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“It helps that he has Alzheimer’s, so he forgets the slides, and I get genuine reactions every time.”
Ben coughed into his hand, but I couldn’t hold my shock.“Char!”
“What?”She swatted her hand at me.“He loves it.Tells me that bastard’s not going to know what hit him.Sometimes he even claps at the end.It’s kind of become our thing.”
Ben shook his head, then stood and crossed over to her, peering down at the screen.“What are we looking at exactly?”
“A full exposé, if you will.Financial discrepancies, trademark infringements, illegal shell companies, police reports from all the drunk drivers leaving Gold Crest's facilities, the damage of Murray’s furniture, the voicemail, and the fake email that canceled our order, and how it traces to Gold Crest’s IP.Everything I need to dismantle Gold Crest and publicly humiliate your father, which is what I’m looking most forward to.”
“Remind me never to cross you,” Ben said.
She patted his shoulder.“Smart man.”
“We can’t prove he was involved with the furniture damage or the damage to the bottles of the reserve.”
“No.”Char picked a piece of dog hair, probably from Brady’s pup, Jack, off her lapel.“But we don’t need concrete proof.We’ve got a pattern.A motive.That’s enough to sway public opinion.People will believe it because they’ll know he’s capable.As Grandpa always said, ‘The proof is in the pudding, but sometimes you just need a good sniff’.”
“He’d be proud of you.”If Grandpa was alive, he’d fight for the family and the legacy he created with everything he had.With him gone, Chardonnay has filled that void and taken the reins.
“He’d be proud of all of us.I couldn’t have done any of this alone.Laurent and Franc have been making phone calls to their contacts in California.Rose has been conducting her social media deep dives and whatever else she does with an internet connection and time.Nero and Rhone have used their charm around town to get insight into Gold Crest, so we’ve all had a hand in it.”
“And I brought him to your doorstep,” Ben said.
“No,” I stated.“He was here before you, which is why he sent you.”
“Then you turned double agent, so really you’re the reason we have any real chance at beating him at his own game,” Char added.
“You chose us,” I said.
A slight smile tugged at his mouth, his eyes meeting mine.“Always.”
“You’ve done more than enough to help us stop him,” Char said, breaking our gaze.
“I just hope it’s enough.”He thrust his hands into his pants and rocked on his heels.
“There are sixty-two slides,” I said.
Char tapped her keyboard.“Sixty-three, I just added another.”She glanced up.“We’re going to make him sorry he ever crossed us.”
Ben took my hand and squeezed.“Then let’s finish this for good.”
Chapter 28
Sherry
Chardonnay had been preparing for this town hall meeting for so long, I couldn’t believe it was here.The board rescheduled on her twice, but all that did was give her more time to build her case.We were all here in support.All the Grasso’s, even Mom and Dad, who flew back from their current expedition in Italy.Dad had said he trusted us to handle this, and had all the faith, but he wanted front row seats to the takedown.Apparently, he had a few interactions with Ben’s father over the years and none of them were good.
It amazed me how intertwined our lives were.How fate had been weaving us together long before we met.How the invisible strings pulled us toward each other through tangled family histories that we hadn’t even known overlapped.
We had spent decades unaware of each other, the legacy battles we were born into, and yet somehow, we found each other.Now we stood together, not just as allies, but as something much stronger and unbreakable.
As I looked around the room and saw my family that had welcomed him even when they discovered his true identity, the townspeople who had claimed him as one of their own, I realized this wasn’t just a takedown for Ben, but proof that family wasn’t the one you were born into.It was the ones who showed up for you, even when you made mistakes.The ones who would give you a second chance and never expect anything in return.
Years ago, my grandfather made a little boy feel seen.Now that little boy was protecting his legacy, even if it meant going against the one he was born into.Kindness is a virtue, and my grandfather didn’t just preach it.He lived by it.
Lainey was here, too, but this time she didn’t bring cake.All the locals knew that once this was over, they could all head to the tasting room, and Lainey would serve them as many slices of cake as they wanted.She didn’t want the enemy to have any joy today.
Albert stood in the back, arms crossed over his dirt-stained overalls, mumbling about the only reason he showed up was for the cake.