Her expression says everything she doesn’t.
I told you so.
When Corrine makes a beeline for my office doors, I decide it’s as good a time as any to pop the aspirin. Washed down with what’s left of my orange juice—now lukewarm and useless.
The door opens without a knock. Closes with a soft click.
“We need to talk,” she says, about to launch into what a piece of shit Dante is. Crap I’ve heard before.
But I don’t give her the floor. “We do,” I agree.
I tap the screen of my phone, flipping it toward her across the desk. The headline stares back in tabloid-bold font—obnoxious and impossible to miss.
“What the hell is this?” I ask, tone sharp. “Because it sure as shit doesn’t look like nothing.”
Corrine’s eyes take it in like she didn’t see it before she got here. “I haven’t seen that,” she says, but her fingers lift to toy with the solitaire diamond on its thin gold chain around her neck.
It’s the necklace she wears every day. And she always fiddles with it when she lies.
“This kind of press doesn’t just hurt him,” I say, voice low and hard. “It hurts me. It hurts the company. You want the board to take me seriously, but this? This doesn’t help.”
She seizes the opportunity like I handed it to her on a silver tray.
“Well, let’s talk about Dante then, shall we?” She gestures toward the glass, to the empty space where he and Eve stood moments ago. “You saw it just like I did. What do you think that’s about?”
“She’s doing her job,” I snap. “She’s a consultant, Corrine. She was brought in to clean things up—make us look like the united front we’re supposed to be.”
God knows I can’t tell Corrine what other specialties Eve comes with.
“You really believe that?” Her tone is soft but scathing. “Grant, you’re being naive.”
I grit my teeth.
She leans in slightly, eyes locking with mine. “Dante’s making his move. Probably the exact one I toldyouto make. Only now, he’s a step ahead. What if he brought her in to distract you while he and that woman throw down a marriage certificate in front of the board? What if they vote to pushyouout?”
“He wouldn’t do that,” I argue.
But something twists in my gut.
A sliver of pain at the thought. Would Dante really do something like that to me?
He is the one that holds the contract with Eve, and I never asked to look at it. I scold myself for the oversight.
I should have asked to see the terms.
Then again, if heweretrying to steal the company from me and use a Ledger Companion to do it, they certainly wouldn’t write that in the comments section of the agreement.
Corrine watches the doubt flicker across my face like she’s been waiting for it.
She reaches for my hand, the movement slow, careful, and measured. I move it to the side, pretending to reach for a pen.
Her hand ends up on my knee instead, rubbing gentle circles like she’s comforting me.
“Your mother believed in you, Grant.”
My stomach turns.
“She always said you were the son who would lead with vision. The one who could change everything. You need to be that man now. Be the man she saw when you didn’t even know yourself yet.”
