What he didn't know was that the coastal development call would matter more than he realized. Not because of what it contained, but because of what it set in motion. Because Derek Hol, having been turned down directly, made a call of his own to someone who had less integrity than Hol and more resources. And that someone started making inquiries about Carter Restoration, about its debts, about its contracts, about its clients, including Richard Bennett. Marcus found out about it Thursday evening, not from Richard, who didn't yet know.
He found out from Tommy who had a cousin who worked in property development who had heard through the particular reliable unreliable network of people who know things in Atlanta's building industry that someone was asking questions about the Bennett job in a way that didn't feel eel like routine business. Marcus called Richard that night. I know Richard said before Marcus could fully explain. I got a call this afternoon. Coastal is making noise about the restoration work.
They're suggesting to two of my business associates that the scope creep on the project represents financial mismanagement. Marcus felt something cold move through him. They're going after your reputation. They're trying, Richard said. And his voice was calm in a way that Marcus recognized as the calm of someone who has navigated genuine threats and knows the difference between something serious and something survivable.
They're also implying that I have a personal relationship that is clouding my professional judgment. Marcus was quiet for a moment about the investment. Yes. How did they know about that? They didn't know.
They speculated based on the conversation you had with Hol this morning. A pause. They assumed the reason you turned them down so directly was that you had another deal in place. I hadn't agreed to anything yet. I know it doesn't matter to them.
They needed a narrative. Richard paused. Marcus, this is the part where I tell you that none of this changes my position or my investment offer. This is also the part where I warn you that they may not stop at me. Marcus understood what that meant.
Olivia, he said she's a more visible target. Richard's voice was careful. The company has competitors who would be interested in any information that suggests management is making decisions based on personal rather than professional judgment. Marcus sat down. He was in his kitchen.
Amara was asleep down the hall. The fluorescent light was still flickering and he still hadn't replaced the ballast. If this gets to Olivia's board, Marcus said slowly. It could complicate her already complicated situation. Richard said.
Yes. Before her board meeting. Yes, Marcus was quiet. He thought about the index card in his shirt pocket and the note from Amara in his other pocket and the dinner on Friday and the tailgate afternoon and all the ordinary extraordinary moments of the last weeks. And he thought about what it would mean for all of those things to become ammunition in someone else's business war.
What do I do? He asked not helplessly, practically. He wanted to know Richard's red. I think Richard said slowly that you tell Olivia before she hears it from someone else because she will hear it. Marcus and if she hears it from someone else first the thing that gets damaged is not the business situation it's the trust and if I tell her she'll be angry Richard said not at you at the situation.
She doesn't like being surprised and she doesn't like anything that feels like it's coming from the personal rather than the professional, but she will respect that you told her. She will respect it more than almost anything else you could do. Marcus thought about what it would feel like to walk into Olivia Bennett's space and say, "My presence in your life has become a liability in your professional one, and I need you to know that before someone uses it against you." He thought about how she would look hearing that. He thought about whether she'd build the wall back up all the way up, all the pieces back in place, and whether he had any right to have feelings about that possibility at all. I'll call her tonight, Marcus said.