The board members have arrived, the forensic auditors are ready, and the full file has been verified.”

Very few people in global finance knew my true identity, and that was exactly how I had wanted it, for reasons that had made sense to me for eight years and had just, in the space of one evening at a sink, stopped making sense entirely.

“Move Ferdinand Ellington’s table directly in front of the main stage,” I said.

Chapter 7 — What He’ll Assume

“He’ll assume we’re announcing the credit extension for his firm,” Barnabas said.

“That’s exactly what I want him to think.”