Page 92 of Tainted Love

My old boss Jack? The man Gregory forced to confess to sexual assault?ThatJack? My skin crawls until the tingling grows to a shiver and my shoulders shudder. I should consider myself lucky. All those late nights in the office, the crass jibes, the way he used to look at me like I was his next meal. But Jack never actually touched me. Thanks to Gregory, I never became one of the women he abused.

‘When?’ I don’t need to ask why; I know why. He went to see him to determine whether Jack is behind the trouble withBlack Diamonds.

‘Wednesday.’

I nod. ‘And?’

‘It’s not him, Scarlett, I’m certain of it.’

I nod again, unsure how I feel about that. ‘Thank you for telling me.’ I lean across the back seat and press my mouth to his. ‘It means a lot.’

He strokes my hair behind my ear and pushes the curled ends back across my shoulder. ‘Don’t overthink, baby; enjoy your last day at the firm. I can’t wait until I get to see you all day, every day.’

‘I’ll be working,’ I say with a smile I can’t help because I’m really looking forward to working next door to him, too.

‘Your boss might give you extended breaks,’ he says with a suggestive half-smile and the kinky sparkle in his eye throws my mind back to images of us fucking over his desk.

‘I don’t know,’ I say, pecking his cheek and making my move out of the car. I bend and lean back through the open door. ‘I’ve heard he’s a bit of a dick.’ I blow him a kiss, leaving him laughing as the door closes.

* * *

It wasn’t Jack.

I need to start making my final handover notes and packing up the contents of my desk but before I do, I open my matter file forConstant Sources (GJR): Black Diamonds.

‘Hey, you.’ Amanda appears at my office door. ‘Leaving lunch and embarrassing goodbye shenanigans at one.’

‘Oh, Amanda, please don’t go over the top; I’d rather slope off quietly.’

‘And that’s why you have a fantabulous best friend to make sure you don’t.’ She leaves as swiftly as she arrived, calling back, ‘I’ll collect you at twelve fifty-five. Be ready.’

I start working back through the information I have on theBlack DiamondsIP registrations.Nothing.I scour my documents and notes on the subsidiary companies that filed the registrations. Local counsel said there was nothing suspect about those companies nor the French parent company. I put on my headset and dial each lawyer in turn, asking them to urgently send through the details of the three companies, names of directors, shareholders, constitutional documents.

Ten minutes later, I’m scouring the documents on my screen and I see one common thread.

Francesco Benedetti, Director.

I can hear Adriana’s whiney voice chastising her husband.‘Oh, Francesco, you’re so baaaaad.’The man I know as Francis is… Francesco Benedetti?

TypingFrancesco Benedettiinto a search engine gives me a link to Carter’s Private Equity House. I remember the name.

Unsettled and feeling like I’m onto something all at once, I click the link to the company’s website. The homepage is full of spiel about the PE house’s investments.Latest News. Corporate Social Responsibility.Then I clickTeam.

There he is. A black and white image with a bio sits under the headingFrancesco Benedetti.Francis.

Francis is registeringBlack Diamonds?

Gregory answers almost immediately when I call.

‘Ryans.’

‘It’s Nick Henshaw.’ His name tastes vile as it leaves my mouth.

‘Scarlett?’

‘Francis, Adriana’s Francis, is Francesco Benedetti.’ I try to slow my pace and keep it together as I explain.

‘Yes, one and the same.’