What he did not understand was why someone had followed Clare.
Two nights later, he asked her to attend a Romano family dinner.
“Why?”
“Rumors are already moving. People know you have additional protection. Somebody photographed you outside a medical office. If I say nothing, they’ll create their own explanation.”
“Are you announcing the pregnancy?”
“No.”
He held her eyes.
“That’s yours to decide.”
Clare agreed.
Adrien’s sister Elena heard Clare mention that she had nothing appropriate for the dinner and sent six dresses to her apartment.
Clare called Adrien as soon as she saw the garment rack.
“Did you send a boutique to my apartment?”
“Elena did.”
“Because you told her to.”
“I told her you needed options.”
“I needed one dress.”
“You hate five out of six choices.”
Clare stared at the rack.
Annoyingly, he was right.
The burgundy wrap dress was bright, elegant, and structured enough to make her feel composed rather than exposed.
“I’m wearing the red one.”
Adrien’s voice warmed.
“Good.”
“Don’t sound so pleased.”
“I like red.”
Clare remembered the gala.
“I know.”
The dinner took place above an old Italian restaurant in East Harlem.
Clare arrived beside Adrien wearing burgundy. He wore a black suit without a tie. Nick stayed several steps behind.
The room quieted before Adrien reached the table.
Twenty men who became loud when he was absent became careful when he entered.
Victor stood near the far end.
His smile was courteous.
“Clare Bennett. Adrien’s assistant.”
“Victor.”
Dinner began.
After the first course, Adrien stood.
“Some of you have noticed changes in my security. Some of you have also become curious about Clare.”
Nobody answered.
“Curiosity becomes a problem when it turns into surveillance, pressure, or leverage. Clare’s home, health, and private life are not subjects for anybody in this room to investigate.”
He looked around once.
“If there was confusion about that, there isn’t anymore.”
Victor lifted his wineglass.
“No confusion, Adrien. Though all this attention around an employee does invite questions.”
Several men looked at Clare.
One week earlier, she might have waited for Adrien to defend her.
This time she answered.
“Questions are fine, Victor. Just make sure they’re useful.”
His brows rose.
Clare continued in the same calm tone she used in difficult meetings.
“I’ve managed Adrien’s office for four years. I know which contracts are late, which vendors keep changing names, and which department heads need three reminders before sending a clean report. If anyone thinks that makes me unimportant, they’re welcome to keep thinking it.”
Victor’s smile tightened.
“No offense intended.”
“Then we’re fine.”
Adrien sat without adding a threat.
Under the table, his hand rested near Clare’s.
She placed her fingers over his.
For the first time since seeing the positive tests, she did not feel like a secret.
The investigation accelerated.
The forensic accountant discovered that one freight vendor had billed Romano Holdings for work that never occurred.
Money moved through two shell companies before returning to a business controlled by one of Victor’s associates.
Then Nick found a separate payment from the same chain to a small private-investigation firm.
The retainer began late Tuesday night.
Before Clare discovered the false rotation.
Nick brought the paperwork to Adrien’s office.
“Their instruction was to put eyes on you Wednesday morning,” he told Clare. “Report where you went and who you spoke to.”
“Before I found the schedule?”
“Before you opened it.”
Clare understood.
Victor did not need to know she would catch the security change.
He only needed to know she was among the first people who could.
One investigator had followed Clare after she left the building and photographed her outside Dr. Cole’s practice.
The anonymous message finally made sense.
At the time it was sent, Victor still did not know why she had visited a women’s health clinic.
The surveillance remained in place afterward to see whether Adrien suddenly increased her protection.
Adrien cut Victor off from company-controlled accounts and suspended his authority over the trucking operations while auditors continued working.
Victor disappeared two days later.
He did not vanish without consequences.
Adrien took control of routes, accounts, warehouses, and contracts Victor’s crews depended on. Company credentials were frozen. Security codes connected to Victor’s people were changed.
Clare remained under protection.
She agreed to spend several nights in a secure Romano apartment while Nick determined whether Victor’s team still knew her home routine.
Adrien asked before moving in with her.
Clare said yes.
Living with him taught her several things.
The first was that Adrien Romano left wet towels on bathroom floors.
On the second morning, Clare pointed at one.
“Absolutely not.”
Adrien looked from her to the towel.
“What?”
“People may fear you in three boroughs. In this apartment, towels go on the rack.”
He picked it up.
Popular Posts
→- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Recently Viewed
Stories you read recently will appear here.
