Chapter 3 - The Man With the Flowers
Audrey stared at the flowers.
“Nathan?”
“In the flesh.”
She had not seen Nathan Cole in almost five years.
They had attended college together. He had been funny, ambitious, annoyingly optimistic, and one of the few people who had kept trying to contact her after her father’s stroke.
Eventually, Audrey had stopped responding.
Her life had become work, hospital visits, bills, and sleep.
Nathan looked older now.
Sharper.
Successful.
“You disappeared,” he said.
“I know.”
“And yesterday you suddenly accepted my connection request.”
Audrey smiled sheepishly.
“I was having an unusual day.”
“I figured.”
He held out the bouquet.
“Congratulations on whatever finally happened.”
Audrey accepted it.
“Thank you.”
The glass door behind her opened.
Declan emerged.
Nathan glanced toward him.
Audrey nearly groaned.
“Mr. Mercer, this is Nathan Cole. We went to college together.”
Declan ignored her introduction.
His eyes settled on Nathan.
“Why are you here?”
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
“To see Audrey.”
“You have an appointment?”
“With Audrey?”
“With anyone.”
“No.”
“Then security shouldn’t have let you upstairs.”
Audrey stood.
“Declan.”
Both men looked at her.
She rarely used his first name.
Declan’s eyes sharpened.
“He’s my guest.”
“This is a secure floor.”
“He’s leaving in five minutes.”
Nathan glanced between them.
“Should I come back?”
“No,” Declan said.
“Yes,” Audrey said simultaneously.
Nathan smiled.
“Interesting workplace.”
Audrey grabbed her purse.
“Actually, I’m taking lunch.”
Declan stared.
“You don’t take lunch.”
“I do now.”
“With him?”
Audrey blinked.
Nathan coughed to hide a laugh.
“Yes, Mr. Mercer. With him.”
They entered the elevator together.
Declan watched the doors close.
Then he turned to Gideon Shaw, his security chief.
“Who is Nathan Cole?”
Gideon frowned.
“You want me to investigate a guy for bringing flowers?”
Declan gave him a look.
Gideon sighed.
“I’ll see what’s publicly available.”
“No surveillance.”
Gideon appeared genuinely surprised.
Declan looked back at the closed elevator.
He hated that he had needed to say it aloud.
At lunch, Nathan told Audrey he had founded a logistics consulting firm.
Then he surprised her.
“I need a chief operating officer.”
Audrey lowered her fork.
“Nathan.”
“I’m serious.”
“You haven’t seen me in years.”
“I’ve seen your résumé.”
“You obtained my résumé?”
“You sent it to me five years ago.”
“That résumé said I managed inventory at a regional distributor.”
“And now you’ve spent four years running half of Mercer Holdings from outside the CEO’s office.”
“I’m a secretary.”
Nathan laughed.
“No, Audrey. Your title is secretary.”
The distinction struck her.
He slid a business card across the table.
“I’m opening a Chicago office. Come help me build it.”
Audrey stared at the card.
A job chosen freely.
The concept felt almost frightening.
When she returned at 1:32, Declan was waiting beside her desk.
“Twenty-eight minutes late.”
“I took a ninety-minute lunch.”
“You’ve never taken ninety minutes.”
“I’ve also never resigned before.”
His eyes dropped to Nathan’s business card.
“What did he offer you?”
Audrey covered it with her hand.
“That is personal.”
Declan hated that word now.
“A job?”
She said nothing.
His jaw flexed.
“He wants you working for him.”
“Possibly.”
“I’ll double your salary.”
Audrey stared.
“You think this is about money?”
“Everyone has a number.”
“That sentence may be the reason you don’t understand me.”
She walked past him.
Declan followed her into his office.
“What do you want?”
She turned.
“Excuse me?”
“If money isn’t the answer, tell me what is.”
“Time.”
He frowned.
“A life.”
Silence.
“I want to wake up on Saturday and not check whether you’ve called. I want friends. I want to travel somewhere without booking your hotel while I’m there. Maybe I want to fall in love.”
Declan’s face hardened at the final sentence.
Audrey noticed.
“You really don’t like that possibility, do you?”
“I don’t care.”
“Then stop looking like you want to murder a hypothetical boyfriend.”
He came closer.
“What if I don’t want you to leave?”
The question surprised them both.
Audrey’s expression softened for only a second.
“You had four years to make this a place I wanted to stay.”
She walked away.
That night, Declan remained alone in his office.
At 10:40, Gideon entered carrying a file.
“I found something.”
Declan looked up.
“Cole?”
“No.”
Gideon placed photographs on his desk.
William Carter.
The supervisor Audrey had identified.
Except Carter was not skimming money for himself.
Someone had been paying him.
Large transfers.
Shell companies.
And every company led back to one name.
Victor Hale.
Declan’s oldest enemy.
Gideon pointed toward the final photograph.
“There’s more.”
A surveillance camera showed Carter entering Audrey’s father’s care facility.
Yesterday.
Declan stood instantly.
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
Then Declan saw the timestamp.
2:14 p.m.
Exactly three hours after Audrey had paid her debt.
His jealousy disappeared.
Something colder replaced it.
May you like
Audrey thought she was finally free.
Someone else had just decided to use her as leverage.
