3. Linda
LINDA
Linda sat quietly at the end of the long dining table, her fingers tracing the smooth ceramic of her lukewarm coffee mug as she watched the tactical briefing unfold.
She kept her lips pressed into a neutral, silent line, actively choosing to listen rather than speak.
While the technical complexities of the Charleston harbor project and the Wineberg’s financial traps bounced across the room, Linda's mind kept drifting backward, retracing her steps to the narrow alleyway beside the ice cream shop.
Darius had used their private, encrypted messaging application to send her a brief, urgent text requesting she meet him in the alley. He had kept the message deliberately cryptic, stating only that a mutual acquaintance of theirs had just arrived in town and desperately wanted to see her.
Curiosity, and a sudden spike of nervous adrenaline, had driven her straight to the designated spot.
The moment she stepped into the deep shadow of the brick building, she had been thoroughly surprised to find Gill standing there.
It was a happy surprise, a wave of genuine warmth flooding Linda’s chest at the sight of her old friend.
But the relief had been cut short by an immediate, lingering worry. The very same vipers who had systematically tried to destroy Gill’s academic career in South Carolina were now actively operating on Sanibel Island.
Linda’s thoughts had immediately shifted with a sharp, maternal pang of anxiety toward Isabel.
She knew how close Isabel and Owen had been growing recently.
She had felt a deep, undeniable connection between them from the very moment they first crossed paths at the local summer festival when Isabel first arrived in town.
If Owen’s past with both Gill and Debbi came crashing into the present, the blast radius would inevitably level what Isabel was trying to build.
But she hadn't had the luxury of time to dwell on her worries before Gill had to stealthily slip away to her pickup point.
That was when Darius had stayed behind in the shadows to give Linda the cliff notes version of the strategy he was currently explaining to the rest of the table.
Initially, Linda had struggled to process the sheer scope of what he was telling her.
He had orchestrated this entire corporate chess match, risking his standing with the board, staging a highly public disgrace for Baxter, and setting up a counter-sting on a multimillion-dollar harbor development, to protect her family’s legacy.
He was doing all of this to save the Hearts Hotel and also Linda’s family.
In turn, he’d be taking down a ruthless family that had reigned unchecked for far too long, destroying people's lives without so much as a twinge of regret.
But now, listening to the magnitude of this elaborate plan, she felt her heart hammer against her ribs, a sudden, overwhelming wave of emotion spreading like wildfire through her veins. Linda felt absolutely floored by the depth of Darius’s dedication.
And at first it had seemed wildly far-fetched, but she believed him.
Linda’s belief wasn't simply a product of the jaw-dropping legal covenant he had forced her to sign.
The memory of that document still made her breath catch in her throat, forcing her to give herself a silent, internal shake.
It was a legally binding, ironclad trust agreement stating that should Darius ever mislead her or breach her personal confidence again, his entire private fortune and his controlling executive shares in the Wayne Group would immediately forfeit directly to her.
It was an insane, breathtaking display of absolute surrender and proof of his feelings for her.
Of course, Linda knew there were minor exceptions to any absolute rule.
Everyone told small, harmless fibs occasionally because they were all human, but the sheer weight of his gesture had dismantled her final defenses.
Linda glanced sideways at his strong profile, her cheeks growing warm as the distinct, tingling memory of his lips pressing against hers surfaced. She felt a sudden flush of heat creep up her neck as she recalled that she had actually been the one to initiate the embrace.
Linda had been so overwhelmed by the outline of his plan, and the raw vulnerability in his dark eyes, that she had instinctively stepped forward, tilted her chin up, and kissed him.
It was meant to be a sweet, simple gesture of profound gratitude.
But the second their eyes locked in the dim alleyway, the air between them had turned electric.
Darius had pulled her securely against his chest, and within seconds, they were no longer just two mature adults standing next to a commercial dumpster behind an ice cream shop.
The world around them had faded away entirely.
