Chapter 6
Clara moved into the cottage that night.
For the next week, we worked in secret. She’d sneak into the main house through the tunnel after midnight, bringing me files she’d copied from Liam’s office—he’d been stupid enough to leave his computer unlocked when he went to the gym.
The files were worse than I’d imagined.
Over the past two years, Liam and Vanessa had siphoned almost twenty million dollars from the company, moving it through a dozen shell accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. They’d bribed three members of my board to vote their way, and they’d been planning to sell off the company’s most profitable divisions to a competitor for pennies on the dollar.
The worst part was the accident file.
Marcus had found the truck driver. His name was Rico, a man with a long record of assault and theft. He’d been paid fifty thousand dollars to run me off the road. The money had come from one of the shell accounts, traced directly back to Liam.
“We have enough to put them away for twenty years,” James said, spreading the papers out on my desk. “Attempted murder, fraud, embezzlement, bribery. They’ll rot in prison.”
“Not yet,” I said. “I want them to hang themselves. The company’s fiftieth anniversary gala is in three weeks. Every board member, every investor, every reporter in the city will be there. I want to reveal everything in front of the whole world. I want them to lose everything they care about, all at once.”
James nodded. “It’s risky. If they find out what we’re planning, they’ll run.”
“They won’t,” I said. “They’re too arrogant. They think they’ve already won.”
A soft knock on the window made us both jump. It was Clara, tapping softly, the signal we’d agreed on. I let her in. She was wearing a dark coat, her hair pulled back, and she carried a thick envelope in her hand.
“I got into Vanessa’s safe,” she said, setting the envelope on the desk. “She keeps it in her closet. The combination was her birthday. Stupid, I know.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside were the original forged power of attorney papers, a list of the bribed board members, and a handwritten plan for the gala. Vanessa intended to announce that I was mentally unfit due to the accident, have herself named CEO, and announce her engagement to Liam—all in the same speech.
She’d even written a eulogy for me, just in case I “accidentally” died before the gala.
My hands shook as I read it.
Clara put her hand on my arm. “We have to stop them, Ethan. Before they hurt you.”
I looked at her. The moonlight came through the window, falling on her face, softening the sharp line of her jaw. She was so brave, so good, and she’d risked everything for me. A man like me didn’t deserve a woman like her.
I reached up, touching the red mark on her cheek, the one Vanessa had left. It was almost gone now, just a faint pink shadow.
“I won’t let them hurt anyone ever again,” I said. “I promise.”
She leaned into my touch, her eyes closing. For a second, I thought she might kiss me. I wanted to kiss her, more than I’d ever wanted anything.
But then James cleared his throat, and the moment was gone.
We went back to planning, but I couldn’t focus. All I could think about was the feel of her skin under my fingers, the way she’d leaned into me, the way she looked at me like I was something worth fighting for.
May you like
I was falling in love with her.
And that was the most dangerous thing of all.
