The Wife Who Knew Too Much(28)



“My take on it is, he’s upset about your relationship with Connor. You should know, he and Lauren are going after him,” Juliet said.

“Going after Connor? How?”

“Complaining about his work on the Saudi deal. Levitt Global is getting trashed in the press. They’re blaming Connor, saying he mishandled the roll-out.”

“I warned Hank that deal would not be popular. Of course the press is bad. You can’t spin shit into gold.”

“He’s leaning on Lauren to move up Connor’s performance review. Since Connor’s only been at the company for ten months, he’s technically on probationary status. A negative performance review could lead to termination.”

“This is personal, you know. Hank’s jealous.”

“I believe you.” She shrugged and raised her eyebrows, as if to say, What can you do?

“I’m going to speak to him right now,” Nina said.

“You’re not in his calendar.”

“You’re telling me he’s trying to ruin Connor’s career. I won’t sit still for that.”

Juliet followed Nina down the hall. The corner suite occupied by Hank and his staff had once belonged to Edward. Nina had an office just across the elevator bank, the better to keep an eye on company business. She was an activist board chair, and Hank didn’t like that. He didn’t fancy being overseen by the founder’s widow. Interesting that his aggressive push for a personal relationship with Nina coincided with her growing role as a check on his corporate ambitions. She wondered whether he truly cared, or just wanted to control her.

As Nina swept through the anteroom, Hank’s two assistants popped up from their desks like Whac-A-Moles to intercept her. She waved them off. Juliet ran interference, stepping in to mollify them.

Hank looked up from his computer, his eyes mild behind his glasses.

“Ah, Nina. What a surprise.”

But, was it? Hank would have known the second she entered the building, if not sooner. Knowing Hank, he had spies at the helipad. She sat down in a leather chair across from his enormous glass desk. He’d had the office gutted and redone. It was sleekly contemporary now, where in Edward’s day it had been all dark paneling, cigars, and power. The view behind the CEO was the same, however—the island of Manhattan laid at his feet.

Hank looked past her to his assistants, who stood at the door with worried expressions.

“Bring Mrs. Levitt her beverage of choice, please,” he said.

They scurried off. Hank leaned back in his chair.

“Here to review the Saudi deal before the board meeting?”

There were other, more pressing concerns on her mind.

“Back off,” she said.

He looked amused. “I beg your pardon?”

“You’re screwing with Connor because you’re jealous.”

“Ah, right, got it now. Look, Nina, Lauren told me he put in a leave request for a ridiculous amount of vacation this summer—”

“Since when do you care about the inner workings of the PR department?”

“It affects the bottom line. Have you seen the press on this Saudi deal? It’s scathing.”

“Because we’re getting in bed with a terrorist regime.”

“Because somebody’s not doing his job. Perhaps you’re unable to see that because of who you’re in bed with.”

“You’re proving my point. This is personal for you.”

One of Hank’s assistants tiptoed in with Nina’s iced skim flat white in a crystal glass, set it on a coaster on Hank’s desk, and tiptoed out. She took a sip. It was so perfect that she knew Juliet had made it.

Hank raised an eyebrow. “No, it’s personal for you. I see you on the verge of making a big mistake, and I feel it’s my duty to warn you.”

“Warn me.”

“Yes. I have to ask—how much do you actually know about this man?”

He swiveled in his chair and pulled a file from a cabinet, then slid it across the desk to her with a soft, white hand. A spark of fear shot through her.

“What is that?”

“Connor’s approaching a year with the company. This next performance review will determine whether he’s retained. Naturally, we’ve done a thorough background check.”

“Something tells me that’s not his HR file.”

“Read it. I think you’ll find it very interesting.”

“I know what I need to know about him.”

Nina was not na?ve enough to believe that she knew everything about Connor. Yes, they’d talked for hours, and he’d told her enough ugly things to make him seem transparent. But nobody was completely honest, in her experience. There was always something held back.

“After a few days in bed? Come on. Read it. Unless you’re afraid to find out what it says.”

She picked up the file, her chest tight with nerves. Hank was the king of digging up dirt. He’d vetted Nina back in the day. When she and Edward met, she was fresh out of Barnard, working as a gallerina in SoHo, living in a fifth-floor walk-up in Alphabet City when that neighborhood was just rats and riots. Blue blood ran in her veins, and Edward liked that. But she was poor as a beggar, spending her days shilling art of questionable value and nights snorting whatever was on offer in the bathrooms at the Limelight. Everyone had their skeletons. Nina knew what Hank was capable of—and yes, she was afraid to read his dossier on Connor.

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