Page 63 of Forever We Embrace: The Later Years
Luca accepts the answer without trying to fill in what Victor hasn’t said.
“What does he want?” I ask.
“A reduction in the charging recommendation.” Maceo sets the phone down long enough to take a bite. “He asked before he finished the first statement.”
There is no remorse in the report and no sudden understanding of what he helped create. Victor has simply recognized that loyalty to Alastair no longer improves his position.
Dorian is arrested at his hotel during the same operation. Unlike Victor, he tries to bargain before his attorney arrives. He offers partial information, contradicts himself twice, and repeatedly asks whether Luca intends to testify.
Thane reports the questions without interpreting them. He doesn’t need to.
Dorian spent weeks constructing a version of Luca who was unstable, dependent, and easy to discredit. A direct statement from Luca threatens the defense he expected to use.
Luca sets his fork down. Maceo turns the phone facedown while Grayson’s palm settles between Luca’s shoulder blades. Across the table, Luther waits without pressing him to respond.
I watch Luca breathe through the first reaction before he looks at Thane’s message again.
“He should keep asking,” Luca says. “Nobody has to answer him.”
Maceo keeps the phone facedown. “They won’t.”
A final message from Thane confirms that the search warrants have been signed. His teams will hold until Alastair is inside the conference room, then move on all three locations at once.
We leave for Keller Industries in two cars shortly afterward. Thane’s agents have already swept and wired the conference room, while a response team waits on another floor with the warrants for the three identified sites.
Luther catches the back of my neck before we enter the lobby and presses a brief kiss to my temple. He doesn’t ask whether my heart can handle the meeting or suggest that he should lead it instead.
“Lead it,” he says.
I squeeze his wrist before letting him go. “I planned to.”
Luca joins me at the entrance, sliding his fingers through mine while Maceo and Grayson follow with the evidence cases. We cross the lobby without arranging ourselves into a display of authority. Employees glance up as we pass, but nobody stops us.
Inside the private elevator, Luca presses a brief kiss against my shoulder. I turn my face into his hair before the doors open.
The conference room is the same one Victor and Dorian used for the fitness review. Thane’s team has replaced the recording equipment, secured the adjoining rooms, and cleared the table except for water, legal pads, and the settlement demand.
Maceo checks the document order once more. The demand comes first, followed by the shared billing records, Dorian’s campaign materials, and the placement codes connected through Luca’s file.
Luca sits beside me. Luther takes the chair across from him rather than the head of the table, leaving Alastair a clear view of the Alpha who will not answer for us.
Grayson squeezes Luca’s shoulder once before taking his place. “Stay with the facts. He can’t change what happened because he dislikes the words.”
Luca nods and squares the legal pad with the edge of the table.
Maceo takes the chair on my other side and slides the first document into place. Luca’s knee rests against mine beneath the table while Luther leans over to check the final page with Grayson.
I settle my cane against the side of my chair and place the settlement demand in front of me. Victor and Dorian are already in custody, and agents are preparing to move on the three identified sites.
Alastair can refuse every term, end the meeting, or allow his attorney to speak for him. None of those choices will stop the warrants.
23
Luca
The conference-room doors open ten minutes after the scheduled start.
Alastair enters first with an attorney at his shoulder and Josie several steps behind them. He carries a leather folder beneath one arm. Josie carries the same plain bag she brought to Ember House every morning she worked there, both hands wrapped around the handles as the doors close behind her.
