Chapter 17 - Lines in the Snow
Alexander didn't hesitate. Before Victor could finish his smug chuckle, Alexander stepped forward, grabbed Victor by the lapels of his thousand-dollar coat, and slammed him hard against the cedar railing of the porch.
Victor let out a strangled gasp, the folder slipping from his numb fingers and scattering sheets of legal documents across the snow.
"Listen to me carefully, you miserable parasite," Alexander growled, his voice vibrating with a primal savagery that made Victor’s pale eyes widen in terror. "You will never speak of Claire or that child again. If you or your father file so much as a parking violation against her shop, I will liquidate my entire controlling stake in Sterling-Moretti Logistics at fire-sale prices."
Victor choked, clawing at Alexander’s iron grip. "You wouldn't... that would trigger a margin call that would ruin your own family!"
"My family is standing behind that door!" Alexander snarled, shoving Victor backward until the younger man tripped over the steps and tumbled into the snowbank below. "I spent my entire youth building that empire. I will burn it to the ground and dance on the ashes if it means keeping them safe. Go back to New York and tell your father that if he sends another messenger to this town, the next person I visit will be him."
Victor scrambled to his feet, breathing heavily, his pristine coat caked in wet snow. He looked at Alexander with sheer disbelief, recognizing that the calculating, measured corporate titan had been completely replaced by a man with nothing left to lose.
"You're insane, Moretti," Victor spat, retreating toward the idling black sedan parked down the lane. "You think you can protect them from the whole world? This isn't just about us. You don't even know who took that photograph, do you?"
Alexander froze, his eyes narrowing. "What photograph?"
May you like
Victor smiled nastily as he reached the car door. "The picture of Claire outside the shop that alerted Julianna in the first place. It wasn't our investigators who found her, Alexander. It was someone right here in this harbor. Someone she trusts."
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