جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

Valerie's PovThe press conference room was full before I walked in.Thirty seats. Every one taken. Cameras along the back wall, recorders on the table, and the particular tension that comes from a room full of people who have all decided today is the day they get their story.I sat down at the table. Marcus sat to my left. Dante sat two seats to my right and did not make a thing of it. He just sat down like he had been in the room all along.The moderator opened it up."Ms. St. Claire," the first reporter said. "V. Intl has seen extraordinary growth in a very short period. Critics are calling it aggressive. How do you respond to that?""I respond by asking what the alternative is," I said. "Slow growth? Polite growth? Business is competitive. We compete. That is the whole answer.""There are suggestions that your methods target specific competitors," the second reporter said. "Thorne Industries in particular. Do you have a comment on that?""My methods target market opportunities," I

Valerie's POVThe yacht left the marina at seven in the morning.I stood at the railing with coffee and watched the city get smaller behind us. Dante came up beside me after a few minutes and stood there without saying anything, which was one of the things I was beginning to understand about him."You are thinking about the text," he said eventually."I am thinking about a lot of things," I said."Start with the text," he said. "Talk it through.""It is not Cassian," I said. "I have said that already and I still believe it. Cassian does not operate anonymously.""Agreed," he said. "So who else knows enough to send it?""Someone inside his circle," I said. "Someone who has been watching both of us long enough to know what the message would do.""To rattle you," he said."Or to rattle you," I said. "Whoever sent it knew you were there. They knew we had just kissed, the timing was too precise."He thought about that. "So someone was in the building.""Or someone had eyes on the building,

Dante's POVShe was already in my office when I got back from my morning meetings.She had let herself in with the key card Marcus had given her. she was sitting in the chair across from my desk with a coffee and a tablet, reading something, looking completely at home.I stood in the doorway for a moment before she looked up."You gave me a key card," she said. "Do not act surprised.""I am not surprised," I said. "I am glad." I dropped my jacket on the hook and sat down. "What are you reading?""The Reeves report," she said. "Your copy.""How did you get my copy?" I said."Marcus," she said."Marcus works for me," I said."Marcus likes me," she said. She set the tablet down on the desk and looked at me. "You need to tell me the full amount.""The full amount of what?" I said."The money," she said. "Everything you moved through the holding account. I have the number from the report but I do not think it is the full picture."I sat back. "No," I said. "It is not the full picture.""So

Cassian's PovThe joint account was empty by noon.I found out from my banking app. A notification on my phone while I was still in the car outside the V. Intl building watching Lydia's driver pull away from the kerb.I sat there for a moment. Then I called the bank."Mr. Thorne," the account manager said. He had the voice of a man who had delivered this kind of news before and had not enjoyed any of those times."Yes, we can confirm a full withdrawal from the joint savings account was authorised this morning by Mrs Thorne under the existing joint access agreement.""How much is left?" I said."The account currently holds four hundred and twelve dollars, sir."I did not say anything for a moment."Mr Thorne," he said. "Are you still there?""What about the mortgage review?" I said. "I received a letter.""Yes," he said. "The mortgage lender has flagged three consecutive threshold shortfalls and has initiated a formal review. I would strongly recommend contacting your advisor before th

Cassian's PovThe networking event was my lawyer's idea."You need to be seen," he said. "You need to be in a room with capital and you need to look like a man who still has options. Hiding in the penthouse does not get you twenty million in thirty days."So I went.The Ashford Club. Thursday evening. The kind of event where men in expensive suits stood in clusters and talked about money using words that meant other money.I had been comfortable at events like this for years. I had worked rooms like this. I had left them with handshakes that turned into deals.Tonight felt different from the moment I walked in.Three separate conversations stopped when I entered. People looked at me, then looked away in the particular way that means they already know and have already decided.I took a drink from the first tray that passed me and found a position near the window.Davies had sent me the capital contact list that morning. Eight names. People who had expressed informal interest in distre