Chapter 6 - The Wine, the Insult, and the Silence
Marin spent Monday afternoon at home.
She didn't cry.
She cleaned her kitchen.
Then cleaned it again.
Anger made her productive.
At 8:17 p.m., someone knocked.
She opened the door.
Lucien stood outside.
Marin stared.
"How did you get my address?"
"I'm your employer."
"That's not comforting."
"I found who used your badge."
Her expression changed.
Lucien held out a tablet.
Security footage showed a man entering the building through a service corridor.
He wore maintenance clothing.
Then another angle revealed his face.
Marin recognized him.
"Daniel Mercer."
A senior compliance executive.
One of the men present during her original interview.
"The frightened one," Marin said.
Lucien looked at her.
"What?"
"The day the binder disappeared. Everyone watched me reconstruct it. Mercer watched the binder."
Lucien remembered.
"You noticed?"
"I notice things."
"He cloned your badge."
"Why?"
"Because he stole the binder three months ago."
Marin stared.
Lucien continued.
"He's been selling internal information to Ashcroft interests."
"Serena?"
"We don't know whether Serena herself knew."
Marin folded her arms.
"But you suspect it."
"Yes."
Lucien held out her badge.
Marin didn't take it.
"You doubted me."
"For approximately eleven seconds."
"Eleven?"
"I counted."
Despite herself, Marin smiled.
Then stopped.
"That's eleven seconds too long."
"I know."
That surprised her.
Lucien Devereaux didn't apologize easily.
"I'm sorry."
Marin looked at him.
Two words.
No excuse.
No justification.
He meant them.
She took the badge.
"Come back tomorrow."
"Am I being ordered?"
"Asked."
"That's new."
"I'm trying."
Marin leaned against the doorframe.
"Why?"
Lucien's answer took too long.
"Because you matter."
Silence.
He looked almost uncomfortable.
Marin realized this man could negotiate with criminals, politicians, billionaires and enemies without blinking.
But telling one woman she mattered frightened him.
She softened.
"I'll come back."
The next morning, Mercer was arrested for corporate espionage, theft, fraud, and conspiracy.
But Serena's involvement remained unclear.
Until Marin found something.
Not by opening Lucien's secrets.
By remembering a seating chart.
At the banquet, Serena had insisted Mercer be seated beside an Ashcroft attorney.
At the time, Marin assumed it was social positioning.
Now she checked earlier events.
Same pattern.
Three dinners.
Two charity functions.
One corporate retreat.
Mercer and representatives of Ashcroft interests had repeatedly been placed together.
Marin brought the evidence to Lucien.
"This doesn't prove Serena ordered anything."
"No."
"But it proves someone around her knew Mercer."
"Yes."
Lucien stared through the windows.
"There's another problem."
"What?"
"The negotiation binder wasn't the target."
Marin frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"The stolen agreement was bait."
"For what?"
"To create panic."
She understood.
"Someone wanted to see how your organization responded."
"And who had access."
Marin felt cold.
"Me."
Lucien turned.
"You became visible the moment you reconstructed it."
"So the bribe..."
"Test."
"The badge framing..."
"Another test."
"And the banquet?"
Lucien's expression hardened.
"Personal."
Marin sat.
For the first time, she looked tired.
"I just wanted a job."
Lucien almost smiled.
"You negotiated fifteen percent above market."
"I wanted a well-paid job."
He laughed.
Marin stared.
She'd never heard Lucien laugh.
It changed his entire face.
Then his phone rang.
The laughter vanished.
He listened.
"Where?"
His gaze moved to Marin.
"When?"
He ended the call.
"What happened?" she asked.
Lucien crossed the room.
"Serena disappeared."
Marin stood.
"And?"
"Her car was found abandoned."
"Do you think she's in danger?"
"I think she knows something."
Lucien reached for his jacket.
Marin grabbed her bag.
"No."
She looked at him.
"No?"
"You're staying here."
"Absolutely not."
"Marin."
"Lucien."
He stared.
She stared back.
"You're impossible."
"You hired me."
He sighed.
"Stay beside me."
They entered the elevator together.
Neither knew Serena wasn't the architect of the conspiracy.
May you like
She was another piece on the board.
And the person moving those pieces had been waiting five years for Lucien to trust someone again.
