Princely Passions 2(120)

I stand up and look at her—this woman who has literally stolen a fortune from me.

“Before you say another word,” I say looking at her. “Let me just go ahead and tell you that I’ve called over NYPD and Preston Cabot. I suggest the next words out of your mouth be the truth, Nadia.”

Nadia looks at me with alarm and I hear a sharp intake of breath.

That must be Alicia. She must be going out of her mind. I figure once we’re done here, she will probably be pretty mad at me, you know?

And you know what? I’m not happy about it. I love her. I meant what I said when I told her that I needed her in my life. I can’t live without her.

But the only way we were going to get out of this entire situation was for her to play the part that she fell into. I never wanted her to have to go through this. But she dove in, and I had to let her see it through.

You have no idea actually what I’m talking about, do you?

Fine, let me make it a bit clearer.

Just then, the door opens and an uniformed police officer walks in along with the Chairman and CEO of Carter Jeffries.

Nadia’s eyes grow wide and she gets up from her chair.

But before she can do or say anything, Preston Cabot – the lion of Wall Street – speaks up.

“Just stay right where you are, Ms. Moore,” he says sharply. “We’ll do this quietly to avoid as much embarrassment as possible as long as you cooperate. But make things difficult and I have no problem marching you out the floor in handcuffs.”

Nadia seems to think better of her situation. She’s still flustered and looks at me.

But I’m looking at Alicia. Poor girl looks like she’s about to faint, but she’ll be okay.

Satisfied at how strong Alicia is to cope with all this, I turn my attention back to Nadia.

“Yes, Nadia,” I say to her with a bit of a sneer. “I knew from the very beginning that the embezzlement was happening from Carter Jeffries.”

Nadia is silent. This is a fucking wise move as I get up and walk over to her. “What I didn't realize was that it was coming from right in the Private Client department. I mean, I thought maybe it was happening somewhere in the operational side – the traders or programmers who execute all the trades,” I say to her as she remains still. “I thought for sure it had to be someone who was getting legitimate instructions and then siphoning off cash. That it was someone who worked at your level and broke the system internally never occurred to me until Alicia started dropping hints and asking pointed questions.”

Nadia looks over sharply at Alicia and I can see a whole new level of startled go through that girl’s face.

“That’s right, Nadia,” I say aloud. “Alicia figured out what was going on, but a little faster than you thought she would. She found out some improper classifications of trades and most likely didn't realize that they were just placeholders. You classified trades and deposits as happening in Iran and North Korea, but it was actually just moving to your own bank account.”

Nadia flinches. It’s just dawning on her the extent to how much I know what’s going on.

“And being the good person that Alicia is, she tried her level best to find out what I knew without breaking her confidence to the Firm,” I say toward Preston who nods to me.

I can see he’s about to say something so I pause to let him speak.

“Imagine my surprise when Derek and I meet for a round of drinks and he tells me that the woman he’s been seeing just got promoted that works in his account,” Preston says to Nadia. “A promotion from this department during the middle of the year is something that usually has to get signed off by the CEO. By me. And I had no idea what he was talking about.”

“You both knew?” Nadia asks Preston and I.

I shrug and walk toward Alicia. “I suspected you were rotten,” I say nonchalantly. “But I also wanted to see how far you would take it. Only this morning did I realize you were attempting to set Alicia up for the fall and that was how you were going to exit. That’s when I had all the pieces I needed.”

“As did we, Ms. Moore,” Preston says to Nadia. “Take it from someone who’s been on Wall Street a long time. You got greedy. And greed makes you careless. On the Street, Bulls rush in and Bears play it safe, but pigs get slaughtered.”

“Oink oink, boss,” I turn around in surprise and see that Alicia has gotten up. She’s balled her fists and looks like she’s going to rush Nadia. I go over and place a hand on her shoulder, calming her down slightly. She’s mad. With good reason.

Nadia for her part hangs her head in defeat. “It was supposed to be a foolproof plan,” she says, all but admitting her guilt.