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Finally I was able to speak. “So you admit it.”
“No one caught me for that, and no one will ever catch me for my other business dealings, either.”
“You don’t know that.”
“They haven’t caught me for the last six years.”
My eyes almost bugged out. “You’ve been doing this for six years?!”
“Yes.”
“But you’re – you’re a hedge-fund CEO! You’re already a multi-millionaire! Why would you do something like this?!”
“I’m a multi-millionaire in the world of legitimate business dealings. But I’m worth almost as much as your fiancé when you take into account all my… other activities.”
“You’re a billionaire because of this?!”
“Many times over.”
“What good is that, though? If it’s all illegal money, you can’t spend it. Not in the US. Maybe ten million here or there if you launder it, but not billions.”
She scoffed. “I don’t do it for the money.”
“Then why do you do it?”
“Why does Connor do what he does?” she asked.
“To make a difference. To make the world a better place.”
“I can’t believe you’re stupid enough to believe that,” she said, her voice dripping with disdain.
“It’s the truth.”
“You may believe that – and perhaps even he does, to a degree – but the real reason is power. He loves it, just as I do… and he will do anything to accrue more. But whatever power he has, I have ten times as much. Third-world economies rise and fall on my whim. Governments – or at least the shadow players who control them – bend to my will. I have more politicians on my payroll than I do criminals. Anywhere there is corruption, I exploit it… and I own people because of it. In every country in the world, I have my puppets and my agents, and they rush to do my bidding.”
For the first time since I’d met her, Miranda’s eyes shone with something like passion.
“It’s not about the money, Lily; it’s never about the money. It’s about power.”
And it was terrifying to see.
