Chapter 68 A Common Enemy
The black SUV had been idling at the corner of the construction site for three hours, and Mark stood behind a stack of lumber with his pulse thumping in his neck as he watched two men in tactical gear step out to talk to his foreman.
He knew they weren't police, and he knew they weren't city inspectors, because their movements were too smooth and their eyes were too hungry for a fight, and he felt a familiar shadow fall over him just as he reached for a heavy wrench.
He didn't have to turn around to know that Alex was standing there, because the air always got colder when a Harrington entered the room, but this time Alex wasn't wearing a tie or a tailored jacket, he was wearing a plain dark hoodie and jeans, looking like the guy Mark used to sneak out with when they were younger.
"They are from a firm called Blackwood, Helena put them on a retainer yesterday to start shaking down any business that gives you a paycheck, Mark," Alex said, his voice low and devoid of the executive polish he had been using in the city, and he stepped up beside Mark to look at the men.
"I can handle my own problems, Alex, you should be in a meeting somewhere instead of standing in the dirt with me," Mark said, but he didn't pull away this time, he just watched the men start to point at his own truck parked near the gate.
"You can't handle a private security force that has been told to make your life a misery just to get to your mother, so stop acting like we aren't in this together, and let's go find out where they go when they finish their shift," Alex told him, and he didn't wait for an answer, he just started walking toward the back exit of the site where a beat-up sedan was waiting.
Mark looked at the wrench in his hand and then at the back of his best friend’s head, and the anger he had been carrying for weeks suddenly shifted away from Alex and toward the people who were trying to use him as a pawn. He followed Alex to the car, and for the first time in months, the two of them sat in the front seat as equals, two men who knew how to navigate the backstreets of the city without a driver or a bodyguard, and they followed the black SUV through the industrial district in total silence.
"She’s talking to someone outside the company, someone who knows the local zoning laws better than my father’s lawyers do," Alex said as they turned onto a narrow street lined with empty warehouses.
"Then she’s talking to the city council or a developer who wants this land as much as she does, and if we can get a name, we can stop the harassment," Mark replied, and he felt a spark of the old brotherhood return, the feeling of being on a mission with the only person who actually understood his life.
While the men were moving through the shadows of the city, Sarah was sitting in a high-end restaurant, facing Helena across a table that felt like a battleground. Sarah had spent an hour doing her hair and picking a dress that made her look like a woman who had given up, and she kept her shoulders slumped and her voice soft, playing the role of the submissive designer who just wanted to keep her job and her peace.
"I’ve reviewed the new changes you made to the Veridian lobby, Helena, and I think they are much better than my original ideas, they have a certain strength that I didn't think of," Sarah said, looking down at her salad and avoiding Helena’s sharp, blue eyes.
"It takes a certain kind of woman to admit when she is outmatched, Sarah, and I appreciate that you are finally realizing that Alex’s protection is a temporary thing that won't save your career in the long run," Helena said, and she took a slow sip of her wine, her face full of a cold, predatory satisfaction. "My father thinks Alex is the future, but Alex is soft, he thinks love and loyalty are enough to hold a dynasty together, but I am here to show Richard that I am the only one who can actually make the hard choices."
"I just want to finish the project and go back to a quiet life, I don't want to be in the middle of a family war anymore, Helena, it’s too much for me," Sarah lied, and she saw Helena lean back, her chest swelling with the pride of a winner who believed she had finally broken her opponent.
"You are smart to walk away, because I am not just after the company, I am after the legacy, and I will destroy anyone who makes the Harrington name look weak, including my own brother and especially the woman who distracted him," Helena told her, and she reached across the table to pat Sarah’s hand, a gesture that was meant to be comforting but felt like the touch of a snake.
Sarah didn't pull away, she just nodded and kept the act alive, but under the table, her phone was recording every word Helena said, and her mind was busy memorizing the names of the three people Helena had mentioned on her private calls during the lunch. Sarah realized that Helena wasn't just a corporate rival, she was a woman with a deep, jagged need to prove she was colder than her father, and that need made her dangerous and prone to making mistakes.
"I’ll have the revised blueprints on your desk by Monday morning," Sarah said, standing up and giving Helena a small, fake smile of defeat.
"Good girl, Sarah, stay in your lane and maybe you’ll survive the year," Helena said, and she didn't even watch Sarah leave, she just went back to her phone to check the stock prices.
Sarah walked out of the restaurant and didn't stop until she reached her car, where she took a deep breath and felt the bile rise in her throat from the performance she had just given. She checked her messages and saw a text from Alex that said they had tracked the security firm to a private club downtown, a club that was owned by a man who had been Richard’s biggest rival for thirty years.
She drove toward the industrial district to meet them, her mind racing with the realization that Helena was playing a double game that involved betraying Richard to his enemies just to secure her own seat at the table. She found the sedan parked in a dark alley behind a row of brick buildings, and she saw Alex and Mark standing by the brick wall, talking in low voices like they used to do when they were planning a night out.
"Did you get it?" Alex asked as she walked up to them, his eyes searching her face.
"She’s talking to the developers at Apex, she mentioned a man named Thorne, and she’s planning to give them the internal bid numbers for the Veridian project tonight so they can undercutter the Harrington offer," Sarah said, and she saw the look of pure, lethal anger cross Alex’s face.
"Thorne is the man who tried to bankrupt my mother’s estate ten years ago, if Helena is talking to him, she isn't just taking the company, she’s selling the family out," Alex said, and he looked at Mark, who was already reaching for the car door.
"Then we go to the club and we get the proof before the meeting ends," Mark said, and he looked at Alex with a nod of agreement that meant the truce was finally real.
They drove toward the downtown area, the city lights blurring past the windows as they prepared to walk into a den of people who hated their name, and Sarah sat in the back seat watching the two men she cared about most finally working as a team. They reached the private entrance of the club, a nondescript door in a basement, and Alex led the way with a cold, steady focus that showed he was no longer playing a part, he was fighting for his life.
They stepped into the dimly lit hallway and heard the sound of voices coming from a private room at the end of the corridor, and they moved silently toward the door, stopping just outside the heavy wood to listen to the deal that was being made.
"If I give you the Harrington land rights, I want forty percent of the development profit and a seat on your board, and I want my father to find out about it through a press release," Helena’s voice said from inside the room, followed by a man’s deep, gravelly laugh.
Alex reached for the door handle, his hand tightening until his knuckles were white, but before he could push it open, the sound of a gun being cocked echoed in the quiet hallway behind them, and they turned to see the two men from the construction site standing there with their weapons leveled at their chests.
"I told the lady you'd show up eventually," the taller man said, and he smiled as he gestured for them to put their hands up. "Now, let's go inside and join the party."