Page 105 of Man of the Year

“How are you, Natalie?”

She chuckles, the sound of it warm and friendly, though she knows this is just small talk, that this meeting is not a coincidence.

Natalie almost jeopardized our entire operation a year ago. Too nosy, too brazen, too quick-witted—she came in like a storm, an unexpected intruder into our meticulously put together crew. It was a chore to keep an eye on her at all times, making sure she didn’t tip off Nick by accident, didn’t get involved with him or Rosenberg, or get in trouble. Poor Rita—aka Rosalie—tried intimidation, then scare tactics, then a one-on-one talk, then begged us all in tears to fire Natalie before something happened to her too.

At the end of the day, Natalie ruled everything out in the best way possible.

It’s a proven fact that some seemingly unnoticeable things often change history. In science, it’s molecules. In modern warfare, it’s information. In everyday life, it’s the smallest people who can cast the biggest shadows, causing the biggest impact.

A year ago, this courageous woman walked into The Splendors, and everything went haywire—my plan, my calculations, and somewhere, within a span of five days, my vow to never let pretty, smart women get in the way of my work.

But Natalie is a firecracker. She also deserves to know a lot more about what went down at The Splendors.

In time, I will tell her about Rita, whose husband had invested in Nick’s enterprise years ago and had gone bankrupt, losing all their savings. When he found out he had cancer and no money for the treatment, he killed himself.

Will, aka Walter, is my sister Emily’s fiancé and a cybersecurity consultant.

Sagar, Dave, Steve, and the catering crew, all operating under aliases, were the team who had worked hard and for a long time to expose Nick, gain access to the stolen money, and return it to the investors. All of them had suffered at his hands in the past.

Soon, Natalie will learn that the night her friend Cara got in the car with Rosenberg, she called him “Phil,” and Nick did what he did best—getting rid of witnesses. My sister, Emily, was monitoring the hidden cameras at The Splendors and listening in on the conversation through the bug in their car. She located Cara when they left her at the bus stop and made an anonymous 911 call. If she hadn’t, Cara probably wouldn’t have made it.

For a moment, I get lost, gazing at Natalie. Here, on Santorini, she is not an accomplice or liability but just a young woman, almost a stranger, pretty, charming, and someone I’d love to know better. I hope there’s still a chance.

“Why do I have a feeling that running into you is no coincidence?” Natalie asks as she cutely squints at me.

“It’s not.”

I arrived on the island the same day as she and her friend. But I needed to get her alone so I could tell her the reason for this meeting.

“How is Greece treating you?” I ask, starting with a casual question.

“I think you know the answer. As well as who I’m here with and how long I’ve been here.”

She’s right, and I’m glad she’s still in a good mood, no trace of anger in her eyes.

She tips her chin at me. “I’m sure you didn’t come here because you wanted to see me. So?”

“And if I say I did?”

She purses her lips, trying to hide the smile that hasn’t left her lips since she saw me. “Then I’d say I’m flattered. But you aren’t telling me all of it.”

“Fair enough,” I say. “Remember the hard drive from the closet? The one you tipped us off about?”

She doesn’t respond, but I know she remembers.

“That turned out to be Nick’s crypto wallet,” I explain.

“ErFi?” she prompts. Good, she knows what I’m talking about. “That stuff is still valuable after everything went down?”

Apparently, she has no idea. “Its value exploded in the last year.”

Her expression changes with realization. “What are you telling me?”

“It’s worth a lot of money.”

“How much money?”

Her lips part as she waits for the answer, her intense gray eyes on me. I hope she doesn’t have a heart attack when she finds out that she’ll soon become a very wealthy woman.

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