“I can’t accept this,” Alex refused. “It’s much too valuable.”
“Yes, you can.” Sergio leaned toward her and kissed her. “You can. The most beautiful jewelry for the most beautiful woman I know.”
“Sergio, I…” Alex felt more uncomfortable by the minute, but he put his index finger on her lips, smiling.
“This past year has been difficult for my business,” he said, “but now I’ve solved all the problems and come to the conclusion that it’s time to change my life.”
Alex felt a chill. She thought about Nick Kostidis, David Zuckerman, and the assassination attempt by the Colombian drug cartel. Oh yes, Sergio had definitely solved his problems in his own way.
“I think,” he continued, “that you should live here. With me. I’ll file for a divorce from Constanzia, and then we can get married.”
Alex had hoped that he would never mention this topic again. She didn’t know how to react. His hand was resting on her knee and wandered up her thigh. Then he leaned her head back and kissed her.
“I love you, cara,” he murmured. “I’ve longed for you so much in the past weeks.”
Alex cursed herself for accepting Sergio’s invitation. She didn’t want his gift, and she couldn’t stand his touch. The mere thought of being married to this ice-cold killer filled her with horror.
“We’ll have a wedding that people will still talk about fifty years from now.” His hands slid beneath her blouse, and he started breathing heavily. “And then we’ll cruise on the Stella Maris for our honeymoon—just you and I. For as long as you want. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
Sergio pulled her on top of him, and she was filled with disgust when she felt his erection. But what could she do in this situation other than play along with him?
“I wish we could get married tomorrow,” she lied, responding to his kiss. She felt like bursting into tears. “It was always my dream to live on Park Avenue. I’m curious what Trevor and Madeleine will say. Maybe you can buy a house on Long Island. Perhaps I’ll resign my position at LMI.”
Sergio paused for a split second.
“If that’s what you want, cara,” he whispered hoarsely. “You can do whatever you like.”
On Saturday morning, Alex arrived at eleven o’clock on the nose at Vincent Levy’s office. Levy led her to his office and offered her some coffee.
“Alex,” LMI’s president began, “I’d like to talk to you about St. John.”
He crossed his legs and waited for a reaction, but Alex had no intention of accommodating him. This conversation had been long overdue and should have occurred three months ago, but he had probably been too cowardly.
“Well,” he continued, “St. John has come to his senses recently. It’s a terrible thing that he snooped around in your desk. I was very angry about that and clearly expressed that to him. But I’m pretty sure that he has learned his lesson. He lost a lot of money using the information that he found to speculate on his own account.”
Liar, Alex thought. Zack hadn’t lost a penny because it wasn’t his money. But she knew that she also needed to play along with Levy’s game.
“St. John used an outside brokerage account for his…hmm…personal trades so that no harm was done to LMI.”
That was also a lie.
“Vincent,” Alex said, leaning forward, “I suspect that Zack has done this before. I’ve informed him about every imminent deal, as you asked me to, although that violates all kinds of rules. LMI still has an impeccable reputation, but I seriously fear that St. John is threatening it with his insider trading.”
“I agree.” Levy seemed embarrassed. “This certainly is serious, and I’ve warned St. John never to violate the law again so blatantly.”
Alex would have burst out laughing if Levy’s farce didn’t have such serious consequences. How stupid did he think she was?
“I don’t want to work with him anymore,” she said with determination. “He’s betrayed my confidence. I don’t want to be subject to an SEC investigation. I won’t pass on any information to him, and I demand that you prohibit him from entering my office.”
Alex noticed the thin layer of sweat on Levy’s forehead despite the cool temperature in his office. She had him backed in to a corner. Levy and Vitali needed both her and Zack equally to continue their fraudulent conspiracy.
“I understand that you feel betrayed.” Levy cleared his throat and forced himself to smile. “I also understand that you’re angry, but we’ll find a way to continue together.”
“Not with St. John!” She shook her head emphatically. “Vince, I have to tell you, I keep getting interesting offers from other firms that I’ve so far declined because I’m happy at LMI and enjoy working here. But if there’s another incident like this, I’ll feel compelled to resign on the spot.”
“Calm down, Alex! It won’t happen again. I promise you.”
“Will St. John leave the company?”
“He’s on the board.” Levy shifted back and forth in his chair. “His dismissal would cause a lot of talk and unrest.”
“Put yourself in my shoes. Would you like to work with someone who digs around in your desk behind your back?”
Alex could see how uncomfortable Levy felt.
“From now on, you will just report to me personally, Alex. You won’t have to deal with St. John anymore.”
“He’ll boycott all of my deals.” She looked at her boss coolly. “He has already threatened me with that. That’s not particularly fertile ground for a successful future, is it?”
Levy desperately tried to justify keeping St. John with the firm. He normally would have been fired for insider trading and reported to the authorities—board member or not—but Alex knew that Levy couldn’t exactly do that.
“Since I can’t trust the information flow in this company anymore,” she said, “I’ll strictly adhere to the Chinese wall principle and keep all of the information to myself until it’s made public.”
“You’re right.” Levy leaned forward. It almost seemed like there was a hint of panic in his eyes. “You should do it exactly that way. Maybe it was my mistake to involve St. John too much with the M&A department. From now on, you just report to me personally.”
Alex looked at him closely, and then she stood up.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this, Vincent. I’ll stay until you find a suitable successor for my position.”
She knew that Levy would immediately tell Sergio about this conversation. Yesterday, she had told him that she would like to resign at LMI. Everything was working out perfectly. It wouldn’t be hard for her to move on from LMI; she really would have no problem finding a new job. She’d just recently had an interesting conversation with Carter Ringwood from First Boston, where he had offered her a position. Levy also stood up.
“I understand your anger,” he said, “but please don’t make any rash decisions. We’re extremely pleased with your performance and would be happy to offer you a contract with a higher fixed salary. Think about it.”
“It’s not about the money,” Alex replied. “I just don’t want to be put behind bars.”
“I’ll arrange everything so you’re happy,” Levy promised. “Okay?”
“Do what you can.”
She shook her boss’s hand and left his office.
Right after the door closed behind her, Levy sank into the chair behind his desk. He felt like wringing St. John’s neck! Everything was going smoothly, but the man had acted like an absolute rookie. If St. John hadn’t told Alex that he’d rummaged around in her papers, then nothing would have happened. Damn his greed and pathological narcissism! Someone in his position had to be able to keep it together. Nevertheless, it was obvious the man couldn’t bear the fact that Alex’s star was shining brighter than ever.