19
Tony’s Friday started out normal enough. He left his house at 5:00 a.m., stopped at the gym to work out and was sitting behind his desk with a large mug of coffee by 7:00 a.m.
He opened his appointment book and began to scribble himself a note, but halfway through the message, his pen ran out of ink. He opened the left lower drawer of his desk and began rummaging through its contents in search of ink refills. When he pulled out a stack of manila folders, half of them spilled to the floor. Without the blunder, his day may have gone differently. As he knelt down beside his desk to put the papers back in their files, he picked up an invoice that had slipped out of one of the folders.
He frowned as he looked at it. It was over a year old and from Malone Investigations for surveillance work at an address in Reston. His eyes centered in on the address and then moved to the sticky note, which read Give to Joe.
He left his office, invoice in hand, and crossed to Joseph’s office. “Is he in?” He stopped at the secretary’s desk.
“He’s in court today.”
Moments later, he was in the office of the firm accountants. “What account was this charged to?” He held out the invoice to the lead accountant.
“This is over fifteen months old,” the man said, looking up from the invoice.
“I know the date,” Tony said shortly. “Can you plug in the name or invoice number or something to let me know what client it was charged to?”
“Sure.” He set the invoice off to the side of his desk, his eyes returning to the spreadsheet on the computer screen. “I’ll let you know when—”
“Now.” He put his hand on the sheet and slid it back towards the accountant. “I need to know now.”
Within a minute, he held the sheet out to Tony. “It wasn’t charged to a client. Mr. Craig paid it himself. He said it was personal business.”
“Personal business?”
“That’s right.” The accountant nodded. “I remember, because I’d charged it to another client, and he told me to transfer the charges to him. He wrote out a personal check. See?” He pointed to the monitor where, next to the charge, was a note reading, Paid—J. Craig by personal check.
Tony met John Bianchi for a lunch meeting to discuss the mechanics involved in setting up a trust for his son. When the business concluded, John turned the conversation personal. “I made a killing on the stock market this week, thanks to Joe’s advice.”
“Is that so?”
“As soon as I heard the news break on Monday night regarding Zurtech, I put a call in to my stock broker and had him sell three hundred shares short. By yesterday, I’d made over thirty thousand dollars—”
“Joe told you to sell Zurtech stock short?” Tony sat up straighter in his chair.
“Not specifically. I had lunch with him a few months ago, and he gave me a short course on investment strategies. He told me you could make as much money when a company is losing value as you can when it’s gaining. He explained the whole ‘selling short’ strategy to me. I took his advice. I knew Zurtech wouldn’t be going up this week, so I did what he said and made a bundle. He probably did too.”
“Probably,” Tony said.
When Joseph walked into his office at 5:30 p.m., Tony was sitting behind his desk, a highball glass full of scotch cupped in his right hand. “Hello.” Joseph hesitated briefly before setting his briefcase next to the door. “Are you waiting for me?”
“Yes.” Tony made no move to vacate the chair. “Close the door.”
Joseph pushed the door closed before crossing the room and lowering himself into one of his club chairs. “What’s up?”
“I don’t know.” Tony met his eyes. “I was hoping maybe you could tell me.”
Joseph leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and linking his hands. “I think you need to tell me what’s on your mind. You’re the one sitting in my chair, and I’m assuming there’s a reason.”
“I want to know what your involvement is in this Zurtech story.”
“What?” Joseph sat up. “How could I possibly have any involvement with that?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.” The set of Tony’s jaw was the only indication he was angry.
“I’d expect this from Kevin, but not from you. I didn’t have any involvement.” He was out of his chair and crossing to the bar.
“Is this the first time?”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about. Did Kevin put you up to this?”
“I figured it out myself.”
“Figured what out?” Joseph asked shortly.
“You’re going to stand there and lie to me? Like I’m just anybody?”
“Well, you’re sitting there accusing me of who knows what, like I’m just anybody.”
“I know you met with Lia and the other woman after this firm and, in particular, you and I decided we shouldn’t take the case. I know you paid to have surveillance on the house at 52561 Orange Avenue in Reston and I know you came to a meeting forty minutes late a few weeks ago because Malone stopped by the office. Who, as far as I can tell, isn’t involved in any of your cases with this firm.” He stood and walked around the desk, stopping just feet in front of Joseph. “Don’t lie to me, Joe. I want to know what you were doing.”
“This has nothing to do with you or this firm. And I have a problem with you coming into my office, sitting behind my desk and acting like you’re sitting in judgment over me. Zurtech and my involvement in it, or lack thereof, is none of your business.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. The Zurtech case was brought to your attention because of your involvement in this firm.”
