Chapter 10 - Tearing Down the Waterfront
By the following evening, Baltimore was in an uproar.
News vans lined the perimeter of the Calder Harbor Terminal.
Headlines flashed across every television screen:
STERLING HEIRESS ARRESTED FOR KIDNAPPING AND CONSPIRACY.
SHIPPING MERGER CANCELLED AMID HARBOR SCANDAL.
In the master study, Roman stood behind his mahogany desk.
The city lights reflected across the dark waters outside his floor-to-ceiling
windows.
His lawyer and chief financial officer sat opposite him, sweating profusely.
"Thomas Sterling is threatening a complete embargo on our southern docks," the
lawyer warned.
"He says if you don't drop the charges against Evelyn, he will bankrupt your
logistics chain."
Roman didn't even turn around.
He took a sip of black coffee.
"Let him try."
"Sir, they hold forty percent of the container leases in Virginia—"
"Buy them out," Roman interrupted coldly.
The CFO gasped. "That will cost nearly eighty million dollars in liquid
capital!"
"Then execute the transfer by midnight," Roman said, his voice flat.
"I want Thomas Sterling stripped of every shipping license in Maryland,
Delaware, and Virginia by tomorrow morning."
He turned to face them, his gray eyes burning with lethal precision.
"He raised a viper. Now he pays the bill."
The men scurried out of the office like frightened schoolboys.
I stood in the shadows of the doorway, holding a tray with fresh mint tea.
Even after everything, the habit of serving was hard to break.
Roman looked up, and the terrifying glare on his face instantly softened.
"You shouldn't be carrying that, Nora."
He crossed the room, took the silver tray from my hands, and placed it on the
desk.
He looked down at my wrists.
The bandages were smaller now, but the angry red lines were still visible.
"How is Caleb?" he asked.
"Asleep," I smiled softly. "The new nebulizer worked miracles. He told me the
bed in the west suite feels like sleeping on a cloud."
I looked into Roman's tired face.
"You're going to war with the Sterlings because of me."
"No," Roman said firmly.
He reached out, his fingers gently brushing the side of my neck.
"I am going to war with the Sterlings because they are criminals."
"And because they tried to take away the only thing in this city that matters to
me."
My heart skipped a beat.
"Roman..."
"Don't look at me like that, Nora," he whispered, stepping closer until our
chests almost touched.
"I've spent five years watching you from across the room."
"I watched you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders without ever
asking for help."
May you like
"I'm not letting you carry it alone anymore."
Before I could answer, the red emergency phone on his desk shrieked.
