"Malcolm, please." A tear spills over her lashes, tracking down her cheek. "If they lock you up... if he pays off the judge..."
"He cannot pay off the judge." I wipe the tear away with my thumb. "Because he doesn't know what I actually took from the library tonight."
She blinks, the panic stalling for a fraction of a second. "What do you mean?"
I step back, keeping one hand on her waist, and reach into the pocket of the trousers I discarded on the chair earlier. I pull out a small, black USB drive. It is identical to the one I threw on the mahogany table in front of Preston.
"I gave Preston a drive containing the financial ledgers," I say quietly. "I told him it was the only copy. I lied."
Audrey stares at the drive. "You kept a backup."
"I kept the original." I press the drive into the palm of her hand, folding her fingers over it. "Preston thinks he destroyed my leverage because he thinks my credibility is ruined. But he doesn't realize that the files on this drive don't need my testimony. They contain direct correspondence between Simon and the shell corporations. They contain the IP addresses used to forge the transfer documents that moved your lease, client contracts, and operating account under his control."
I look down at her hand, my fingers wrapping tightly around her fist.
"This drive does not exonerate me from the arson," I tell her, my voice dropping to a rough, absolute register. "But it destroys Simon. It destroys the holding company. If this drive reaches the federal prosecutor, Preston loses everything."
Audrey looks down at her hand, then up at me. The realization hits her with the force of a physical blow.
"You want me to take it to the feds," she whispers.
"I want you to hold it." I let go of her hand. "Preston will assume I have the files. He will try to pressure me in custody. He will not look for them here. He will not look at you."
"Malcolm, if they search the apartment—"
"They will not find it." I walk toward the door of the office. "Hide it, Audrey. Somewhere they won't look."
She doesn't argue. She doesn't ask where. She turns around, scanning the office, her mind already working through the structural logistics of the room. She walks over to the heavy oak bookshelf, pulls out a thick volume on architectural history, andslides the small drive into the hollow space behind the binding. She slides the book back into place. It is flawless.
The sound of the private elevator chiming echoes through the quiet apartment.
The police are here.
Audrey freezes, her back to the bookshelf.
I cross the room in three strides. I pull her into my arms, burying my face in her neck. I don't care that the police are walking into my foyer. I don't care that my father just framed me for a felony.
I only care about the fact that I have to walk out of this apartment and leave her behind.
"Do not speak to the detectives," I murmur against her skin, my hands gripping her waist with a bruising, desperate force. "Do not let them into this office. Grant will be here in five minutes. He will not leave your side."
"I won't let them in," she promises, her voice shaking as she wraps her arms tightly around my neck. "I love you, Malcolm."
The words tear straight through my chest.
She didn't say it for the press this time. She didn't say it to win a corporate war. She said it while the police are walking down my hallway to arrest me.
I pull back, framing her face with my hands. I kiss her, a hard, fast, bruising collision of mouths that tastes like fear and absolute devotion.
"I love you," I say, the words feeling foreign and entirely permanent on my tongue. "I will be back."
I turn around and walk out of the office.
I pull the heavy oak door shut behind me, the lock clicking into place.
Four uniformed police officers and two plainclothes detectives are standing in the living room. They look entirely out of place against the minimalist, expensive furniture. One of the detectives, a man with a tired face and a cheap suit, steps forward.
"Malcolm Vance," the detective says, holding up a piece of paper. "We have a warrant for your arrest regarding the arson at the Vance estate in Lake Forest."
