Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Wasn't Supposed to Know
Maya didn't go to the conference room.
Not immediately.
Daniel Mercer disappeared through a private elevator with Charles Ashcroft before Maya could reach him.
That told her more than any explanation would have.
Daniel had lied.
Maybe about everything.
She slipped behind a floral partition and called him.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
A third time.
Nothing.
“Maya?”
Adrian stood at the hallway entrance.
“You're late.”
She put away her phone.
“I know.”
He studied her face.
“What happened?”
“I need another ten minutes.”
“You asked to talk before my wedding.”
“Yes.”
“My wedding starts in twenty-eight minutes.”
“I know.”
“Then whatever this is, now would be useful.”
His voice wasn't cruel.
It was controlled.
That somehow made it worse.
Maya glanced toward the elevators.
“If I tell you something, can you promise not to immediately involve Charles Ashcroft?”
“No.”
“At least you're honest.”
“You're asking me to accept unknown information from a member of the catering staff and conceal it from my future father-in-law.”
“I'm asking you to look at evidence before deciding what it means.”
“Then show me.”
Her fingers moved toward the envelope.
Stopped.
Daniel standing beside Charles had changed everything.
Those documents had come from Daniel.
If he was compromised, she needed to know what she was handing Adrian.
“There are financial records,” Maya said.
“What kind?”
“Old project accounts connected to Ashcroft Development.”
Adrian's eyes sharpened.
“How old?”
“2008.”
“That's eighteen years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you're bringing them to me because?”
“My mother found them.”
The sentence surprised him.
Maya could tell.
“Your mother worked for Ashcroft?”
“Not directly. She worked for an outside accounting firm.”
“Name?”
“Lorraine Bennett.”
Adrian went still.
It lasted only a fraction of a second.
Maya caught it.
“You know her name.”
“No.”
“That wasn't the face of someone who'd never heard it.”
Adrian looked over her shoulder.
“Come inside.”
The conference room was meant for executive meetings, not wedding emergencies. A black table stretched beneath floor-to-ceiling windows. Manhattan spread below them.
Adrian closed the door.
“What exactly did your mother find?”
“I don't know all of it.”
“You're willing to disrupt a wedding over something you don't understand?”
“I was willing to give you an envelope.”
“And now?”
Maya looked at him.
“Now I'm not sure who I can trust.”
That offended him.
Good.
Powerful people were rarely told they hadn't earned trust.
“Why me?”
“Because Monday's joint venture gives your company control of projects connected to these records.”
“How do you know about Monday?”
“It's not exactly a secret.”
“The structure is.”
“I didn't say I knew the structure.”
Silence.
Adrian walked toward the window.
“My legal team spent nine months on due diligence.”
“Then maybe they found nothing.”
“Or maybe there's nothing to find.”
“Maybe.”
He turned.
“You don't sound convinced.”
“My mother kept documents for eighteen years and wrote instructions telling me who to contact if something happened to her.”
“What happened to her?”
“She died six months ago.”
Adrian's expression softened.
“I'm sorry.”
Maya hated how quickly grief still rose.
She swallowed it.
“She spent most of my life afraid of something she never explained. I thought it was money. Now your fiancée just mentioned my mother's name.”
That got him.
“What?”
“She knew Daniel Mercer gave me something.”
“Daniel Mercer?”
“You know him too.”
“Former Ashcroft controller.”
“Yes.”
“He disappeared after an internal audit.”
“That sounds convenient.”
Adrian ignored the comment.
“Where is Mercer?”
“He was just downstairs with Charles.”
Adrian's face changed.
“You're sure?”
“I spent four months finding him. I'm sure.”
Someone knocked.
“Adrian?”
Victoria.
Maya and Adrian looked at each other.
The door opened before either answered.
Victoria stepped inside.
Her gown filled the doorway.
For a bride less than twenty minutes from her ceremony, she looked remarkably calm.
Except for her hands.
They were clenched.
“Everyone is looking for you.”
Adrian said, “We were talking.”
“I can see that.”
Her eyes moved to Maya.
“About what?”
“Something regarding your father's company.”
Victoria laughed once.
“From a server?”
Maya felt heat in her face.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Don't.”
“Don't what?”
“Do that.”
“She's staff, Adrian.”
“She has a name.”
Victoria's expression hardened.
Maya understood suddenly why Victoria disliked her.
It wasn't attraction.
Not really.
It was hierarchy.
Adrian had broken Victoria's hierarchy simply by treating Maya as someone whose information deserved attention.
Victoria turned to Maya.
“Outside.”
Adrian said, “She stays.”
For one second nobody moved.
Then Victoria smiled.
It was the wedding smile.
Perfect.
Empty.
“Fine.”
She walked farther inside.
“What accusation are we entertaining?”
Maya said, “No accusation.”
“Then why are you in a private room with my fiancé minutes before our wedding?”
