Chapter 11 - The Price of Keeping Fiona
“Mom.”
Eleanor’s hand trembled.
“Get away from him, Blaire.”
Luca slowly raised his hands.
“Eleanor.”
“Don’t.”
Graham sat tied to a chair behind her.
Blood marked his temple.
Blaire stared.
“You kidnapped him?”
“I rescued him from the people who intended to kill him before he testified.”
“Then why are you pointing a gun at Luca?”
“Because someone followed you.”
A shot shattered the window.
Luca pulled Blaire down.
Eleanor fired toward the darkness.
Security stormed the property.
The shooter fled.
The gun had never been meant for Luca.
Blaire almost laughed from sheer exhaustion.
“Could everyone please stop making things look worse than they are?”
Even Luca smiled.
Graham finally talked.
The person who arranged his escape was not an ally.
It was Victor Shaw, Sterling Global’s vice chairman.
Shaw had helped Graham launder money decades earlier.
Now that Blaire’s shares existed, Shaw feared losing control of the board.
“He’ll target Fiona,” Graham said.
Blaire stepped forward.
“Why?”
“Because if you die, your shares pass to her.”
“And?”
“If both of you die before the trust is formally activated, the shares revert to the corporate pool.”
Luca’s expression became lethal.
“You put a price on a three-year-old.”
Graham looked ashamed.
“Shaw did.”
Federal agents arrested Graham again.
This time he agreed to testify.
Luca moved Blaire and Fiona to a secure residence.
David, recovering under guard, signed a full confession.
He surrendered any claim to marital assets.
But not Fiona.
“I’m still her father,” he told Blaire.
“I know.”
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
“I want the chance to earn the right to be in her life.”
Blaire looked at the man she had loved.
She no longer wanted him back.
That realization did not feel like anger.
It felt like freedom.
“We’ll let the court decide what is safe.”
David nodded.
It was the first honest agreement of their marriage.
That evening, Luca found Blaire making grilled cheese in his enormous kitchen.
“You own a billion-dollar company and your cheese slices come individually wrapped?”
“I don’t personally manage dairy procurement.”
She laughed.
He leaned against the counter.
“I missed that.”
“What?”
“You laughing.”
The air changed.
Blaire looked at him.
“Luca…”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I know you’re not ready.”
She swallowed.
“And if I never am?”
“Then Fiona has permanently improved my opinion of stuffed rabbits, and I got a friend out of the deal.”
Her eyes burned.
“You make it difficult not to trust you.”
“That may be the nicest insult anyone has given me.”
He stepped closer.
She did too.
Then the security alarm sounded.
Luca turned.
A guard appeared.
“Sir, Fiona is missing.”
Blaire dropped the spatula.
“What?”
“The bedroom window is open.”
“That’s impossible.”
They ran upstairs.
Bunny lay on the floor.
The pink blanket hung from the window latch.
Blaire screamed Fiona’s name.
Then Luca saw something on the bed.
A phone.
Not theirs.
The screen illuminated.
VIDEO CALL — VICTOR SHAW.
Luca answered.
Fiona appeared on screen.
May you like
Crying.
And a man behind her said, “Now we negotiate.”
