Chapter 8 - The Woman Who Knew Too Much|
We met at a hotel café on Saturday morning.
Margaret sat at a nearby table, close enough to intervene if necessary but far enough away to give Bianca room to speak. Bianca arrived in a cream suit and dark sunglasses, looking as polished as she had on the night she entered my house.
She ordered coffee and placed a folder on the table.
“You brought your lawyer,” she said.
“You told me to come alone if I wanted answers. I decided I wanted answers more than I wanted to follow your instructions.”
She smiled without humor.
“You sound like Dante.”
“I hope not.”
Bianca opened the folder.
Inside were copies of financial statements, corporate filings, and several pages of emails. Some were between Bianca and Natalie Cross. Others appeared to involve Victor Hale, the manager of Northstar.
I didn't touch them immediately.
“Where did you get these?”
“From someone who doesn't want to be associated with what's happening.”
“That's convenient.”
“Believe what you like.”
I studied the first page. It showed a transfer from Northstar to Bellweather, followed by another transfer to an investment account.
A note beside the transaction read:
Maintain ownership under I.M. until review is complete.
My initials.
“Why was my name used?”
Bianca's expression shifted.
“Dante said it was a temporary arrangement. He told me the company was a legitimate investment vehicle and that you had agreed to be the owner.”
“I never agreed.”
“Then he lied to me, too.”
I looked at her.
“You expect me to believe you didn't know?”
“I knew the company was in your name. I didn't know the signature had been forged.”
“Why were you receiving money from it?”
Her eyes flashed.
“I wasn't receiving money. Bellweather was paying for consulting work.”
“What consulting work?”
“Property management. Business development. Things I know how to do.”
“Did you know the company was being used to move money through accounts you didn't control?”
“No.”
She answered too quickly.
I slid the statements back toward her.
“Then tell me why you warned me to stop investigating.”
“Because Dante is dangerous when he feels cornered.”
“That sounds like a reason to warn me about him, not a reason to tell me to be quiet.”
Bianca looked toward the windows.
For the first time, she seemed less like a woman who had arrived to win and more like someone who had realized she might have walked into a situation she couldn't control.
“I made a mistake,” she admitted. “I thought Dante wanted me back. He said your marriage was over in everything but name. He said you were staying because you didn't know how to leave.”
The words struck me harder than I expected.
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted to.”
“Why?”
“Because I spent years believing I had made a mistake leaving him. When he started calling again, I thought maybe we could repair what we lost.”
“And Lucy?”
“She wanted us to be civil. She hoped we'd become a family again.”
I took a breath.
“Then why did you agree to sleep in my bed?”
Bianca looked down.
“Because he offered it, and I wanted to know whether he still considered me important enough to put me first.”
The honesty was ugly, but at least it was honest.
“You wanted proof that you could still make him choose you.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't care that the person he pushed aside was me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't think about what it would mean to you.”
I could have shouted. I could have told her that she had helped break something she knew was precious. Instead, I let the silence sit between us.
Then I asked the question that mattered most.
“Who is Natalie Cross?”
Bianca wiped her cheek.
“She was Dante's executive assistant. She handled the paperwork for Northstar. She told me you had signed everything.”
“Where is she now?”
“Gone. She left the country three weeks ago.”
Margaret joined us.
“Do you have proof that she was involved in the transfers?”
Bianca handed over another document.
It was an email from Natalie to Victor Hale.
Isabella's approval is already in the system. Don't send anything directly to her. Dante will handle the review.
I read it twice.
The date was six months earlier.
My husband had known that transactions were being approved under my name without my direct involvement.
I felt cold.
Bianca leaned closer.
“I know I've hurt you. But you need to understand something. Dante wasn't just trying to bring me back into his life.”
“What else was he doing?”
May you like
She hesitated.
“He was preparing to leave you with the company if the investigation ever reached him.”
