.

I tried a route bypassing the main server and going through the financial clearance files for the Montgomery merger. If Onyx Holdings was a Vane subsidiary its assets had to be declared in the disclosure documents Julian had just ordered Vivienne to sign.

My eyes scanned the columns of data.

There it was. Onyx Holdings LLC.

I clicked the drop-down menu my breath catching in my throat. The company didn't own estate. It didn't own stocks. It owned a physical asset located thirty miles outside of Las Vegas in the middle of the Nevada desert.

St. Judes Extended Care Facility.

My hand shook, hovering over the mouse. St. Judes. That was the name of the hospital Sarah had claimed my father was transferred to in Chicago.. It wasn't in Chicago anymore. Julian had moved him. He had built a facility right here under my nose in the desert.

"Finding what you're looking for?"

I slammed the laptop shut, the plastic snapping loud in the room. I spun around my back slamming against the chair.

Julian was leaning against the doorframe his sleeves rolled up to his elbows his tie loosened.. His eyes were, like lasers, pinned directly to the closed laptop.

"I was looking over the compliance files for tomorrow " I said, my voice tight. "Like you asked."

He walked into the room his movements slow deliberate. He stopped in front of the desk reaching past me to lay his hand flat on the lid of the laptop.

"You're very efficient Elena," he whispered, moving close until his mouth was almost touching my ear. I could smell the scotch on his breath mixed with that metallic smell of his cologne. ". The compliance files aren't on this computer. They're in my study. In the safe behind the desk."

He reached down. Grabbed my wrist pulling my hand away from my side. He lifted it up. Looked at the gold ring on my finger.

"I built this world to keep you safe " he said quietly his grip getting tighter until it hurt. "I took care of your father. I took care of your debts. I gave you a reason to exist. Don't make me regret letting you think you have a choice."

I didn't move away. I leaned into him letting my chest go up and down against his suit jacket. I forced myself to look at him with a face that looked like I was giving up. Inside I was really angry.

He had just told me where the real files were.

"I don't regret it Julian " I said, the words feeling bad in my mouth. "I just want to know what I’m fighting for."

He looked at me for a time his expression getting a little softer and his grip on my wrist got a little looser. He tapped his knuckles against my jaw, a gentle move.

"You're fighting for us, Elena. You always have been."

He walked out of the room leaving the door wide open.

I waited until I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. Then I looked down at my hands. They weren't shaking anymore.

He thought he had me trapped again.. He had just given me the plan to the lock. The safe, in his study had the address of the facility. It had the evidence that would ruin him.

I just had to wait for the moment.