Chapter 9 - The Queen of the Tower
By sunset, the hostile takeover was complete.
Cole International Logistics ceased to exist. Its assets were absorbed into Vance Global, its executives faced federal indictments, and Samantha Cole was left packing her designer clothes into cardboard boxes under the watchful eye of two federal marshals.
Clarissa walked out of the downtown office building into the crisp evening air.
A black Mercedes Maybach was idling at the curb. The rear door opened, and Julian Vance stepped out, wearing his charcoal overcoat, looking like a king waiting for his queen.
He didn't say a word as she approached. He simply opened his arms.
Clarissa walked into them, burying her face against his chest, breathing in the scent of cedar and smoke that had become her sanctuary.
“It’s done,” she murmured against his lapel.
“I know,” Julian said, his hand resting softly, possessively on the small of her back. He tilted her chin up with his fingers and kissed her—deeply, passionately, right there on the busy sidewalk in front of the city that had once tried to make her feel small.
When they broke apart, Julian pulled a heavy brass key from his pocket and pressed it into her palm.
“What’s this?” she asked, looking down.
“The deed to the penthouse at The Violet Tower,” Julian said, his dark eyes burning with fierce, unyielding devotion. “And the title to the entire ground-floor commercial real estate block. You don't have to audit spreadsheets for anyone ever again, Clarissa. Unless, of course, you want to audit me.”
Clarissa laughed, a rich, genuine sound that echoed off the stone buildings of downtown Chicago.
She slipped the heavy brass key into her pocket, reached up, and pulled Julian down for another kiss.
May you like
The dare had started as a cruel joke by a girl who thought she could humiliate her. But as Clarissa looked up at the man who had laid an empire at her feet simply because she had the courage to step out of the shadows, she knew one thing for certain:
Nobody would ever call her the safe friend again.
