"Are you quite sure about this clothing?" Aria asked her reflection and adjusted the navy blue blazer's collar for the third time that morning.
Though the actual conversation was with her nerves, the question was aimed at herself. Marcus's menacing phone call from that night kept coming back to her. Time was running out, and this company luncheon might be her only opportunity to alert Adrian before Marcus carried out whatever solution he had in mind.
"You look professional and approachable," she told herself forcefully. "Just remember—you are Richard Chen's daughter studying business ethics. nothing more complex than that."
The Meridian Hotel's great ballroom buzzed with the organized energy of the city's business elite over pre-lunch drinks. Crystal chandeliers offer warm lighting above clusters of well-dressed professionals; their interactions create a symphony of corporate aspiration and synchronized charisma.
Aria spotted Adrian Blackwood right away; he was reviewing what looked to be speaking notes as he stood close to the window, his tall frame and commanding presence made him impossible to miss. Even in a room full of successful individuals, he emanated a particular type of confidence—real rather than performed.
She exhaled slowly and moved toward him with mastered professionalism.
"Mr. Blackwood?"
From his notes, he looked up and Aria saw the most intelligent gray eyes she had ever seen. They evaluated her with some kind of keen attention.
"I'm Aria Chen-Stones," she said next. "I wanted to thank you for consenting to talk about moral corporate behavior today. As I'm learning about the business world, I exactly need this kind of direction."
"Chen-Stones," Adrian said, his expression almost undetectably changing. "As in Marcus Stones' wife?"
'Here we go, time to negotiate the tightrope,' she thought to herself.
"Yes, though I'm trying to learn about the business world from more... virtuous angles."
At her phrasing, Adrian's eyebrows lifted just slightly. "I never knew Marcus's wife had commercial interests. He has never brought up your participation in business matters during monthly business events in the city."
"I have lately started to get interested in knowing my father's legacy," she said gently. "Richard Chen built quite an empire; I'm realizing I've been careless in learning about what I inherited."
"Richard Chen was your father?" Adrian's whole attitude changed, his concentration was laser-like. "I was aware of his output. He had a great name in the industry."
Aria said with real melancholy. "A few months ago, my parents died in a car accident. I guess I was too consumed with loss to give business issues enough thought."
She could hear actual sentiment in Adrian's voice when he responded, "I'm sorry for your loss. But I have to ask—why the sudden interest in business ethics particularly? Most people in your line of work concentrate on broad corporate management."
They both understood the question was a test. Aria picked her words very deliberately.
"Because I started to wonder if everyone who claimed to be helping me following the death of my parents had my best interests first. How can one spot dubious business practices?"
Adrian focused closely on her face. "That's a fairly sophisticated concern for someone who's supposedly new to business."
"Mr. Blackwood, grief and naivety are not the same thing. Though I may have been sheltered all my life, lately I have been paying attention."
"What sort of dubious practices bothers you?"
Aria's heart was hammering even if her voice remained calm. "Hypothetically? What would you do should you discover someone carefully robbing companies you cared about? Someone in a position of trust who had been siphoning assets and falsifying legal records?"
Adrian's face went quite still. "That is rather a specific hypothetical."
"I find specific examples more educational than broad theories."
"In such a hypothetical situation," Adrian replied gently, "I would advise compiling indisputable evidence and including law enforcement. However, I would also warn that looking into such behavior can be quite risky, particularly if the offender finds out they are being investigated."
"Even if the person being stolen from was in the perfect position to gather that evidence?"
"Particularly then. Those who engage in financial crimes of that kind hardly stop at theft when their freedom is in jeopardy."
His words weighed down Aria like a chilly blanket. Adrian Blackwood's warning was deadly serious and deep.
"You speak from experience," she noted.
"I have seen too many cases where victims attempt to manage investigations on their own rather than with professionals. Rarely does it turn out well."
"But suppose time counts as well? What if waiting for appropriate channels produces—"
"Darling, I'm glad I found you!" The voice sliced quite sharply through Aria's discussion with Adrian. Aria turned to find Marcus walking towards them with his most beautiful smile, but his eyes were icy and evaluating. He had materialized from nowhere.
"Marcus!" Aria put brightness into her voice while her heart raced. "I thought you would spend all day in meetings."
"Plans changed," Marcus answered, his eyes clearly suspiciously flickering between Aria and Adrian. "I decided to see how your educational luncheon was coming along."
Marcus said, with false friendliness, "Blackwood."
"Stones," Adrian answered, his voice equally chilly.
Marcus said, "I hope Mr. Blackwood hasn't been filling your head with any of his radical ideas about business," his arm sloppily circling Aria's waist. "His view of corporate governance can be rather extreme."
"We were talking on the value of moral behavior," Aria said hurriedly. "Very instructional for someone just starting their business education."
"I'm sure it was," Marcus answered, but his smile had an attacking edge. "Although I have always found that practical experience teaches more than what theoretical ethics discussions provide."
"That relies on the type of practical experience you are referring to," Adrian remarked. "Some lectures are better absorbed from observation than from involvement."
The two guys faced each other with the type of restrained anger that may explode into open violence at any moment. Trapped between them, Aria's cover could have been blown and her mission almost compromised.
With a forced smile, "Well," she said, "I should probably find my table for lunch. I appreciate our discussion, Mr. Blackwood. It was quite... insightful."
"The pleasure was mine, Mrs. Chen-Stones," Adrian said, not looking away from Marcus's face. "I hope you came upon the solutions you were searching for."
Marcus' hold on her waist tightened almost painfully as he steered her away from Adrian while they walked towards her table.
"Interesting conversation you were having," he said in her ear, his voice wrapped in a threat under false concern. "What solutions were you looking for, sweetheart?"