Chapter 37 Dorian
Dorian
My shoes echo against the marble as I make my way down the corridor toward my father’s office.
He wanted to see me first thing. After everything that’s going on, I can hardly be surprised. When Jeremiah Vale summons you before his coffee has gone cold, it means he’s had all night to think. And that’s when my father is at his most dangerous.
It’s barely seven, and all hell is breaking loose.
The fucking press are all over my ass. Again.
Dorian Vale’s Brother-in-Law Arrested on Drug-Related Charges.
I saw the headlines before I left the house. Every fucking tabloid, news site, and gossip column was running the same story with the same fucking photograph of me standing in The Black Key while my brother-in-law gets hauled away in handcuffs.
Fuck.
The fucking mole obviously struck again. Right under my damn nose.
Everything happened so fast, this whole thing could only be their doing. I’d been thinking about it all night.
The mole couldn’t find anything on me, so they went after the next best thing—someone close. Someone who wasn’t taking the precautions I was taking.
The trap was laid from the moment Elodie and I walked into the restaurant. They were waiting for Jack. He’d barely been there five minutes before the police busted in and arrested him.
And the damn press… they seemed to be lying in wait too. PR said the first story went live at midnight, then the rest started trickling in.
When Jack was arrested, I was so busy thinking about him and Elodie that the mole didn’t even cross my mind until later that night, after I’d returned home with the bad news. By then, it was already too late.
Apart from the fact that Elodie was deeply upset, this fresh hell was another scandal I didn’t need. Another front page that made me look bad. Another motherfucking reason for the board to question whether Dorian Vale is worth the trouble he brings.
I already know what’s waiting for me in this meeting with my father. It will be just like last time. Except this time, it cuts deeper.
This was personal. And it unearthed old wounds.
Elodie needed to know the truth about Jack, but I would have preferred to give it to her another time. Now she knows, and I suppose it’s for the best. Better to get the pain over with in one go than drag it out.
I push through the double doors of the executive floor. My father’s assistant glances up at me with a sympathetic yet careful expression. She doesn’t say a word. She just nods toward the closed door ahead—Dad’s office.
I nod back and head over. I knock on the door with confidence, already going over what I’m about to say.
“Come in,” he calls out. I try to gauge his tone, but it’s too neutral.
When I walk in, I try to assess his face, but that’s neutral too.
Maybe I’m too damn tired to tell up from down, or right from left.
“Dorian,” Dad begins in that gruff voice. That alone tells me where I stand.
“Before you say anything more, let’s be clear.
” I square my shoulders and level him with a hard stare.
“If you demand I leave Elodie and find a new wife, I’m gone.
We part here in peace and go our separate ways.
I will completely understand your reasoning and respect it, but I’m choosing my wife.
I don’t care what I lose. I’m not losing her. ”
He holds my stare for a long moment, watching me the way he watches the stock market. Then he leans back in his chair and lets out a slow sigh.
“Well, I guess you passed my test then,” he answers, his words sharp and to the point.
My brain stalls and every muscle in my body that was braced for war has nowhere to go. I stand there, my arms at my sides, completely disarmed.
“What?” I stare back at him with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I told you to get married. But I needed to see whether you’d treat it like a contract or make it real.”
“What does that have to do with the company?”
“I’ve told you before, this company is not just about money.
It’s about family. Legacy. People. You’re finally beginning to understand that.
” He nods. “No matter how good you are, you cannot build an empire alone. Men like us like to think power is enough. It isn’t.
The things built to last are held up by more than ambition. ”
My shoulders relax. “I hear you.”
“Dorian, I can see you’re a different man from the one who stood here months ago. Today you came in here ready to walk away from all of this for your wife. That is the kind of man I want running my company.”
“Means you have the COO job next year when I head to England. You don’t have to worry about that anymore. I wanted to see you because this situation is clearly the mole again.”
I feel like I just woke up in an alternate dimension. But in a good way. “I have the job?”
He nods once. “I think you won me over from the moment you chose Elodie, and you put your foot down then too.”
