Chapter Four
1023 Words
The Man With The Answers
Cole’s POV
"Whatever you think you know, Mr. Howe, it's none of your business."
"You're right." Daniel Howe folded his hands on the café table and looked at me with the calm of a man who had already decided how this conversation was going to end. "But it is Cole's. And that makes it mine."
I had chosen the café. Neutral ground, public space, somewhere I could walk out of without a scene. I had arrived ten minutes early, ordered black coffee I didn't want, and positioned myself facing the door because I needed to see him coming. Old habit. When you grow up in a house where things went wrong without warning you learned to always watch the entrance.
Daniel Howe was not what I expected. He was in his mid-forties, silver at his temples, wearing a suit that was expensive but not flashy. He looked like someone's reliable uncle. He looked completely harmless.
That was the first thing that made me not trust him.
He had arrived exactly on time and sat down across from me without offering his hand. He ordered nothing. He opened with a brief, straightforward explanation of the insurance monitoring system — all new hires on the executive medical plan had their claims reviewed during the probationary period, standard corporate protocol, nothing personal. The pharmacy transaction had flagged. The claim category was visible to him before it processed.
He knew I was pregnant. He had known since yesterday afternoon.
"Does Cole know?" I asked.
"Not yet."
"Why not?"
He looked at me steadily. "Because I wanted to speak with you first."
I wrapped both hands around my coffee cup and held his gaze. "Why?"
He was quiet for a moment. Not uncomfortable quiet — thinking quiet. Like he was choosing exactly how much to give me.
"Cole is not equipped for this," he said finally. "Not emotionally. Not right now. He is in the middle of the most critical acquisition in the company's history and his focus cannot be compromised. A situation like this, handled incorrectly, could destabilize everything."
"So your solution is to come to me in the middle of the night and threaten me?"
"I didn't threaten you, Ms. Ellis."
"You called a pregnant woman at midnight and told her you knew her medical information before her own doctor processed the claim. What would you call it?"
Something shifted in his expression. Just slightly. "A warning."
I set my cup down. "I'm listening."
His proposal was clean and practical and completely disgusting. He would not inform Cole of the pregnancy. He would personally ensure the insurance claim was rerouted through a private channel that left no record on the company system. In exchange I would quietly begin looking for a new position elsewhere. He had contacts at three reputable firms. He would make calls. I would have a new offer within the month. I would resign from Mercer Industries before the three month probationary period ended and Cole would never have to know any of it.
Everyone would move on. No mess. No complications.
"You want me to disappear," I said.
"I want the company to remain stable."
"And the baby?"
"Is your private matter."
I stared at him. He stared back without flinching. He had clearly rehearsed this conversation and felt good about it and that made something cold settle in my chest.
"Why does it matter to you that Cole doesn't know?" I asked. "You're his CFO. Your job is to protect his interests. How does hiding a pregnancy from him protect his interests?"
"My job is to protect the company."
"That's not an answer."
He picked up his phone from the table, unlocked it, and placed it in front of me. There was a message thread open. I looked down at it. The name at the top of the thread made me go completely still.
Victor Mercer.
I looked up. Daniel said nothing.
I looked back at the thread. I couldn't read the content from this distance but I could see the volume of it. Dozens of messages. Months of them.
He picked the phone back up before I could process more than the name.
"I'm showing you that because I want you to understand the position I'm in," he said quietly. "And because I think you're smarter than you've been given credit for. Walk away, Ms. Ellis. Take the offer, take the new position, and protect yourself and your child from something that is much larger and much uglier than a workplace complication."
I didn't move. My heart was hammering but my face was still and I was grateful for every year of practice I had at keeping those two things separate.
"What is Victor Mercer to you?" I asked.
"Someone who asks questions I can't always afford not to answer."
"And what does he want with me?"
Daniel stood up, buttoned his jacket, and looked down at me with an expression that was almost something close to pity.
"You walked into that building and became relevant to people who were already at war before you got there. That is not your fault." He slid a business card across the table. "Think about what I said. You have seventy-two hours before the claim processes through the standard review channel and lands on Cole's desk automatically. After that, I can't help you."
He walked out.
I sat there for a long time after he left. The café filled up around me. People ordered coffee and laughed and checked their phones and existed in a world where nothing was complicated.
My phone buzzed on the table.
Rachel.
You okay? You seem off this week. Want me to come over tonight?
I looked at the message. Thought about Daniel's face when he said the words much larger and much uglier. Thought about Victor Mercer's name on that phone screen.
I typed back quickly.
I'm fine. Just tired. I'll call you tomorrow.
I picked up the business card. Turned it over.
On the back, in small neat handwriting, were four words that stopped my blood cold.
Ask Cole about Sophia.
- Writer