“So?” Joseph crossed his arms tightly over his chest.
“So, you used insider information for your own gain.”
“And how did I use it for my own gain? Even if I am responsible for leaking that information to the media, which I’m not admitting, how does that benefit me?”
Tony stared into his friend’s eyes. “I’ve been defending you to Kevin for years. And he was right. You’re standing there, looking me in the eyes, and lying to me.”
“And you stand there in judgment over me, accusing me of God knows what!”
“Damn it, Joe! You better answer my questions, or so help me, I’ll turn you in to the SEC and the bar association.”
Joseph took a step backwards, his cheeks turning red. “What are you talking about?”
“You!” Tony closed the distance separating them, their faces inches apart. “You betrayed this firm and me.”
“What are you talking—”
“Stop fucking lying to me,” Tony growled. “Don’t you get it? I know what you did. You gathered the evidence and then, last Friday, while you were holed up in this office too busy with your portfolio to deal with firm business, you sold stock of Zurtech. Then you leaked the information you gathered to the media and waited to cash in.”
“Wow.” Joseph smiled slightly as he shook his head. “You think you’ve got this figured out, don’t you?” He turned from Tony and walked across the office.
“Yes. I do.” Tony’s gaze followed his movement to the window. “How many times, Joseph? How many times have you used information from our clients—insider information—to line your own pockets?”
“I’m not even going to dignify that question with a response.”
“You’d better, because I’m close to turning you in to the SEC.”
“Really?” Joseph turned from the window, his eyebrows raised, his jaw clenched.
“Yes.” Tony gave an exaggerated nod of his head. “Did you give any thought to the other people at this firm when you decided to break the law?” His face was red and his lips were turned down. “Did you consider that you were jeopardizing this entire practice?”
“I think you’re being a bit melodramatic.”
“Damn it, this is serious! You used insider information to make a profit on the market—information you were privy to because of your association with this firm. If the SEC starts investigating, they’ll figure it out and then we’ll be no better than Zurtech. No one in the city will hire us.”
“They weren’t clients of this firm. The records aren’t even here. There’s absolutely no proof.”
“Except for the word of the women that came in here seeking our service! Jesus, does Lia have any idea what you did?”
“You’re blowing this whole thing out of proportion.” Joseph crossed the room to stand in front of Tony. “I told them there was no case. That a jury would not award them any money. And that was the truth. Then I conducted an investigation of my own, an investigation that cost me over a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“Stop pretending that what you did wasn’t illegal,” Tony said through clenched teeth. “You broke the law. You broke the law using that computer.” He pointed to the computer on Joseph’s desk. “In this office.”
“The information was available to the general public. Anyone could have uncovered this information if they watched the house.”
“Anyone who knew to watch the house! Anyone who attended the staff meeting where we discussed the case—”
“That’s not—”
“Save it! We both know the law and the truth.”
Joseph sighed. “I’ll stop arguing with you about it, but it doesn’t mean I agree.”
Tony glared at him for several silent moments. “You may have almost a billion dollars, and it may be worth jeopardizing the reputation of this entire firm so you can make whatever the hell you made, but what about the rest of us? Huh?” He took a couple steps forward until he was inches from Joseph. “I’ve put everything I have into this place. Everything! And I need my draw. I count on it, as do the other partners who work their asses off for this place! And then there’s you,” he spit out, poking Joseph in the center of the chest. “You used this firm. You used me. Hell, you even used Lia to make a quick buck.” As he spoke, getting angrier at each word, he moved still closer to Joseph, who backed up until his thighs came into contact with his desk. “And all I want to know now is why. Eight hundred million isn’t enough? How much is going to be enough? And how many of our clients did you use? How many times over the past six years have you used insider information?”
“None!” Joseph stepped sideways to remove himself from the small space between Tony and his desk. “I’ve never used information gained from our clients to make stock picks.”
Tony turned to face him. “You just did.”
“No.” Joseph shook his head. “We’re not in total agreement over that point, but I assure you, I’ve never used information gained from our clients to make money on the market.”
“Of course we may not be in total agreement on that point.”
“Tony, come on,” Joseph said. “I have a record of every stock I’ve ever purchased. If you don’t believe me, you can—”
“I want you out of here. I want to dissolve this partnership. I can’t—I won’t work with someone I don’t trust.”
