All Chapters of HIS SECRET ADDICTION: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

58 Chapters

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Alex's PovEleanor died at 3:47 AM with Damien holding her hand and me standing uselessly in the corner.I shouldn't have been there. But when I'd tried to leave, Damien had grabbed my wrist without looking away from his grandmother."Stay," was all he said.Afterward, Damien sat perfectly still, not crying, not speaking."I'm sorry," I whispered."She liked you." He finally looked at me. "She made me promise to fight for you. She changed her will last week. Left you ten percent of her shares in the company."I felt like I'd been punched. "What?""She said you'd need leverage against the board." He laughed bitterly. "Even dying, she was playing chess.""I can't accept that.""You don't have a choice. It's done."The next seventy-two hours blurred together. Funeral arrangements, lawyer meetings, board notifications. Damien moved through it all like a robot. I tried to give him space, but he kept pulling me into meetings, introducing me as "Eleanor's choice for the board."Catherine cor

CHAPTER TWELVE

Damien's PovThe police station smelled like bad coffee and bleach. Alex sat beside me, his knee bouncing nervously as Detective Chen spread photos across the table."These are Eleanor Ross's medical records from her final week," she said. "Her potassium levels spiked forty-eight hours before her death. Dramatically. Enough to induce cardiac arrest in someone with her condition."Alex grabbed my hand under the table. "You think someone poisoned her?""I think someone helped her along." Chen pulled out another document. "Your grandmother changed her will six days before she died. Three days later, she had an unlogged visitor. Two days after that, she was dead.""Who was the visitor?" I asked."We don't know. The security footage was corrupted." She leaned forward. "Did you know she met with Catherine Mills the day before she updated everything?"My stomach dropped. "What?""Forty-minute meeting. Catherine left angry. Two hours later, Eleanor called her lawyer." She looked between us. "

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Alex's POVCatherine's suicide note was three pages long and named my father."This doesn't make sense," I told Detective Chen, reading it for the third time. "My father's been out of my life for fifteen years. He's a construction worker in Ohio. How would he even know Catherine?""We're looking into it." Chen pulled up a file on her laptop. "When's the last time you spoke to him?""I was twelve. He walked out after my mom died, and I went into foster care.""And you never wondered why he left so abruptly?""He was an alcoholic who couldn't handle single parenthood. There wasn't a mystery.""Maybe there was." She turned the screen toward me. "Richard Parker. That's your father?"I looked at the photo. Older, grayer, but still him. "Yes.""He's been working as a consultant for Ross Industries for eight years. Facility management, building contracts, vendor relationships."My stomach dropped. "That's impossible.""It's in the employment records. Catherine hired him personally." Chen pul

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Alex's POVMaya talked for eleven minutes straight.She told us everything. How she'd been recruited at sixteen by a man named Harlan Voss, a financial criminal who saw potential in a poor, brilliant girl from Queens. How she'd worked her way through college, then into HR at Ross Industries, specifically because Harlan needed someone inside. How she'd spent twelve years building trust, making herself indispensable, becoming my best friend while simultaneously running money through company accounts with surgical precision."Your mother found a discrepancy in the books," Maya said, almost fondly. "She was so good at her job. Too good.""And Harlan had her killed.""Harlan gave the order. I confirmed the target." She said it the way someone admits to forgetting a birthday. Matter of fact. Slightly regretful. "I was nineteen, Alex. I didn't understand what I was agreeing to.""But you understood every death after that."She didn't answer. Which was its own answer.Damien's grip on my hand

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Damien's POVMy phone rang at six in the morning. Marcus first, then Sophie, then four board members in succession."Emergency meeting," Richard Sterling's voicemail said. "Today. Noon. Non-negotiable."Alex was already awake when I came back to the bedroom. He'd seen the article on his phone."Person of interest," he said."It'll be corrected.""When? After the board votes you out? After I lose my job?" He set the phone face down. "Reeves got that information from somewhere, Damien. Someone fed it to him.""I know.""Who benefits from my name being in that article?"I sat on the edge of the bed. "Jordan Li submitted a formal complaint to the board yesterday. He claims you've been receiving preferential treatment on the rebranding campaign. That your relationship with me compromised the professional integrity of the project."Alex was quiet for a moment. "How long have you known?""Sophie told me last night. I didn't want to add to everything else.""So Jordan went to the board, someo

