Chapter 5 - THE MAN AT THE HEAD OF THE TABLE
Victor Cole arrived for dinner every Sunday.
That was what made the truth so dangerous.
He wasn't some hidden enemy Damon could hunt across continents.
He was family.
Victor had taught Damon to drive.
He had paid for Julian's funeral.
He had sat beside Damon's mother while she died.
And for the last eighteen years, he'd served as chairman of Cole International.
"If Preston is telling the truth," Ivy said, "Victor had access to everything."
Damon stared through the rain-covered window.
"Yes."
"And Rocco?"
"Victor approved his security credentials."
The evidence against Rocco could have been manufactured.
Arthur's warning made sense.
The obvious traitor was a distraction.
But Damon needed proof.
So Sunday dinner went ahead as scheduled.
Victor arrived at seven carrying a bottle of Scotch and smiling like a beloved uncle.
He was sixty-two, silver-haired and elegant.
Then he saw Ivy seated at Damon's right.
His smile faltered for less than a second.
Ivy caught it.
"New assistant?" Victor asked.
"Interpreter," Damon said.
"Ah. The famous maid."
Ivy smiled politely.
"Former maid."
"Quite a promotion."
"Quite a week."
Victor laughed.
Damon didn't.
Dinner became a chess match.
Victor asked harmless questions.
Ivy answered harmlessly.
Then she deliberately mentioned Marseille.
Victor's knife stopped.
Barely.
But it stopped.
"Ever been?" Ivy asked.
"Once."
"Beautiful city."
"Parts."
"My father loved it."
Victor looked at her.
"Did he?"
There it was.
Recognition.
Ivy smiled.
"Arthur Marlowe."
Victor's wineglass remained halfway to his mouth.
Then he drank.
"Never heard of him."
A lie.
Ivy knew it instantly.
After dessert, Damon excused himself to take a call.
Victor and Ivy were left alone.
Victor folded his napkin.
"You should leave Chicago."
"Is that advice?"
"Concern."
"We barely know each other."
"I knew your father."
Ivy's heartbeat accelerated.
"So you lied."
"I wanted to see whether Damon had told you."
"Told me what?"
Victor leaned closer.
"Arthur destroyed people."
"He was murdered."
"Arthur made enemies."
"Did he make you one?"
Victor smiled.
"Your father believed information made him powerful. It made him dead."
Ivy's blood turned cold.
Behind Victor, she saw Damon reflected in the glass doorway.
He had heard everything.
Victor followed her gaze.
His expression changed.
The lights went out.
Gunfire exploded.
Damon tackled Ivy behind the dining table.
Victor disappeared through the side door.
Security alarms screamed.
"Stay here!" Damon ordered.
"No!"
He ran.
Ivy followed.
They reached the courtyard as a black SUV crashed through the estate gates.
Victor was inside.
Rocco appeared from the darkness, weapon raised.
Damon spun toward him.
"I thought you were under guard."
"I was."
"How—"
"Your guards work for Victor."
Rocco fired.
The bullet passed Damon's shoulder and struck a man behind him.
A security officer collapsed, pistol in hand.
Rocco had saved Damon.
"Believe me now?"
Damon handed him a spare weapon.
"Mostly."
They pursued Victor.
But he escaped.
By midnight, every account connected to Cole International began moving simultaneously.
Victor was burning the empire down.
Four billion dollars disappeared in ninety minutes.
Ports refused Damon's calls.
Three executives resigned.
Two warehouses were seized.
A European partner publicly accused Cole International of fraud.
Victor had prepared everything.
By sunrise, Damon sat in his study staring at the ruins of what his family had built over forty years.
Ivy entered with coffee.
He didn't look up.
"It's over."
"No."
"I lost four billion dollars."
"Money."
"My partners."
"Cowards."
"My uncle."
"You never had him."
Damon finally looked at her.
"You always this optimistic?"
"No. I just hate watching arrogant men feel sorry for themselves."
His eyebrow lifted.
"There he is," she said.
"Who?"
"The terrifying Damon Cole everyone warned me about."
He almost laughed.
She placed Arthur's notebook before him.
"Victor wants this."
"Yes."
"So we give it to him."
Damon stared.
"Absolutely not."
"A fake."
Ivy explained.
Arthur's ledger contained transaction patterns. If they altered one pattern and leaked information suggesting the complete ledger was being auctioned, Victor would have to respond.
"He won't come personally."
"He will if he thinks the ledger contains the original account keys."
Damon studied her.
"Does it?"
"No."
"You sure?"
Ivy paused.
That pause was enough.
Damon stood.
"What haven't you told me?"
She pulled her father's silver watch from her pocket.
That morning she'd discovered the back unscrewed.
Inside was a microscopic strip containing twenty-four numbers.
Access keys.
Arthur hadn't hidden the Gray Door accounts in a bank.
He'd hidden them with his daughter.
Damon stared at the watch.
"How much?"
"Potentially everything Victor stole."
"Billions?"
"More."
"Then you're not leaving this house."
Ivy groaned.
"We've discussed this."
"And apparently you learned nothing."
"I am not hiding."
"You're carrying the keys to an international fortune."
"And you're carrying enough weapons to invade Rhode Island."
"That's different."
"How?"
"I'm difficult to kidnap."
She laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh Damon had heard from her.
He stared.
Ivy noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You've got that strange look again."
"What look?"
"The one where you forget you're supposed to be terrifying."
Their eyes held.
The air changed.
Damon took one step toward her.
Then another.
Ivy didn't move.
He lifted his hand toward her face—
The window exploded.
Damon slammed her down.
Automatic gunfire tore through the room.
He covered her with his body.
Pain flashed across his face.
"Damon?"
His weight collapsed against her.
She touched his side.
Her hand came away covered in blood.
"Damon!"
Rocco burst through the door.
Damon tried to speak.
Blood darkened his shirt.
Ivy pressed both hands against the wound.
"Stay with me."
His eyes found hers.
"Take... the watch."
"No."
"Run."
"I'm not leaving you."
For the first time since she'd known him, Damon Cole looked genuinely afraid.
Not for himself.
For her.
"Ivy, please."
She stared at him.
Then understood something terrifying.
She wasn't merely important to his empire anymore.
May you like
She was important to him.
And judging by the way her hands shook as his blood ran between her fingers, he had become just as important to her.
