Chapter 3 - CALLUM VOSS DOESN'T ASK TWICE|
The final coffee service ended at eleven thirty.
Rowan checked the inventory, signed the equipment return sheet, and watched her team load the last cart into the catering van.
Twenty-three people had worked the event.
Twenty-three people would receive their wages.
That was the only result she cared about.
Callum stood beside the service exit, speaking quietly to a man named Dominic who had accompanied him from the vehicles. Dominic was tall, broad-shouldered, and so serious that Rowan suspected he had never laughed at a joke in his life.
When Rowan approached, Dominic immediately stepped aside.
"Everything all right?" Callum asked.
"My team is paid, the equipment is accounted for, and nobody dropped the chocolate fountain."
"An impressive list of victories."
"Don't mock the chocolate fountain. It has survived three corporate mergers and a teenage birthday party."
Callum's mouth curved.
"Then it deserves a medal."
She folded her apron and placed it in her bag.
"Why are you here?"
"Grant invited several shipping executives."
"Grant told me he hadn't invited you."
"He didn't."
Rowan stopped.
Callum glanced toward the ballroom.
"I received an invitation through a business association. I came because I wanted to discuss a port logistics contract with the estate's management group."
"And you didn't know Grant was hosting?"
"I knew the Holloway name was involved. I didn't know this was his anniversary gala until I arrived."
Rowan studied him.
"That sounds suspiciously convenient."
"Life is full of coincidences."
"You're a terrible liar."
"I've been told."
She looked toward the driveway.
"Callum, I don't want you interfering with my business because you saw Vanessa insult me."
"I know."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
He reached for her bag, then paused.
"May I?"
She handed it to him.
That small question touched her more than it should have.
Callum was a man accustomed to making decisions quickly. His legitimate companies employed hundreds of people, and his criminal reputation—whatever its precise basis—made even experienced executives cautious around him.
Yet he never assumed he could command Rowan.
He carried her bag toward the van while she checked the locks on the equipment trailer.
"Grant asked you about an acquisition," she said.
"He did."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"Nothing directly. His proposal involves several freight contracts connected to a company I'm reviewing."
"Reviewing for what?"
"Financial irregularities."
Rowan stopped tightening the trailer strap.
"What kind of irregularities?"
"Inflated invoices. Unexplained payments. Possible conflicts of interest."
She stared at him.
"Is Grant involved?"
"I don't know yet."
"Then why didn't you say so inside?"
"Because I didn't want to make an accusation in front of two hundred people."
The answer was reasonable.
That made her more nervous, not less.
"Callum, I don't want to be caught in the middle of something dangerous."
He became serious.
"Neither do I."
She raised an eyebrow.
"You have a reputation for danger."
"Reputations are often exaggerated."
"Are yours?"
He held her gaze.
"Some."
The honesty unsettled her.
She had known Callum for four months. He had first appeared at her catering kitchen when his regular supplier canceled an executive luncheon with less than twenty-four hours' notice. Rowan had agreed to help because the event supported a children's hospital.
Callum had arrived early, carried boxes, and stayed until the kitchen was clean.
He had never told her the full story of his business.
She had never asked for more than he was willing to share.
But now Grant's proposed acquisition connected their worlds in a way neither of them had expected.
Callum opened the van's passenger door.
"Let me drive you home."
"I have my own car."
"I know."
"Then why offer?"
"Because it's late, and because I would like to spend another twenty minutes with you before you decide you never want to see me again."
Rowan looked at him.
"That was almost charming."
"I'm improving."
She laughed and accepted the ride.
As they drove away from the estate, her phone vibrated.
An email had arrived from her accountant.
The subject line read: URGENT: UNAUTHORIZED CHANGE TO PIERCE CATERING OWNERSHIP RECORDS.
Rowan opened it.
Someone had submitted paperwork claiming that a majority interest in her company had been transferred to a holding company she had never heard of.
Her fingers went cold.
Callum glanced at her.
"What happened?"
She turned the screen toward him.
May you like
For the first time that evening, Callum Voss looked genuinely furious.
Because the holding company named in the filing was one of the businesses his investigators had been examining.
