Chapter 16 - Dinner for a Traitor
Norah served Julian first.
Not because he deserved courtesy.
Because she wanted to watch him.
The meal was simple.
Chicken.
Potatoes.
Vegetables.
Broth.
Food Vincent could eat.
Food Julian underestimated.
“You cook all the meals now?” Julian asked.
“Most.”
“Extraordinary influence for a maid.”
The room quieted.
Vincent’s fork stopped.
Norah smiled politely.
“I’ve been called worse.”
Julian looked toward Vincent.
“You see? Charming.”
Vincent’s voice was calm.
“Be respectful.”
Julian raised both hands.
“Of course.”
Norah continued serving.
Beneath the dining table, Enzo monitored security through a concealed device.
In the next room, Martin Vale waited with two attorneys.
Liam waited with the original digital photographs.
Everything depended on Julian signing documents that included an acknowledgment of several shell companies.
The names were buried among legitimate assets.
If Julian recognized them, he would expose his knowledge.
Vincent ate.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Julian watched.
“You truly have recovered.”
“Disappointed?”
Julian smiled.
“Why would I be?”
Vincent set down his fork.
“Because you spent six months waiting for me not to.”
Silence.
Julian’s face barely changed.
Several board members looked between them.
“I’m not sure I understand.”
Vincent slid the transfer agreement forward.
“Sign.”
Julian looked down.
He turned pages.
Norah stood near the wall.
His finger paused over the name Bellweather Consulting.
One of Martin’s shell companies.
Just half a second.
Then continued.
Vincent saw it.
Julian reached another.
Crane Leisure Holdings.
Pause.
Another.
Moretti Maritime Services.
Pause.
He knew every one.
Julian reached the signature page.
“You’re certain?”
Vincent nodded.
“Completely.”
Julian signed.
Vincent leaned back.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Confirming you recognize those companies.”
Julian froze.
Vincent continued.
“Three of them have never appeared in any public Rossy record.”
A lawyer at the table closed his folder.
Julian looked around.
“What is this?”
The side door opened.
Martin Vale entered.
Color disappeared from Julian’s face.
Martin could barely look at him.
“I’m sorry.”
Julian stood.
Vincent did not.
“Sit.”
Julian laughed.
“You think this proves anything?”
Liam entered next.
Julian’s composure cracked further.
Photographs appeared on a screen.
Payments.
Schedules.
Insurance policies.
Forged records.
Julian recovered quickly.
“Fabricated.”
Liam stepped forward.
“Some were.”
He identified the forged documents and explained the bank routing error.
One of the attorneys verified the dates.
Julian’s smile disappeared.
Martin spoke next.
He admitted purchasing the compound used to trigger Vincent’s food trauma.
Admitted arranging payments.
Admitted that Julian designed the plan.
Julian looked toward Vincent.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Probably.”
“You’re trusting a gambler and a coward over your own godfather?”
Vincent looked at Norah.
Then Enzo.
Then Liam.
“Yes.”
Julian’s expression became contemptuous.
“You were stronger before.”
“No.”
“You were feared.”
“I still am.”
“You trusted nobody.”
“That almost killed me.”
Julian stared.
Vincent stood.
“You made one mistake.”
“Only one?”
“You thought weakness was the same as needing people.”
Julian said nothing.
Vincent stepped closer.
“My father taught me power meant making sure nobody could touch me.”
He glanced toward Norah.
“I was wrong.”
Julian smiled coldly.
“So this is about her.”
“No.”
Vincent looked around the room.
“This is about all of them.”
Then the lights went out.
Norah’s stomach dropped.
Enzo cursed.
“Backup!”
Emergency lights activated.
Julian moved immediately.
He had expected the possibility.
One of the board members grabbed Norah.
A hidden insider.
Vincent turned.
The man held Norah against him.
“Back away.”
Vincent froze.
Everything inside him became still.
Norah looked directly at him.
Not frightened.
Focused.
The man backed toward the door.
Julian moved with him.
Enzo reached for his weapon.
“Don’t.”
Vincent raised his hands.
“Let her go.”
Julian laughed softly.
“You see?”
Vincent looked toward him.
“This is why attachments make men weak.”
Norah suddenly drove her heel down onto the man’s foot.
He loosened his grip.
She dropped.
Enzo moved.
Security rushed through the side door.
Within seconds, the insider was restrained.
Julian ran.
Not toward the exterior.
Toward the service corridor.
Vincent followed.
They reached the old basement.
Julian entered the forgotten kitchen.
Vincent stopped in the doorway.
Of all places.
Julian looked around.
“Your grandmother hated me.”
Vincent almost smiled.
“She had excellent instincts.”
Julian’s escape route was gone.
Security blocked the opposite hall.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
“You won’t turn me over.”
“Why?”
“Because of what I know.”
Vincent considered him.
Years earlier, maybe Julian would have been correct.
Old Vincent protected the organization above everything.
But the organization had nearly become his coffin.
“I’m done protecting people who tried to destroy me.”
Julian stared.
Vincent stepped aside.
Federal investigators working with Vincent’s attorneys entered from the hall.
Julian’s face collapsed.
“No.”
Vincent said nothing.
As they led Julian away, he turned.
“You think she saved you?”
Vincent looked toward Norah, standing at the end of the corridor.
“Yes.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
Vincent continued.
“But not because she made soup.”
Norah’s eyes met his.
“She reminded me I wanted to live.”
Julian disappeared upstairs.
The danger was not completely over.
There were accounts to freeze.
Companies to separate.
People to investigate.
But the man who had designed Vincent’s slow destruction was finally finished.
And for the first time in years, Vincent Rossy had won without ordering anyone’s death.
May you like
That victory changed him more than he expected.
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