The silence after the call ended was terrifying.
Richard Blackwood.
The name echoes in my mind as I try to reconcile two impossible realities. Katherine's former boss at Premier Financial; the polished businessman who gave her the Marvin account assignment. Who pushed her toward me with ultimatums and impossible deadlines.
Formerly Ricardo Ramírez. The twelve-year-old boy who survived when my father eliminated his entire family. Who had spent twenty-five years building a new identity, infiltrating the banking world, positioning himself for revenge.
"Richard was..." Katherine's voice is barely a whisper. "He was the Commission? This entire time?"
Her face has gone white. She's shaking, and I pull her against me, feeling her trembling.
"He placed you," I say, the pieces falling into horrifying clarity. "The Marvin account assignment wasn't random. He engineered it specifically to get you close to me, not entirely Marcus."
