The fifty-seventh floor of the Stone Tower offered a view that stretched from the Hudson River to the Brooklyn Bridge. Victoria stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching tiny people move like ants on the streets below. From this height, everyone looked insignificant. Powerless. Exactly how Lucas liked it.
"Ms. Crow?"
Victoria turned to find Lucas's assistant—a nervous young man in an expensive suit who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. "Mr. Stone will see you now."
"Thank you." Victoria smoothed her charcoal gray blazer and followed him down a hallway lined with portraits of previous Stone patriarchs. Old white men with hard eyes and harder smiles, each one more intimidating than the last. Richard Stone's portrait hung at the end, his painted gaze following her like a threat.
The assistant knocked on a set of mahogany doors that probably cost more than most people's cars. "Ms. Crow to see you, sir."
"Send her in."
Victoria stepped into Lucas's office and immediately felt the weight of controlled power. The space was enormous—bigger than most apartments—with a marble conference table, leather furniture that screamed money, and windows that made the city look like a personal kingdom. Lucas stood behind his desk, reviewing documents with the focused intensity she remembered from their law school days.
He looked up when she entered, and Victoria caught the flash of surprise in his dark eyes before he could hide it. Good. She'd chosen her outfit carefully—professional but stunning, the kind of look that commanded respect and attention in equal measure.
"Victoria." He came around the desk to greet her, his handshake lingering a beat longer than necessary. "Thank you for coming. I have to admit, I was surprised by your call."
"I told you I was in investment consulting. When I heard Stone Group was considering new partnerships, I thought we should talk." Victoria settled into the chair across from his desk, crossing her legs with deliberate precision. "Unless you're too busy playing happy families to focus on business?"
Lucas's jaw tightened slightly. "My personal life doesn't interfere with my professional decisions."
"Doesn't it?" Victoria tilted her head. "From what I hear, there's been some... instability in the leadership lately. Investors don't like uncertainty."
"What kind of instability?"
"The kind that happens when a CEO is more interested in charity galas than quarterly reports." Victoria pulled a leather portfolio from her bag, movements crisp and efficient. "Your stock price has dropped twelve percent in the last six months. Your hotel division is bleeding money in three markets. And your latest acquisition—the Portland development—is six months behind schedule and forty million over budget."
Lucas stared at her, his expression unreadable. "You've done your homework."
"I always do my homework, Lucas. Can I call you Lucas?" She didn't wait for permission. "The question is whether you've done yours."
"Meaning?"
Victoria opened her portfolio and spread financial documents across his desk with the confidence of someone who'd spent three years planning this moment. "Stone Group needs fresh capital. I represent investors who are very interested in what you're building. But they want to see stability. Leadership. Vision."
Lucas picked up one of the documents—a detailed analysis of Stone Group's financial position that would have taken a team of forensic accountants weeks to compile. "This is... comprehensive."
"Like I said, I do my homework." Victoria leaned back in her chair, letting him absorb the implications. "My clients are prepared to invest two hundred million dollars in Stone Group. Cash injection, immediate liquidity, enough to solve your Portland problem and expand into the Asian markets your father's been circling for years."
"Two hundred million." Lucas set down the document, his eyes narrowing. "That's not consulting money. That's acquisition money."
"It's whatever you want it to be. The question is what you're willing to give up for it."
Lucas was quiet for a long moment, studying her with the same intensity he'd once used to analyze case law. Victoria could see the wheels turning behind his dark eyes, calculating risks and rewards, trying to figure out her angle.
"What do your investors want in return?" he asked finally.
"Board seats. Oversight on major expenditures. And a say in future strategic decisions." Victoria's voice was steady, professional. "Standard terms for an investment of this size."
"That sounds like they want control."
"They want protection. There's a difference." Victoria stood and moved to the window, letting him watch her silhouette against the city skyline. "Your father built an empire, Lucas. But empires fall when they're run by sentiment instead of strategy."
"You think I'm sentimental?"
Victoria turned back to face him, letting a small smile play at the corners of her mouth. "I think you're distracted. The question is whether that distraction is temporary or permanent."
Lucas stood as well, moving closer until she could smell his cologne—still the same one, still making her pulse race despite everything. "You seem to know a lot about my state of mind for someone I just met."
"I know a lot about a lot of things." Victoria held his gaze steadily. "For instance, I know the Meridian deal your father negotiated last year has a clause that voids the entire contract if Stone Group's debt-to-equity ratio exceeds 3.2 to 1. You're currently at 3.18."
Lucas went very still. "That information isn't public."
