Yet.
“Are you accusing us of something, Mr. Diaz?” Anneliese’s tone could splinter ice.
“Is there something of which to accuse? I thought it was an observation.”
“A thinly veiled observation. You think someone in the office leaked to Kutsenko Partners that you wanted to get control of Heidemann Labs and Heidemann BioTech.”
“Want, Ms. Schlossberg. That hasn’t changed. Diaz Holdings will still get what we want. But we’ll use a different firm to get there.”
I push back my chair and sweep my gaze over the four dumbfounded expressions. Like hell my family’s using acompany that runs to our nemesis and tells them our business. I don’t give a flying fuck if it was one person or everyone under this roof. I’m pissed I flew all the way to Germany for this bullshit. I knew Schlossberg & Sons wouldn’t handle the sales, but I wanted to see their reaction. I also wanted to see what their valuations would be.
Anneliese’s work matched what I did a month ago. I’m impressed with what she assembled in one night. She must’ve been at it all night. It’s rare I feel this strange emotion nipping at me. I believe most people call it guilt.
Guilt for making her work for the past eighteen hours. Guilt for setting a task I assumed she’d fail. Guilt for having her watch me examine her work with a fine-tooth comb when I knew all along it didn’t matter. I was genuinely curious about the data, and once I realized how well she’d done, I couldn’t stop myself from reviewing it all. Morbid curiosity I suppose.
She’s glaring at me like I’m the biggest douche in the world. I probably am, but it won’t change my mind about her firm. I’m certain it wasn’t her. She wouldn’t have worked this hard to blow it all. Whoever did this didn’t think we’d find out, but they had to know the possibility existed.
“Mr. Diaz, is there anything we can do to make this right?”
The man sitting directly across from me looks like he’s about to have a full-blown panic attack. Good.
“Your firm’s broken my family’s trust. Once gone, it doesn’t come back—without a price.”
“Price?”
I shift my attention back to Anneliese when she takes the bait. I nod, and I know she’s bracing herself for my next demand.
“I want to know who leaked the information.”
Four sets of eyebrows shoot straight up. They assume I’ll bump the person off. Do they think I’ll kill the person in the middle of the office with everyone watching?
“We can’t give you that type of information.”
“Ms. Schlossberg, I’m probably not the only client this person’s divulged information about. That’s a problem for you to solve. This person ruined a multimillion-dollar deal, which I now have to explain to my uncle. That’s a problem I shouldn’t have to solve. Your firm has always had a pristine reputation. It’s unfortunate my uncle sent me since I’m the chatty one in the family.”
I’m not. Not even remotely. I’m trying not to have my own panic attack sitting in front of four people. I loathe being the center of attention. I hoped showing up early yesterday would allow me to avoid speaking to more than one person. I expected to have others show up to this meeting, but it’s not any better than the surprise yesterday.
Thank God for anti-anxiety medication.
“Who will you chat with?” Atila the Hun—I mean, Brunhilde—glowers at me, so I smile.
“Whoever wants to listen. The Kutsenkos already know your firm can’t be trusted. They benefited from this, but they’ll never do business with you. I’m certain I’ll run into Dillan O’Rourke at my brother’s upcoming wedding reception. Salvatore Macinelli will be there too. I still have stops in London and Zurich before I head back to New York. Perhaps you’ll come up in conversation.”
Anneliese hasn’t shifted her attention from me once since I confronted them. She’s trying to assess how serious I am and what the quantifiable damage will be if I tell anyone, let alone the two people I mentioned by name. I know she understands how fucked her company is now that the Kutsenkos won’t use them again. How does she think we heard about them in the first place?
It doesn’t surprise me when Gunter Schlossberg, Anneliese’s father, enters the room. His already ruddy complexion looks like he’s about to have a stroke. He’s a mountain of a man. Burly isthe only word to describe him. He’s as tall as I am at six-four, but he has to be at least forty pounds heavier than me. He’s easily two-eighty, and it’s not flab. He’s not in his prime, but it’s obvious he stays in shape.
I stand, scooping up all the papers as he approaches me. He tests me as he shakes my hand, but my grip is just as punishing as his. His gaze hardens when he accepts he’s met his match.
“Mr. Diaz, I expected your uncle Matáis. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Since this is a major transaction, normally it would beTíoMatáis who’d handle this. But he’s in Tokyo for his own set of investment meetings. Since this deal required more forensic accounting than usual, it fell to me to handle it.
“The same. My uncle speaks highly of you.”
While my words are encouraging, my expression is not. I frown and furrow my brow. I spotted the cameras yesterday, so I know he watched my meeting with Anneliese and this one. It makes me wonder if he’s the one who snitched and prayed I wouldn’t find out. I doubt it. He’s not dumb enough to think I’m so stupid I’d believe it was a coincidence Maksim sold the company we ultimately wanted. Not on the morning the deal to invest was supposed to go through.
Maks and his brothers were happy to unload the companies as long as they weren’t to my family. They know my cousin’s wife is a chemist who’d have taken the struggling biotech company and made it into a powerhouse since she knows what’s up from down. None of the other families have a scientist in-house who could accomplish that. We have two. My cousin Pablo and now Florencia.
