Chapter 64: Audience of Fifty

"Your... first date?" Victoria stammered, looking between them.

She knew the strict distance Jude Lawson always kept with his staff. The thought that he had broken that rule with his top executive caught her completely off guard.

Jude adjusted his cuffs. "That’s right, Victoria. Harper and I settled our business boundaries yesterday evening. We’re here together tonight."

Victoria felt heat rush to her face. For a fleeting second during the confrontation with Cameron Hayes, she had hoped Jude was stepping in because he cared about her.

Pulling herself together, she forced a smile and offered her hand.

"Then I apologize for holding you up, President Harper. I hope you both enjoy your evening at the Sovereign Club."

Harper took her hand. "Thank you, Victoria."

"We’re on a tight schedule," Jude said, giving Victoria a brief nod. "Make sure Hayes doesn’t reach out to you again. If his firm pushes back, send the records straight to Ghost."

"Understood, Mr. Lawson. Goodnight."

Victoria stepped back, watching through the glass as Jude opened a black umbrella and escorted Harper into the rain.

Outside, Harper linked her arm through his.

"Do you always step in to rescue your legal team from political brats? She was clearly taken with you, Jude."

Jude kept his eyes on the Obsidian Tower in the distance. "I shut down a problem, nothing more. How Victoria feels about it doesn’t factor into my decisions."

Harper laughed, pulling closer to his side. "Good. I didn’t walk away from my contract just to watch an in-house lawyer catch your eye."

Jude smiled, intrigued by the edge in her voice. Seeing her go after what she wanted in her personal life, with the exact same hunger she used to take down rival studios, was rare.

"You sound very sure of yourself, Harper."

"I am," she replied without missing a beat. "I don’t lose to competitors. You’re mine now."

It was blunt and exactly the kind of response he liked to hear.

"Bold claim," Jude said, steering her past a flooded curb. "Did Vance and the board get your official resignation?"

"They did," Harper said, her face relaxing into a satisfied grin.

"And how did they take it? I expected them to celebrate once you stepped out from under my wing."

"I thought they would, too," she laughed, shaking her head. "I underestimated their greed. Once word spread that you locked down the Department of Defense contract yesterday morning, their tone completely shifted."

Jude gave a scoff. "Predictable."

"Arthur Vance nearly had a breakdown on the phone. He actually lost his composure, begging me to stay. The moment he realized Lawson Capital’s funds weren’t tied to Apex Media anymore, he panicked and said I was throwing away the studio’s biggest asset."

For months, the board had treated Jude like a raider. But the second he secured billions from the government, those same directors wanted to treat him like their savior...

Losing direct access to his capital terrified them.

Jude sighed. "He only wanted you in that boardroom because he thought you could keep my money flowing into their accounts. Once he realizes those federal deals are out of Apex’s reach, he’ll scramble."

Harper laughed, a sharp smile touching her lips. "The board needs to remember they only exist because we let them."

Harper tightened her grip on his arm. "Tonight is about us."

They took the private elevator straight to the 89th floor. The suite was quiet, isolated high above the busy city streets below.

Monsieur Laurent, the general manager, was decanting a bottle of Chateau Margaux when his earpiece hummed.

Laurent froze for a fraction of a second.

Jude noticed immediately. "Take the call, Laurent. Don’t waste my time."

"Thank you, Mr. Lawson," Laurent murmured, quickly stepping onto the balcony.

Harper settled back into her chair, looking out over the neon grid of the downtown core. "Do we order, or did you already take care of it?"

"No menus tonight," Jude replied. "The kitchen is already preparing seven courses for us."

Harper smiled, letting her guard down. "I could get used to this."

The balcony door slid open, and Laurent walked back in, clearly unsettled, his tablet pressed against his chest.

"Mr. Lawson, forgive the intrusion," Laurent began. "The floor manager just reported an issue in the main dining room. A media executive spotted President Harper on your way in and figured out who you were."

Jude took a slow sip of water. "And?"

Laurent swallowed hard. "The room is in an uproar, sir. Guests are pressing the staff to confirm if you own the Obsidian Tower, and people are already talking about you and President Harper. How would you like us to handle it?"

"Don’t worry about managing it, Laurent," Jude said, his tone flat. "I didn’t buy a $3 billion skyscraper to hide, and I don’t need permission from hedge fund managers about who I spend my evening with."

"Understood, Mr. Lawson," Laurent replied. "We’ll say nothing and let it run its course."

"Good. Now leave us," Jude said. "Keep the floor quiet for the rest of dinner. Staff comes in, serves, and leaves."

"Right away, sir." Laurent gave a nod and backed out of the room.

For the next 90 minutes, dinner went on uninterrupted. A small team of servers moved in and out quickly, clearing plates and bringing out courses without lingering.

When the table was cleared, Jude checked his watch. "Ready?"

"Whenever you are," Harper said, standing as Jude pulled out her chair.

The moment the suite doors opened, the quiet ended.

