Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO KNEW MY EX-HUSBAND'S SECRET
At 7:12 the following morning, Olivia woke to seventeen missed calls.
Five from her operations manager.
Three from her accountant.
Four from unknown numbers.
And five from Richard.
She sat upright in bed.
Her apartment was quiet except for the hum of the refrigerator and the distant traffic along North Lake Shore Drive.
For a few seconds, she tried to convince herself that the previous evening had been a dream.
Gabriel Moretti.
The forehead kiss.
The financial transfer.
Richard's smile.
Then her phone vibrated again.
Maya Bennett, her operations manager.
Olivia answered.
“What's wrong?”
“Olivia, don't panic.”
Nobody had ever begun a sentence that way before delivering good news.
“What happened?”
“Our bank froze the operating account.”
Olivia closed her eyes.
“Why?”
“They said there was suspicious activity.”
“How much?”
“I don't know. They're refusing to discuss it with me.”
Olivia threw off the blankets.
“I'm coming.”
She dressed in seven minutes.
By eight, she was inside Hayes Events' small office in River North.
Maya stood beside the reception desk, pale and frightened.
At twenty-nine, Maya had worked for Olivia for four years.
She was organized, fiercely loyal, and usually impossible to rattle.
Today, she looked ready to cry.
“Payroll goes out Friday,” Maya said.
“I know.”
“We have deposits due on three events.”
“I know.”
“And the Halston wedding client wants confirmation that her money is secure.”
Olivia stopped.
“What wedding client?”
“Saturday's reception. The Carters.”
Olivia looked toward her office.
She had spent six months planning that wedding.
Three hundred guests.
A rooftop ceremony.
A ballroom reception.
The bride's father had died the previous winter, and Olivia had personally arranged a small memorial display so his photograph could sit beside the family table.
She would not let Richard destroy that day.
“Call our attorney,” she said. “And tell the Carters their event is proceeding exactly as planned.”
“With what money?”
Olivia looked at her.
“We'll figure that out.”
She entered her office and closed the door.
Then she called Gabriel.
He answered on the second ring.
“Olivia.”
“My account is frozen.”
“I know.”
She blinked.
“How?”
“My attorney received confirmation forty minutes ago.”
“Your attorney?”
“The Bellmont review revealed that someone submitted a suspicious vendor payment request using your company's credentials.”
Olivia sat down.
“Gabriel, I need you to explain this in words that don't make me feel like I'm about to be arrested.”
There was a pause.
Then his voice softened.
“Someone appears to have routed money through an account associated with your company and created documents suggesting you approved the transaction.”
“Who?”
“We're still determining that.”
“Richard.”
“Possibly.”
She closed her eyes.
“I can't pay my employees.”
“Your attorney can request an emergency review. I'll have my legal team provide the relevant records directly to yours.”
Olivia hesitated.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because the transfer originated from a company that recently sought an investment from Moretti Holdings.”
Her eyes opened.
“What company?”
“Hayes Consulting Group.”
Richard's business.
Of course.
Gabriel continued.
“Richard requested a thirty-million-dollar financing arrangement three months ago.”
Olivia stared at the wall.
“Thirty million?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“A hospitality redevelopment project.”
“Did you approve it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Gabriel was silent for a moment.
“Because I found inconsistencies in the ownership records.”
Olivia felt a strange pressure behind her ribs.
“What kind of inconsistencies?”
“Someone listed your company as a guarantor.”
She stood so abruptly her chair rolled backward.
“What?”
“Olivia—”
“I never agreed to guarantee anything.”
“I believe you.”
“Then how could he do that?”
“That's what the attorneys need to establish.”
She pressed a hand to her forehead.
Richard had always been skilled with paperwork.
During their marriage, he had handled insurance, investments, and tax planning.
He'd told her she was better with flowers and people.
Numbers were his territory.
She had believed him.
Now she wondered how many documents she had signed without understanding what they contained.
“Gabriel,” she whispered, “I think he used my old signature.”
A long silence followed.
Then Gabriel said, “I'm coming to your office.”
“You don't have to.”
“I know.”
Twenty-five minutes later, a black Mercedes stopped outside Hayes Events.
Gabriel stepped out with a leather folder beneath one arm.
Matteo followed him.
Olivia watched from the window as two pedestrians recognized Gabriel and immediately moved aside.
He entered the office.
Maya nearly dropped her coffee.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“Good morning.”
His gaze moved to Olivia.
“May we speak privately?”
She nodded.
Inside her office, Gabriel placed the folder on her desk.
“These are copies of documents your attorney will receive.”
Olivia opened it.
Her name appeared on a guarantee agreement.
Her company logo was printed at the top.
And beneath a paragraph describing a substantial financial obligation was a signature.
Olivia M. Hayes.
She stared.
It looked exactly like hers.
But it wasn't.
“I didn't sign this.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Then we'll establish that.”
She turned the page.
A photograph slipped from the folder.
It showed Richard standing beside a man Olivia had never seen before.
The man was older, with silver hair and a scar along his jaw.
“Who's this?”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“Where did that photograph come from?”
“It was in your folder.”
He took it.
For the first time since meeting him, Olivia saw something close to anger break through his composure.
“Victor Salerno.”
The name meant nothing to her.
“Who is he?”
Gabriel looked toward the closed office door.
“Someone my family spent fifteen years trying to keep away from Chicago.”
Olivia swallowed.
“Why?”
“Because he doesn't negotiate business disputes.”
“What does he do?”
Gabriel met her eyes.
“He turns them into funerals.”
A chill moved through her.
Then Gabriel looked at the photograph again.
“Richard didn't come to me for financing.”
Olivia frowned.
“What?”
“He came to find out whether I'd discovered who was backing him.”
“Backing him?”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
“Salerno.”
Olivia stared.
“So my ex-husband is involved with a criminal?”
Gabriel's expression was grim.
“Your ex-husband is involved with a man who wants my organization.”
Before she could respond, Maya knocked.
“Olivia?”
“What is it?”
Maya opened the door.
Her face was white.
“There's a woman downstairs.”
“Who?”
“Vanessa Clark.”
Olivia closed her eyes.
Of all the people she wanted to see, Vanessa ranked somewhere below a tax auditor and a root canal.
“Tell her I'm busy.”
Maya swallowed.
“She says Richard disappeared last night.”
Olivia opened her eyes.
“What?”
May you like
“And she says if you don't help her, he's going to kill her.”
Gabriel was already moving toward the door.
