Chapter 20 - The Carver Legacy
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Elias took a slow sip of his coffee, looking out toward the deep blue waters of Lake Erie where cargo ships moved slowly along the horizon.
He pulled a heavy, antique brass key from his pocket and laid it on the wooden railing between them. Beside it, he placed a thick black leather binder stamped with a silver crest.
Margot looked down at the binder, then at Elias. "What is this?"
"Trevor Whitfield was small time," Elias said, his voice dropping into a quiet, serious tone that made the air around them feel heavy. "He was just a greedy middleman trying to play in a deep ocean."
He tapped the leather binder with his thumb.
"Inside that dossier are the names of the four families who truly control the commercial shipping ports across the Great Lakes," Elias continued. "They've operated in the shadows for forty years. And they just realized that a woman named Carver now controls the most valuable deep-water dock on the East Bank."
Margot stared at the black binder, feeling a quiet electric thrill run through her chest.
"Are you warning me, Elias?" Margot asked softly, looking up into his dark, unreadable eyes. "Or inviting me?"
Elias looked down at her, a slow, dangerous smile curling at the corner of his lips.
May you like
"That depends, Margot," Elias said, leaning closer as the lake breeze blew around them. "Are you going to be satisfied with building one waterfront... or do you want to help me run the entire coast?"
Margot reached out her hand, her fingers resting lightly over the brass key on the wooden rail, leaving her answer hanging over the open water.
