Chapter 2 - SIXTY-ONE PERCENT
Carter caught Sophie before she reached the private elevator.
“Ms. Reed.”
She kept walking.
“Ms. Reed, please.”
Sophie stopped.
Carter nearly ran into her.
Madison stood ten feet away, frozen beneath the chandelier.
People were pretending not to watch.
Everyone was watching.
Carter lowered his voice.
“I believe there’s been a misunderstanding.”
Sophie glanced at the stain on her dress.
“A misunderstanding?”
“Yes.”
“Your girlfriend poured champagne on me.”
Madison rushed over.
“It slipped.”
Sophie looked at her.
“You told me to use the service entrance.”
“I didn’t know who you were.”
There it was.
Not an apology.
A confession.
Sophie tilted her head.
“And if I had been a waitress?”
Madison blinked.
“What?”
“If I had been an employee, would pouring a drink on me have been acceptable?”
Madison looked toward Carter for help.
He had none.
Daniel pressed the elevator button.
“We should go upstairs.”
Carter stepped closer.
“Sophie—may I call you Sophie?”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“Ms. Reed, tonight is incredibly important to me.”
“I know.”
That answer scared him.
The elevator doors opened.
Sophie stepped inside.
Daniel followed.
Before the doors closed, Sophie looked at Carter.
“You’re presenting at eleven, correct?”
Carter nodded carefully.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
The doors began sliding shut.
Sophie added, “I wouldn’t miss it.”
The doors closed.
Madison turned on Carter.
“What the hell was that?”
Carter stared at the elevator.
“You really don’t know who she is?”
“If I knew, would I have—”
“You shouldn’t have done it to anybody!”
Madison stared at him.
“You were laughing.”
Carter ignored that.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward a quiet hallway.
“Sophie Reed controls Sterling Crown Holdings.”
Madison pulled away.
“No, she doesn’t.”
“Yes.”
“I know who owns this company. Charles Reed.”
“Charles Reed died eight months ago.”
“So?”
“So his daughter inherited most of his voting shares.”
Madison’s confidence began cracking.
“That woman?”
“That woman.”
“She looks like—”
“Finish that sentence,” Carter snapped. “Go ahead.”
Madison closed her mouth.
Carter ran both hands through his hair.
Sterling Crown Holdings wasn’t just one company.
It owned hotels.
Luxury apartments.
Commercial towers.
Private clubs.
Logistics companies.
A technology division.
And, most importantly to Carter, it controlled the largest potential contract of his career.
Carter was CEO of Blake Urban Systems, a fast-growing security technology company that was running out of money.
By Friday, he needed Sterling Crown’s board to approve a $240 million acquisition deal.
Without it, his lenders would start asking questions.
And once lenders asked questions, auditors usually followed.
That could not happen.
Madison touched his arm.
“We can fix it.”
Carter laughed without humor.
“You humiliated the person who can kill the deal with one sentence.”
“I’ll apologize.”
“She already knows it won’t be real.”
“So what do we do?”
Carter looked toward the private elevator.
“We remind her that business is business.”
Madison smiled nervously.
“And if that doesn’t work?”
Carter said nothing.
Upstairs, Sophie entered the executive bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.
Champagne ran down the fabric.
Daniel stood outside the door.
“I can have someone bring you another dress.”
“No.”
“Sophie.”
“No.”
She opened the door.
Daniel stared at her.
“You’re going into the board meeting like that?”
“Exactly like this.”
Daniel understood.
“You want them to see.”
“I want to know who asks what happened.”
Daniel frowned.
“And?”
“I want to know who doesn’t.”
They walked toward the boardroom.
Daniel handed her a tablet.
“One more thing.”
Sophie looked down.
A financial report filled the screen.
Her expression changed.
“What am I looking at?”
“Blake Urban Systems.”
“I reviewed their numbers yesterday.”
“Not these numbers.”
Daniel tapped the screen.
Sophie read the first page.
Then the second.
Then she stopped walking.
“Where did you get this?”
“Anonymous email. Twenty minutes ago.”
Sophie looked back at the numbers.
Twenty-seven million dollars.
Missing.
Hidden behind three consulting companies.
All approved by one executive.
Carter Blake.
Sophie lifted her eyes.
“Does he know we have this?”
“No.”
“Keep it that way.”
Daniel nodded.
Sophie looked toward the boardroom doors.
May you like
Five minutes earlier, she had planned to decide whether Carter deserved a contract.
Now she needed to decide whether he belonged in prison.
