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Chapter 331: Montauk
The wind off the Atlantic was strong enough to rock the van as it rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hill, half a mile short of the house with the widow's walk.Adrian Volkov sat in the passenger seat with a thermal scope in his lap and a cigarette he hadn't lit between his teeth. He was a big man, broad through the chest and shoulders, with close-cropped blond hair and pale gray eyes that gave away nothing at all. He had spent Six years running the Volkov family's business in New York, and in that time he had learned that most problems could be solved with money, a few with fear, and the rest with a bullet. He had a feeling tonight was going to need all three.In the back of the van, six of his men checked their weapons in the glow of a red interior light. Fredrick Vance sat among them in a borrowed tactical vest, his face grim, a pistol resting on his knee."Two heat signatures on the ground floor," Volkov said, lowering the scope. "Both adult. Both moving. One near the kitchen,
Chapter 330: The Woman in Cell Block C
It took Hoffmann six hours, two favors, and a very expensive phone call to arrange a video visit with Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, and at four o'clock that afternoon, Frankfurt time, Ethan sat in front of a laptop in a borrowed office and watched his ex-wife walk into frame.Claire had always known how to enter a room. Even here, even now, she did it well. She sat down in the plastic chair on the other side of the screen with her chin up and her shoulders back, as if she were arriving at a gala rather than a prison visiting room. The orange jumpsuit should have made her look small, but it couldn't hide the long legs or the slim waist or the full breasts that had once turned every head on Fifth Avenue. Her hair was pulled back in a plain ponytail now, and there were lines around her eyes that hadn't been there a year ago, but her face was still the face he had fallen in love with, and for a second, it hurt to look at her."Ethan," she said, with a small, crooked smile. "You loo
Chapter 329: Ask Him About Miami
Ethan sat on the edge of the hotel bed in Frankfurt with the curtains open and the gray morning light coming in over the river, and he told his wife the story he had never told anyone."It was five years ago," he said. "Before I met you. Back when I still had the system."On the other end of the line, Chloe said nothing, but he heard her settle into a chair, and he knew she was listening."You remember how it worked. It would give me tasks, and when I finished them, it paid me. Some of them were small. Some of them were huge. That spring it gave me one that came with a ten million dollar reward, which was more than it had ever offered me." He rubbed his eyes. "The task said: Expose Kessler Capital before it collapses. Protect the investors.""Kessler," Chloe repeated."Lucas Kessler ran a hedge fund out of Miami. On paper, it was the best-performing fund in Florida. In reality, it was a Ponzi scheme, and almost all the money in it came from retirees. Teachers, nurses, firefighters. Th
Chapter 328: Benson
The fire trucks were still pouring water on what was left of St. Mary's when Vance drove Chloe and Natalia back through the gates of the Caldwell estate at a quarter past one in the morning.Natalia hadn't stopped shaking since the chapel. She sat in the back seat wrapped in Vance's coat, with her knees pulled up to her chest and her eyes fixed on nothing, whispering her son's name every few minutes as though saying it might bring him back. Chloe sat beside her and held her hand the whole way, and neither of them said much, because there was nothing either of them could say that would make it better.The lights were still on in the study.Chloe walked straight through the front door, past the startled housekeeper, and down the hallway without taking off her coat. It still smelled of smoke. Her hair smelled of smoke. When she pushed the study door open, her grandfather looked up from his chair by the fire, and the relief that flooded his face would have been touching if she hadn't know
Chapter 327
Chloe turned around, and for the first time she saw the man who had nearly destroyed her family.He was standing by the chapel door with the key still dangling from his fingers, and he looked nothing like a monster. He was somewhere in his mid-thirties, tall and easy in his body, with sandy hair that fell over his forehead and a face so open and handsome that a stranger would have trusted him with their car keys. He wore a camel overcoat over a navy sweater, and when he smiled at her, the corners of his eyes crinkled warmly.The gun in his other hand ruined the effect."Adrian," Chloe said. Her voice came out smaller than she wanted."Just Adrian," he agreed pleasantly, walking down the aisle toward her. "Surnames are such a commitment. Please, sit. You've had a long week.""Let her go." Chloe stepped in front of Natalia, putting herself between the gun and the bound woman. "Whatever you want, you don't need her.""Oh, I need everyone, Chloe. That's the secret to my whole career." He
Chapter 326
Chloe looked at the envelope for a long time without touching it.Her grandfather waited across the table, his hands folded on the white cloth, the way he used to wait when she was a little girl trying to decide whether to confess to breaking something. Through the tall windows behind him, the October sun lay across the frosted lawn, and somewhere upstairs a nanny was humming to Alexander."I'm not signing anything today," Chloe said finally."I didn't expect you to." Henry Caldwell nodded, as if she'd passed a test. "The offer stands until the board vote. Take the papers. Read them when you're ready."She picked up the envelope and held it against her chest, and she hated how light it felt for something that could end her marriage.---In Frankfurt, Ethan saw the photograph at six in the morning, when Marcus sent it to him and a single word: Fuck.He called Chloe fourteen times. On the fifteenth, she picked up, but she didn't say anything. He could hear her breathing, and he could he
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