Chapter 13 - Everything Daniel Stole
The Cross Foundation gala filled the Grand Meridian Hotel with politicians, philanthropists, journalists, investors, and enough security to protect a head of state.
Claire stood inside a private suite upstairs, staring at herself in the mirror.
A black evening gown.
Simple.
Elegant.
Nothing like the soaked champagne dress from the night she met Adrian.
Mara entered.
“You ready?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Claire turned.
“Why is everyone around Adrian obsessed with that answer?”
“Because people who say they’re ready usually aren’t.”
Claire smiled.
Mara handed her a small earpiece.
“You stay within sight of security.”
“I know.”
“If something happens—”
“I follow Leo.”
“Good.”
Claire looked toward the ballroom below.
“Is Adrian already there?”
Mara’s expression changed.
“He’s waiting.”
“For what?”
“You.”
Claire’s heartbeat shifted.
When Claire entered the ballroom, conversations changed around her.
People recognized her.
The abandoned wife.
The woman from the interview.
The mysterious consultant now associated with Adrian Cross.
She hated that version of the story.
Then Adrian turned.
And for several seconds, none of the room mattered.
He wore a black tuxedo.
No smile.
But his eyes softened when they found her.
He approached.
“You came.”
“You invited me.”
“I was still hoping you’d choose somewhere safer.”
“I had forty-three dollars last week. My standards for entertainment have changed.”
He smiled.
“Dance?”
Claire looked around.
“Now?”
“That is generally when dancing happens.”
“You have a conspiracy trying to destroy you.”
“Yes.”
“A data-center operation underway.”
“Yes.”
“A federal investigation.”
“Yes.”
“And you want to dance.”
“One song.”
She placed her hand in his.
“Your priorities are terrible.”
“I’ve been told.”
They moved onto the floor.
Claire had danced with Daniel hundreds of times at corporate events.
Daniel always positioned them where cameras could see.
Adrian seemed unaware cameras existed.
His attention remained on her.
“You’re nervous,” he said.
“You’re not?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t look it.”
“Years of practice.”
Claire glanced around.
“What if this fails?”
“It won’t.”
“That isn’t realistic.”
“No.”
“Then?”
Adrian’s hand tightened gently around hers.
“If it fails, we deal with what remains.”
We.
Claire looked at him.
“You say that easily.”
“What?”
“We.”
His gaze held hers.
“Does it bother you?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Then I’ll be careful.”
That answer bothered her more.
Because Daniel would have argued.
Adrian adapted.
The song ended.
Applause began elsewhere.
A journalist had entered the ballroom.
Then another.
Phones started lighting up.
Mara’s voice came through Claire’s earpiece.
“Leak is live.”
It began.
Documents appeared online accusing Cross Holdings of money laundering, bribery, extortion, and decades of organized crime.
Some records were real historical documents from Adrian’s father’s era.
Others were fabricated.
The mixture made everything look credible.
Reporters surrounded Adrian.
“Mr. Cross!”
“Are these documents authentic?”
“Will you resign?”
“Are federal agents investigating?”
Claire watched.
Adrian remained calm.
Then the ballroom doors opened.
Federal investigators entered.
Gasps spread through the room.
Exactly as Rourke planned.
One agent approached Adrian.
“Mr. Cross.”
Adrian nodded.
“Agent Ramirez.”
The agent extended his hand.
Not cuffs.
A handshake.
Confusion rippled.
Then Ramirez turned toward the cameras.
“We are conducting an investigation tonight into an attempted corporate fraud and evidence-manipulation scheme targeting Cross Holdings.”
The room erupted.
Across town, Rourke’s team entered the data center using Calder’s credentials.
Every action recorded.
Every file they attempted to destroy duplicated.
Every device identified.
Mara whispered through the earpiece.
“They’re in.”
Claire exhaled.
Then a voice came from behind her.
“You always did enjoy being right.”
She froze.
Daniel.
He stood ten feet away.
No handcuffs.
He had been released under monitored cooperation.
“How are you here?”
“I was invited.”
“No.”
“Not by Adrian.”
Claire saw Leo moving through the crowd.
Daniel lifted both hands.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“You already did.”
“I came to warn you.”
“About what?”
“Rourke changed the plan.”
Her stomach tightened.
“How?”
“He knows Calder flipped.”
Claire touched her earpiece.
“Mara—”
The signal vanished.
Jammed.
Lights flickered.
Then went out.
Emergency lighting returned seconds later.
People shouted.
Security moved.
Adrian was across the ballroom, surrounded.
Daniel grabbed Claire’s arm.
“Move.”
She pulled away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Claire, for once in your life—”
She slapped his hand away.
“I listened to you long enough.”
Then she saw the man near the service corridor.
Narrow scar.
The diner.
The man who had discussed the transfer.
He was looking directly at Adrian.
Claire understood.
The gala was never only about destroying Cross Holdings.
Rourke still wanted Adrian.
And while security focused on the data center and federal agents, one man inside the ballroom had a clear path toward him.
Claire moved.
Not away.
Toward Adrian.
The scarred man reached inside his jacket.
Security reacted.
Leo tackled him before he could act.
The ballroom erupted.
Adrian reached Claire.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“What were you thinking?”
“I saw him.”
“You ran toward him.”
“I ran toward you.”
Adrian stared at her.
The irony was impossible to miss.
She had yelled at him for doing the same thing one night earlier.
Claire exhaled.
“Don’t say it.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel stood several feet away.
Watching them.
Something finally died in his expression.
Not jealousy.
Hope.
He understood.
Claire would never return.
Mara’s voice came back online.
“Data-center team detained.”
Adrian asked, “Rourke?”
“Not there.”
Claire looked toward the ballroom doors.
Of course not.
Vincent Rourke had built layers between himself and every crime.
But Daniel suddenly said:
“I know where he is.”
Everyone turned.
Daniel looked at Claire.
“If I tell you, it ends.”
Claire stared at the man who had taken almost everything from her.
“Then tell us.”
Daniel gave an address.
A private club once owned by Adrian’s father.
Adrian’s face changed.
He knew it.
Rourke had chosen the beginning.
The place where the old Cross empire had been built.
May you like
And now he was waiting there for its heir.
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