Unraveled

Chapter 3: The Fine Print

Agatha leaned back against the plush leather seat of the town car, her fingers absently brushing over the fabric of her white button-down. She glanced down at it, noticing the few buttons she had left undone earlier in the evening. With a slight smirk, she buttoned two of them back up, pulling the collar higher.

Men.

They were predictable, easy to manipulate. A little cleavage, a well-placed laugh at their terrible jokes, a subtle touch of her fingers on the rim of her glass as she sipped the bourbon they'd ordered—overpriced, of course, but they loved that kind of thing. Feed them expensive red meat and stroke their egos, and they practically signed the contract themselves. By the time dessert was over, all she had to do was let her reputation speak for itself.

And just like that, Larkin & Reed Solutions was now the newest client of Calderu, Wu-Gulliver, Kale, and Harkness. A nice little $25 million addition to her already bulging portfolio.

She let out a quiet, satisfied sigh as the car slipped through the quiet streets, her eyes drifting to the city skyline. The deal had gone exactly as expected—smooth, seamless. Men in boardrooms rarely expected a woman to outmaneuver them with such ease. But Agatha had perfected the art long ago. She didn't need to play their game. She owned it. They never saw her coming, not really. They never understood that the moment she stepped into the room, they were already caught in her web.

Her mind wandered back to the dinner. It had been like all the others—too much bourbon, too much ego. One of the men had spent ten minutes trying to explain blockchain technology to her, as if she hadn't already built a dozen successful cases around it. She'd smiled, nodded along, threw in the occasional "interesting" for effect, and watched him puff up like a peacock.

It was all so... tedious.

And yet, so effective.

She crossed her legs, staring out the window, a small, satisfied smile playing on her lips. The men had no idea she barely needed to lift a finger to win them over. They were convinced they'd gotten a bargain by the end of it—thought they'd charmed her. But in reality, they were just another trophy for her shelf, another deal closed in the blink of an eye.

Her fingers tapped lightly on her lap, a quiet rhythm of victory, but her gaze drifted to her bag where the manila human resources file sat, tucked just beneath the leather. Billy had snagged it for her earlier, right from HR. She hadn't had the chance to open it yet, though she'd been tempted—several times. The day had been relentless. Too many meetings, too many fires to put out.

But now, in the quiet of the town car, with the city lights flickering by, she couldn't resist any longer.

Agatha pulled the file from her bag, the crisp paper cool in her hands. She flipped it open, her eyes narrowing immediately as they landed on the photo. Of course. Even in her employee photo, she was smirking—cocky, bold. That same damn smirk that had irked her earlier. Agatha's eyes flicked down to the name under the picture.

Rio Vidal.

Interesting name.

She'd guessed the age right—29, older than her peers. That alone was unusual. Most associates were younger, fresh out of Ivy League law schools. But Rio? She'd gone to law school late, another oddity. Agatha scanned the details, her brow furrowing as she read further. No Ivy League pedigree. In fact, Rio hadn't attended any of the usual suspects—Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Not even a Columbia grad.

No, Rio Vidal had attended some obscure law school in... Texas.

Agatha paused, blinking at the word as if it didn't quite compute.