He had never asked why my late mother’s investment office occupied three floors in Boston. He preferred the version of me that made him feel taller.
“The announcement is for executives,” he said. “Not decorative wives.”
Camilla laughed softly.
Across the ballroom, Chairman Malcolm Reed caught my eye. He touched two fingers to his cuff—the signal we had agreed upon after the closing documents were signed that afternoon. Beside him stood Aurelia’s general counsel and the forensic accountant who had spent six weeks examining vendor payments authorized by Julian.
I picked up an untouched glass of sparkling water.
“Enjoy the next ten minutes,” I told my husband.
He seized my wrist. “What does that mean?”
“It means you should listen carefully.”
The lights dimmed, leaving the stage washed in luminous blue. Malcolm approached the microphone and thanked the employees who had kept Aurelia alive through eighteen months of debt, canceled orders, and a failed expansion. Julian released me and straightened his jacket, already preparing his victorious expression.
“Tonight,” Malcolm said, “we welcome the investor whose capital preserved eight hundred jobs and retired our most dangerous debt. The acquisition closed today. Northstar Holdings now owns fifty-eight percent of Aurelia Systems.”
Julian applauded first.