Joseph’s eyes opened wider. “Tony?” He reached out, but Tony moved back before he could touch him. “You can’t mean this. We’ve been friends for—”
“You’re not my friend. My friend wouldn’t jeopardize this firm for his own personal gain. My friend wouldn’t look me in the eyes and lie to me. The person I thought was my friend is the person Kevin Stuart has been describing for years, only I didn’t believe—didn’t want to believe the truth. I don’t know you, Joseph.” He pushed past him and walked towards the door.
“Tony! Don’t walk out of here!”
“We’re done.”
“What’s going on in there?” Kevin asked as Tony passed him, coming out of the office. “What in the hell is all the yelling about?”
“Nothing,” Tony snapped, continuing down the hall.
“Hi.” A light knock on Joseph’s office door preceded Lia’s entrance thirty minutes later. “Are you sleeping?” she asked when she saw him stretched out on the couch.
“No.” Joseph pushed himself up on his elbows. “I was just resting.”
“Long day?”
“Yeah. Are you ready to go?” He threw his legs over the side of the couch and sat up, running a hand through his already tousled hair.
“Yes. I’m starved. I missed lunch.” She followed him towards his desk and watched as he sorted through a stack of messages. “I ran into Tony downstairs.”
“Oh?”
“He almost walked right past me without saying a word. I think he would have if I hadn’t stepped in front of him. He seemed upset.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He barely acknowledged me. He said hello and that was it. He never even stopped walking.”
“He was probably distracted about a case.”
“I guess. Are you ready?”
He placed the messages back on his desk. “Yes, let’s go.”
“Did you see the paper today?” Lia asked as they entered Joseph’s condo hours later, recalling something she’d heard earlier on the radio. “It looks like Stan Hall’s brother will be indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering or something like that.”
“Extortion and money laundering,” Joseph said as they walked into the family room. “And yes, I saw the paper. It should be around here somewhere. I read it before going off to court this morning.” He glanced around the spotless room. “It must be in the kitchen or study.”
“It’s amazing how quickly everything’s unraveling.” Lia sat down on the couch, curling her legs up beneath her.
In the days since the media began reporting the Zurtech story, Stan Hall had resigned, several CEOs had admitted to being blackmailed, several female Zurtech employees already had lawyers filing motions against Zurtech, and a financial officer of Tia Tacos had come forward to say he personally saw Stan Hall bring large sums of cash to the office for deposit into Tia Tacos’ bank accounts. He said that when he asked Mike Hall, Stan’s brother, where the money came from, he was told it came from trucks, but he knew it wasn’t the truth. When the story broke, he immediately called the police, not wanting anyone to think he was involved in money laundering.
As the nation and the world watched, seemingly mesmerized by the soap opera like plot, the story of the blackmail scheme slowly unfolded, reading more like a fiction novel than an actual news story as new details made the front pages of papers worldwide.
“Eric Nettles made today’s paper,” Joseph said as he joined her on the couch. “Someone in the FBI leaked out the names of the men on the tapes.”
Lia sprang up. “I want to see it.”
Joseph’s lips turned up. “I thought you didn’t want revenge.”
“I don’t. But if he’s in the paper being exposed for the jerk he is, I can’t help but take enjoyment in that fact. Where did you say the paper was?”
“In the kitchen or my study. I’m going to take a shower while you get your enjoyment, okay?”
“Maybe I’ll meet you there.” A few minutes later she closed the front section of the newspaper and set it on Joseph’s desk. She’d never considered herself vindictive, but knowing Eric Nettles didn’t get off scot-free—that he’d actually experienced a degree of humiliation like many of his victims—felt, well, good.
She was about to leave Joseph’s office and join him in the shower when she noticed a few sheets of paper on the floor to the left of the desk. She reached down and picked them up, her eyes automatically scanning the contents of the top sheet. It was a confirmation report from his brokerage firm, detailing stock activity from the week prior.
She placed it on the center of his desk and pushed back her chair, intending to leave the room, when she reached out and picked up the sheet again, her unconscious mind catching something on the first glance that her conscious mind missed. Zurtech! He’d conducted some type of transaction with Zurtech stock. Either buying or selling, but with her limited knowledge of the stock market and even more limited experience interpreting broker transaction reports, she couldn’t figure out what he’d done.
She’d ask him, she decided, standing up. And then, as she walked towards the door, she noticed the secret panel leading to his hidden room of files was open.
“I thought you were going to join me,” Joseph said when he came out of his bathroom, freshly showered with a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.
“What did you do?” Lia’s voice was barely a whisper as her eyes met his. “Were you using me all along?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Tony’s upset, you can’t listen to him.”
