Alle Kapitel von THE BILLIONAIRE'S APPRENTICE BRIDE: Kapitel 31 – Kapitel 40

Damian took the phone into the hallway outside the boardroom, and I followed without asking permission, because we'd already agreed there was no version of this investigation where I waited outside a closed door again."This is Damian Cole," he said.The voice on the other end was young, shaking, barely holding together. "My name is Beth Voss. Charles Voss was my father. Marcus Reyes left a message asking about the depot property, and I need to talk to someone, now, before I lose my nerve.""We're listening," Damian said."Someone came to my house two days ago. Before your investigator even called me." Beth's breath caught, ragged, like she'd been crying for a while before she found the courage to dial. "A man, said he represented family interests, said it would be best for everyone if I didn't discuss my father's old business dealings with anyone who came asking. He knew things about my life he shouldn't have known. My daughter's school. My work schedule."My stomach turned cold. "Th

"I'm not returning anything," Damian said, his voice even despite the tension radiating off him like heat. "That ledger is evidence of obstruction and bribery. If anything, you should be more concerned about what I do with it than what I call you.""Bold words for a man who doesn't understand what he's threatening." The voice on the line stayed calm, unhurried, the same practiced composure Evelyn wore like a second skin. "I've spent twenty-five years making sure inconvenient people stay quiet, Mr. Cole. It's not a skill I've let go rusty.""Is that a threat?""It's an observation. I'd hate for it to become a threat." A pause, deliberate, the kind designed to let silence do the intimidating instead of words. "How is Diane Calloway doing these days? I understand her condition has been..... delicate."My whole body went cold."Say that again," I said, loud enough for the phone to catch it clearly."Ah. Mira. I wondered if you were listening." Something in his tone shifted, almost pleasan

Caleb answered his phone on the second ring, and the confusion in his voice sounded real enough that some of the tension in my chest loosened before he'd even finished his first sentence."Mira? It's almost midnight, is everything okay?""Where were you this afternoon," I said, skipping past any softer way to ask it. "Around three o'clock.""In the filtration review with your supervisor. You know that, you were there for the first half before you got pulled away." A pause, worry creeping into his voice now. "Why? What's going on?""Someone used your hospital badge credentials to alter my mother's medication chart. Around three fifteen."The silence on the line stretched long enough that I started to wonder if the call had dropped."That's not possible," Caleb said finally, and his voice had gone thin with something that sounded exactly like fear instead of guilt. "I was in that meeting until four. Ask anyone who was in the room. I don't even have hospital access, Mira, I've never set

Ellis chose a laundromat on the edge of the city, of all places, fluorescent lights buzzing over rows of empty machines, nobody around at this hour except a bored attendant reading behind the counter.He looked different than he had at our door weeks ago, thinner somehow, the composed menace gone, replaced by someone checking the exits more than he was checking us."You have forty minutes," he said, sliding into a plastic chair across from where we sat. "I timed my last check-in. If I miss the next one, someone comes looking.""Then talk fast," Damian said.Ellis reached into his jacket, slow, deliberate, and set a small recording device on the table between us. "I taped the call where he ordered the badge cloning and the hospital job. I've been recording him for months, insurance, in case he ever decided I was more useful gone than employed."I stared at the device like it might disappear if I looked away. "Why give it to us now?""Because he's getting sloppy. Threatening a hospitali

I woke up to the smell of actual coffee, not the machine's usual burnt attempt, and found Damian standing at the stove in yesterday's shirt, attempting something that might have been eggs."You're cooking," I said, leaning against the doorframe."I'm attempting to cook. There's a meaningful difference, and I think you're about to witness it firsthand." He glanced over his shoulder, something easy in his expression that I still wasn't used to seeing this early in the day. "Rosa usually handles this. I gave her the morning off. It seemed important to prove I could function without a full staff at some point in my adult life.""How's that going?""Poorly. But I'm committed now." He slid something resembling scrambled eggs onto a plate and handed it over with the seriousness of a man presenting a peace treaty. "Constructive criticism only."I took a bite. It was, genuinely, terrible. I ate it anyway, mostly because watching him wait for my verdict was more satisfying than any actual breakf