Chapter 6 - The Man Beside HimMarcus Bennett did not react when Nathan accused him.
That made it worse.
Nathan stood on one side of the conference room.
Marcus stood on the other.
Emily remained between them.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
The distance across the table contained two decades of loyalty.
Marcus had been twenty-three when Nathan first met him.
A junior security officer assigned to drive Victoria Sterling after a threat against the family.
He taught Nathan how to throw a punch.
How to spot someone following him.
How to enter a crowded room without standing with his back to a door.
After Victoria died, Marcus stayed.
Through corporate wars.
Kidnapping threats.
Lawsuits.
Nathan’s first hostile takeover.
His worst breakup.
Every Christmas Nathan pretended not to celebrate.
Marcus had been there.
Now Nathan asked one question.
“Were you at the house that night?”
Marcus said, “Yes.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Nathan stared.
“The security record said you were in Boston.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because I changed it.”
Nathan laughed.
The sound was dangerous.
“You changed the record.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Marcus looked at Emily.
“I was helping your mother.”
Nathan slammed his hand against the table.
“Everyone was helping my mother except me!”
Emily flinched.
Marcus did not.
“Your mother believed someone inside the family security team was reporting to your father.”
Nathan stared.
“My father was supposedly dead.”
“Your mother knew he wasn’t.”
Nathan began pacing.
“So she recruited you.”
“Yes.”
“To do what?”
“Track Preston. Track Gregory. Protect Emily.”
Emily looked up.
“You were following me?”
“For six months.”
Her anger flared.
“Without telling me?”
“Victoria’s orders.”
“Did Samuel know?”
“Yes.”
Emily looked betrayed.
Marcus continued.
“The night Victoria died, she called me around seven. She said she had confronted Gregory earlier that afternoon.”
Nathan stopped.
“Gregory was there?”
“No. He called.”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know. Victoria wouldn’t tell me.”
Marcus sat slowly.
“She told me Preston was coming to the house. She wanted me nearby but invisible.”
“Why?”
“She planned to make him believe she had not copied the ledger.”
Emily remembered.
That explained Victoria’s strange calm before Preston arrived.
“She was setting a trap.”
Marcus nodded.
“Preston came. They argued. He left.”
“You saw him leave?”
“Yes.”
“At what time?”
“10:06.”
Emily nodded.
That matched her memory.
Marcus continued.
“I entered through the service entrance at 10:10.”
Emily stared.
“I never saw you.”
“You were upstairs packing.”
She remembered Victoria telling her to bring a suitcase.
“Then what?”
“I spoke with Victoria for about ten minutes.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Was she sick?”
“She was tired. Angry. But standing.”
“Medication?”
Marcus nodded.
“She had the bottle on her desk.”
Emily moved closer.
“You saw it?”
“Yes.”
“Was it full?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathan asked, “When did you leave?”
“10:23.”
“My mother died over an hour later.”
“Yes.”
“Who entered after you?”
Marcus hesitated.
Emily immediately noticed.
“Marcus.”
He looked at her.
“Who?”
“There was one person.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“Name.”
“Arthur Bell.”
Emily blinked.
“The restaurant owner?”
Nathan stared.
Marcus nodded.
“Arthur Bell wasn’t always a restaurateur.”
Emily’s stomach dropped.
Nathan had known Arthur casually for years.
Bell’s restaurant hosted Sterling events.
He sat on two charity boards.
He had personally greeted Nathan that evening.
Marcus continued.
“In 2014, Arthur Bell handled private banking for Price Capital.”
Nathan whispered, “Jesus.”
“He arrived at the estate at 10:41.”
“Why?”
“He told the gate officer Victoria requested documents.”
“Did she?”
“I don’t know.”
“When did he leave?”
“11:18.”
Emily gripped the table.
Victoria collapsed around 11:25.
Nathan looked at Marcus.
“And you never told me.”
“I told Samuel.”
“Why not me?”
“Because Samuel believed Bell was feeding information directly to Robert.”
Nathan’s eyes burned.
“You should have told me.”
“You were twenty.”
“Stop saying that!”
Marcus finally raised his voice.
“You were twenty and your father had already staged his own death to escape federal investigators! Your uncle controlled half your trust. Preston Price controlled three board seats. Your mother was dead. Emily was being framed. And we didn’t know how many people around you were compromised.”
Nathan stared.
Marcus lowered his voice.
“If we told you then, you would have done exactly what you are doing now.”