“Tony? Was he involved in this too?”
“What are we talking about here?” He lowered himself beside her on the bed, his narrowed eyes meeting hers.
“I’m talking about what you did.”
“What I did? Why don’t you tell me what you think I did?”
“I…” She couldn’t believe it. She felt completely numb.
“You what?” Joseph took her hand. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I went through the Zurtech file. I know everything.” Her eyes met his. “Everything.”
“Lia, you don’t understand.”
“You’re right.” A few tears escaped her eyes. “I don’t understand how someone can use someone else’s pain, someone else’s humiliation, for their own financial gain.”
“I didn’t—”
“Yes, you did. It’s in the file. And it’s dated. Back in December, after your meeting with Claudia, before we ever even met, you have notes about how far you thought the stock would fall when the news was released. You—you planned this before you ever met me.”
“That’s right.” Joseph gripped her upper arms and turned her to face him. “I planned it before I ever met you, but I fell in love with you. I am in love with you.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” She frowned through her tears.
“A lot. I didn’t know I was going to fall in love with you when I came up with the plan.”
“So?”
“So I never used you.”
“Oh, okay. So it’s okay to use innocent women as long as you’re not in love with them, and if you are in love with them it’s not using them because you are in love with them?” She was infuriated with the sheer absurdity of his argument. “Are you even listening to yourself?”
“Yes, but you’re obviously not. My plan was not to use innocent women. Claudia was a prostitute. There was no way in hell a jury was going to award her one cent. And if she went to the police, Hall’s operation was so clever they wouldn’t have been able to prove anything. It would have ended up in the news—like it is now, except your name would have been attached to it. And Hall would have covered everything up and nothing would have happened. Your reputation would be soiled, and he would have gotten away with it.”
“Oh, so you were doing us a favor by exposing the operation and making yourself a huge profit on the stock market in the process.”
“That’s right. I exposed Zurtech and Stan Hall for what they were, exactly like you wanted. And instead of receiving payment from you and the other women involved, I extracted my own.”
Lia stared at him in silence, trying to understand how he could believe there was nothing wrong with what he’d done. “How much?”
“How much what?”
“How much money did you make? How much pay did you manage to extract?”
“I only made about twenty million from Zurtech.”
“But that wasn’t all you made, was it? You were making money on other companies too, right?” She hadn’t read it in the file, but she recognized the names of other companies on the transaction report in his office.
“My investments were risky and speculative. I sold short in the hopes that some of the CEOs would be mentioned, and I also bought heavily in a small electronics company that had been competing with Zurtech for a large contract. I was hoping they’d get the contract because of Zurtech’s negative publicity, and I was right.”
“So, how much?” Lia repeated. “How much money did you make?”
“I don’t know exactly. I haven’t computed everything. And I still own over twenty-five percent of this electronics company, so I wouldn’t be able to cash it in, even if I wanted to, without seriously bringing down the value of the stock.”
“Approximately, Joseph. How much?”
“Three hundred million.” He continued meeting her eyes. “Approximately.”
She felt like the wind was sucked out of her lungs, never having imagined the amount could be so high. No wonder he’d been so upset when the story wasn’t immediately released. “And here I thought you were trying to get back at the men who humiliated your fiancée. How naïve you must have thought me.”
“I was. That was a big part of—”
“Stop lying to me. Hasn’t there already been enough of that?”
“I’m not lying.”
“Yes, you are.” She stood and walked towards the bedroom door.
“Where are you going? Lia, don’t be this way. Don’t make a bigger deal out of this than it is.”
“I’m not, Joseph.” She turned back to him. “I don’t know who you are anymore. The person I thought you were wouldn’t be capable of something like this.” She turned and left the room.
“Wait!” Joseph followed her down the stairs and into the family room. “Lia, please, let me explain.”
“Explain what?” She picked up her purse. “How money is more important to you than me?”
“That isn’t true.” He touched her arm. “Don’t leave. Let’s talk this out.”
“There’s nothing left to say. The file speaks for itself.”
“Lia, this has nothing to do with you. I swear, I never would have done this if I knew you’d interpret it this way. Please, please sit down and let me explain.”
She knew she should leave, because there was no way he could make her understand, but she wanted to believe him. To believe he was the man she thought he was, because anything less meant it was over, and that thought was beyond comprehension.
She let him pull her down onto the couch beside him and did her best not to cry as she looked at his handsome face, strands of wet hair falling over his forehead. He was still naked except for the towel at his waist, and her eyes moved to the large expanse of his chest. She wanted to touch him, suddenly needing to feel the reassurance of his touch. Or maybe she knew it might be over, and she wanted to make love to him one more time before letting the realization sink in. Because she loved him—at least the man she thought him to be. And if that wasn’t who he was, she surely could wait another few hours to find out.
