Chapter 4 - The Other Man
I found Trinity at a hotel near Piazza della Repubblica.
She opened the door wearing the same red dress she had worn on the plane.
Her makeup was gone.
Her eyes were swollen.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Did you sleep with Caleb Bell?”
She went still.
That was answer enough.
I stepped inside.
“How long?”
“Mason—”
“How long?”
“Before you.”
I laughed.
The sound was ugly.
“So I was the second executive?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Then explain it.”
She sat on the edge of the bed.
Two years earlier, Trinity had worked for a marketing firm contracted by Bellweather. Caleb noticed her, recruited her privately, then began a relationship with her.
When she tried to end it, he threatened to ruin her career.
Then he offered another option.
Get close to me.
Learn what I knew about the Vieri acquisition.
Keep me distracted.
She insisted the affair had not been planned.
I almost believed her.
Almost.
“You expect me to believe you accidentally slept with me for eight months?”
Her eyes filled.
“No. The beginning was intentional.”
That sentence hurt differently.
“And later?”
“Later got complicated.”
I shook my head.
“You loved me?”
“I thought I did.”
“Welcome to the club.”
She looked down.
Then she told me about the invoices.
Caleb had access to Bellweather’s internal accounting controls.
He inflated legitimate invoices from her firm, created shell vendors, and routed money through accounts linked to European intermediaries.
My credentials were used as authorization.
My affair with Trinity gave him leverage.
If anyone investigated, I would look guilty.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Caleb said he’d destroy both of us.”
“You helped him.”
“At first.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“Three months ago, I stopped.”
She opened her suitcase and removed a flash drive.
“I started copying everything.”
My pulse quickened.
“Everything?”
“Emails. Transfer records. Voice messages.”
“Why bring it to Florence?”
“Because Caleb is here.”
I froze.
“He’s in Florence?”
“He arrived yesterday.”
The acquisition.
Of course.
“Why?”
“He’s planning something at tomorrow’s closing.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
I called Nathan.
Twenty minutes later, he arrived with two Italian attorneys.
By midnight, we understood enough.
Caleb had been moving company money into shell entities for years.
But stealing money wasn’t his ultimate goal.
Palazzo Vieri was.
The acquisition contract contained a financing provision that could force the Vieri trust into a secondary sale if Bellweather defaulted immediately after closing.
A Luxembourg entity was positioned to purchase the distressed debt.
Its beneficial owner?
Caleb.
He intended to steal the property through Bellweather.
Charles stared at the documents.
“My own brother.”
Nathan said quietly, “We still need proof connecting him directly.”
Trinity raised the flash drive.
“There’s a recording.”
She played it.
Caleb’s voice filled the room.
“Once Mason signs, he owns the approvals. If anything surfaces, his wife learns about Trinity, the board learns about the expenses, and Mason goes down before anyone looks at us.”
My stomach turned.
Trinity whispered, “I’m sorry.”
I didn’t answer.
Because another voice came through the recording.
A woman.
“I don’t care what happens to Mason. I want the Vieri shares.”
Dakota’s family shares.
Nathan replayed the audio.
I recognized the woman.
So did Charles.
His face went white.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“Who is she?”
Charles sat slowly.
“My daughter.”
Vanessa Bell.
Bellweather’s general counsel.
The woman who had personally drafted portions of the acquisition.
The conspiracy suddenly reached the top of the company.
Then my phone rang.
Dakota.
I answered immediately.
“Dakota?”
Her breathing sounded uneven.
“Mason, where are you?”
“Trinity’s hotel. Listen, we found—”
“I know about Caleb.”
“You know?”
“I know more now.”
Something in her voice frightened me.
“What happened?”
“I came back to Palazzo Vieri.”
“Why?”
“My grandmother called me.”
I stood.
“Where are you now?”
Silence.
“Dakota?”
Then I heard a man’s voice in the background.
Caleb.
“Tell him.”
Dakota breathed once.
“Mason, don’t come here.”
May you like
The line disconnected.
I was already running.
