Chapter 9 - GODFATHER
Graham Sterling looked like someone’s favorite grandfather.
Silver hair.
Warm brown eyes.
Perfect charcoal suit.
At sixty-eight, he carried himself with the relaxed confidence of a man who had never waited for a restaurant table in his life.
When the door opened, he smiled.
Then he saw Damian.
The smile disappeared.
“Well,” Graham said. “That explains several things.”
Damian went pale.
Elias stepped forward.
“You know Ava Knox?”
Graham’s eyes moved to her.
“By reputation.”
Ava felt cold.
“What reputation?”
Graham removed his coat.
“Smart. Persistent. Unfortunate taste in men.”
Damian stood.
“You son of a bitch.”
Security forced him down.
Graham didn’t react.
Elias’s voice was quiet.
“Did you order Cross to steal Ava’s report?”
“No.”
Damian laughed.
“He’s lying.”
“Then prove it.”
“I can.”
That surprised everyone.
Damian looked at Ava.
“The original recording.”
“The one Elias played?”
“No. That was edited.”
Elias frowned.
“Edited how?”
“To remove Mercer naming Sterling.”
Graham’s expression didn’t change.
But Ava saw his right hand tighten.
Damian smiled.
“There.”
“What?”
“That little twitch. He does it when somebody surprises him.”
Graham looked at Elias.
“This man is trying to save himself.”
“Maybe,” Elias said. “But he’s not wrong about your hand.”
Silence.
Graham’s eyes turned colder.
“Be careful, son.”
“Don’t call me that.”
Something passed between them.
History.
Pain.
Ava suddenly understood why Elias was feared.
He had learned from this man.
Damian continued.
“The full recording is backed up.”
“Where?” Elias asked.
Damian hesitated.
“I’ll give it to federal investigators.”
Graham laughed.
“You think they’ll protect you?”
Damian looked at him.
“No.”
Then looked at Ava.
“But maybe they’ll protect her.”
Ava felt nothing comforting about that sentence.
Graham walked toward the window.
“Elias, you’re letting emotion compromise your judgment.”
“Meaning?”
“You have known this woman for weeks.”
Ava turned sharply.
Weeks?
Elias didn’t move.
Graham smiled slightly.
“Oh. She didn’t know?”
Ava stared at Elias.
“Know what?”
Graham answered.
“Elias first saw you twenty-three days ago.”
“Where?”
“At a coffee shop in Midtown.”
Ava remembered.
Rainy afternoon.
A tall man in a dark coat.
She had given him her umbrella because he had been standing outside waiting for a car in pouring rain.
He had said he didn’t need it.
She had replied, “Rich-looking people get wet too.”
Her stomach flipped.
“That was you?”
Elias looked almost uncomfortable.
“Yes.”
Graham chuckled.
“He had your background file on his desk the next morning.”
Ava’s face hardened.
“That’s creepy.”
“Agreed,” Elias said.
That answer caught her off guard.
Graham kept talking.
“And since then, his investigation has become less rational.”
Elias’s voice lowered.
“Enough.”
“What? She should know.”
Graham looked at Ava.
“He has been protecting you for weeks.”
Ava’s pulse jumped.
Elias stepped toward Graham.
“Stop.”
“Anonymous security near her apartment. A job recommendation to her employer. Medical debt quietly negotiated for her sister.”
Ava went still.
Lily stared.
“My hospital bill?”
Elias closed his eyes briefly.
Ava’s anger exploded.
“You paid her debt?”
“Reduced it.”
“You had no right.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Elias looked at her.
And for the first time since she met him, New York’s most feared billionaire had no answer.
Then three phones rang at once.
Martin answered his.
His face changed.
“The story is live.”
On the television screen appeared Elias Vane’s photograph.
The headline beneath it read:
BILLIONAIRE ELIAS VANE LINKED TO $400 MILLION CHARITY FRAUD NETWORK.
Below the headline was a second image.
Ava.
Champagne-soaked.
Wrapped in Elias’s jacket.
And the caption:
May you like
MYSTERY FIANCÉE MAY BE KEY WITNESS.
---
