Chapter 7
Dinner for the Board
Adrian took Mara to dinner because the board wanted to see what he had bought.
He did not say that in the car. He said, “You’ll sit beside me.”
The private dining room at the The Regent Club held twelve people and no windows. Victor Mercer sat at the head, silver-haired and smiling as if he had come to welcome a niece rather than inspect a scandal.
“Mara Quinn,” he said. “You resemble your mother.”
“You knew her?”
“Everyone knew your family.”
“Everyone except the people who answered my calls after my father died.”
Victor’s smile remained.
Adrian pulled out her chair. The gesture was polite enough to look intimate.
Victor lifted his wine. “Adrian tells us you’ve accepted a private arrangement.”
“Adrian tells the board everything?”
“Only what affects the board.”
“Then ask him why a hundred billion dollars of debt was transferred through a company run by a dead director.”
The room went quiet.
At the fourth course, Naomi Vale entered in a pale silk dress and a diamond at her throat. “So this is the famous arrangement.”
Mara lifted her glass. “And you are?”
“Naomi Vale.”
“The woman everyone says Adrian was meant to marry.”
Naomi’s smile stayed perfect. “Our families have shared interests.”
“Business interests?”
“Among others.”
Mara felt Adrian’s hand settle at the small of her back beneath the table. The touch was light. A warning.
She leaned into him instead.
His hand tightened.
Victor rose. “Adrian, a word.”
The two men left through a side door. Naomi leaned toward Mara.
“You don’t know what you’ve signed.”
“I know the important parts.”
“Do you know Adrian?”
“I know he doesn’t love anyone.”
Something flickered across Naomi’s face.
The side door opened. Adrian returned alone.
“We’re leaving,” he said.
“Why?”
“Victor moved the board vote.”
“To when?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
At the door, Victor called after them, “Bring her to the vote if you insist on making her part of the company.”
Adrian did not turn. “She was part of it before you learned her name.”
In the elevator, Mara looked at him.
“How long have you known my father’s collapse was connected to your family?”
Adrian’s eyes met hers in the mirrored wall.
“Longer than you think.”