The black card felt strangely heavy in my hand.
Silver letters caught the airport light.
ADRIAN VALE.
Beneath the name was a title I had seen only once before, at the bottom of the acquisition announcement sent to every employee in my company.
GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.
VALE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS.
I read it twice because my mind refused to accept what my eyes were telling me.
Vale International was not simply another company connected to my employer.
It was the international conglomerate that had acquired us six weeks earlier.
Its subsidiaries controlled investment funds, technology companies, property groups, and the very division considering whether to finance Alexander’s new venture.
The stranger I had grabbed and kissed was the man at the top of all of it.
I lifted my eyes.
Adrian Vale was watching Alexander, not me.
Meredith had gone completely still.
Her face, so composed moments earlier, had lost every trace of color.
“Mr.
Vale,” she said.
Her voice was barely audible beneath the airport announcements.
Alexander looked from her to the card in my hand.
“You know him?”
Adrian’s expression did not change.
“She works for one of my subsidiaries.
Whether she continues to do so will be discussed tomorrow.”
Meredith swallowed.
“This is not what it looks like.”
I almost laughed.
Those were the first words people used when something looked exactly as bad as it was.
Alexander recovered just enough to straighten his coat.
“There’s been a misunderstanding.
Victoria is upset, and she has a habit of becoming dramatic.”
Three years together, and that was how quickly he rewrote me.
Not betrayed.
Dramatic.
Not threatened.
Unstable.
Adrian glanced at the red marks Alexander’s fingers had left on my elbow.
“I heard your threat,” he said.
Alexander’s confidence flickered.
“It wasn’t a threat.”
“You told her that Meredith could have her removed from her job with one phone call.”
“I was trying to calm down a private situation.”
“By grabbing her?”
Several people were still watching.
Alexander noticed them and lowered his voice.
“This is between Victoria and me.”
“No,” I said.
It was the first word I had spoken since reading the card.
Alexander turned toward me.
I held his gaze.
“There is no longer anything between us.”
For a moment, the only movement came from the automatic doors opening behind him.
Then Meredith stepped forward.
“Adrian, perhaps we can discuss the financing review privately.
Alexander’s project has substantial potential, and I have already—”
“Recommended preliminary approval,” Adrian finished.
“Without disclosing your personal relationship with its founder.”