“Just listen to me for a second.”
“I don’t want to talk,” she whispered. “I want to go to bed.” She didn’t want to leave him tonight, and she was afraid if he explained, she’d have to.
It took him a few moments to change gears and comprehend what she was saying. “I thought you wanted to talk.”
“We can talk later.” She touched his leg. “I want to go to bed.”
“Why?” He frowned.
“Make love to me, Joseph.”
It was bright outside when Joseph awoke. “Lia?”
“I’m here.” Her light voice came from the leather couch across the room, where she was sitting fully clothed, her knees drawn up against her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs.
“Come here.” He patted the bed.
“No. I’m ready to talk now.”
“We can talk in bed.”
“No, Joseph.”
“May I at least have a cup of coffee first?”
“The kitchen’s probably a better place to talk anyway.”
“You betrayed me,” she said when they were sitting across from each other in his kitchen. “After what I’ve been through with Ned and Eric, I thought you understood how important honesty was to me.” She’d been up for hours, and she knew there was nothing he could say to undo the truth. He had lied and manipulated her so he could make money. It was like some kind of nightmare she was never going to wake up from.
“I didn’t exactly lie to you.”
“Yes, you did. You’ve been lying to me since the first time we met. You told me we might have a case and the whole time you knew we didn’t. You wanted to gather the information necessary to carry out your already well-conceived plan—damaging Zurtech’s reputation and therefore their stock price.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I told you from the beginning you shouldn’t go to court. That Zurtech’s attorneys would destroy your reputation. I said that from the beginning.”
“Okay, maybe.” She couldn’t recall their discussion as clearly as he obviously could. “But I distinctly remember you saying that they might settle—that I might receive money.”
“Right. And do you recall what you said?” When she didn’t respond after several seconds, he continued.“You said you didn’t care about compensation. You wanted them to pay for what they’d done to you. You wanted Zurtech and Stan Hall to be exposed, and that’s what I did, Lia. I exposed them.”
“But I wanted to go to the police. That’s how I wanted them exposed. I wanted the police to start investigating.”
“Going to the police was not the answer. It may have exposed Hall, but it would have hurt you too. As your lawyer and friend, I had to advise you against that.”
“Maybe that’s true. Maybe I should never have gone to the police, but your motivation for telling me not to go had nothing to do with my reputation or well-being. You wanted to gather more information on your own and—and time the release of the information. The truth is you lied to me.”
“How did I lie to you?” He brought his eyebrows together. “I may not have told you everything I was doing, everything I was thinking, but I didn’t lie to you.”
“Yes, you did! You represented yourself under false pretenses. I thought you were my lawyer. Claudia thought you were her lawyer. But you were using us to get information.”
“Look.” He reached across the table and covered one of her hands. “You wanted them to pay for what they did to you.”
“Forget it—”
“No, no.” He gripped her hand when she attempted to pull it back. “Did you or did—”
“Forget it,” she repeated, louder this time, but there was no quieting Joseph, who continued to talk over her interruption.
“Did you or did you not tell me all you were interested in was having the operation exposed?”
“Fine.” Lia sighed. “Fine, whatever you say. You were trained at the top law school in the country. I don’t have a chance to win in an argument with you, regardless of whether or not I’m right. You’re twisting everything I say to fit your argument.”
“No, I’m not. I’m trying to point out that you got exactly what you wanted.”
“And you certainly got what you wanted too, didn’t you, Joseph?”
“Yes, I did.”
She felt defeated, numb, like she’d been in a physical fight, and there he sat, completely calm, as if he really believed there was nothing wrong with what he’d done. “Was it worth it?”
“Worth what?”
“Hurting me. Breaking the law. I mean, isn’t what you did considered insider trading?”
His lips turned up. “Technically, I suppose. Are you planning to turn me in?”
“This isn’t funny, Joseph.”
“It certainly wouldn’t be if you decided to turn me in.”
“This is serious. I feel like you’ve betrayed me.” She laid her hand on her chest as she pleaded with her eyes for some level of understanding.
“But I didn’t. I can’t help what you think or feel. All I know is my own motivation. And it certainly wasn’t to betray you.”
She dropped her face into her hands for several seconds before once again lifting her head and meeting his eyes. “I know it wasn’t to betray me. It was to make a bunch of money—”
“And to expose Hall and Zurtech for what they did to you.”
