Chapter 3 - Morning Consequences
“You locked me in a room,” Olivia said.
“I locked the entire floor.”
“That is not better.”
“It is if the person outside is armed.”
Silence settled between them.
Olivia stepped back from the door. “Explain.”
“I’m working on it.”
“Try faster.”
The lock clicked. Adrian entered with two security officers behind him. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms, and the sight of him made the memory of the previous night rise uninvited. Olivia refused to let either the memory or the man disarm her.
“You have ten seconds,” she said.
“A vehicle followed one of mine from the tower last night. This morning, someone attempted to access the private elevator using a copied credential.”
“And you think they’re here for me?”
“I think they’re here for me. You happen to be in the same building.”
“Then let me leave.”
“The lobby is compromised.”
“I am not a hostage.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “No.”
“You’re treating me like one.”
He looked at the security officer. “Clear the west stairwell.”
“Adrian.”
He turned back to her. “You’re right. I should have explained before I locked the doors.”
“You should have asked whether I wanted protection.”
“Would you have?”
“No.”
“Then I would have protected you anyway.”
The answer infuriated her because it sounded like the truth.
Twenty minutes later, she left through an underground garage in a black sedan. Adrian sat opposite her, separated by a narrow console and too much tension. His driver took her to the apartment she shared with Jake. Olivia watched the familiar building approach and felt no desire to go inside.
“I can have your belongings packed,” Adrian said.
“I can pack my own belongings.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You meant what you said. I understand.”
He handed her a phone. “Your battery died.”
“I turned it off.”
“The battery was dead before that.”
She took the phone but did not thank him.
Inside the apartment, Jake was waiting. Megan was gone. Jake had changed his shirt and rehearsed an expression of regret that collapsed when he saw Adrian behind Olivia.
“Who is that?”
“Someone who knows how doors work,” Olivia said.
Jake’s face reddened. “Can we talk privately?”
“No.”
“Liv, please.”
“You had six months to be honest.”
Adrian remained near the entrance, saying nothing. His silence made Jake look smaller.
Jake reached for Olivia’s hand. She moved away. “I’m taking my things.”
“You can’t just leave.”
“Watch me.”
Her promotion letter lay on the kitchen counter beside the champagne flute Jake had used. She picked it up, folded it into her bag, and began filling a suitcase.
Jake followed. “Is this about last night? You slept with him to punish me?”
Olivia stopped. “No. I slept with him because I wanted one decision that belonged entirely to me.”
Adrian’s expression shifted, almost imperceptibly.
Jake looked between them. “You don’t even know who he is.”
“I know exactly who you are,” Olivia said. “That’s enough.”
At Northline, the congratulations had turned into whispers. Megan had called in sick. Jake had apparently told two coworkers that Olivia was unstable and had disappeared with a stranger. By noon, the office gossip had reached the project director.
“You need to take personal leave,” Director Elaine Brooks told her.
“For being cheated on?”
“For the scene at your apartment and the attention around it.”
“I did not create the scene.”
“I’m not judging you. I’m protecting the company.”
Olivia placed the promotion letter on Elaine’s desk. “Then protect my position.”
Elaine studied her. “There’s another issue. Someone accessed the Harbor Renewal files under your credentials at 2:13 this morning.”
Olivia felt the room tilt.
“I was not at work.”
“I know.”
“Who else has access?”
“You, Jake, Megan, and the executive team.”
Elaine lowered her voice. “Until we know what happened, your promotion is suspended.”
Olivia walked back to her desk in a haze. Her computer screen was dark. On it, written in black marker, were six words.
Stop asking about the old harbor.
Her phone vibrated.
May you like
The message came from an unknown number.
Your mother knew Adrian Vale’s father. Ask her what she stole.