“I did do that.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “I made mistakes with you boys when you were growing up,” he says, his voice lower now.
“I stayed with your mother too long. And by the time I faced what she was, the damage had already been done. I couldn’t undo it then, and I can’t undo it now.
” His jaw tightens before he looks at me again.
“But one thing I can do now is make sure you don’t learn the wrong lesson from my failures. Love was never my downfall, Dorian.”
“Wasn’t it?” I ask, my voice softer than usual.
“No. It was pride, denial, and waiting too long for someone to change when they had no intention of changing.”
I nod slowly, understanding him better.
“As for this new incident, I don’t know what we’re going to do. It doesn’t seem like this person is going away.”
“My people were waiting for the mole to strike. They’re looking into it.
” Salvatore was one of the first people to call me when the story broke, letting me know he was investigating straightaway.
“It’s been a tricky situation. They’ve been ingrained in our lives for so long, they’re hard to root out. ” That’s what Salvatore had said.
“I understand. I just want it done.”
I’m about to answer when my phone rings in my pocket. “I have to take this.”
He nods.
I retrieve my phone and see Salvatore’s name flashing on the home screen. I answer at once.
“Hey,” I say.
“I got news for you. I found the mole.”
“You did?” I look at my father and give him a thumbs up, indicating I have good news.
His face brightens.
“I did. But you’re really not going to like this.”
“Tell me.”
* * *
The boardroom is already full when I walk in.
My brothers are on the left side of the long table. Knox catches my eye and gives me a subtle nod. I acknowledge him.
On the right side, Parker sits with that practiced calm of his, one hand resting on the table like he's posing for a corporate headshot.
Uncle Richard is beside him, his reading glasses perched on his nose as he flips through something on his tablet.
Their assistants flank them like matching bookends.
Albert is here too, along with my brothers’ assistants.
Dad stands at the head of the table, hands braced on the back of his chair. I know what he’s like. He hasn’t taken his seat yet because he’s too angry to sit.
I take my seat beside Knox and set the folder Salvatore sent me face down on the table.
Everyone in this room thinks they know why we're here. Damage control. To talk about me and the situation with Jack.
They're wrong.
I know who the mole is. And they're sitting at this table.
I always thought this day would feel better. Like redemption and retribution.
It doesn’t. It hits differently.
Dad pulls out his chair and sits. All eyes turn to him.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” he begins, his gaze sweeping the table.
“I’ll keep this brief. Some of you are already aware that someone has been actively trying to bring us down for years.
Today, we had another leak. Another story in the press designed to damage this family, and the image of this company.
” He pauses, allowing the weight of his words to settle over the room.
“A thorough investigation has now been conducted.” His voice is measured, each word landing like a carefully placed chess piece. “It has been ongoing for some time, and I want to assure everyone at this table that no stone has been left unturned.”
The air in the room shifts. My brothers all look at me. I almost feel bad that I didn’t get to speak to them first. But this is better.
Dad folds his hands on the table. "Dorian, please show us what you have."
I open the folder and take out the documents Salvatore provided—solid evidence no one can refute.
As expected, the mole already looks uncomfortable.
“These documents show every instance in which our systems were hacked and our private lives were breached.” I tap the table once, then slide the document over to Parker.
He has the audacity to look at me as if I’ve lost my mind.
“Why are you showing me?” he snaps, trying to hold my gaze.
“So you can see what I found on you, motherfucker.” It’s him. But he had help. “And you.” I shove the document with the evidence from last night over to Uncle Richard.
Last night was Parker’s doing. I should’ve guessed from the spite behind it. I’d embarrassed him in a restaurant, so he decided to return the favor.
Everything else had been a joint effort. Parker just slipped up. He was at the restaurant last night, and when he called his father, he did it without the additional detection blocker they’d been using. He left it off by mistake.
The footage from the CCTV cameras showed him smiling as Jack was led away and Elodie fell apart.
Everyone is looking at both of them, stunned.
“This is madness,” Parker argues, his voice rising.