Chapter 4 - Someone Inside the Empire
The fake agreement was perfect.
Almost.
Harper deliberately created one apparent flaw.
A clause suggesting Vincent planned to consolidate ownership of Pier 19 under a newly formed corporation.
In reality, Pier 19 was worthless.
The corporation didn’t exist.
But anyone trying to sabotage Carmine would believe they had found an opportunity.
Vincent signed the internal review request at 9:03 a.m.
At 9:17, Elena Rhodes received it.
At 10:42, she entered Vincent’s office.
Harper was already there.
Elena’s eyes moved toward her.
“The waitress.”
Harper smiled.
“Good morning.”
Elena looked at Vincent.
“You hired her?”
“I did.”
“As what?”
Vincent leaned back.
“Someone who reads my contracts.”
“I have sixty attorneys who do that.”
“Apparently sixty-one was the correct number.”
Elena’s jaw tightened.
She dropped the fake agreement on Vincent’s desk.
“This restructuring is reckless.”
“How so?”
“Pier 19 shouldn’t be separated.”
Harper asked, “Why?”
Elena looked at her.
“I was speaking to Mr. Carmine.”
“I wrote the structure.”
That was a lie.
A useful one.
Elena’s eyes sharpened.
“You?”
“Yes.”
Elena turned to Vincent.
“She isn’t licensed.”
“She doesn’t need to be.”
“You’re letting an unqualified dropout design corporate structure?”
Harper felt the word.
Dropout.
Again.
This time, she didn’t flinch.
“Interesting.”
Elena looked at her.
“What?”
“I never told you I dropped out.”
Silence.
Vincent’s eyes moved to Elena.
Elena recovered quickly.
“Everyone knows.”
“I’ve worked here less than a week.”
“Office gossip moves quickly.”
Harper nodded.
“Maybe.”
Elena turned toward the door.
“Vincent, don’t sign this.”
“I’ll consider your advice.”
After Elena left, Harper exhaled.
“She knows about me.”
Vincent pressed a button beneath his desk.
Russo entered.
“Follow her.”
“Already happening.”
Three hours later, they had their answer.
Elena left through the underground garage.
She drove north.
She entered a private club.
And she met Arthur Hayes.
Harper stared at the surveillance photographs.
“He’s still in Chicago?”
Vincent’s voice was cold.
“I told Russo to let him believe he had escaped.”
Harper looked at him.
“You planned that?”
“Yes.”
“You could have mentioned it.”
“You asked me to let people believe they were invisible.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
Russo placed another photograph down.
A third person sat with Elena and Hayes.
Harper recognized him.
“Mercer.”
Vincent nodded.
All three.
The lawyer.
The CFO.
The business rival.
Harper studied the image.
“Why?”
Vincent said nothing.
Russo answered.
“Ports.”
Harper looked up.
Russo continued.
“Carmine controls the largest private shipping network on the south side. Hayes wanted it. Mercer wanted money. Elena…”
He paused.
Vincent finished.
“Elena wanted my chair.”
Harper looked at him.
“Your chair?”
“My father chose me to run the company.”
“And Elena?”
“My father’s goddaughter.”
Understanding spread across Harper’s face.
“She thought it should be hers.”
Vincent nodded.
The office phone rang.
Russo answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at Harper.
“What happened?” Vincent asked.
Russo hung up.
“Linda Davis’s insurance company just canceled authorization for tomorrow’s imaging.”
Harper froze.
“What?”
“They received a fraud complaint.”
Harper grabbed her phone.
“I need to call the hospital.”
Vincent stopped her.
“Harper.”
“My mother needs that scan.”
“I know.”
“You don’t understand.”
Vincent’s voice hardened.
“I understand perfectly.”
Harper stared at him.
“They’re doing this because of me.”
“Yes.”
She went pale.
“They know.”
Vincent looked at Russo.
“Get Linda transferred to St. Matthew’s. Private wing.”
Harper shook her head.
“No.”
“This is not the time.”
“I can’t afford St. Matthew’s.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“I am not taking your money.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“This is not charity.”
“What is it?”
“A debt.”
“I warned you about one paragraph.”
“And that paragraph saved hundreds of millions of dollars and several thousand jobs.”
Harper’s eyes filled, but her voice stayed firm.
“I don’t want to owe you.”
Vincent lowered his voice.
“Then don’t.”
A pause.
“Let me owe you.”
Harper looked at him.
For once, there was no mafia boss in front of her.
No logistics magnate.
Just a man who knew exactly what it felt like when someone used a loophole to hurt a person you loved.
She whispered, “Get her transferred.”
Vincent turned to Russo.
“Do it.”
Harper wiped her eyes quickly.
Vincent looked toward the surveillance photos.
Then his expression changed.
“Now we stop reacting.”
Harper followed his gaze.
“What are you going to do?”
Vincent looked at her.
“No.”
He slid the photographs toward her.
May you like
“What are we going to do?”
---