“What?”
“Declared war on all of them.”
Nathan’s answer came without hesitation.
“Yes.”
“And they would have killed you.”
Silence.
Emily watched both men.
Marcus looked older than he had the day before.
“Did you remove Victoria’s medication?”
Nathan asked.
“No.”
“Can you prove that?”
“No.”
Nathan looked toward the window.
Marcus accepted the answer.
“Then remove me from your security detail.”
Emily looked at him.
Nathan turned.
“What?”
“If you suspect me, I cannot protect you.”
Nathan’s anger faltered.
Marcus placed his security credentials on the table.
“I’ll stay available for questions.”
Then he walked out.
Nathan watched the door close.
Emily waited.
“You believe him,” she said.
“I don’t know what I believe.”
“Yes, you do.”
Nathan sat heavily.
“I believe he lied.”
“So did I.”
“That isn’t helping.”
“It isn’t supposed to.”
Emily sat opposite him.
“People lied because they were afraid.”
“And that makes it acceptable?”
“No.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“That fear makes people stupid.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Including you.”
She nodded.
“Including me.”
For the first time, his anger softened.
Claire entered carrying a file.
“I have worse news.”
Nathan sighed.
“Of course you do.”
Claire dropped the file onto the table.
“Arthur Bell sold his restaurant six months ago.”
Emily frowned.
“He was there tonight.”
“He still manages it publicly, but ownership transferred.”
“To whom?”
Claire opened the document.
A Delaware company.
Linden Hospitality LLC.
Nathan scanned it.
“Who owns Linden?”
“Another company.”
“And that?”
“Another.”
Nathan looked irritated.
Claire smiled grimly.
“I kept going.”
She slid one final paper toward him.
Ultimate beneficial owner.
Eleanor Price.
Emily stared.
“Eleanor owns the restaurant?”
“Through four shell companies.”
Nathan remembered Eleanor tearing Emily’s uniform.
The manager warning Sophie not to speak.
Arthur Bell appearing only after Nathan arrived.
It had felt spontaneous.
Cruel, yes.
But spontaneous.
Now he wondered.
“Emily.”
She looked at him.
“What if Eleanor knew you worked there?”
Emily’s face changed.
“No.”
“She could have chosen the table.”
“No.”
“She could have arranged the event.”
“No.”
Nathan pressed.
“You’ve worked there how long?”
“Eight months.”
“Has Eleanor visited before?”
Emily thought.
“Three times.”
“Did she ever interact with you?”
“No.”
“Did she look at you?”
Emily remembered.
The second visit.
Eleanor had stared from across the room.
Emily assumed she was judging the uniform.
Now she was not sure.
Claire sat.
“What if last night wasn’t random?”
Emily felt sick.
“She tore my dress because of three drops of wine.”
“Maybe she was trying to provoke you.”
Nathan understood.
“If Emily reacted physically, Eleanor could claim assault.”
Claire nodded.
“And the old theft story returns.”
“Why?”
Emily asked.
Nathan looked toward the ledger.
“To discredit you before my father came back publicly.”
The court filing had appeared hours later.
Too coordinated.
Nathan’s phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown sender.
One photograph.
Emily opened it.
Arthur Bell standing beside Robert Sterling.
Taken recently.
Very recently.
A second message arrived.
ASK EMILY WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BABY.
Nathan frowned.
“What baby?”
Emily dropped the phone.
It hit the table.
Her face turned white.
Nathan stood.
“Emily?”
She backed away.
“No.”
“What baby?”
Her lips trembled.
“Nothing.”
“Emily.”
She shook her head.
Claire stared.
“What is he talking about?”
Emily turned toward the window.
Twelve years earlier.
Philadelphia.
A motel room.
A pregnancy test.
Two blue lines.
She had told no one except Samuel Keane.
No one.
Not even Nathan.
Especially not Nathan.
Nathan stepped closer.
“Emily.”
She closed her eyes.
“There is one thing I never told your mother.”
His voice softened.
“What?”
She turned.
Tears filled her eyes.
“When I left New York twelve years ago…”
She swallowed.
“I was pregnant.”
Nathan froze.
Claire slowly sat down.
Nathan’s face became unreadable.
“Whose child?”
Emily looked at him.
The question was simple.
The answer was not.
May you like
Because the man whose child she had carried was another person Nathan believed had been dead for years.
And if Robert Sterling knew about that child, then the war was no longer only about money.
