Chapter 4 - The Enemy Inside Her Company
By six the next morning, Isabella had slept exactly forty-three minutes.
She knew because she had spent most of the night staring at the clock beside the guest bed while Sofia slept curled against her.
Sunny lay across the doorway.
Isabella had never believed a dog could look protective until that night.
Every few minutes her mind returned to the photographs.
Sofia outside preschool.
Sofia at the café.
Sofia through the windshield.
Someone had watched her child.
That changed everything.
At seven, Isabella called an emergency board meeting.
Alessandro found her in the breakfast room wearing yesterday’s gown beneath one of Rosa’s long cashmere coats.
“You’re going to the office.”
It was not a question.
“Yes.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Try that again.”
“The person feeding Marcus information works there.”
“Exactly why I’m going.”
“Isabella—”
“My daughter stays here.”
“With Elena?”
“And your security.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
“But I go.”
“You’re not driving.”
“Fine.”
“My car.”
“Fine.”
“Two security vehicles.”
“Excessive.”
“Not negotiable.”
She stared.
“Did you just tell me something wasn’t negotiable?”
“Yes.”
A strange thing happened.
Isabella smiled.
Not because it was funny.
Because Alessandro was apparently still capable of making her furious before coffee.
“Two vehicles,” she said. “But your men wait outside.”
“Agreed.”
He walked away.
“Alessandro.”
He stopped.
“You’re coming too.”
He turned.
“Why?”
“Because if someone on my board sees you walk into that room beside me, they’ll react.”
A slow understanding appeared in his eyes.
“You want to watch who gets nervous.”
“Yes.”
He almost smiled.
“There she is.”
“Who?”
“The girl who used to cheat at chess.”
“I never cheated.”
“You moved pieces when I wasn’t looking.”
“That’s not cheating. That’s poor observation on your part.”
For one second, twenty years disappeared.
Then Isabella remembered the letter in the study.
The moment vanished.
At nine fifteen, Alessandro Vieri entered Marquez Development headquarters beside Isabella.
The effect was immediate.
Receptionists straightened.
Executives stopped talking.
Two board members looked confused.
One looked annoyed.
And Chief Financial Officer Daniel Reeves looked terrified.
Isabella noticed.
So did Alessandro.
The board meeting began at nine thirty.
Isabella closed the doors herself.
“There will be no phones.”
Several people protested.
“No laptops either.”
More confusion.
Isabella remained standing.
“Over the past two months, debt connected to this company has been purchased through entities controlled by Vain Capital.”
Daniel’s face drained.
“Isabella, that’s not—”
“I haven’t finished.”
He stopped.
“The information required to target those facilities was confidential.”
Silence.
“So someone in this room, or someone reporting directly to someone in this room, has been sharing internal financial information.”
Board member Margaret Chen leaned forward.
“Do we have evidence?”
Isabella looked at Alessandro.
He placed copies of the corporate records on the table.
Daniel stared at them.
Too long.
Isabella saw it.
“You recognize something?”
“No.”
“Then why are you sweating?”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Daniel stood.
“This is ridiculous.”
Alessandro had not spoken once.
He did now.
“Sit down.”
Daniel sat.
Immediately.
Isabella nearly looked at Alessandro.
Instead she focused on Daniel.
“Marcus approached you?”
“No.”
“When?”
“He didn’t.”
“How much?”
“Isabella—”
“How much did he pay you?”
Daniel’s face crumpled.
It happened quickly.
Years of loyalty collapsed in a single breath.
“Two hundred thousand.”
Margaret swore.
Isabella felt nothing.
That frightened her.
Daniel continued.
“It wasn’t supposed to hurt the company.”
“You sold confidential financial data.”
“He said it was for valuation.”
“You believed him?”
“He said he wanted to make an investment.”
“You didn’t think to tell me?”
“You always say no.”
The words hit strangely.
Not because they hurt.
Because they revealed something Isabella had seen a hundred times in business.
Men who resented her boundaries eventually convinced themselves violating them was reasonable.
Daniel looked desperate.
“He said the company would be stronger.”
“You mean you’d be richer.”
Silence.
Isabella pressed a button on the table.
Two attorneys entered.
Daniel looked at the door.
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t fire me without—”
“I already did.”
His face changed.
“You’re finished here, Daniel.”
He stood.
Then he looked at Alessandro.
“This is because of him.”
Isabella laughed.
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“This is because you betrayed me.”
Daniel was escorted out.
The meeting ended twenty minutes later.
Isabella remained alone with Alessandro.
She leaned against the table.
“One problem solved.”
“One identified.”
She sighed.
“You really know how to ruin a victory.”
“Marcus will know Daniel talked.”
“So?”
“So Daniel is now a liability.”
“To Marcus?”
“Yes.”
Her stomach tightened.
“You think he’ll hurt him.”
“I think Marcus dislikes loose ends.”
Isabella stared at the closed doors.
“I want Daniel protected.”
Alessandro looked surprised.
“He betrayed you.”
“He has a wife.”
“You don’t owe him protection.”
“No.”
She picked up her phone.
“But I won’t let Marcus decide who deserves to come home alive.”
Something changed in Alessandro’s expression.
She recognized it because she had seen it once when she was young.
Respect.
Ten minutes later Alessandro arranged security for Daniel.
By noon, Isabella’s attorneys had begun freezing suspicious transactions.
At one fifteen, Marcus called.
She answered on speaker.
“Good morning,” she said.
“You humiliated Daniel.”
“He humiliated himself.”
“You think firing one man changes anything?”
“No.”
“Then why do it?”
“Because I enjoy Tuesdays.”
Marcus laughed.
“You have Vieri standing behind you now.”
Isabella glanced across the office.
Alessandro was actually standing by the window.
“I don’t need Alessandro.”
“Maybe not.”
Marcus paused.
“But Sofia might.”
Isabella went cold.
Alessandro’s head turned.
“What did you say?”
“I said family changes priorities.”
“If you ever say my daughter’s name again—”
“Relax.”
“No.”
Her voice dropped.
“If you come near her, there is nowhere on this planet you will be safe from me.”
Marcus chuckled.
“You sound like Alessandro.”
The line disconnected.
Isabella remained still.
Alessandro took the phone from the desk.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“He made a mistake.”
“What are you doing?”
“Ending this.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“No?”
“You don’t get to disappear Marcus.”
His eyes narrowed.
“That isn’t what I said.”
“It’s what everyone thinks when they hear your name.”
Silence.
“I want him arrested,” Isabella said. “Publicly. Legally. I want every person who thinks men like Marcus are untouchable to watch him become very touchable.”
Alessandro studied her.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
“Fine?”
“We do it your way.”
She should have been relieved.
Instead something about the phrase tightened her chest.
Your way.
Not his.
For the first time, Alessandro was letting her choose the battlefield.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A frightened male voice whispered:
“Ms. Marquez?”
“Yes?”
“It’s Daniel.”
Isabella stood.
“Where are you?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“Marcus isn’t trying to take the waterfront project.”
Her skin prickled.
“Then what is he doing?”
Daniel breathed hard.
“He’s trying to force you to sell the entire company.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
A crash sounded on the line.
“Daniel?”
Silence.
“Daniel!”
Then another voice came through.
Male.
Calm.
“Stop digging, Isabella.”
The call ended.
Alessandro was already moving.
But Isabella understood one thing with terrible clarity.
This was no longer a hostile takeover.
May you like
Someone wanted her company for a reason nobody had told her.
And Daniel had discovered why.
