Chapter 3 - THE BILLIONAIRE WHO HEARD EVERYTHING
Adrian stepped into my office and closed the door.
Caleb stayed outside.
Mia was coloring again as if her biological father had not just threatened to drag us into a custody war over a hotel campaign.
Children are remarkable that way.
Adrian looked at me.
“How long has Mercer worked for Voss?”
“I didn’t know he did.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I don’t know.”
He took out his phone.
“Caleb is checking.”
“Of course he is.”
“You sound annoyed.”
“You’re investigating my ex-boyfriend.”
“Former fiancé?”
My head snapped up.
“How do you know that?”
“Employee background review.”
“That was seven years ago.”
“I read reports.”
“You read mine?”
“Yes.”
“Personally?”
His expression told me he had realized too late that this was not normal executive behavior.
“I review senior hires.”
“Every senior hire?”
A pause.
“Most.”
I folded my arms.
Interesting.
Adrian cleared his throat.
“The point is Mercer knew about Astor Crown.”
“Yes.”
“And he connected you to me specifically.”
“I work for you.”
“You work for Blackwell & Reed.”
He was right.
Daniel had not said the agency.
He had said Adrian Kane.
“Why does that matter?”
“Because Astor Crown isn’t actually the most sensitive thing you’re working on.”
I stared at him.
“As far as I know, it is.”
“That’s because you don’t know what’s behind it.”
I laughed without humor.
“Apparently men have collectively decided information is dangerous for women.”
His expression tightened.
“Fair.”
That surprised me.
“What’s behind it?”
He sat across from my desk.
“Astoria Crown Hospitality isn’t only choosing an agency. Kane Global is negotiating to acquire a controlling stake in them.”
I stared.
“That’s material nonpublic information.”
“Yes.”
“And I’ve been building their relaunch campaign without knowing my boss might own them next month.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the marketing team needed clean creative thinking.”
“And because securities lawyers would murder you if you told too many people.”
“That too.”
I sat.
“Does Daniel know?”
“Maybe.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“If Voss gets our campaign deck, that matters professionally.”
“But if he gets something else?”
“Any acquisition information could be worth tens of millions to the right trader.”
My stomach tightened.
“You think he’s after more than the pitch.”
“I think threatening a six-year-old over advertising is extreme even for a desperate competitor.”
I looked at Mia.
She had put Gerald in the chair beside her and was apparently teaching the stuffed elephant to draw.
“What happens now?”
“You present.”
I stared.
“That’s your answer to everything.”
“No.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“My answer is we refuse to let Mercer decide your career because he knows you’re afraid for your daughter.”
I hated that he was right.
“I can’t focus.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Adrian.”
His eyes held mine.
“You walked into our Milan pitch last year with pneumonia and destroyed a competitor twice your size.”
“That was different.”
“You rebuilt the Saint Laurent hospitality campaign in thirty-six hours because the client changed strategy the night before launch.”
“That was work.”
“This is work.”
“No, this is my child.”
He looked at Mia.
Then back at me.
“I know.”
The way he said it changed something.
Not arrogance.
Not command.
Understanding.
“Give me two hours,” he said. “Let legal deal with Mercer. Let security make sure Mia is safe. Then you decide whether you want to present.”
Not an order.
A choice.
I nodded.
“Two hours.”
He stood.
Mia looked up.
“Mr. Adrian?”
“Yes?”
“Did you make Mommy mad?”
His mouth twitched.
“I do that sometimes.”
“She gets lines here.”
Mia pointed between her eyebrows.
I closed my eyes.
Adrian crouched beside her.
“I’ll try not to.”
“Good.”
She handed him a purple crayon.
“For your office.”
He took it seriously.
“Thank you.”
I watched him leave holding the crayon.
That image should not have done anything to me.
It did.
At 11:40, our legal department confirmed Daniel Mercer had joined Voss Creative eight months earlier as executive strategy director.
At 11:52, Caleb found something worse.
Daniel had entered Blackwell & Reed’s building twice in the previous month.
Both times as a guest of someone inside our firm.
“Who?” I asked.
Adrian looked at the security log.