"No, it isn't." Victoria's smile widened. "I also know that your head of development has been skimming money from the Portland project. The forty million you're over budget? About half of that went into his personal accounts in the Cayman Islands."
"That's impossible. Marcus has been with us for fifteen years—"
"Marcus Chen, graduated MIT 1998, married to Rebecca Chen née Williams, two daughters at Dalton School." Victoria recited the facts like she was reading a grocery list. "He's been very careful about the transfers, but not careful enough. I can have the evidence on your desk by five o'clock."
Lucas stared at her like she'd just performed magic. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm someone who gets results." Victoria moved back to his desk, gathering her documents with efficient movements. "The question is whether you want those results working for you or against you."
"Against me?"
"My investors have other options, Lucas. Stone Group isn't the only development company in New York. But it is the most... sentimental." She paused, letting the word hang between them like a challenge. "Some people see that as a weakness."
"And you?"
Victoria looked up at him, letting him see the steel beneath her polished exterior. "I see it as an opportunity. Sentiment makes people predictable. And predictable people are easy to manage."
Something flickered in Lucas's eyes—surprise, maybe, or recognition. "You remind me of someone."
"So you've mentioned." Victoria closed her portfolio and stood to leave. "The offer stands until Friday. Two hundred million, immediate transfer, contingent on your acceptance of our terms."
"And if I refuse?"
Victoria paused at the door, her hand on the handle. "Then you'll find out how quickly sentiment becomes liability in this business."
She started to leave, then turned back as if struck by an afterthought. "Oh, and Lucas? You might want to check on that Portland situation. Marcus has been taking liberties with more than just the budget."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean some debts always come due, one way or another." Victoria's voice was soft, almost gentle. "The trick is making sure you're the one collecting instead of the one paying."
Lucas's face went white. "Victoria, wait—"
But she was already gone, leaving only the faint scent of her perfume and the echo of words that sounded too much like a threat. Or a promise.
Lucas stood alone in his office, staring at the closed door. His hands were shaking—actually shaking—and he couldn't figure out why. Victoria Crow was just another investor, another predator circling his family's empire. He'd dealt with hundreds of them over the years.
So why did he feel like he'd just been hunted by someone who knew exactly where all his weak spots were?
His phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: Check your email. The Marcus Chen files are a gift. Consider it a down payment on future cooperation. - V
Lucas's blood turned to ice. He hadn't given Victoria his personal number. Hell, he hadn't even given her his business card. But somehow she had access to information that should have been impossible to obtain, contact details that were supposedly secure, and insights into his company that even some board members didn't possess.
He pulled up his email and found a folder of documents that made his stomach drop. Bank transfers, falsified invoices, offshore accounts—everything he needed to destroy Marcus Chen's career and probably send him to prison. The evidence was thorough, damning, and completely accurate.
Victoria Crow wasn't just another investor. She was something much more dangerous.
His intercom buzzed. "Mr. Stone? Your father is here to see you."
Of course he was. Richard Stone had probably been monitoring the meeting from the moment Victoria walked into the building. Nothing happened in this company without his knowledge.
"Send him in."
Richard entered without knocking, his silver hair perfectly styled and his expression unreadable. "Interesting meeting?"
"You were listening."
"I was protecting our interests." Richard settled into the chair Victoria had vacated, his cane resting against his knee. "Ms. Crow is quite... impressive."
"She offered us two hundred million dollars."
"She offered us a leash," Richard corrected. "The question is whether you're foolish enough to put it around your neck."
Lucas picked up one of Victoria's financial analyses, scanning the precise calculations and insider knowledge that should have been impossible for an outsider to obtain. "Where do you think she got this information?"
"The same place she got her remarkable resemblance to your dead wife."
The words hit Lucas like a physical blow. He looked up to find his father watching him with cold calculation, no trace of sympathy in his gray eyes.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying Victoria Crow appeared in our lives three days after you started having those dreams again. I'm saying she knows things about our business that even our board members don't know. I'm saying she reminds you of Aria for a very specific reason." Richard stood, adjusting his cuff links with deliberate precision. "And I'm saying that if I'm right, we have a much bigger problem than a hostile takeover attempt."
Lucas's mouth went dry. "You think she's—"
"I think someone is playing a very dangerous game with our family." Richard moved toward the door, then paused. "The question is whether you're smart enough to recognize the rules before it's too late."
He left Lucas alone with Victoria's documents and a growing certainty that nothing—absolutely nothing—was what it seemed.
End of Chapter 4