Chapter 7
That evening, Elena entered Vincent’s office overlooking Harbor Point and stopped when she saw the photograph on his desk.
Beside it were bank transfers.
Corporate records.
Emails.
Her expression changed.
“Where did you get those?”
“Sit down.”
“Vincent—”
“Sit.”
She obeyed.
He remained standing.
“How long have you been working for Andrew?”
Elena’s eyes hardened.
“You think I work for Andrew?”
“I think eighteen months ago he paid a consulting firm that transferred money to your brother’s company three days before you requested a position directly under me.”
“That’s circumstantial.”
“I also think the photographer who captured yesterday’s kiss received an anonymous schedule of our ceremony two weeks ago.”
Silence.
Vincent pushed another document toward her.
“And I think Andrew instructed you to wear my family’s crest.”
Elena slowly sat back.
Vincent watched the fight leave her face.
“Two years,” she finally said.
His expression did not move.
“He approached me two years ago.”
“Why?”
“Money at first.”
“And later?”
“Later, I wanted what he promised.”
“What was that?”
“A place in whatever survived you.”
Vincent looked out over the harbor.
“Was any of it real?”
Elena’s laugh was small and bitter.
“Does that matter now?”
“It matters to Claire.”
That made Elena flinch.
“Do not make her holy because you’re guilty.”
Vincent turned.
“I’m not.”
“She never understood you.”
“She understood me better than I understood myself.”
“And you still came to me.”
“Yes.”
The admission silenced the room.
Vincent stepped closer to the conference table.
“Andrew used you to weaken me.”
“He wanted you dependent on someone inside your office. He wanted Claire humiliated publicly. Her family’s contracts contain a reputational trigger. Once she activated it, Andrew planned to create evidence that Bennett Capital was laundering money through your companies. Regulators would freeze the assets.”
“And then?”
“He’d offer himself as the clean alternative to the boards.”
Vincent stared at her.
“And the Bennett trusts?”
Elena looked away.
“Eventually acquired through distressed settlements.”
Vincent felt sick.
The kiss had not been random.
The camera positions had been planned.
The crest had been planned.
Claire’s humiliation had been planned.
But the affair?
May you like
That remained his.
No conspiracy could clean that stain.