Then his face changed.
“Lydia Shaw.”
My stomach dropped.
Lydia was our managing director.
My direct supervisor.
The woman who had mentored me for four years.
“That’s impossible.”
“She registered him personally.”
“For what reason?”
“Guest notes say personal meeting.”
I shook my head.
“Lydia hates Voss.”
“Apparently not enough.”
At noon, Adrian moved the Astor Crown presentation to a secure conference room.
No personal devices.
No cloud access.
Only seven executives allowed inside.
Lydia arrived at 12:45.
Perfect black dress.
Red lipstick.
Nothing in her expression suggested she had hosted my ex-boyfriend twice.
“Claire.”
She kissed my cheek.
“I heard about Mia’s adventure.”
Of course everyone had.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. Adrian laughing has increased employee morale by twenty percent.”
I almost smiled.
Then I looked at her differently.
Had she given Daniel my schedule?
The Astor Crown files?
My office location?
The thought made me sick.
At one, I presented.
I do not remember the first three minutes.
Then instinct took over.
Luxury hospitality wasn’t about expensive objects.
It was about the emotion of entering a place designed to convince you that you mattered.
That became my campaign.
BELONG SOMEWHERE EXTRAORDINARY.
By minute ten, the Astor executives were leaning forward.
By minute twenty, Adrian stopped looking at his notes.
He watched me.
The pitch ended at 1:41.
The client CEO smiled.
“This is why we came to Blackwell & Reed.”
Relief nearly knocked me down.
Then Adrian’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His face went still.
Meeting over.
“Claire, stay.”
Lydia glanced between us.
Adrian added:
“Lydia too.”
The doors closed.
Adrian placed a photograph on the screen.
Security footage.
Daniel Mercer entering our lobby two weeks earlier.
Lydia beside him.
She looked at the image.
Then at Adrian.
“It’s not what you think.”
“That sentence has performed poorly today,” Adrian said.
Lydia inhaled.
“Daniel contacted me because he said Claire was refusing to let him see Mia.”
I stared.
“You met my ex behind my back?”
“He said he wanted advice.”
“Twice?”
Lydia flinched.
The second photograph appeared.
Daniel leaving her office holding an envelope.
“What was that?” Adrian asked.
“Nothing confidential.”
“What was it?”
Lydia hesitated.
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“What did you give him?”
“Employment records.”
I stopped breathing.
“What records?”
“Claire’s travel schedule. Payroll history. Hours worked.”
My skin went cold.
She had given Daniel exactly what a custody attorney would need to argue I was never home.
“Why?”
Lydia looked almost offended.
“I thought they were trying to settle visitation privately.”
“You gave my personal employment information to a man who abandoned his child.”
“I didn’t know the full history.”
“You never asked me!”
My voice cracked.
Mia was not in the room.
Thank God.
Lydia looked toward Adrian.
“I made a mistake.”
He did not raise his voice.
“Give me your access card.”
Her face changed.
“Adrian.”
“Now.”
She slowly placed it on the table.
“You’re suspending me?”
“Pending investigation.”
“Over this?”
“No.”
Adrian touched the screen.
“Over what happened at 12:17 today.”
A new log appeared.
Someone had attempted to download the entire Astor Crown secure folder.
Using Lydia’s credentials.
She stared.
“That wasn’t me.”
“Where was your phone?”
“In my office.”
“Unlocked?”
Silence.
Then Lydia whispered:
“Daniel knows my code.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
And this time the truth took longer.
Too long.
Lydia looked at the floor.
“Because Daniel and I have been seeing each other.”
My entire body went cold.
My mentor.
My ex.
Eight months.
The same eight months Daniel had worked for our competitor.
Adrian’s face became unreadable.
Then Lydia added:
“He said he loved me.”
I almost laughed.
Daniel had said the same thing to me once.
Before he disappeared while I was pregnant.
And suddenly the custody threat was no longer just revenge.
Daniel had a woman inside Blackwell & Reed.
A way into my files.
Access to my schedule.
And possibly the one secret Adrian had never told the board.
May you like
The Kane acquisition.
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