Page 54 of Luca
“Quite, but she didn’t always know when to act in her own best interests either and look where it got her. I just hope you won’t be quite so foolish,” she said.
A chill raced down my spine. “What are you implying?”
“Nothing at all. Just giving you a friendly warning,” Elizabeth replied, her smile devoid of warmth. “You wouldn’t want your life to end in the blink of an eye, like it did for your mother. I suggest you think long and hard about the choices you make moving forward. It would be a shame if you found yourself facing unexpected consequences.”
Fury ignited within me, a fire burning away the fear. “How dare you?” I shot back, my voice rising. “You think you can intimidate me? You’re wrong. I will not do this. Not now, not ever.”
Margaret’s eyes flared with anger. “You think you have a choice? You don’t. I’ll ruin your career before it even begins. You’ll regret this, Claire.”
I stood up, the chair scraping against the floor as I pushed it back. “Fuck you, Margaret. And fuck you, Elizabeth. I won’t be part of your twisted games.”
Elizabeth blocked my exit. “This conversation never happened. If you think to disclose our discussion, just remember what we said.”
“Get out of my way!” I glared at the woman who’d been my mother’s best friend for years.
Had she only implied my mother’s death was something other than an accident to scare and intimidate me, or was there a more sinister explanation for the night her car ran off the road during a snowstorm? Bile rose in my mouth, and I shuddered at the thought.
Fighting to maintain a semblance of control and not let just how much she’d rattled me show, I held her gaze until she finally stepped aside.
I yanked the door open to find Vlad on the other side looking concerned.
“I know you said to wait for you here, but I heard raised voices. Everything alright?”
“Fine. Take me home please,” I replied, and he nodded, his gaze still fixed on the women in the room.
“You’ll receive my resignation by email in due course,” I shouted over my shoulder as I stormed from the room.
I was going to get Marko and Luca to help me look into that. If I found out it wasn’t an accident and that Elizabeth had something to do with it, I’d make the bitch pay.
CHAPTER 30
LUCA
LATER THAT DAY – REASSURING CLAIRE
Iwalked into the bedroom, immediately spotting Claire pacing back and forth. “I got your message, babe. Are you okay?” I asked, concern lacing my voice.
The tension in the room was palpable as Claire stopped and faced me, her eyes filled with a mix of fear and determination.
“Luca, I need to tell you what happened,” she began, her voice trembling slightly. “Those women, they threatened me. They tried to intimidate me into planting evidence against you.”
I felt a surge of anger, my fists clenching at my sides. “Who? What happened?
“Margaret Turner and Elizabeth Traynor. When I arrived at work this morning, Margaret’s secretary called me to go and see her. When I got to her office, Elizabeth was there too. She’s a friend of the Turner’s, has been for longer than she was friends with my mum. It was her that got me the position with Turner and Hanson.” she explained.
“What did they say?” I asked, my voice low and controlled.
“Damien told Margaret I’d thrown myself at him when he was drunk and you’d found us in a compromising position and misunderstood the situation, blaming Damien for it and beat him up.”
“That fucking bastard!” I cried in fury. “How could she believe such a thing? why would a beauty like you need to throw herself at anyone?” I asked appalled.
“Apparently, in order to seduce him into fast tracking my partnership,” she replied, sounding sick at the thought.
“You’d never do that. Don’t these people know that?” That bastard Damien Turner would answer for this.
“I guess not, or maybe they do, and it’s convenient for them to believe the story. Maybe they even concocted it themselves. Who knows?”
“Anyhow, the guy’s getting married to some society bitch and is afraid she’ll hear of his so-called liaison with me and break off the wedding. So, they are going with this version of events. They said they were willing to avoid a scandal and further problems if I planted drugs in your car and had the police find them.”