Chapter 13 - Whispers on the Wire
Before Claire could respond, the sharp vibration of Alexander’s encrypted phone shattered the silence. He grimaced, pulling the device from his coat pocket. The screen displayed an incoming call from Marcus Vance, his chief legal counsel and one of the few men in Manhattan who still answered directly to him.
Claire’s eyes flicked to the screen, a subtle coolness returning to her expression. "You should take that. The city never waits."
"It can wait," Alexander said, moving to silence the ringer.
"No, Alexander. Take it," she said evenly. "Don't pretend that world stopped existing just because you drove north."
With a reluctant nod, Alexander stepped out onto the porch of the shop, answering the call. "Marcus. I told you I wasn't to be disturbed unless the foundation was burning."
"Then you’d better find an extinguisher, Alexander," Marcus’s voice crackled through the receiver, tense and hurried. "Julianna’s father just filed an emergency injunction with the state supreme court. They’re challenging the restructuring of the trust fund you set aside during the divorce settlement."
Alexander felt the muscles in his jaw tighten into stone. "On what grounds? That money was personal equity. The Sterling family has no legal claim to my private assets."
"They aren't claiming it for Julianna," Marcus replied, lowering his voice. "They’re claiming that the distribution of one hundred and fifty million dollars three years ago constituted a fraudulent conveyance designed to shield assets from corporate creditors. And worse, Alexander—Julianna’s private investigators have been tracking your movements. They know you’re in Maine. They know about the flower shop."
Cold fury surged through Alexander’s veins. He turned his head to look through the shop window. Claire was humming softly to herself as she arranged a bouquet of white lilies, completely oblivious to the venomous machinery turning hundreds of miles to the south.
"If Julianna or her father breathes a word in this town," Alexander whispered, his voice dropping into a deadly, frigid register, "I will dismantle the Sterling empire brick by brick. Understand me, Marcus?"
May you like
"I understand, sir. But you need to know one more thing," Marcus hesitated. "They’re not just looking at Claire. They pulled the hospital registry in Portland. They know about the boy."
***