The private elevator lobby was crowded with executives, lobbyists, and familiar faces from the financial district. As soon as Jude stepped through, several people pushed forward at once.

"Mr. Lawson, great to see you—"

"Harper, do you have two minutes on—"

"Lawson, our group wanted to talk about underwriting—"

Jude didn’t break stride. He found the sudden crowd irritating, especially with people crowding the doorway and blocking Harper’s path.

Without saying a word, he gave a slight wave of his hand.

Ghost stepped out from the service hall behind them, flanked by 4 private security contractors. They moved in quickly, cutting between Jude and the crowd.

Ghost shoved an older banking director back toward the wall with his forearm.

"Step back. Clear the hall."

The crowd pulled back immediately, pressing flat against the walls to get out of the way.

As Jude and Harper reached the elevator doors, Laurent hurried down the hall, out of breath and pale. He had been dealing with a dispute in the kitchen and missed the crowd gathering outside the suite.

"Mr. Lawson, I’m very sorry," Laurent said, rushing over. "I had no idea they got past the security desk downstairs."

Jude stepped into the elevator and turned around. "Don’t let people crowd this floor again, Laurent. I won’t tell you twice."

"It won’t happen again, sir," Laurent said quickly as the doors closed.

The elevator dropped down to the ground-floor plaza in silence.

Outside, the rain had stopped. The black Koenigsegg Jesko sat idling by the curb, drawing a crowd of onlookers and junior bankers snapping photos on their phones. Two guards kept the crowd back behind the sidewalk line.

Ghost opened the door for Harper, and Jude slid behind the wheel. The engine revved over the noise of the street, and the car pulled out into traffic, disappearing down the avenue...

Watching the taillights disappear, a junior broker in the crowd lowered his phone, his eyes wide. "Who on earth was that? The security detail looked like a military strike team."

"That was Jude Lawson," a shaken banking executive replied, having just ridden the adjacent elevator down from the Sovereign Club. He wiped a bead of sweat from his neck.

"Lawson Capital? Did he just rent the club for a date?" the broker asked.

"Rent it?" The executive let out a laugh, staring at the glass of the skyscraper. "He bought the entire damn building."

***

The following morning, looking to acquire early-stage software for Lawson Capital’s portfolio, Jude and Harper arrived at the Apollo Tech Incubator near Columbia University.

Inside the atrium, their path was blocked by a crowd of engineering students and junior developers gathered near the western corridor.

In the center stood Julian, clutching his laptop bag. Facing him was Cassidy, an intern from the same cohort, holding her phone out with her thumb over the screen.

"I won’t say it again, Julian," Cassidy said. "Apologize to me in front of everyone, or I post this. Every HR department in the city will blacklist you before noon."

Julian’s knuckles were white against his strap. He was hours away from pitching his software to angel investors, and the threat of an online scandal broke whatever nerve he had left.

"Fine," Julian choked out. "I’m sorry, Cassidy."

"Louder," she pushed. "Tell everyone what you’re apologizing for."

Julian closed his eyes, his face burning. "I’m sorry for making inappropriate advances in the breakroom."

A wave of murmurs swept through the atrium. Several developers stepped back, looking at him with open disgust.

Julian kept his head down. "I apologized. We’re in the same program. Delete the draft and let me go."

Cassidy stepped forward and knocked the laptop bag out of his hands.

Julian bent down quickly to grab it, ready to leave, but stopped when he saw her expression.

"You really thought I’d drop it just because you mumbled an apology?" Cassidy said, showing the screen to the crowd. "I sent it. The board and the tech forums already have your confession. You’re finished."

Julian stared at her in shock. "What? You said you wouldn’t post if I apologized!"

"If I didn’t push you, you never would have admitted it," Cassidy laughed. "Did you really think I was going to let you pitch today?"

"I didn’t touch you!" Julian shouted, turning to the crowd. "I never touched you!"

"Are you serious?" an investor in the back scoffed. "You confessed two minutes ago. Everyone heard you."

"She forced me to say it!" Julian pleaded, looking from face to face. "She threatened to tank my pitch if I didn’t say the words. I wanted her to stop. I take it back. I never touched her!"

Cassidy crossed her arms. "You admitted it in front of 50 people, Julian. Backtracking now won’t save you. Who do you think they believe?"

"Check the cameras!" Julian pointed toward the ceiling. "Pull the footage from the breakroom and the lobby. It proves I never did anything!"

Cassidy only smirked. "Go ahead and check."

Julian looked up, and his stomach dropped. She hadn’t cornered him here by mistake...

They were standing in a dead angle by the emergency exits where no cameras covered the floor, and the breakroom cameras had been down for maintenance all week.

"Why are you doing this?" Julian’s voice cracked.

Desperate, he backed toward the railing overlooking the 4-story drop into the basement facility.

"Don’t flatter yourself," Cassidy said. "You don’t have the nerve. But if you want to jump, go ahead. Nobody is going to miss you."