Chapter 7 - A Table Set for Betrayal
“Absolutely not,” Dominic said.
Norah folded her arms.
He caught himself before the next sentence.
Leila watched over the rim of her coffee.
After a long silence, Dominic tried again.
“I think meeting him is dangerous.”
“It is,” Norah said. “That’s why I’m discussing it here.”
Her attorney made the limits plain. Norah would not meet Victor privately. Any contact required investigators’ approval, a suitable location, and her continuing consent. She could stop at any moment.
Nobody needed her to be brave for their convenience.
Norah listened to the entire explanation.
Then she agreed to a recorded conversation at a hotel conference center, with investigators nearby and counsel involved in the arrangement.
Victor believed she was frightened enough to bargain.
She was frightened. He was wrong about the rest.
The investigator coordinating the meeting asked what would make her feel less exposed. Norah expected an answer to be required. Instead, she said she wanted Rachel within sight before she entered and after she came out. She wanted to know who would call her father if something went wrong. She wanted no surprises added because someone thought she could handle them. Each request was written down. Dominic listened from the end of the table, his face unreadable. Later, Rachel told Norah that fear did not cancel consent, but pressure could distort it. Norah slept on the decision in a room with a lock she controlled. In the morning, she still wanted to proceed. That mattered to her. Whatever Victor believed, she would not walk into that hotel because a powerful man had decided where she belonged. She would walk in knowing she could turn around.
Before she left, Dominic found her beside the coat rack.
“I owe you an apology that doesn’t come with a favor attached.”
Norah waited.
“I locked your door. I investigated your family without telling you. I made decisions about your father because helping felt easier than asking.”
“Yes,” she said.
“I’m sorry.”
She adjusted her sleeve.
“You don’t get forgiveness because you finally found the right words.”
“I know.”
“But you can start by believing I’m capable of choosing what happens next.”
He stepped aside.
The hotel smelled of furniture polish and coffee left too long on a burner. Victor sat at a round table wearing a charcoal suit and an expression Norah had once mistaken for kindness.
“My dear girl.”
She sat opposite him.
“Don’t call me that.”
His smile thinned.
“You’ve been listening to people who don’t understand our family.”
“I understand the package.”
“Then you understand you’re in a difficult position.”
Norah placed her hands flat on the table.
“You forged my signature.”
“I gave you an opportunity to disappear comfortably.”
“With accounts in my name and a statement saying I stole from Dominic.”
“Dominic survives scandal. You do not.”
She let the silence remain.
Victor leaned closer.
“Your father understood discretion. Until his memory failed him.”
“What did you want him to forget?”
“The same thing I want you to forget. Numbers in old files that will help no one living.”
“Your theft from Elena’s foundation.”
His face changed.
There it was. No warm uncle. No indulgent businessman. Just an angry man discovering that the woman across from him had read the documents.
“You think Dominic will choose you over his freedom?”
“I think you’re going to tell me what happened to Daniel Voss.”
Victor laughed.
“Nothing happened. That was the beauty of it. Your employer frightened him, I kept the paper trail, and suddenly a missing man could mean whatever I wanted.”
Norah’s pulse hammered.
“And my father?”
“An old man in an expensive room. You should have taken the flight.”
He reached into his jacket.
Norah pushed her chair back.
Two investigators entered before his hand emerged. They identified themselves and instructed him to keep his hands visible.
Victor looked toward the doorway, expecting Dominic.
Dominic was not there.
The object in Victor’s pocket was another phone. Investigators secured it while explaining the grounds for his arrest.
As they escorted him out, he turned toward Norah.
“He’ll never stop being what he is.”
May you like
For the first time, she had an answer that belonged entirely to her.
“Then I won’t stay.”