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Alex's POVChris Morrison called on a Thursday.I hadn't thought about him in months. We'd dated for eight months two years ago, ended badly when he took a job at a competitor firm and decided his career mattered more than we did. I didn't blame him for that anymore. But I also hadn't missed him."I heard what happened," he said. "The article, the investigation. I wanted to check on you.""I'm fine. Thanks for calling.""Can we get coffee? Just to catch up."I should have said no. Instead I said yes, because it felt like an easier response and I was tired of complaining.I didn't tell Damien. That was the mistake.**************We met at a place in Midtown that was neutral enough to feel safe. Chris looked good. Older, more settled. He ordered black coffee and asked about Maya with genuine concern, and for twenty minutes it felt like talking to an old friend rather than an ex.Then he said, "I heard you're with Damien Cross.""Where did you hear that?""Business circles talk." He wra

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Damien's POVMarcus canceled my nine o'clock. I found out when I arrived at the office and Ethan handed me a revised schedule with a note attached in Marcus's handwriting. *You haven't had a day off in four months. Go home. I've handled everything. Don't call me.*Sophie had co-signed it. Literally. Her signature was at the bottom.I stood in the elevator holding the note.Alex was still at home. I'd left him drinking coffee and reading something on his tablet, relaxed in a way he rarely was during the week. I took the elevator back down.He looked up when I walked in. "Forgot something?""Marcus cancelled my day.""Cancelled your day," Alex repeated."Apparently I've been difficult to work with lately and everyone collectively decided I needed to leave the building." I loosened my tie. "Sophie signed off on it."Alex set his tablet down slowly. "So you have a free day.""We both do. I checked your calendar. Ethan already moved your eleven o'clock.""Ethan is going to get himself prom

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Alex POVWe made it home by five. Damien set the books on the coffee table and stood in the kitchen looking at the farmer's market bag like it had personally challenged him."I don't actually cook," he said."I know. I've seen your refrigerator." I pulled out the sourdough and the hot honey and the herbs we'd bought without a plan. "But you can follow instructions.""I run a billion dollar company.""Then chopping herbs should be manageable." I handed him a knife. "Small pieces."He looked at the knife. Then at the herbs. Then he started chopping with the focused intensity he brought to quarterly reviews, and I had to turn away so he wouldn't see me smile.I made it simple. Pasta, olive oil, garlic, the herbs, a soft cheese we'd picked up without intending to. Nothing complicated. Damien followed every instruction without complaint, which was either a sign of personal growth or proof that he was hungry enough not to argue."This is the most domestic thing I've done in years," he said,

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Damien's POVVictoria showed up at the office Monday morning without warning.She walked into my office at seven thirty carrying two coffees and sat down across from my desk without asking. My sister had a way of entering spaces like she owned them, which she technically did, thirty percent of the company anyway."We need to talk about the press," she said.I took the coffee she offered. "Good morning to you too.""The Maya story is contained. The rebranding numbers are excellent. But the article about you and Alex hasn't gone away. It's actually picking up secondary coverage." She pulled out her tablet. "Business Insider ran a piece yesterday. Forbes has something scheduled for Wednesday. They're not negative, but they're asking questions about workplace relationships and power dynamics.""Sophie already drafted the conflict of interest policy.""I know. I read it. It's airtight." She set the tablet down. "That's not the problem. The problem is you haven't said anything publicly. No

CHAPTER TWENTY

Alex's POVMaya's arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday morning.Chen called Monday night to tell us we didn't have to attend, but we could if we wanted to. She'd be entering a plea. Formal charges would be read. It would take maybe twenty minutes.I told her we'd be there.Damien didn't ask why. He just cancelled his morning meetings and met me outside the courthouse at eight.The building was gray and institutional and smelled like floor cleaner and anxiety. We sat in the back of the courtroom. Maya's lawyer was already there, a woman in her fifties who looked expensive and tired. A few reporters sat scattered in the gallery. Chen was near the front.Maya was brought in at eight thirty.She looked smaller than I remembered. Prison orange instead of the designer clothes she usually wore. Her hands were cuffed in front of her. She didn't look at the gallery. Just straight ahead as they positioned her in front of the judge.The charges were read. Conspiracy to commit money laundering.

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