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I retreat to the kitchen, where it’s quieter, and navigate the expensive espresso machine to fix a coffee. I’m trying to figure it out, when Becca materializes. “No, it’s this one,” she says, yanking a hidden lever.
“Lifesaver!” I declare brightly. “You guys are pretty busy, huh?”
“Every deal gets crazy at the end,” she agrees. She has dark shadows under her eyes, even through her makeup.
“And I’m guessing Sebastian wants everything perfect,” I give her a smile.
She smiles back. “Always.”
“He’s demanding like that,” I agree, fixing the coffee. “I don’t know how you’ve managed to work with him for so long.”
“By knowing exactly where I stand, and what my value is.” Becca replies. She looks at me a moment, assessing. “Can I give you some advice?”
“Sure,” I smile back. “What is it?”
“I don’t know exactly what’s going on with you and Seb, but I think it’s important you know… You’re disposable.”
I blink in surprise at her bluntness.
She gives me a fake look of concern. “I just think it’s important you know, because you seem to be getting attached. You shouldn’t fall in love with Sebastian. Women don’t last with him. He’s all about the conquest, the acquisition. In his relationships, as well as business.”
Becca still has that look of sympathy on her face. I’m not sure what her game is, warning me off, but I keep my expression even.
“Thanks for the heads up,” I say to her, “I’ll definitely keep it in mind. Now, I probably shouldn’t keep you. After all, I’m sure you have a lot to do.”
“That’s right,” Becca agrees. “What are your plans today.”
“Oh, you know,” I reply, sunny. “Shopping, lunch, maybe the salon. Have fun here!”
I breeze off, intercepting Sebastian. He looks annoyed, but I lean up and land a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll get out of your hair and give that credit card a workout. Good luck today.”
And then I get the hell out and leave them to corporate domination.
I havethe driver drop me off in the shopping district, as I chat loudly about all the designer stores I’m going to hit. But the minute he’s out of sight, I pick up another burner phone and look up directions to the nearest library. It’s less than a mile, so I walk there, enjoying a slice of freedom and peace I get from being away from Sebastian’s world for just a little while.
When the place comes into view, I realize that this isn’t any old library. The old building is made of grey stone with tall pillars and a pair of lion statues on each side of the steps leading to the entrance. Inside, there’s an arched ceiling with a skylight that allows the sunshine to come inside and brighten the place up. There are rows and rows of shelves lined with books and a computer room directly ahead. To my right, I see a round desk with a librarian behind it, sorting books. She’s an older woman with square glasses perched on the end of her nose.
“Can I help you?” she asks in a soft voice as I approach.
“Yes, I’d like access to your old business journals and archived newspapers?” I ask hopefully. “I’m writing a research paper for university.”
The lie comes easily. I’ve thought about this for days. Nero advised that I get an idea of Sebastian’s history and any enemies he might have. I don’t want to risk searching for it on the computer at his house, or even my phone just in case he has a way of tracking my activity. I’m going old-school with this.
“We have all that digitally archived,” she replies, she says, leading me to a study carrell with a computer. There are other young people around me, probably college students, and nobody pays me any attention as the librarian takes her time setting me up with the information I need, about searching their records for keywords and requesting back issues of newspapers.
“Thanks so much,” I tell her, settling in the chair.
When she leaves me alone, I set a timer on my phone. I don’t want to be here for too long and arouse suspicions. I figure three hours is probably all I can really get away with.
Where to begin?
I use the keyword search to look up all mentions of Wolfe Capital or the Wolfe family. The archives go back decades, and my jaw drops as I get thousands of results.
I should have known, Sebastian makes headlines.
I click an old profile of his father at random.
Error: 404. Webpage no longer at this address.
