Chapter 2 - FIVE MINUTES
Nathaniel’s hand went still.
The color drained from his face so quickly it seemed almost physical.
“This has to be some kind of setup,” he muttered.
Savannah lowered the hand she had been holding over her stomach.
“Nathaniel,” she asked, suddenly uncertain, “who was that?”
I remained on the floor, my eyes on the crimson thumbprint staining the agreement.
I did not answer.
I smiled.
A sharp tone broke the silence.
Nathaniel’s personal phone lit up from the wet bar across the room.
Platinum Centurion Account Suspended.
He snatched it up with unsteady fingers.
“Bank systems fail all the time,” he said, though he sounded as if he were talking to himself.
Before he could set it down, another call flashed on the screen.
CFO
He answered immediately.
The voice on the other end was frantic enough for all three of us to hear.
“Nathaniel, where are you? Every account tied to Whitmore Global partnerships just froze. Investors are calling, vendors are screaming, and legal wants an emergency meeting. Whatever happened, it started exactly five minutes ago.”
Nathaniel’s mouth opened, then closed.
Savannah looked at him the way people look at elevators that have stopped between floors.
“Say something.”
He didn’t.
Then came the second call.
This one from his chief of staff.
“Sir, security says Mr. Whitmore’s executive protection team is on the way with outside counsel and LAPD officers. They have medical personnel too. They’re asking that no one leave the residence.”
“On what authority?”
“I don’t know, sir. But they’re here.”
Nathaniel turned toward me then, fully, and for the first time since I had known him, I saw fear without any polish on it.
Deep in my chest, something shifted.
May you like
The signature he thought would end my future had done something else entirely.
It had opened his.
