Chapter 5
Grant had a separate motive.
Money.
Not theft.
Influence.
He had spent seven years building Cole hospitality businesses.
Private catering.
Wine distribution.
Event staffing.
Luxury rentals.
Legitimate.
Successful.
But Bellini estate events used established family vendors.
Old relationships.
Some fifty years deep.
If Serena became household hostess, those contracts could shift naturally.
No order needed.
Bride prefers her family’s wine.
Bride’s brother knows a better caterer.
Bride changes floral vendor.
Bride hires her brother’s staff.
Within a year, Grant’s companies could sit inside every major Bellini event.
Access follows invoices.
Information follows staff.
I looked at him.
“How many contracts had Serena promised?”
His face tightened.
“None.”
Wrong word.
Promised.
I had asked how many she had discussed.
He corrected himself.
“Four.”
Wine.
Catering.
Temporary staff.
Event structures.
I glanced toward the broken floral letters outside.
Of course.
Even tonight’s ENGAGED display came from a Cole company.
Grant’s people had built the scenery for my displacement.
Almost poetic.
“What happens after you control the events?”
He laughed.
“You make catering sound like war.”
“No.”
I leaned back.
“I make access sound like access.”
People who serve the table hear everything the table says.
Grant knew that.
So did I.
He wanted commercial integration first.
Political leverage later.
Maybe no grand coup.
May you like
Maybe merely making Cole impossible to remove.
Families become dependent one vendor at a time.
