Chapter 11 - The True Ledger
""Is that true, Victoria?"" Claire asked, walking slowly toward her cousin’s mistress. The vault’s red emergency sirens began flashing silently overhead, bathing the room in pulses of crimson light.
Victoria pressed her back harder against the cold metal safe deposit boxes, her arrogance utterly gone. ""He was going to ruin everything, Claire! Christian was going to turn over the family books to the SEC. He wanted to play the noble martyr, and he would have bankrupted all of us! Kane offered us a way out!""
""Kane offered you a leash,"" Christian said, standing up and stepping toward Box 408. He reached out with one hand and slammed Julian’s limp, bloodied palm against the scanner. The machine beeped, flashing yellow.
FIRST BIOMETRIC VERIFIED. AWAITING SECOND VERIFICATION.
""Claire, scan in,"" Christian ordered without turning around.
Claire stepped to the scanner, hovering her palm over the glowing green glass. But just before she touched it, she paused. Something in Christian’s voice was too urgent, too hungry. It wasn't the voice of a man seeking justice or closure; it was the tone Julian had used right before he bet the company treasury on an offshore derivative.
""What is in this box, Christian?"" Claire asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the man she had once loved.
Christian froze, his back still turned to her. ""You know what's in there. The family deeds. The bearer bonds.""
""My father didn't keep bearer bonds in 408,"" Claire said softly, her pulse suddenly racing faster than it had during the banquet raid. ""My father kept the private registry of Kane’s international bank accounts. The accounts that Kane used to finance his hostile acquisitions... including the purchase of the munitions firm that supplied the explosive that downed your charter plane.""
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Christian slowly turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. The red emergency lights cast deep, demonic shadows across his scarred face.
""You're smarter than Julian ever was,"" Christian said, his voice dropping the veneer of warmth. ""Which is why I needed you alive to open it. Put your hand on the glass, Claire.""
