Chapter 3 - The Truth About the Office
The touch of Julian’s fingers against her skin sent an involuntary jolt of electricity down Clara’s spine, but she forced herself to take a step back. She couldn't afford to let her guard down, not when her entire world was teetering on the edge of collapse.
“My brother,” Clara said, panic suddenly seizing her chest as a horrible realization dawned on her. “Julian, if they know who I am, if they tracked me to the street outside your building—”
“Leo is already safe,” Julian interrupted, his tone leaving no room for doubt.
He walked over to the kitchen island, poured two glasses of amber scotch from a crystal decanter, and slid one across the dark marble countertop toward her.
“While Marcus was pulling you off the ice, my secondary tactical unit was securing St. Jude’s Medical Center in New Jersey,” Julian explained, leaning against the counter. “Your brother was transferred via a private, medical-evacuation helicopter to my personal estate in upstate New York three hours ago. He has his own dedicated team of nephrologists with him right now.”
Clara stared at him, her mouth slightly open. The crushing weight of her medical debt, the constant, suffocating fear of Leo’s treatments being cut off—all of it vanished in the span of a single sentence.
“You did that?” she whispered, tears finally breaking past her iron control and spilling over her eyelashes. “How did you even know about his condition? I never listed him on my HR disclosure forms.”
Julian took a slow sip of his scotch, his blue eyes locking onto hers with intense, unwavering honesty.
“You are the most brilliant forensic auditor in the city, Clara. Did you genuinely believe I would hire you to oversee my empire’s most sensitive financial transit lines without knowing every single detail of your life?”
He set his glass down with a soft click. “I knew about your brother’s dialysis before you ever sat for your first interview. I knew you sold your car three months ago. I knew you were skipping meals to pay for his experimental medications.”
“Why didn’t you just offer to help?” she asked, wiping away a tear with the sleeve of her oversized sweater.
“Because you are dangerously proud,” Julian said, a faint, sad smile touching the corner of his lips. “You would have viewed it as charity, or worse, a bribe to turn a blind eye to the anomalies in my books. I needed you sharp. I needed you hungry enough to hunt down the ghosts in my ledgers.”
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He walked back over to her, his expression turning deadly serious.
“The mole who ordered the hit on you isn’t just an embezzler, Clara. They are trying to frame me for treason against the syndicate’s ruling council. If they succeed, everyone bearing the Thorne name—and anyone loyal to us—will be executed.”
