Chapter 10 - The Aftermath in the Wings
The hallway behind the ballroom was a storm of shouting aides, frantic telephone calls, and the distant sound of camera crews banging on the heavy oak doors.
Julian leaned his back against the cool plaster wall, his bow tie undone and hanging loose around his collar. Clara stood before him, her chest heaving. She reached up and touched the lapels of his jacket.
"My father called," she said, her voice shaking. "He said our stock opened down forty percent in overnight trading."
Julian looked down, the guilt finally crashing into his eyes. "Clara... I am sorry. I dragged your family into Arthur’s grave."
Clara stood on her tiptoes, forcing him to meet her gaze. Her eyes were rimmed with tears, but her jaw was set with a steel Julian had never seen before. "My father was hiding his own ledger, Julian. When the news hit, he didn't ask how you were. He asked how much money we could move offshore before the sunrise. You didn't ruin our families. You just turned on the lights."
The door at the end of the hall opened, and Mateo Ortiz walked through, holding a cup of black coffee from the catering station. He stopped a few feet away, regarding Julian with something resembling peace.
"You have a terrible sense of timing, Vance," Mateo said.
May you like
"It was thirty years late," Julian replied.
"My father used to say that truth is like rain," Mateo murmured, taking a sip. "It doesn't care whose roof it ruins, so long as it washes the street clean. He would have hated your tuxedo, Julian. But he would have stayed to hear the end of that speech."
