“Look, all that investment in Wilshire & Co. I did for her family,” he said quickly and then tried to seek out my pity or guilt and prey upon it. “They were mourning, Jameson. I know their missteps led to her accident, but someone had to do something.”
“Are you insinuating that I should have done more?” I chuckled. “I let you and my wife live even after she ran off with you, Paolo. That was more grace than either of you deserved, especially with how she didn’t show up to pick Fran up from school.” I would never forgive her for the way she left Franny, for not saying goodbye, for abandoning her at school one day just so I had to pick up the pieces.
What Paolo didn’t understand was I didn’t care about Lex’s family or their company. My wife had been a strategist who held love like a tool against my daughter and me. She hadn’t understood that had she confided in me before that scandal of Wilshire hit, I would have saved her company easily. Instead, I worked day in and day out to make sure the Diamonds partnered with Stonewood Enterprises and solidified our influence within the FDA.
I knew it was only a matter of time before Paolo’s influence crumbled and his investors got frustrated and got even. I heardthe whispers of them targeting the heiress of Wilshire & Co. and wanting revenge by taking her life.
I didn’t intervene. I knew that made me more of a monster than even her. I didn’t care.
I was given the autopsy report of her being so badly burned they were only able to identify her through her teeth. I didn’t mourn her loss, only considered all the angles. An accident is how everyone classified it. Supposedly her car blew up. Maybe an angry party was involved and cut a wire.
Or maybe something else.
I knew more and more every day that it was the latter, because Paolo tried for more meetings after that. He thought that was how he would get his foot in the door with me, but I always declined. Even the new senator wouldn’t have swayed my decision to see him.
Yet, his insistence for meetings grew, and so did my suspicions. I only called the meeting now because of the feeling in my gut. Something was amiss with my daughter’s school shooting, and Paolo had to have been behind it.
“Of course she shouldn’t have left you like that. Lex was ruthless sometimes.”
“Indeed. So ruthless that she left her family because we weren’t of use to her anymore. You were supposed to be the useful one. Don’t forget: Lex didn’t want a damn thing to do with the Diamonds when she left.”
“Right.” Paolo rubbed his eyes, his fatigue from playing the game he wasn’t going to win showing now. “But she’s gone now. Has been for years. And honestly, I still think it’s the right thing to do to help her family, especially when it benefits us both.”
“Tell me then, Paolo, is Wilshire beneficial to us both while they continue to fuck up?” I leaned back and draped my arm along the back of my chair as I waited.
“What are you talking about?”
“They’re still using their medications for unapproved conditions. Off-label uses. And not well enough that the FDA isn’t sniffing around.” One move closer to checkmate. “I get updates from my men at the FDA every month. You think I didn’t know? They’re flagged.”
He tried to recover with a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes at all. “They’ve been under pressure, but all businesses are right now.” He hurried on, “And once I have port access, it’ll be a fifty-fifty deal between us. Everything legal on paper, and your name stays clean.”
I didn’t need to respond. I just lifted a brow and let him talk.
“You know the ingredients go straight into generic production and how fast they move. Painkillers, supplements …”
“Cancer meds?” Of course it would still be beneficial to Lex’s company.
“Yes. The product will move fast.” He tried so hard to pretend this was just business, but I saw through it. And then he said what I knew he would. “You know, Wilshire does have the distribution already set up. They might be struggling, but they’re known in this world. We could use them and also prop them back up along the way. If Lex was here … she would have wanted this.”
He said it like he could make us all believe it even though she wanted nothing to do with the Diamonds. She thought Paolo had it all. His statement was just another nail in his coffin. “Lex always had unrealistic ideas and goals, Paolo. And those unrealistic goals are what killed her.”
“No. No … Lex wasn’t unrealistic. If she were here today, I bet she’d be excited.” He hurried along, scrambling to give me something to be enticed with. “A diamond remains unbroken right? I mean … I could be a part of that. A diamond remains unbroken, and the Ruiz cartels are there to take care of the cracks.”
He said it fast and smiled like it was a good line.
What he didn’t realize is he’d just shown his hand. Our game of chess had just elevated. It fed my gut instinct.
As I stared at him, I was beginning to think he was just a pawn. “She used to say that to me,” I told him and watched his every movement.
He glanced away, but I saw how his jaw ticked just once. He had cracks that I was chipping away at to show either that he’d loved my wife so much that he couldn’t really want to partner with me, or he was hiding a deeper secret, one I was going to find out. He grumbled, “Oh, really? Well, no matter.” He wiped a hand over his face. “Wish she could be here today.”
“I bet you do.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Even still, her dream could live on with Wilshire & Co., Jameson.”
“Is that your sell, Paolo? To play into the goodness of my heart for mydeadwife’s legacy?”
“If not for Lex, then maybe for the legacy she wants to leave behind. I’m just saying … she’d have wanted us to try at least for Fran—”