“Because I asked to speak to him.”
Victoria looked at Adrian.
“And you agreed.”
“Yes.”
Something old passed between them.
Maya saw it.
This wasn't about her.
She had stepped into an argument that had existed long before today.
Victoria folded her arms.
“Show him.”
Maya didn't move.
“Show me what?”
Victoria nodded toward her vest.
“The envelope.”
Adrian looked at Maya.
There it was.
Confirmation.
Maya said quietly, “How do you know about it?”
Victoria didn't answer.
“Who told you?” Maya pressed.
“Your mother made mistakes.”
Adrian turned sharply.
“You knew her mother?”
Victoria realized too late.
Maya saw panic.
“Not personally.”
“Then how do you know anything about her?”
Victoria's composure cracked.
“My father told me.”
“Why?”
“Because Lorraine Bennett tried to blackmail him.”
Maya stared at her.
“No.”
Victoria shrugged.
“I'm sorry if that version hurts.”
“My mother wasn't a blackmailer.”
“Everyone's mother is a saint after she dies.”
Maya stepped toward her.
Adrian moved between them.
“Victoria.”
“What? She comes here carrying eighteen-year-old allegations on our wedding day and I'm supposed to pretend she's doing it out of civic duty?”
“My mother never asked Charles for money.”
“You don't know that.”
“I lived with her.”
“You were a child.”
Maya's hands began shaking.
She hated Victoria for noticing.
Victoria lowered her voice.
“Lorraine tried to extort my father. Daniel Mercer helped her. When it failed, she disappeared from corporate accounting.”
“That's a lie.”
“Is it?”
Maya wanted to hit her.
Instead she reached inside her vest.
Victoria stopped breathing.
Maya pulled out the envelope.
Adrian stared at it.
Victoria stared harder.
“Give it to me,” Victoria said.
“No.”
“It contains stolen corporate documents.”
“So you know what's inside.”
Victoria hesitated.
Maya caught it.
Adrian did too.
“What exactly is inside?” he asked.
Victoria looked at him.
“Old nonsense.”
“That wasn't the question.”
Her face changed.
“Adrian, our guests are waiting.”
“They can wait.”
“They shouldn't have to.”
“Then answer.”
Victoria looked at Maya.
Hatred now.
Real hatred.
Not irritation.
“You have no idea what you're doing.”
Maya held the envelope against her chest.
“I'm starting to.”
Victoria moved toward the door.
Then stopped.
“If you open that today, your mother's name gets dragged through every newspaper in the country.”
Maya froze.
Victoria continued.
“There were investigations. Statements. Records you haven't seen.”
“What records?”
“Ask Daniel.”
“I tried.”
Victoria's mouth curved slightly.
“Maybe that's because Daniel finally decided to tell the truth.”
She left.
The door closed.
Adrian and Maya stood in silence.
Finally he said, “Open it.”
Maya looked down.
“I can't.”
“You came here to give it to me.”
“That was before I saw Daniel with Charles.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“If the documents are forged, my people will know.”
“And if they're real?”
“Then we deal with it.”
“We?”
His expression tightened.
“You're right.”
Maya looked at him.
“You barely know me.”
“No. But if someone buried fraud in a company I'm about to merge with, I want to know.”
A knock came again.
This time a wedding planner opened the door.
“Mr. Cole, we're eight minutes behind.”
“I'll be there.”
She vanished.
Adrian loosened his jaw.
“Keep the envelope.”
Maya blinked.
“I thought you wanted it.”
“I do.”
“Then why—”
“Because everyone now knows you have it.”
Maya understood.
“If I hand it to you, they'll know you have it.”
“Yes.”
“Who is ‘they’?”
“That is the question.”
For the first time, Adrian looked worried.
“Don't leave the building alone tonight.”
Maya almost laughed.
“I take the subway.”
“Not tonight.”
“You don't get to order me around.”
“Fair.”
A faint smile appeared.
“Then consider it a strongly worded suggestion.”
He left for his wedding.
Maya stood alone.
Five minutes later, her catering supervisor found her.
“You're reassigned.”
“To where?”
“Pool service.”
Maya frowned.
“I've been on west tables all afternoon.”
“Bride requested it.”
Of course she had.
The infinity pool ran along the eastern edge of the rooftop.
Narrow deck.
Crowded cocktail area.
One of the worst places to carry glassware.
Maya looked toward the bridal doors.
Victoria stood beyond them surrounded by bridesmaids.
Their eyes met through the glass.
Victoria lifted a champagne flute.
A tiny toast.
Then Maya's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She opened the message.
Your mother didn't keep those papers to expose Charles. She kept them to protect you.
Maya's heart stopped.
A second message appeared.
If you want to know why, go to the service stairwell now. Come alone.
She stared at the screen.
Then another.
May you like
And whatever happens, do not give that envelope to Adrian Cole.
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