“That may have been an outcome, but that wasn’t your motivation. Your motivation was to make the money.”
“My motivation for taking any case is to make money. But I guess because I fell in love with you, I was expected to handle the case pro bono?” He finished the coffee in his mug and pushed back his chair. “You want some more?” he asked, reaching for her empty cup.
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m going to leave.”
“Leave?” Joseph slowly sat back down. “Where are you going to go?”
“Home.” She suddenly felt close to tears, but she was determined not to cry. “You betrayed my trust. You can pretend you didn’t because I ultimately got what I wanted, but it doesn’t change the fact that you weren’t honest with me. That your overriding motivation was to make money.”
“So you’re leaving?”
“I can’t trust you.”
“You aren’t serious. You’re leaving because of a little misunderstanding?”
“It’s not a misunderstanding. We have completely different ethics. To me, lying by omission is the same as lying. I mean, in your world, I guess Ned didn’t betray me when he started sleeping with Candice.”
“In my world?”
“Right. Because he never told me he wasn’t sleeping with her, so he wasn’t really being dishonest.”
“What are you saying?”
“That as your fiancée, the woman you’re supposed to love more than anyone else in the world, there shouldn’t be any omission. We’ve been together over a year, and if there wasn’t anything wrong with what you were doing, why didn’t you ever mention it to me?”
“Because it didn’t have anything to do with you. I wasn’t stealing money from you. I wasn’t doing anything to you. It was none of your business.”
Lia’s mouth dropped open and she could feel her face heating up. “None of my business! If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have made that money.”
“No, if it weren’t for me, I wouldn’t have made that money. I spent over a hundred thousand dollars on the investigation. Without the information I uncovered, nothing would have happened. Neither of us would have gotten what we wanted.”
“Oh, I see.” Lia stood up and glared down at him. “Now I’m supposed to be grateful to you?”
“No.” He reached out for her arm, but she stepped back before he could touch her. “You don’t have to be grateful, but I think you’re blowing this completely out of proportion. This isn’t a big deal.”
“But why?” Lia met his eyes. “Why would you be so desperate to make money?”
“Because of Eastman. I want to meet him before he dies.”
Of course, Lia thought as she slowly lowered herself back into her chair. How could she not have realized it sooner? His whole purpose for being was to make the Forbes list so he could meet his father, and that obsession resulted in him not only betraying her, but also betraying his ethics and probably his partners too. “But you broke the law. I mean, you used information from a client who came to your firm to manipulate the stock market. If it came out, your whole firm would suffer.”
“It’s not going to come out. I covered myself. Most of my money was made through the small electronics firm. The SEC would have a hard time proving insider trading there.”
“But why would you even take the chance?” Lia was trying her best to understand. “Just the hint of an investigation would hurt your law firm.”
“I needed to finish this.” He gripped her hand. “I’m going to make the list this year. He’s going to see how successful I am.”
“But what about the rest of us, Joseph? Is this why Tony seemed so distracted when I ran in to him yesterday? Does he know what you did?” His lack of response was all the answer she needed. She could feel herself getting angry all over again at the ludicrousness of his motivation. Here he was, hands down the most intelligent person she’d ever know, more concerned with what a stranger thought of him than his fiancée and best friend.
“You don’t understand.”
“You’re right, I don’t. Because from where I’m sitting, it seems you care more about impressing a man you don’t even know than being loyal to the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with.”
“One has nothing to do with the other. I’ve been working towards this goal my entire life, and I’ve finally reached it. You should be happy for me.”
“I’m happy it’s over, if it really is. What happens if he makes the list too? Does that mean you’ll have to do whatever it takes to make more money for another year?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“But what if it does?”
“It won’t. It’s over.”
Lia sighed as she pulled her hand back and once again stood up. “You’re thinking is so warped.”
“You don’t understand.”
“You’re right.”
“Well, at least we can agree on that. We should probably drop it because this isn’t a big deal.”
“And that is the problem,” Lia said, pointing at him. “The fact that you don’t realize what a big deal it is shows how different we really are. I can’t spend my life with someone who thinks what you did was okay. I can’t.”
“So, what?” Joseph laughed. “Now you’re breaking up with me over this?”
“I don’t know.” Lia’s voice caught as she met his eyes. “I don’t know. I need to think. I have to go.”
“Lia!” Joseph was out of his chair and following her into the family room, taking hold of her arm and forcing her to stop. “Look at me!” He gripped her upper arms and turned her to face him. “Remember me? I’m the man you made love with last night. How can you even imply that you’re not sure about us? I love you. You love me.”
