Chapter 5 - The First Audit
Three days later, inside a private corner office on the forty-fifth floor of Maro Tower, Daniel Sullivan sat across from Nicholas Maro’s mahogany desk, sweating profusely despite the powerful air conditioning.
Daniel wore his finest navy suit, his blond hair perfectly slicked back, but his hands were trembling as he smoothed out the corners of a printed contract resting between them.
"I don't understand, Mr. Maro," Daniel stammered, forcing a strained, ingratiating smile. "The Brooklyn terminal project... our firms spent six months negotiating these terms. The financing is secured, the zoning permits are cleared by the city council—why is Maro Group suddenly pulling out of the partnership?"
Nicholas sat behind his desk, leaning back in his leather chair with his hands folded neatly over his stomach. He looked immaculate, unbothered, and utterly lethal.
"Contracts can be amended, Mr. Sullivan," Nicholas said smoothly. "Especially when one party discovers a fundamental breach of character in the other."
Daniel’s smile faltered. "A breach? What breach? Maro Terminals has received every deliverable on schedule!"
"Not business character," Nicholas corrected, his cold river-water eyes locking onto Daniel’s. "Personal character."
Daniel blinked, confused and deeply unsettled. "I assure you, my private life has no bearing on—"
"Your private life involves abandoning a newborn daughter in the lobby of a public hospital during a blizzard," Nicholas interrupted, his voice dropping into a quiet, icy register that made the temperature in the office plummet.
Daniel went completely rigid. The color drained from his face until he looked like a corpse.
"How... how do you know about that?" Daniel gasped, looking around the room as if expecting hidden cameras.
"New York is a remarkably small city when you cross paths with the right people," Nicholas said, leaning forward, resting his forearms on the desk. "You left your wife with eighty-three dollars, locked her out of your accounts, and walked away because she didn't give you a male heir to boost your standing at your father’s country club."
"She... she told you that?" Daniel sputtered, anger briefly overriding his terror. "That is a private family matter! It has nothing to do with Maro Group or our shipping contracts!"
"Everything that happens in this city passes through my hands, Mr. Sullivan," Nicholas said calmly. "And men who throw away their own blood like garbage do not do business with Maro Group."
"You can't do this!" Daniel slammed his hands onto the desk, standing up so fast his chair rolled backward and hit the glass wall. "That contract represents forty percent of Sullivan Development’s annual revenue! If you pull out, my father will—my board will destroy me!"
"Then I suggest you start looking for new investors," Nicholas said, picking up a gold fountain pen and signing the termination notice without looking up. "Because as of five minutes ago, Maro Terminals has severed all ties with Sullivan Development."
Daniel stared at him, his chest heaving, realization dawning with sickening clarity. He wasn't just losing a contract; he was being systematically dismantled by a man who didn't even consider him worth the effort of an extended conversation.
"Who is she to you?" Daniel whispered, horror gripping his throat. "Why do you care what happened to my wife?"
May you like
Nicholas stopped writing. He slowly looked up, his face an impenetrable mask of absolute authority.
"She works for me now," Nicholas said quietly. "And in my house, we protect what belongs to us."
