Chapter 8 - THE BAIT
Dominic read the courier receipt once.
Then he gave it back to Emma.
“Put it where you found it.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want Grant knowing we have it.”
“What if he notices it’s missing?”
“He will.”
“That seems bad.”
“It depends what he does next.”
Emma studied him. “You do this a lot?”
“Let guilty people think they still have choices?”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked toward the hallway. “More than I’m proud of.”
At one o’clock, he gathered everyone in the drawing room.
Brooke came in wearing a navy dress and a smile that had been rebuilt since breakfast.
Adrian stood beside the bar.
Grant was absent.
Dominic made no mention of that.
“I’ve changed my mind about the wedding paperwork,” he said.
Brooke’s eyebrows lifted.
“What mind?”
“I’ve spent years keeping family assets in separate companies, trusts, properties, and accounts. It’s messy.”
Adrian watched him carefully.
Dominic continued. “After the wedding, I want everything consolidated under a new holding structure.”
Brooke’s face remained controlled.
Her eyes did not.
“What would that mean?” she asked.
“It means one umbrella. One management team. One signature system.”
Natalie sat near the window, pretending to read.
She knew this was bait.
She did not know how much bait.
Dominic turned to Brooke.
“You wanted more involvement. You’ll have it.”
Brooke stood very still.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Even after this morning?”
“Especially after this morning. I don’t like confusion.”
Adrian finally spoke. “That kind of restructuring takes months.”
“Then we start Saturday.”
Brooke looked at Adrian.
Another mistake.
Dominic saw that too.
“I want every document you’ve prepared for me,” Dominic told Brooke. “Every authorization, transfer, trust memo, banking form. Put it in one package.”
She smiled.
“I can do that.”
“Tonight.”
Her smile faltered.
“Tonight?”
“Before rehearsal dinner.”
“That’s a lot.”
“Then Adrian can help you.”
Adrian’s face did not change.
Brooke’s did.
Perfect.
The meeting broke up.
Dominic went to his office and left the door open.
Brooke lasted eleven minutes.
Emma watched her cross the gallery, then slip into the glass conservatory.
Adrian followed forty seconds later.
Emma waited.
Then she entered the service hall behind the conservatory and cracked an old ventilation panel.
Voices carried through the metal.
Brooke: “He knows something.”
Adrian: “He suspects something.”
“That’s the same thing with him.”
“No. It isn’t.”
“He asked for everything tonight.”
“Give him clean copies.”
“What about the originals?”
“Harbor Nine.”
“And the blue box?”
Silence.
Emma leaned closer.
Brooke’s voice dropped.
“Randall says Dominic found it.”
“Your father panics when he breathes.”
“He was right about the flight.”
Adrian swore under his breath.
Brooke said, “We need the drive.”
“Yes.”
“And if Natalie has it?”
“Then we make her give it up.”
Emma pulled out her phone.
Before she could press record, Adrian spoke again.
“After Saturday, none of this matters.”
Brooke’s voice softened.
“Because he signs?”
“Because once you’re his wife, every accusation becomes a family dispute. His enemies will assume he’s trying to hide money through you. Investigators will follow him, not us.”
Brooke laughed quietly.
“You really do know how to use him.”
“I learned from the best.”
“Dominic?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Catherine.”
Emma’s skin prickled.
Then she heard a soft sound through the vent.
A kiss.
Emma froze.
Brooke whispered, “Two more days.”
Adrian answered, “Then we never have to pretend again.”
Emma backed away from the panel.
Her shoe struck a brass umbrella stand.
CLANG.
The voices stopped.
The conservatory door opened.
Emma turned to run.
Adrian stepped into the service hall.
He looked directly at her.
“Emma,” he said.
And smiled.
—
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