Isabel’s sharp, questioning voice broke through Linda’s thoughts, dragging her abruptly back to the high-stakes atmosphere of the beach house dining room.
"So, let me get this straight," Isabel said, her gaze jumping between Darius and Baxter. "You bought a prime plot of land in South Carolina, and then you orchestrated this entire artificial project freeze just to catch out the Winebergs? Or rather, South Coast Hotels?"
"We did it for several strategic reasons, Issy," Darius sighed, leaning back and resting his hands on the edge of the table. "I thought that part of our corporate intent was already clear."
"The Wayne Group didn't purchase the East Bay Street tract outright," Gill interjected, drawing the room’s collective attention back to her side of the table.
"I officially leased the land to their development division under an exclusive, ninety-nine-year ground lease agreement with a restrictive master covenant.
The terms strictly prohibit the sale of the underlying deed to any external entities, meaning South Coast Hotels can never legally acquire the dirt. "
"We are still actively constructing the luxury resort and spa there," Baxter added, leaning forward to look at Isabel.
"But in order to keep the Winebergs focused on the trap, Debbi and her uncle’s foundation were granted minority non-voting class-B shares in the operating entity as part of their initial consulting fee. "
"Oh!" Michael, Maggie, Penny, and Martin chorused in unison, the pieces of the corporate puzzle finally locking together.
Linda glanced around the table, her eyebrows rising in mild surprise when she realized Penny’s voice had been one of the loudest in that collective chorus.
"Didn't you know about this, Penny?" Linda asked, turning slightly in her chair to look at her friend.
Penny offered a wry, self-deprecating smile, shaking her head as she set her empty serving tray down.
"No, I didn't. Darius kept me just as much in the dark as he did everyone else about this specific corporate structure.
Honestly, I was far too busy on the ground in Charleston ensuring Baxter didn't actually mess up our regional accounts to notice the entire secondary plot running beneath the harbor development. "
"Baxter and I couldn't risk anyone at the firm knowing what we were doing," Darius explained, his voice smooth but firm.
"With a sophisticated mole inside our company, any leak would have ruined the entire counter-sting.
It was absolutely essential that the strategy remained between only the three of us. "
“Three?” Linda turned her head to look at him, her forehead creasing. "I thought it was only you and Baxter."
"There was Clyde," Darius explained, his expression turning serious.
"Clyde owns a security company that does a lot of detective work for various businesses.
He's the only one who had the authorization to bypass our standard network firewalls and monitor the cloned security profiles without triggering an automated system alert. "
"And we recently found out that one of Clyde's security team is actually working on the side with Rory," Baxter added, resting his elbows on the teak.
"Clyde has kept him active in his agency so as not to trigger alarms, and we can feed our bogus information through the man so South Coast Hotels doesn’t think anything of it. "
“So Rory and this security guy think you’re none the wiser to what they are doing?” Michael asked.
“Yes, they think that I’m…” Baxter started to talk.
"That you're a backstabbing shark?" Isabel said, her voice sharp, her eyes flashing with cold, defensive fire as she cut in.
Linda watched the exchange closely. She could tell that despite the mounting evidence of the setup against Baxter, Isabel still didn't fully trust her cousin. The emotional wounds from Baxter's supposed corporate betrayal ran deep, and Isabel wasn't ready to sweep them aside just yet.
Baxter let out a quiet, heavy sigh. "Issy...
" he said, a distinct hint of sadness softening his usually confident voice.
"I'm telling you that I was set up from the very beginning, and...
" He paused, offering her a tight, defensive smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Well, maybe it is best for our public cover that you still don't trust me. "
"So when do you officially get the report from Hyrum's team on the Charleston artifacts?" Linda asked, skillfully stepping in to redirect the conversation back to the tactical issue at hand before the family tension could boil over.
"We should have the official documentation in a day or two," Darius told her.
"Although we've already read the exact draft they are going to submit," Baxter added with a quiet chuckle. "Rory received an advance copy of the report yesterday to review and prepare their response before Hyrum Wineberg officially transmits it to me."