Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO SOLD THE GLASS
Chloe should have stayed behind the service door.
She knew that.
But when Pritchard said her name, every instinct told her to listen.
“She recognized the symptoms,” Pritchard said. “She saw the boss collapse. If she connects the old clinic records to the restaurant, we're finished.”
Victor Sloane answered calmly. “Then she should have accepted the money.”
“She refused.”
“People like her always refuse first. They become practical when they understand the consequences.”
Chloe's hands went cold.
Dominic sat across from Sloane at the dining table. He had brought no visible weapon and no obvious security. His expression was unreadable.
“You arranged the champagne,” Dominic said.
Sloane gave a tired sigh. “I arranged a delivery. I didn't pour it.”
“You approved the compound that was used on me.”
“Your health has been declining for months. I wanted you to step aside before the board removed you.”
“You wanted me dead.”
“I wanted the company stable.”
Dominic leaned back. “And Margaret Henderson?”
Sloane's expression flickered.
“She was an employee who misunderstood a medical invoice.”
“She found your shipments.”
“She was confused.”
“She was poisoned.”
Sloane's face hardened. “You should be careful with that word.”
Pritchard stepped forward. “Boss, I can explain the restaurant. I didn't know what was in the glass. I only made sure the waitress was kept away.”
Chloe stepped into the room.
“You knew enough to be afraid.”
Everyone turned.
Dominic rose immediately. “Chloe, I told you to stay with Matteo.”
“I heard my name.”
Sloane smiled faintly. “The waitress.”
Chloe looked at him. “You used my mother's illness to cover up what you were doing.”
“Your mother was a clerk.”
“She was a person.”
For a moment, the room was silent.
Then Sloane reached inside his jacket.
Dominic moved first. He knocked the man's hand against the table, and a small pistol slid across the polished surface. Matteo and two guards rushed in from the corridor.
Pritchard backed toward the door.
“Don't,” Dominic warned.
Pritchard stopped.
Sloane looked at Dominic with bitter disbelief. “You would throw away everything for a waitress?”
“No,” Dominic said. “I am finally refusing to throw away people for an empire.”
Matteo took the weapon. The guards restrained Sloane and Pritchard.
Chloe's knees felt weak. She had imagined the moment she confronted the people responsible for her mother's death, but she had never imagined it would happen beneath a chandelier while men in expensive suits watched.
Dominic turned toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
Then she looked at Sloane. “You still haven't told us why my mother was given the medication.”
Sloane said nothing.
Dominic ordered the room cleared and asked Matteo to contact an attorney outside the family's usual circle. The evidence would be turned over to investigators. The company accounts would be frozen pending an independent audit.
As the guards led Sloane away, he looked over his shoulder.
“You think this ends with me?”
Dominic's expression did not change.
“No. I think it begins with you.”
Sloane smiled.
“Ask your sister who signed the first shipment.”
Dominic went still.
Chloe looked at him.
“Your sister?”
May you like
He didn't answer.
And for the first time that night, the man who had seemed prepared for every betrayal looked afraid.
