Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO BUILT THE MONSTER
Helena Voss invited them to dinner.
That was how powerful people like her declared war.
No kidnapping.
No threats.
An engraved invitation delivered to Conrad’s office.
Dinner. Eight o’clock. Family only.
The address belonged to an estate on Cape Ann.
Conrad wanted Tessa nowhere near it.
He did not say so.
Progress.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I think we go.”
“Then we go.”
Helena was waiting beside a fireplace when they arrived.
She was sixty-eight and elegant enough to make age look intentional.
Conrad stopped.
For eighteen years, he had believed this woman was dead.
Helena smiled.
“My son.”
Conrad’s voice was ice.
“Don’t.”
Her gaze moved to Tessa.
“The waitress.”
“Tessa Voss,” Tessa said.
Then corrected herself.
“Actually, Tessa Marlo.”
Helena smiled.
“I heard about the divorce.”
Conrad’s jaw tightened.
Dinner was already set.
Three plates.
Helena poured wine.
No one drank.
“You want Meridian,” Conrad said.
“I want what belongs to me.”
“People aren’t belongings.”
Helena looked amused.
“Tessa taught you that?”
“Yes.”
Tessa glanced at him.
Helena noticed.
“Astonishing. Five years with me could not teach you humanity. Five years with her did.”
Conrad’s expression changed.
“You left when I was fourteen.”
“I was removed.”
“By Victor?”
“By necessity.”
Helena described a marriage built on power.
Victor wanted control.
Helena wanted freedom.
Meridian became her weapon.
Then it became something larger.
“Your father stole it from me,” she said. “Sebastian inherited the scraps.”
“And people died.”
“People always die around power.”
Tessa spoke.
“My mother.”
Helena’s gaze settled on her.
“A regrettable necessity.”
Conrad moved so fast the table shook.
Tessa caught his wrist.
“No.”
He froze.
Helena smiled.
“There he is.”
Tessa understood.
Helena wanted Conrad violent.
Wanted proof that blood won.
Tessa released his wrist.
Conrad slowly sat.
Helena’s smile faded.
“We copied the red ledger,” Tessa said.
“You’re bluffing.”
“Maybe.”
Helena looked toward the windows.
Men appeared outside.
Armed.
Conrad did not react.
Neither did Tessa.
Helena’s phone rang.
Then another phone somewhere in the house.
Then another.
Her expression shifted.
Conrad finally smiled.
“Federal agents entered your Boston offices thirty seconds ago.”
Helena stood.
“You—”
“Daniel gave them everything.”
Sirens approached.
Helena looked at Tessa.
“You think this makes you powerful?”
Tessa shook her head.
“No. Walking away made me powerful.”
Helena’s expression hardened.
“You could have had everything.”
“I already had everything you don’t.”
“And what is that?”
“The ability to leave.”
Federal agents entered.
Helena did not resist.
As they handcuffed her, she looked at Conrad.
“You will become your father eventually.”
Conrad answered calmly.
“No.”
Then he looked at Tessa.
“That choice belongs to me.”
Helena was taken away.
Outside, waves crashed against the cliffs.
Conrad and Tessa stood beneath the winter sky.
“So,” Tessa said, “your family dinners are terrible.”
Conrad laughed.
Actually laughed.
She had almost forgotten the sound.
“Come home with me,” he said.
Her expression changed.
He immediately shook his head.
“That came out wrong.”
“Yes.”
“I meant—I don’t want you alone tonight.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Conrad looked at her.
“Because I am.”
Tessa softened.
“Of what?”
“That when this ends, there’ll be nothing left requiring you to see me.”
She had no answer.
May you like
So she reached for his hand.
This time, she did it first.
