Chapter 11
Vincent followed Claire out of the boardroom in a daze. The elevator ride to the ground floor was agonizingly silent. She didn't look at him once.
"My car is waiting," she said as the doors opened. "Get in."
He obeyed, sliding into the leather seats of the black SUV. The privacy partition went up, leaving them alone in the quiet cabin.
"Did you mean it?" Vincent asked, his voice raw. "Are you really keeping me as CEO?"
"Don't flatter yourself," Claire didn't look at him, staring out the tinted window at the passing city. "I'm keeping you as a shield. The board is too chaotic right now. If I burn you both down today, the stock crashes and I lose money."
"So what happens now?" he asked.
"You go back to the office, you fire Sophia Carter, and you spend the next six months doing exactly what I tell you to do," Claire said.
"I can't just fire Sophia without cause, she'll sue the company," Vincent argued, rubbing his face.
Claire finally turned to him, her eyes burning with a terrifying intensity. "She slept with the CEO. That's cause. And if you hesitate for even a second, I will hand those Cayman documents to the SEC, and you will both go to federal prison. Do you understand me?"
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Vincent swallowed hard. "You're holding a gun to my head."
"No, Vincent," Claire whispered. "You loaded the gun when you took her to London. I'm just the one holding it."
