Chapter 16 - The Coward’s Bargain
Julian’s face drained of every remaining drop of color.
His hands began to shake violently.
He grabbed the manila folder, tearing the damp paper open.
His eyes scanned the legal documents stamped with the official seal of the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
There it was.
Arthur Calloway’s sworn statement, signed under penalty of international perjury.
Julian was named as the mastermind.
Julian was accused of forging Arthur’s name.
Julian was being set up to serve twenty-five years in a maximum-security Swiss prison for international wire fraud and maritime piracy.
"No..." Julian whimpered, his voice cracking like dry wood.
"No, no, no. He’s my father. He wouldn't do this to his own blood."
"Your father faked his own death twelve years ago and let you carry forty million dollars of debt in Manhattan," Grace said relentlessly.
"Blood means nothing to him."
"The only thing Arthur Calloway cares about is destroying my family’s legacy."
Evelyn suddenly grabbed Julian’s arm, her claws digging into his sleeve.
"Julian! If you go to prison, what happens to me?"
"Shut up!" Julian screamed at her, shoving her away so hard her head bounced against the mahogany wall paneling.
"Get away from me, you worthless gold-digger!"
Evelyn burst into hysterical sobs, covering her face.
Julian turned back to Grace.
He slid out of the booth and fell directly to his knees on the carpeted floor of the Baur au Lac lounge.
He reached out, trying to grab the hem of Grace’s trousers.
Before his fingers could touch the fabric, Declan’s polished leather shoe planted itself firmly against Julian’s chest, pushing him back with contemptuous ease.
"Keep your hands where they belong, Calloway," Declan warned softly.
Julian looked up at Grace, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks.
"Grace... please. Please, Grace."
"You loved me once."
"We were married for five years!"
"I made mistakes, terrible mistakes, but I am the father of your child!"
Grace’s eyes turned to cold, unyielding flint.
"You are not Victoria’s father, Julian."
"A father protects his daughter."
"A father builds an empire for his child."
"You tried to sell your daughter’s birthright to pay for your mistress’s jewelry."
"You are nothing more than a biological accident that I have completely erased from her life."
"What do you want, Grace?" Julian begged, his forehead pressing against the carpet.
"Tell me what to do! I'll do anything! Just don't let them put me in prison! Swiss prisons... they will destroy me!"
Grace looked down at the man she had once shared a bed with.
There was no pity in her heart.
There was only cold, calculated strategy.
"You are going to attend the meeting with your father this evening at seven o'clock," Grace commanded.
"At the private banking salon on the Limmatquai."
"You are going to take this," she said, pulling a tiny titanium pin from her purse and tossing it onto the table.
Julian looked at it.
It was a lapel pin in the shape of a miniature anchor.
"It contains a military-grade audio and video transmitter connected directly to the Swiss Federal Banking Commission," Declan explained.
"You will walk in."
"You will ask Arthur to confirm why he forged the collateral document with Vance Maritime."
"You will get him to admit that he planned to seize the shipping lanes from an infant."
"And if I do that?" Julian asked, his voice trembling with pathetic hope.
"If you do that," Grace said, rising to her feet, "Declan’s legal team will secure your safe passage out of Switzerland."
"Where will I go?" Julian asked.
Grace looked down at him one last time.
"You will go back to America."
"You will take a bus to Ohio, where your mother was born."
"You will work in a warehouse, moving boxes for minimum wage."
"And you will never, as long as you draw breath on this earth, speak my daughter’s name again."
Julian swallowed hard, his throat dry as bone.
"And if I refuse?"
Declan stepped forward, looking down at Julian with eyes that promised complete annihilation.
"If you refuse, Julian, I will personally hand that extradition file to the Swiss police sitting outside this hotel right now."
"And I will ensure that the warden of Regensdorf prison puts you in solitary confinement until your hair turns white."
Julian’s trembling fingers reached out and grabbed the titanium pin.
May you like
"I'll do it," Julian whispered.
"I'll do it."
