Chapter 7 - Dinner With the Ashcrofts
Nathaniel was furious Clare met Eleanor without telling him.
Clare was furious that he believed being furious would change anything.
“You went alone.”
“It was a hotel lounge.”
“You went alone.”
“There were forty people there.”
“You went alone to meet my mother after someone threatened your job.”
“I didn’t tell you because you would have stopped me.”
“Yes.”
“That is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
Nathaniel paced.
Clare watched him.
“You realize this argument is proving my point.”
He stopped.
“No more private meetings.”
“You don’t make rules for me.”
“I make rules regarding security.”
“No, you make recommendations.”
“Clare.”
“Nathaniel.”
They stared at each other.
Then Clare held up the trust document.
Nathaniel’s anger disappeared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your mother.”
He read.
His expression changed.
Nathaniel knew the trust existed.
He did not know about the automatic transfer clause.
Douglas had managed the family structure since Nathaniel was a teenager.
“Why didn’t I know this?”
“Your mother says your grandfather added it after your uncle died.”
Nathaniel sat.
Richard Crane was Eleanor’s brother.
He had spent years managing family security.
But Nathaniel’s paternal uncle, Edward Ashcroft, had died in a boating accident before Nathaniel turned sixteen.
No children.
After that, Nathaniel became the sole bloodline continuation.
Clare pointed toward the document.
“Your baby gets shares?”
“Placed in trust.”
“And you become trustee?”
Nathaniel nodded slowly.
“Which gives me voting control over enough family assets to block the Bowmont merger permanently.”
Clare sat opposite him.
“That sounds like motive.”
“Yes.”
“For the intimidation?”
“Yes.”
“For worse?”
Nathaniel’s eyes met hers.
He did not answer.
That weekend Douglas invited them to dinner.
Clare wanted to refuse.
Nathaniel wanted to accept.
This reversal amused neither of them.
“Why?” Clare asked.
“Because now I want them to see us together.”
“That sounds territorial.”
“It is.”
“Nathaniel.”
“And strategic.”
“That sounds more like you.”
They arrived at the Westchester estate at seven.
Clare wore a simple dark green dress.
Nathaniel wore black.
Eleanor greeted Clare politely.
Douglas barely did.
Richard Crane stood near the fireplace.
He was sixty-two, silver-haired, compact, with the watchful stillness of a man who had spent his adult life around other people’s secrets.
Nathaniel introduced them.
Richard smiled.
“So this is Clare.”
The sentence bothered her.
Not “nice to meet you.”
Not “Nathaniel has told us about you.”
So this is Clare.
As if he had already known her.
Clare remembered the dead security authorization account.
She smiled carefully.
“Apparently.”
Dinner was served in a room built for twenty.
There were five people.
The empty chairs made the space feel ridiculous.
Douglas spent the first course discussing markets.
Nathaniel answered minimally.
Eleanor asked Clare about work.
Richard barely spoke.
Then Douglas placed his fork down.
“I understand congratulations are appropriate.”
Clare stiffened.
Nathaniel took her hand under the table.
“Thank you,” Clare said.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“That’s good.”
Douglas looked toward Nathaniel.
“The family attorneys should begin preparing structures for the child.”
“No,” Nathaniel said.
Douglas frowned.
“No?”
“You are not putting my child into an Ashcroft legal structure.”
“The child is an Ashcroft.”
“The child is ours.”
Douglas’s gaze moved to Clare.
“Of course.”
Nathaniel’s grip tightened around her hand.
Eleanor spoke.
“Douglas.”
He ignored her.
“Clare, you should understand there are substantial protections available.”
“Protections for whom?”
Douglas looked surprised.
Clare continued.
“The baby? Nathaniel? The company? Or the trust voting structure?”
The room went silent.
Richard’s eyes flicked toward Eleanor.
That was enough.
Douglas looked at his wife.
“You showed her.”
Eleanor took a sip of wine.
“Yes.”
Douglas’s expression hardened.
“You had no right.”
Eleanor laughed softly.
The sound was bitter.
“No right. Imagine that.”
Nathaniel watched his parents.
Something old was happening between them.
Something larger than the current fight.
Richard spoke for the first time.
“This isn’t productive.”
Clare turned toward him.
“Neither is following me.”
Richard froze.
Douglas looked confused.
Eleanor looked toward Nathaniel.
Nathaniel said nothing.
Richard leaned back.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“The security vehicle.”
“No.”
Clare held his gaze.
“The account belonged to someone who died six years ago.”
Richard’s face remained blank.
“You’re making a dangerous accusation.”
Nathaniel finally spoke.
“No. She’s asking a question.”
Richard turned.
“Careful, Nathaniel.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re upsetting your father over a theory.”
Nathaniel smiled without warmth.
“My father is upset because he discovered I’m capable of reading contracts.”
Douglas shoved his chair back.
“That’s enough.”
“No,” Nathaniel said.
“It isn’t.”
He stood.
Clare stood with him.
Nathaniel looked around the table.
“I’m going to make this simple.”
He placed a hand gently against Clare’s back.
“No one contacts her. No one follows her. No one sends gifts. No one investigates her. No one contacts her employer.”
His gaze settled on Richard.
“And nobody uses family security against her again.”
Richard did not blink.
Nathaniel continued.
“If it happens, I dismantle the entire security division before breakfast.”
Douglas stared.
“You cannot threaten this family in my home.”
Nathaniel looked at him.
“I’m not threatening the family.”
He turned toward Clare.
“I’m protecting mine.”
The distinction landed like a bomb.
Eleanor closed her eyes briefly.
Douglas looked pale with anger.
Richard’s jaw tightened.
Clare and Nathaniel left.
On the drive back to Manhattan, Clare stared out the window.
“You noticed Richard.”
“Yes.”
“He knew about the account.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he ordered it?”
“I don’t know.”
Clare turned.
“You do know something.”
Nathaniel gripped the wheel.
“Richard was my grandfather’s fixer.”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what you think.”
Clare became quiet.
Nathaniel continued.
“If my family had a problem that couldn’t be handled publicly, Richard handled it.”
“Does he still?”
“My father claims no.”
“And you?”
Nathaniel looked at the road.
“I don’t believe my father.”
At 11:32 p.m. Marcus called.
Nathaniel answered through the car system.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“The deleted escalation order wasn’t executed by Victoria.”
Nathaniel looked at Clare.
Marcus continued.
“Her authorization initiated surveillance and the employment pressure.”
“But?”
“But someone altered the instruction afterward.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Nathaniel’s voice became cold.
“What was added?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Physical intervention authorized if required.”
Clare stopped breathing.
Nathaniel’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Before or after they knew she was pregnant?”
Marcus paused.
“After.”
Nathaniel drove the rest of the way home in silence.
And for the first time, Clare understood that someone inside the Ashcroft dynasty was no longer trying merely to frighten her away.
May you like
Someone had decided she was a problem that might need to be removed.
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