Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Chose the Wrong Man
Rebecca’s confession did not make Faith feel better.
It made everything worse.
Vincent lunged toward her before anyone could react.
Arthur moved first, stepping between them with such speed that Vincent nearly collided with his chest.
“Move,” Vincent snapped.
Arthur did not blink.
Francesco said, “You have been asked to leave.”
Vincent looked from Francesco to Faith to Rebecca and seemed to realize, for the first time, that he had lost control of the scene.
“This is insane,” he said. “Rebecca is upset. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”
Rebecca laughed once, bitter and broken.
“That’s what you told Faith about me, isn’t it?”
Faith’s stomach twisted.
Vincent’s face changed.
Rebecca turned to Faith. “Can we talk somewhere he can’t hear us?”
Faith wanted to say no.
She wanted Rebecca back in the car, back in Vincent’s life, back in the part of her own life she was trying to cut away.
But the words about stolen medication would not leave her head.
“Inside,” Faith said.
Francesco nodded to Arthur. “Make sure Mr. Hale leaves.”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed.
“You know my last name.”
Francesco gave him a look so calm it was almost insulting.
“I know more than that.”
Vincent left.
Not because he wanted to.
Because three black SUVs appeared at the curb almost simultaneously, and even a man as arrogant as Vincent understood what kind of boundary he had reached.
Inside the townhouse, Rebecca wrapped both hands around a cup of coffee she did not drink.
Faith sat across from her.
Francesco remained standing near the fireplace.
“This is between us,” Faith said.
Francesco inclined his head. “Then I’ll leave.”
Rebecca looked startled.
Faith did too.
Most powerful men Faith had known treated privacy as something weaker people requested and stronger people ignored.
Francesco simply walked out.
Rebecca waited until the door closed.
Then she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Faith’s face went cold.
“No.”
Rebecca looked up.
“Don’t start there. Sorry is for stepping on someone’s foot.”
“I know.”
“You slept with the man I was supposed to marry.”
“I know.”
“In my bed.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Faith leaned back.
“Start with the drugs.”
Rebecca nodded.
She worked at Meridian Medical Logistics, a regional distributor that handled pharmaceuticals and specialty supplies for several hospitals, including Mount Sinai.
Vincent worked there too.
Faith had known that much.
What she had not known was that Vincent had been moving high-cost cardiac medication off legitimate shipments and replacing it with cheaper product purchased through gray-market suppliers.
The stolen medication was resold through private clinics.
“What does that have to do with me?” Faith asked.
“Your name was useful.”
Faith felt cold.
Rebecca pulled a folded sheet from her purse.
“It’s a pharmacy access report.”
Faith recognized the format immediately.
Her trainee ID appeared beside three medication withdrawals.
“I never did this.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Vincent had your badge cloned.”
Faith’s hands went numb.
Rebecca continued. “He took a picture of it while you were asleep. One of the tech guys at Meridian made a duplicate RFID strip.”
“Why would you help him?”
“I didn’t know at first.”
Faith stared at her.
Rebecca looked miserable.
“I thought he was cheating expense accounts. Then I thought he was reselling surplus product. By the time I realized what was happening, I was already sleeping with him.”
“That is not a defense.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
Rebecca flinched.
Faith looked down at the report.
One medication name stood out.
Vasotril-X.
A cardiac stabilization drug used in high-risk arrhythmia cases.
“Why this one?”
Rebecca said nothing.
Faith looked up.
“Rebecca.”
“The counterfeit version is inconsistent.”
Faith’s stomach dropped.
“What do you mean inconsistent?”
“Some lots have less active ingredient. Some have almost none.”
Faith stood so fast her chair scraped back.
“People could die.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled.
“I think someone already did.”
The door opened.
Francesco stood there.
Faith glared at him. “You were listening?”
“No.”
His face had gone pale beneath his olive skin.
“I heard the name Vasotril-X.”
Something in his voice made Faith stop.
Rebecca looked confused.
Francesco crossed the room slowly.
“My sister Sofia died two years ago after a routine cardiac procedure.”
Faith’s anger disappeared.
“The hospital blamed an unpredictable rhythm event,” he continued. “My physician questioned the medication response.”
Rebecca whispered, “Which hospital?”
“Saint Catherine’s.”
She looked at Faith.
“Meridian supplied them too.”
Francesco’s expression became something Faith had not yet seen.
Not rage.
Grief sharpened into purpose.
“How long have you known?” he asked Rebecca.
“About the counterfeit lots? Three weeks.”
“Who runs the gray-market purchases?”
“Vincent’s boss. Maybe someone above him.”
Francesco said, “Name.”
“Luca Bellini.”
The room went silent.
Faith saw recognition move through Francesco’s face.
Rebecca noticed too.
“You know him.”
Francesco’s voice was quiet.
“Yes.”
Faith looked between them.
“Who is Luca Bellini?”
Francesco turned to her.
“A man who has spent ten years trying to convince New York that he is a businessman.”
“And what is he really?”
Francesco’s eyes hardened.
“My enemy.”
Faith did not sleep much that night.
Maria showed Rebecca to a guest room on the opposite side of the townhouse, but Faith could hear footsteps in the hall long after midnight. She finally found Rebecca sitting on the back staircase with her shoes in her hands.
“You can’t sleep either?” Rebecca asked.
Faith stayed three steps above her.
“No.”
Rebecca looked down. “I used to envy you.”
Faith almost laughed.
“Of what?”
“You had a plan. Nursing school. Your mother’s picture on your desk. That stupid color-coded calendar. You always knew what came next.”
“And you slept with Vincent because you envied my calendar?”
Rebecca closed her eyes. “No. I slept with him because he made me feel chosen.”
Faith understood that sentence against her will.
Vincent had been good at choosing people. He studied their hungers first.
“What did he promise you?” Faith asked.
“A partnership at Meridian. A condo. A future where I didn’t have to keep asking men like Bellini for permission to matter.”
“And instead?”
“He used my login to move shipments.”
Faith sat on the step across from her.
“Then tomorrow you tell the investigators everything.”
Rebecca nodded.
“If I do, he’ll destroy me.”
Faith looked toward the dark window.
“He already tried.”
The difference, Faith realized, was that she no longer believed being destroyed and being exposed were the same thing.
Before returning to bed, she passed Francesco in the hallway. He had changed out of his suit but was still awake, reading documents at a small desk.
“You protect everyone who shows up at your gate?” she asked.
“No.”
“Why us?”
His gaze moved toward the staircase where Rebecca had been sitting.
“Because people who are afraid make bad bargains. I know that better than most.”
Faith wanted to ask what bargain he had made.
May you like
She did not.
Not yet.
