“I want him to feel what it’s like to run out of air.”
Over the next forty-eight hours, credit lines were frozen, investors pulled out, and two strategic acquisitions collapsed.
Preston didn’t even try to reach me.
He blocked the cards he thought I depended on and told his lawyers I’d come crawling back when the money ran out.
But on the third day he discovered that Altair was behind his troubles.
And he decided to strike back.
That night he received false information about a supposed illegal operation inside Altair. He believed he had found enough material to blackmail Victoria at the most important business gala of the year.
What Preston didn’t know was that I had left those documents exactly where he’d find them.
While I was getting ready to attend the gala, Calvin came into my room.
“He took the bait.”
“Perfect.”
Calvin didn’t smile.
“There’s something else. We intercepted a call from Sabrina.”
He handed me a pair of earphones.
I heard her voice.
And then a sentence that chilled me far more than my husband’s betrayal.
“If Reese Sutherland is still alive,” Sabrina said, “activate the Black Protocol.”
PART 2
The gala was held at a hotel in downtown Washington, D.C.
Preston arrived with Sabrina on his arm, convinced that tonight would save his company.
I watched them from the box reserved for the evening’s top benefactors.
When Preston saw me, he was surprised at first.
Then he smiled.
He walked over.
“Well, look at that. Three days away from home and you’ve already found someone to pay for your dresses?”
Sabrina feigned discomfort.
“Reese, Preston gave you a life most women would envy.”
I looked at her.
“You’re right. Especially the part where you tried to take my child.”
Her face changed for a second.
Preston leaned toward me.
“Be careful what you say.”
The charity auction began.
The final piece was a necklace of historic sapphires.
When the bidding reached 1.5 million dollars, Preston raised his hand.
“Two million.”
Several cameras swung toward him.
He looked at me with arrogance.
I raised my glass.
“Twenty million.”
The ballroom went silent.
Preston burst out laughing.
“That’s ridiculous! She doesn’t have that kind of money!”
He turned to the foundation’s chairman.
“Check her solvency. My wife doesn’t have a bank account of her own.”
The man didn’t answer.
Victoria Strand appeared behind me.
Preston recognized her at once.
“Ms. Strand. I was just looking for you to talk about Altair.”
Victoria ignored the folder he was holding.
“Mr. Lyle, you’ve spent four years trying to find out who really owns Altair.”
Preston frowned.
Victoria rested a hand on the back of my chair.
“Allow me to introduce you.”
I watched the blood drain from my husband’s face.
“No…”
“Reese Sutherland controls Altair Capital.”
Preston looked at me as if I had become a different person right before his eyes.
“That’s impossible.”
“No,” I answered. “What’s impossible is that for four years you never asked who was actually paying for your miracles.”
The investors began to murmur.
I went on:
“Your first round of capital was mine. The credit line that saved your company two years ago was mine. The acquisition that tripled your valuation was financed by me.”
Sabrina grabbed his arm.
“Preston, let’s go.”
But he was already broken.
“You deceived me!”
I smiled without humor.
“You tried to sterilize me while I was pregnant. Let’s not talk about deception.”
I ordered security to remove them.
Hours later, Lyle Holdings collapsed.
But my victory was short-lived.
We went to Preston’s offices to recover documents related to my investments. Inside a safe, we found an encrypted disk.
Calvin managed to open it.
On the screen appeared blueprints of military installations and technology development centers belonging to the Sutherland Group.
I froze.
This was no longer a simple marital betrayal.
“How did he get this?”
Before Calvin could answer, red dots of light appeared across his chest.
A federal team swept into the office.
At the front walked a tall man dressed in black.
I recognized him before my mind accepted what I was seeing.
“Everett…”
Everett Stone.
The man I was supposed to marry before a mission overseas ended, supposedly, in his death.
The man whose funeral had destroyed me.
The man whose absence had left me vulnerable just before I met Preston.
Everett stepped closer.
“Forgive me, Reese.”
“You’re dead.”
“That’s what we needed everyone to believe.”
He told me the truth.
Preston had been recruited years earlier by an international organization dedicated to trafficking military technology.
His marriage to me had been no coincidence.
And Sabrina wasn’t simply his mistress.
She was his handler.
I was the target.