“I don’t know if that’s enough.”
His eyes opened wider. “You don’t know if that’s enough?”
She dropped her gaze, refusing to let the pain so evident in his eyes sway her from what she knew she had to do. She remembered the pain in her father’s eyes when he told her he was leaving the family and then in Ned’s eyes the first time he told her he was leaving. It certainly didn’t mean they were better people than she thought they were. It just meant at those moments, they were feeling pain. “You lied to me, Joseph. And you used me.” When she pulled back, he let her go, dropping his hands to his sides.
“I’m sorry you see it that way, because I love you more than anything in this world. And I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”
“And you really don’t see anything wrong with what you did?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t, but it obviously hurt you, and that certainly wasn’t my intention.”
“What was your intention? To impress a man you don’t even know, without thought to how I would feel? You betrayed me, Joseph. You betrayed me to better a man you don’t even know.”
He scraped a weary hand down his face as he closed his eyes. “Why can’t you understand?”
“I do understand. You’re the one that doesn’t understand. You put money before my feelings.”
“You’re thinking of this wrong.”
She held up her hands. “I need to get out of here. I can’t bear another minute of this.”
“Lia—”
“No. Please, don’t say another word.” And with that she left.
Lia glanced at her cell phone. It was almost 11:00 p.m., and she hadn’t heard a word from Joseph since leaving his condominium that morning. She’d cried the whole drive back to the townhouse, unable to reconcile how the man who claimed to love her could put his desire for revenge before all else. She couldn’t believe it, and yet it was the truth. He was more concerned with impressing his biological father than protecting the woman he professed to love.
When she’d arrived home ten hours earlier she was convinced the relationship was over, that Joseph was the same as her father and Ned—someone who couldn’t be trusted. But as the day progressed, little cracks began developing in her resolve. Her mind kept conjuring up images of him running to the hospital when Taylor was sick, images of him pulling her fully clothed into the shower, images of him threatening Ned for disrespecting her, and finally a recurring image of him bending down on one knee and asking her to be his wife.
As hard as her mind tried to tell her otherwise, she couldn’t believe he was like her father and Ned. She knew he’d betrayed her, but it was more the betrayal of a fourteen-year-old boy than the man he was today. He’d made a vow to himself as a boy and apparently never reexamined it as a man. It was true he’d let it consume a large portion of his energy, but he was still the most amazing man she had ever known.
Part of her feared she was rationalizing his behavior because she didn’t have the strength to let him go, but the truth was she didn’t have the strength to let him go. She knew choosing to end her relationship with Joseph would be something she would regret every day for the rest of her life.
She picked up her empty wine glass and was on her way to the kitchen when she heard the doorbell. She closed her eyes, giving a silent prayer of thanks, and then was setting down her glass and making her way to the front door.
Moments later, she pulled open the door, her eyes meeting Joseph’s. He looked as bad as she felt. He was dressed uncharacteristically casually, in worn jeans and a Harvard T-shirt, his hair uncombed, his eyes red, but he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen.
“I’ll give it away,” he said deeply, his eyes meeting hers. “I’ll give every dollar I have away if it means keeping you.”
“Joseph.” Lia shook her head.
“I will.” He was in the house, his hands moving to the sides of her face. “None of it means anything to me if I can’t share it with you.”
“I love you,” she said softly, tears coming to her eyes. “I could never leave you.”
“Thank God.” He kissed her forehead as he pulled her into his arms. “Thank God.”
As Tony approached the reception area in front of his office Monday morning, Joseph stood to greet him.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show.”
“I’m a few minutes late.” Tony glanced at his watch. He’d left a message for Joseph saying he wanted to meet with him at 10:00 a.m.
“Good morning, Jennifer.” Tony turned his attention to his secretary. “Would you hold my calls?” He preceded Joseph into his office. “Have a seat.”
“I know you’re upset,” Joseph began as soon as they were seated, “but I think I can explain this so you’ll understand.”
“I’m listening.”
It took Joseph exactly twelve minutes to explain why he had risked his reputation and the reputation of the firm in order to make a virtual killing on the stock market. By the time he finished, Tony’s anger had returned.
“Let me get this straight.” There was a smile of disbelief on his face. “All of this, all your investments. You did it so you could make the Forbes list and meet Eastman?”
“Yes.”
“How much did you make?”
“About three hundred million.”
“So you think you have the money now?” If he was surprised by the amount, his face didn’t register it.
Again, Joseph nodded, but this time more hesitantly. “Yes. I think I do.”
