Chapter 4 - The Bride Became the Bait
The next morning, I walked into Bennett Shipping wearing yesterday’s wedding dress under a black wool coat.
Tommy stared at me.
“You didn’t have other clothes?”
“I had a complicated evening.”
Aiden almost smiled.
We stood inside my father’s conference room.
Spread across the table were ownership documents for three docks.
Aiden pointed toward the signature line.
“Russo expects you to sign.”
“I won’t.”
“You will.”
I stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
Tommy slid another document forward.
Aiden explained.
“This transfers nothing.”
I examined it.
“It looks real.”
“It needs to.”
“What’s the plan?”
Aiden looked at Tommy.
Tommy answered.
“Russo gets his papers. Richard walks.”
“And then?”
“Federal investigators receive evidence linking Russo to extortion, kidnapping, fraudulent transfers, and financial coercion.”
I blinked.
“You work with federal investigators?”
Aiden gave me a dry look.
“Occasionally our interests overlap.”
“Your newspaper reputation suggested otherwise.”
“Newspapers enjoy adjectives.”
Tommy’s phone buzzed.
“Location.”
Aiden looked at me.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“My father. My company. My signature.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“I spent yesterday almost marrying a mafia boss because nobody bothered giving me information. We’re done with that.”
Tommy suddenly became fascinated with his phone.
Aiden stared at me.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
The exchange happened inside an abandoned riverside warehouse.
Russo stood twenty feet away when we entered.
My father sat behind him.
Alive.
Terrified.
“Claire,” he said.
“Dad.”
Russo smiled.
“Touching.”
Aiden carried the documents.
“You wanted signatures.”
Russo extended his hand.
Aiden didn’t move.
“Richard first.”
“No.”
“Then we leave.”
Russo’s smile vanished.
“You’re not negotiating.”
Aiden turned around.
“Wait.”
Aiden stopped.
Russo gestured.
My father was allowed forward.
He reached me.
I grabbed him.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Then my father whispered:
“Don’t sign anything.”
I stared at him.
For once, Richard Bennett sounded like my father again.
Russo stepped forward.
“Documents.”
I took them from Aiden.
Russo watched me sign.
Claire Bennett.
My real signature.
He smiled.
“Finally.”
He took the folder.
Aiden looked at him.
“We’re finished.”
Russo laughed.
“No, Sullivan.”
His men moved toward the doors.
Tommy’s eyes sharpened.
Russo opened the folder.
“I’ve wanted these docks for seven years.”
Aiden smiled.
That changed everything.
Russo noticed.
“What?”
Aiden checked his watch.
“Nothing.”
Russo flipped through the pages.
His expression changed.
“What is this?”
“A beautifully drafted piece of fiction.”
Russo looked up.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
Aiden stepped in front of me.
“But I think the federal investigators listening to this conversation will find it interesting.”
Russo froze.
My father whispered:
“Oh, God.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Russo stared at Aiden.
“You wired her?”
Aiden shook his head.
“Me.”
He adjusted his cuff.
“Claire never agreed to become bait.”
He looked at me.
“And unlike her father, I don’t sign women up for dangerous plans without their consent.”
May you like
I stared at him.
That sentence landed harder than the slap.
