Chapter 5 5

Evangelina arrived at Per Se at 7:58 PM.

She'd chosen the dress deliberately-black silk, high neck, long sleeves. Armor disguised as elegance. Her hair was pulled back, her makeup precise, her expression carefully neutral.

The maître d' didn't check his reservation list. He simply bowed.

"Mrs. Watson. Welcome. Your table is ready."

The use of the name startled her. She followed him through the dining room, past the curved walls and the famous garden paintings, to the secluded Chef's Table with its view of Central Park. The city lights were beginning to emerge, a constellation at her feet.

Barrett was already there.

He'd abandoned the suit jacket for a dark shirt, open at the collar, the sleeves rolled to his forearms. The transformation was subtle but significant-less corporate predator, more... something else. Something that made her aware of her own breathing.

He stood as she approached, pulling out her chair with a gesture that spoke of old money and older manners.

"You found it," he said.

"I know the building." Evangelina seated herself, smoothing her skirt. "The Time Warner Center isn't exactly obscure."

"Nor is Per Se." Barrett resumed his seat. "I hope the choice wasn't presumptuous."

"How did you get this table?" The question escaped before she could edit it. "The Chef's Table requires-"

"Company account," Barrett interrupted smoothly. "My employer maintains certain relationships. I borrowed his privileges."

The sommelier approached. Barrett spoke to him in French, the accent flawless, discussing vintages with the ease of someone who had spent considerable time in vineyards. Evangelina watched him, her mental files updating.

Not mid-tier, she decided. Or if he was, he was playing a very long game.

They progressed through the tasting menu. Barrett asked questions-about her work, her family, her reasons for the municipal appointment that morning. Evangelina answered with careful omissions, revealing the pressure without revealing the resources she had hidden beneath the surface.

Her phone buzzed on the table, a persistent, angry vibration. She glanced at the screen and felt her stomach clench. A flood of notifications: three missed calls from "Avery Legal Dept." and a string of emails with subjects like "URGENT: IP License Breach."

Gus Petrovic.

"I should take this," she said, already knowing she shouldn't.

Barrett gestured permission.

Evangelina pressed the phone to her ear and walked toward the window, her back to the room. "What."

"Where are you?" Her father's voice carried the particular roughness of alcohol and entitlement. "I called your office. They said you left early."

"Personal business."

"Personal." Gus laughed, a harsh bark. "While your sister is in crisis, you're handling personal business. Typical. Selfish, just like your mother."

Evangelina's fingers whitened on the phone. "Jenelle is not my sister. And from what I saw, her crisis involved excellent lighting and a professional photographer."

"Ricky Costello." Gus's tone shifted, became transactional. "She offended him at a party. His firm holds twenty million in Petrovic Industries debt. You're going to fix it."

"How."

"His club. Tonight. Eleven o'clock. You know how to handle men like him. Better than Jenelle does. More... experienced."

The implication landed like a physical blow. Evangelina felt her vision narrow, her breath coming shallow and fast.

"You're asking me to prostitute myself for your stepdaughter's mistake."

"I'm asking you to act like family." Gus's voice rose. "For once in your miserable life, consider someone other than yourself. If you don't show, don't bother coming to the funeral when I drop dead from the stress."

"Gus-"

"Eleven o'clock. The Velvet Room. Wear something that shows your assets."

The line went dead.

Evangelina stood frozen, the phone pressed to her ear, the city lights blurring into streaks of gold. She became aware of Barrett behind her, close enough to touch, his presence a warmth at her back.

She turned.

His expression was unreadable, but his right hand gripped his butter knife with unnecessary force, the silverware pressed into the porcelain with a thin, high-pitched scrape.

"Family," she said, her voice sounding distant in her own ears. "They have such wonderful ideas about my utility."

Barrett released the knife. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a handkerchief-linen, monogrammed, absurdly formal-and held it out.

"Tell me," he said.

She did. The words came in fragments, edited for dignity but complete in their humiliation. The debt. The club. The explicit expectation.

When she finished, Barrett was silent for a long moment. Then:

"Ricky Costello. The hedge fund manager. Third wife, fourth bankruptcy, currently under SEC investigation for securities fraud."

Evangelina blinked. "You know him?"

"I know of him." Barrett's eyes held hers. "He's a parasite. A bottom-feeder who mistakes desperation for opportunity." He paused. "Men like Costello operate on leverage. Financial, social... it's all data to them. My firm specializes in risk mitigation. If you'd like, I can have my people run an analysis. I'm sure we could find a way to... neutralize his influence over your family's affairs. Consider it a professional courtesy."

The phrasing was strange. Corporate, yet chilling. Evangelina almost laughed. "Neutralize his influence? What does that entail, a strongly worded email?"

"Something like that," Barrett said, his voice level, conversational, discussing weather or traffic. "It would be simple. It would be permanent. And it would cost you nothing."

Evangelina stared at him. The handsome face, the elegant hands, the absolute stillness of his posture. For a moment, she saw something else beneath the consultant's polish-something that recognized Costello not as a problem to be managed, but as an error to be corrected.

She shook her head, dismissing the impression. "You're kind to offer. But this is my mess. My family. I'll handle it."

Barrett studied her for a moment longer. Then he raised his wine glass, the gesture a silent toast.

"As you wish, Mrs. Watson."