“Congratulations,” Tony said after several seconds of silence. “You accomplished everything you set out to and, if I’m as lucky as you’ve been, you won’t bring this firm down in the process. Not that it would matter to you, especially if the fines weren’t large enough to cut too severely into your net worth.”
“Nothing’s going to—”
“Is there anything else?” Tony interrupted coldly. “Because I met with Kevin over the weekend and…” He paused as he leaned over and picked up his briefcase. “We came up with the terms for your departure.”
Joseph laughed. “What are you talking about?”
Tony opened the briefcase and pulled out a folder, opening it quickly before holding it out. “Here. Why don’t you go through this over the next day or so? I wrote it myself. It’s fairly straightforward and, under the circumstances, more than generous.”
Joseph frowned. “Did you listen to what—”
“Every word. And like I said, congratulations on accomplishing everything you set out to. I’m sure Eastman will be duly impressed. And now I’d like you to disassociate yourself from this firm.”
“I don’t want to disassociate myself from this firm.”
“Well.” Tony cocked his head to the side. “Then I guess you should have handled yourself in a way that would have benefited all of us and not only yourself.”
“Tony, this was it.” He held up the index finger of his right hand. “One time, just one time. You can go through my files. Before Zurtech, I never—”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s too late, Joe. I don’t trust you, and I told you Friday I won’t work with someone I don’t trust.”
Joseph gripped the folder in his hand, making no move to look at the contents inside. “You told Kevin about this?”
“No.” Tony lowered his eyes to his hands and studied his fingernails. “I told him you were leaving.”
Joseph’s face turned red. “Our friendship means so little to you?”
“Our friendship was important to me, and you took advantage of it. Kevin tried to warn me about you for years—about your insatiable appetite for money—but I wouldn’t listen because you were my friend, and I didn’t believe you were capable of doing something to jeopardize what we’d worked so hard to create. I trusted you. But I was wrong, because your obsession with making the Forbes list was apparently more important to you than anything else.”
“I’m ready to be a full-time partner again. This is what I love to do.”
“Well you’re going to have to do it elsewhere, because I can’t work with you.” His jaw was set as he looked at Joseph.
“So, that’s it.”
“Yes, that’s it.”
Joseph looked down at his hands, which were shaking. “Kevin must be overjoyed.”
“This isn’t about Kevin. You brought this on yourself.”
“Okay.” He nodded as he stood up. “I guess I’ll go read this.” He held up the file. He crossed to the door, stopping with his hand on the knob. “Besides Lia, you’re the only person I’ve ever told about Eastman, and I thought you understood.” He looked back over his shoulder. “You know what he did to me. You know. How can you not understand what I did?”
“I know what he did. And I know how deeply you feel about him, Joe, but that can’t begin to justify what you did. You betrayed the trust of every person at this firm, and you put us in jeopardy.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Joseph said before leaving the room.
“I’m sorry too, Joe,” Tony said to the empty room.
Two weeks later, Joseph lay on his bed fully clothed, waiting for Lia to arrive for dinner, the music of Copland’s Fanfare to the Common Man blaring through the stereo speakers as he stared up at the skylights above his bed. He’d been in the same position for over an hour.
He was worth over a billion dollars. Joseph Craig, the illegitimate son of a maid, in a matter of twenty years, went from owning only clothes and a few pieces of furniture to having a net worth of over a billion dollars. He was positioned to make the Forbes list of richest Americans. He had more money than the biological father who’d never acknowledged him. He’d realized his lifetime goal.
In the process, he’d broken the law, compromised his own principals, betrayed his fiancée and lost his best friend, a friend who served as the most stable influence of his adult life. He’d lost the respect of a man he held more esteem for than any other—a man who’d taken him into his home and made him part of his family, a man he thought of more as a brother than a friend.
“Joseph? Are you here?”
Joseph pushed a button on the remote, silencing the stereo. His gaze found Lia, who came through the doorway. “I love you,” he said as he pushed himself to a sitting position. “I love you more than I ever imagined possible.” He threw his feet over the side of the bed and stood up, crossing the room and meeting her at the door. “And I’m determined to get that sparkle to come back to your eyes when you look at me.”
“Sparkle?”
“The one that used to come to your eyes when you saw me.” He pulled her slowly towards him, his eyes never leaving hers. “I love you,” he said again before dropping his mouth over hers.
“Wow,” Lia said softly, when he lifted his head. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Sense.” He kissed her forehead. “I have a phone call to make, and then I’ll be ready to go.”