Chapter 3 - The Senator’s Second Deal
They escaped through Apex's underground garage twenty minutes later.
By sunrise, Vivien was inside the Moretti estate outside Boston.
Not because a contract required it.
Because someone had attacked a skyscraper to reach her.
Lorenzo placed a coffee in front of her.
She stared at it.
“Poison?”
“Coffee.”
“After tonight, I'm checking.”
“Reasonable.”
Vivien took a cautious sip.
Across the library, Marco entered.
“We found Mercer.”
“Alive?” Lorenzo asked.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Airport.”
Vivien stood.
“He was running?”
“With two million dollars in a Cayman account opened yesterday.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“Still think Arthur might be innocent?”
“I think my father is guilty of plenty. I just don't know which part.”
Marco placed a folder down.
“Mercer gave us something else.”
Vivien opened it.
Bank transfers.
Her father had received millions from shell corporations tied to Lorenzo's rivals.
But the dates went back three years.
“This started before the gambling debt.”
“Yes,” Lorenzo said.
Vivien slowly sat.
“So the debt was camouflage.”
“Partly.”
“My father wasn't trapped.”
Lorenzo remained silent.
“He volunteered.”
“Yes.”
Vivien swallowed.
“For what?”
“Political power.”
The library door opened.
Two security men entered with Arthur Hastings between them.
Vivien stood.
Her father looked exhausted.
“Vivien.”
“Don't.”
“Sweetheart—”
“Don't call me that.”
Arthur looked at Lorenzo.
“You have no right holding me here.”
Lorenzo leaned against the desk.
“You came voluntarily.”
“With armed men surrounding my car.”
“They were very persuasive.”
Vivien slapped the financial records onto the table.
“Explain.”
Arthur looked down.
His face changed.
“Where did you get these?”
“That's your concern?”
“Vivien, this is complicated.”
“No. It's arithmetic.”
She pointed at the pages.
“Three years. Millions of dollars. Tell me what you did.”
Arthur’s political smile appeared.
The one Vivien had watched on television since childhood.
“I made compromises.”
“You sold access to Boston Harbor.”
“I protected my career.”
“You used campaign funds.”
“I intended to replace them.”
“You tried to trade me.”
“I was trying to save you!”
Vivien stared at him.
“By sending me into a building you knew would be attacked?”
Arthur’s face went pale.
“I didn't know.”
Lorenzo spoke quietly.
“But you gave them the security schedules.”
Arthur turned.
“They threatened her.”
“And you believed delivering her to my office protected her?”
“They promised nobody would hurt her.”
Vivien laughed bitterly.
“You believed criminals?”
Arthur looked at Lorenzo.
“So does she.”
Silence.
Vivien slowly turned toward Lorenzo.
Arthur saw his opportunity.
“Ask him.”
“Ask him what?”
“Why he wanted the marriage.”
Vivien looked at Lorenzo.
“Well?”
Lorenzo didn't answer immediately.
That frightened her more than an immediate lie.
“Lorenzo?”
Finally he said, “Your family controls land adjacent to Pier Seventeen.”
Vivien’s expression hardened.
“So you did want something.”
“Yes.”
“The marriage gave you access?”
“Potentially.”
She stepped away.
“So everybody wanted to buy something.”
“No.”
“You're just negotiating the price differently.”
“I never intended to marry you under that contract.”
“But you wanted the Hastings property.”
“Yes.”
Arthur smiled.
“See?”
Vivien turned on him.
“You don't get to enjoy this.”
His smile disappeared.
Then Lorenzo placed another document on the table.
Vivien opened it.
It was a deed.
Pier Seventeen.
Ownership transferred.
To her.
Vivien looked up.
“What is this?”
“Your father pledged the property against his debt.”
Arthur exploded.
“You had no authority—”
“I purchased the note,” Lorenzo said.
Then he looked at Vivien.
“And transferred the property to its rightful beneficiary.”
“Me?”
“It belonged to your mother before Arthur leveraged it.”
Vivien stared at her father.
Arthur said nothing.
That silence told her everything.
Lorenzo faced him.
“Your daughter isn't collateral anymore.”
Arthur’s jaw tightened.
“You think she'll trust you?”
Lorenzo looked at Vivien.
“No.”
Vivien blinked.
Lorenzo continued.
May you like
“Trust should be earned.”
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