Monday, 9:00 AM. The Georgetown Townhouse.
The weekend had been a blur of ruthless, surgical corporate restructuring. With the Dupont Circle Cabal broken and its leaders subjugated, the transfer of power was absolute and terrifyingly efficient.
I sat at the head of the mahogany table, watching my empire digest its prey.
Victoria Sterling was in her element. She had spent the last forty-eight hours systematically dismantling her btoth's legacy. Sterling Trust, the old-money hedge fund that had funded the Cabal, was officially insolvent. Victoria had used Vanguard Holdings to buy up its distressed assets for pennies on the dollar. Richard Sterling was bankrupt, disgraced, and permanently exiled from the financial sector.
