Chapter 7 - THE MAN IN THE SUIT
Rose met Richard the next afternoon in Lena's conference room.
She chose the place.
She chose the time.
Gabriel wasn't invited.
Richard arrived carrying flowers.
Lena told him to leave them on the reception desk.
“Is this really necessary?” he asked, taking the chair across from Rose.
“You sent Owen.”
“To bring you home safely.”
“He broke a door.”
“He got carried away.”
Lena opened her folder.
“Your daughter won't discuss disputed transactions without counsel present.
Your attorney was invited.”
“I don't need an attorney to speak to my child.”
“Then listen to her.”
Rose slid a copy of the bank notice across the table.
“Where is it?”
Richard didn't touch the paper.
“You wouldn't understand the structure.”
“Try me.”
“The company had temporary cash problems.”
“You told me you were paying for everything.
My tuition.
The house.
The wedding.”
“I raised you.”
“With money from a trust Grandma left me?”
His eyes sharpened.
“Your grandmother would have wanted the family protected.”
Rose remembered thanking him for every check.
She remembered staying at a job she hated because he said she couldn't survive without his help.
The humiliation burned hotter than anger.
Lena asked for a full accounting.
Richard pushed back his chair.
“Enough.”
Rose didn't move.
“Did Daniel Price find out?”
For the first time, her father looked frightened.
It lasted less than a second.
“Daniel was unstable.”
“His widow says he found false shipments.”
“His widow wants money.”
“Get out,” Rose said.
He stared at her.
She had never said those words to him before.
“You think Moretti's better than me?”
“I think you keep changing the subject.”
Richard leaned forward.
“You're alive, comfortable, educated.
You have no idea what it costs to keep a family standing.”
Lena rose and opened the door.
The meeting was over.
In the hallway, Richard turned back.
“Ask your fiancé about Daniel's warning.
Ask why nobody answered it.”
After he left, Rose called Gabriel.
“Did Daniel contact you before the fire?”
A pause.
Not long, but long enough.
“I've just found the message.”
“Did you read it then?”
May you like
His answer came quietly.
“Yes.”
