Page 45 of A Man of Wealth

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he says softly. “I should have…I just…I have trust issues.” He chuckles. “I have a lot of fucking issues.”

“I can understand that,” I answer.

“I know you can. I was trying to protect you. I want you, Vivienne, but I also know that right now, they could use you as a weapon against me and I can’t have that. I won’t put you in harm's way,” he says as he leans in and presses his lips to mine.

“Don’t keep things from me,” I murmur against his lips.

“Don’t be a pain in my ass,” he retorts.

“Don’t be a giant asshole,” I reply as his tongue traces my lips.

“But I’m so good at it,” he teases.

I poke his ribs, and he chuckles. I’m about to jump him when there is a knock at the door. He pulls back. “Stay here.”

I comply this time as he walks to the door, looks through the peephole, and opens it. A second later, Aiden, Alexis, and Sebastian walk into the apartment.

“A secret hideaway? Fancy,” Sebastian jokes.

I offer them water, but everyone declines as they take seats in the living room.

“OK, you gonna share why you called us over here?” Aiden asks as he puts his arm on the armrest of the leather recliner.

“What did you find out?” Conner asks me as he motions for me to share the information with everyone.

“I think this goes higher than you all think it does,” I start.

Chapter19

Conner

“What do you mean ‘higher’?”I ask.

Vivienne shifts in her seat and looks from each of us to the next. “I think President Lewis is involved. And what about Aaron Beacher? Do you trust him?”

I look at Sebastian, and he looks at Aiden.

“Why do you think that? And yes, we trust Aaron,” Sebastian responds.

“Well, I did some research and Aaron is very connected and involved at the White House. It’s just…unusual. And, in terms of President Lewis, I…have a source…let’s just say there are some interesting emails that led me down a rabbit hole looking at campaign funds. Confervo and Sterling Corporation have both given substantial amounts of money to President Lewis.”

“How substantial?” I question. She’s dead wrong about Aaron. He once covered for me when my father was being an asshole. His actions proved his ethics. He would most definitely not be involved in what we are investigating.

She holds up a finger and runs into another room, when she comes back, she’s holding her laptop. Setting it on her lap, she turns it around and shows us what she found. Going through each amount, dates, times, and sources. When she finishes, we all look at each other.

“Shit, they bought themselves a presidency,” Sebastian says dryly as he leans back in his seat. “I mean, it’s not shocking. Look at your grandfather.” He motions at Vivienne.

She frowns as if she hadn’t connected that dot. “Hold on,” she says.

She fishes in a bag and pulls out a thumb drive and plugs it into her computer. A few keystrokes later, she frowns deeply. “Well, shit. Adam Blake owns Halfagher, right?” she asks as she scans her notes.

“Yes,” Aiden says as he looks at Sebastian and me.

“Let me guess,” Alexis starts, “Adam is connected to TOD.”

We nod and Vivienne types quickly on her computer. “They made a substantial contribution to both my grandfather’s campaign as well as President Lewis’s.” Her nostrils flare. “Goddamn it! Confervo and Sterling Company again. For Pete’s sake, have they bought every presidency?”

I swallow because she’s probably right. What else do we buy?

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