Chapter 22 - The Moreau Syndicate
The two deckhands jumped back as Mateo slid the armored SUV between Vanessa and the ship’s ramp, cutting off their advance.
I kicked open the passenger door, stepping out into the blinding rain. The wind whipped my hair across my face, but I kept my eyes locked on Julian Moreau above.
"Vanessa! Get in the back!" I shouted, not taking my gaze off the ship’s deck.
Vanessa scrambled on her hands and knees across the wet timber, crying hysterically, completely forgetting her designer luggage. She yanked the rear door open and threw herself onto the floorboards, hyperventilating like a wounded dog.
Julian Moreau raised an eyebrow, motioning for his deckhands to stand down. A slow, mocking smile spread across his aristocratic face.
"Claire," Julian purred, leaning over the ship’s rail. "The true daughter of Colette. Look at you. Standing in the storm, protecting the very leeches who made your life a living hell. How noble. How utterly... bourgeois."
"Call your dogs off, Julian," I said, my voice cutting through the howl of the wind. "The Cayman courts have issued an emergency injunction against your holding company. The Boston harbor police already have your vessel’s tail number. You step one foot off this dock with Bennett property, and you’ll spend the rest of your life in federal prison."
Julian laughed softly—a cold, cultured sound that made the hairs on my neck stand up.
"Federal prison? In America?" He tilted his head, amused. "You still think this is about Massachusetts maritime law, petite. You think this began with your silly little vacation in Cabo, where your sister stole your hotel room and you locked her out."
He stepped closer to the rail, his eyes narrowing to cold slits.
"Your father murdered my sister, Claire."
The words struck the dock like a physical blow. The wind seemed to freeze in my throat.
"That's a lie," I yelled back. "Colette died in an accident!"
"Arthur kidnapped her!" Julian roared, his veneer of aristocratic composure cracking for the first time, exposing the raw, venomous hatred beneath. "She was betrothed to the Duke of Valois! Our family’s entire shipping empire was secured through that alliance! Arthur seduced her, stole her away to America, and when she tried to return to France with her child, her car miraculously lost its brakes in the hills of Nice! Arthur took her baby, took her shares, and buried her memory in a Boston vault!"
"And you think killing me or stealing my company will bring her back?" I challenged, stepping closer to the edge of the wharf.
May you like
"No," Julian hissed, his voice dropping into a deadly whisper. "It won't bring her back. But it will erase Arthur Bennett’s bloodline from this earth. And starting tonight, Claire... every ship carrying the Bennett name will burn."
He signaled the bridge. The vessel’s engine roared to a deafening pitch.
