hidden | ethma

seventy

i expect alec to walk over here and wreak havoc among our small group, but instead he turns his scarred face away from me and walks straight over to where crystal is sitting with his wife. aaron follows him, breaking my gaze as well. 

violet stands abruptly. she nods to us before walking to alec and aaron, her black heels clicking on the marble. 

ethan's hand rests on my thigh, his fingers nervously digging into my flesh. he takes out his phone. 

"i need to check in with max, levi and nate," he explains quietly as his thumbs fly across the screen of the phone. "they should be at ivory by now."

max has ventured away from our table, shouting something to jesy across the ballroom. grayson runs a hand through his hair. 

i spot bryant across the room with zeke and lift my hand in a wave. they both wave back, sending me nervous smiles. 

"we need to put the plan into action," ethan says, looking into my eyes after he pockets his phone. 

my nerves multiply by one thousand. this is where it could all go wrong. 

i swallow hard. "i don't know if i can do this, ethan," 

"yes, you can, you can do it. i believe in you, remember?" 

my mind flashes back to when i was going to meet weston back home. i had sat at that coffee shop nervous as hell, when my phone had rung with ethan's number flashing from it. 

i nod slowly and ethan kisses my lips softly.  before i can say anything else, a tapping sound echoes through the hall and everyone turns to look toward the band. 

alec stands in front of the microphone, his hands held behind his back. 

"evening, ladies and gentlemen," he says. "my name is alec wolfe, and i would like to thank you for joining me tonight in honor of mr. robert crystal." 

a round of applause sounds as crystal stands and waves to everyone, a humble smile on his face. 

a nagging feeling of surveillance causes me to turn around to lock eyes with marion. 

marion, the woman who called me to tell me i had gotten the job; the woman who answers the phone at crystal every day, is the insider. she listened in and reported to wolfe, going completely under everyone's radars, including my own. i had never suspected her for a second — i mean, she is the receptionist, after all. 

i turn away from her. 

"i would like to propose a toast," alec says, lifting his glass of wine to the air. "to crystal publishing, and-" 

"how much money you managed to con from them," ethan says, standing from his seat and lifting his own glass. 

the room falls silent. 

i watch the smirk on ethan's face in awe. 

he sets his glass down on the table slowly.  "over the past five years, mr. wolfe here has illegally extracted over three million dollars from crystal publishing behind robert crystal's back," ethan says easily and the room fills with gasps.