Chapter 14

Everyone in the bullpen was dying to see what state Kerry would be in when she finally walked out of that office. They didn't have to wait long. Barely ten minutes later, Kerry emerged, looking perfectly natural, even a little radiant.

Everyone instantly understood the score. The arm couldn't twist the thigh. It wasn't that Maggie couldn't break Kerry—it was that Vanguard couldn't afford to offend Clifton Condon.

That night after work, Kerry and Daniel went to a high-end roast duck restaurant. When they pushed open the door to their private room, Zoe Price was already there, aggressively promising someone on the phone that she would treat them to dinner tomorrow.

Daniel laughed as he walked in. "A rare sight. The cheapskate is actually plucking her own feathers. I'm honored."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Don't think just calling me Boss P means you can pluck my feathers. I invited you here to give you the opportunity to buy me dinner."

Daniel took a seat at the large round table. "You run your own company now. Can't you be a little generous and bleed a little for once?"

"Good steel must be used on the blade's edge," Zoe countered. "Didn't you hear me? I have to treat someone to dinner tomorrow."

Daniel smirked. "Right. You only butcher your own people."

Kerry poured three glasses of plum juice. "When she says she's 'treating' someone to dinner, she actually means they're paying the bill."

Zoe grinned. "Kerry gets me." She shot Daniel a look. "You've been hanging around me since college for nothing."

"Don't remind me," Daniel sighed. "Since I met you, I've had to pay double for every meal. My parents constantly suspect I have a girlfriend. The worst part is, I wouldn't mind if it were true, but you're just hogging the toilet without taking a shit."

Zoe snorted. "Why are you acting like you ate gunpowder? Hormonal imbalance?"

"The person he wanted to crush today slipped through his fingers," Kerry explained. "Baby's feeling wronged, so he's taking it out on you."

Zoe eagerly demanded the details. Once Kerry laid out exactly what had happened with May Payne and Maggie, Zoe practically glowed. "So satisfying. After holding it in for a month, you finally got to exhale some toxic air."

"Some people just have a perfectly harmless face," Daniel mused, looking at Kerry.

"But behind the scenes, I'm absolutely ruthless, right?" Kerry deadpanned.

"You were tasting bile and sleeping on brushwood," Daniel praised, referencing an ancient revenge proverb.

Kerry took a slow sip of her plum juice. "When you don't have the qualifications or the power, you have to hold it in."

"Until you have an absolute advantage," Zoe added. "Then, when you can't bear it anymore, there's no need to bear it. Strike the villain head-on. Make them taste the bitterness of being caught off guard and utterly helpless. Straight out of the Art of War."

"I just feel bad for all the barbed insults I had prepared," Daniel sighed theatrically. "Never even got the chance to use them."

"Oh, give it a rest," Zoe said. "You're different from Kerry. She was recruited by Cole Shimp; you followed Cole Shimp here. Don't cause trouble. Especially not before the relationship is stable."

She deliberately emphasized the word "relationship," which made Daniel groan in exaggerated despair. "It's hard. Finding a good woman is hard. Finding a good man is even harder."

Kerry and Zoe had known about Daniel's sexual orientation for years. It wasn't that the rabbit didn't eat the grass near its burrow; it was that the grass wasn't interested in the rabbit.

During the meal, Zoe's tone turned serious. "Clifton Condon's influence is insane. Just today, five or six different companies came to my office offering deep partnerships. The ones who couldn't hide their motives flat-out told me to bring Ms. Jones to dinner sometime. It makes me excited, but it terrifies me."

"Don't be afraid," Kerry said smoothly. "Clif Condon gave us an opening so we could take advantage of his name. If he wasn't willing, do you really think we'd be able to?"

"That's true," Zoe sighed. "I'm just worried about you..."

"Whether he's a shrewd businessman or a petty tyrant," Kerry cut in, "as long as the foundation is fair, I will pay him back double wherever he needs it. That way he's happy, and our lives get a lot easier."

Zoe shook her head. "Poor thing. I feel like I've personally raised a little white sheep just to hand-deliver her to the mouth of a tiger."

"I'd rather stand next to a tiger than be hunted by a pack of jackals," Kerry replied.

"Especially when it's a wolf in sheep's clothing," Daniel added from the side.

Clifton Condon was undoubtedly an evil deity. Easy to invite in, nearly impossible to send away. But given Kerry's current situation at Vanguard, she needed a terrifying patron to protect her. Otherwise, she'd be slaughtered before she ever got the chance to build her career.

At the end of the meal, the three raised their glasses. A toast to Zoe's company eventually ringing the bell on the NASDAQ. A toast to Daniel finally bending Cole Shimp. A toast to Kerry staying safe... Hearing it aloud, none of them sounded like easy wishes to fulfill.

The next morning, Kerry walked into the office and was immediately greeted by warm smiles from her coworkers. Someone even asked if she wanted them to bring her breakfast. It was as cozy as if they'd been best friends for a decade. Even May Payne sat quietly at her desk, remarkably absent of her usual snark, acting as if yesterday had never happened.

At exactly 10:00 AM, the Condon car arrived. Walking downstairs, Kerry saw it wasn't Clif himself and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

When she arrived at the estate, Bill politely led her to the second floor. Kerry pushed open the door to the dark living room and walked straight to Dustin's bedroom door.

"Dustin, are you up?" she knocked.

To her surprise, his voice answered immediately. "Enter."

Kerry pressed the handle and pushed the door half open. The room was bright, and Dustin was sitting right where she could see him, holding his iPad. He looked up at her, still standing cautiously in the doorway.

"What are you afraid of?" he provoked.

Kerry smiled, stepping inside. "Just afraid you weren't out of bed yet."

Seeing nothing weird in the room, she naturally turned around to close the door.

The second she turned, a figure suddenly materialized right in her face. She didn't even have time to see if it was human or a ghost. Pure survival instinct kicked in. Her hand shot out, locking directly around its throat.

The texture was soft. She had practically crushed its windpipe before her eyes focused. It was a life-sized horror doll—a hopping vampire in tattered robes, with a chalk-white face and a bright red tongue stuck out.

It was terrifying.

She hadn't made a single sound. Gripping the vampire by the neck, she lifted the doll completely off the ground, turned back to face a wide-eyed Dustin Condon, and asked calmly, "A new gift?"

Dustin had watched the entire sequence play out. It took him a moment to respond. "Are you even a woman?"

Kerry casually tossed the vampire into the corner. "I just didn't have a free hand. Otherwise, I would have flipped it over my shoulder."

Only then did Dustin notice she was holding a cake-sized box in one hand. She set it on the table and waved him over.

"I brought you a gift, too."