“So you needed them to believe that your lifestyle was lavish enough that you needed to make money illegally.”
“Exactly. MacCarren already survived three different investigations by the SEC. The FBI didn’t want to take any chances. They wanted confessions and documentation. I agreed to get it for them.” He said that as if he hadn’t stopped to count the personal cost for that kind of deception, for being aware of the devastation that would come if he did what he said he was going to do. “The sad thing was, I didn’t have to work very hard at all to convince them that I was that amoral. Show up at a few parties with a few supermodels and actresses, spend money like it’s water, and obviously I’m the kind of guy who would bilk hardworking investors in order to install a black marble bathroom in my executive suite.”
“That’s why you kept coming back to Irresistible.”
He looked straight at her. “You have to believe me when I say that I didn’t intend to drag you into all of this. Jade and I stopped by the showroom on a whim. But then there was all the buzz on social media. I had no idea how interested men would be in my sexual exploits if I threw a supermodel and French lingerie into the mix.” He shrugged. “But the truth is that I didn’t need Irresistible or you to pull this off. I came back because I wanted to see you again, and every time I did I told myself I wouldn’t do it again. And then I did. It’s the definition of irresistible, something too tempting to be resisted. That something was you. Always you. You reminded me that there used to be a different man inside my skin. You gave me the confidence to think that when this was all over, when I hit rock bottom, there might be enough of me left to go on. You saw me at my worst, and still saw something worth salvaging.”
“I understand why you did what you did,” she said slowly. “I still don’t like being a pawn in your strategy.”
“I know.” He looked at his hands. “You weren’t supposed to happen this summer. You hadn’t happened in the prior decade. Why this summer?”
His phone buzzed on the coffee table, vibrating the glass on top of the elegant piece of driftwood that supported it. Ryan lifted it and looked at the caller. “It’s my FBI handler. He’s been calling every five minutes since the story broke. He doesn’t know where I am, and I think it’s making him a little antsy.”
“I’m surprised he doesn’t have a tracking device on your phone.”
“I shut off the one he gave me.”
“You should answer him.”
“He can wait another five minutes,” Ryan said. “For a little while longer, I’m just another guy who worked at MacCarren. When that anonymity ends, it ends forever. I have things I need to say to you while I’m still just Ryan Hamilton. I don’t want to say them in front of a full complement of FBI agents.” He drew a deep breath, and she steeled herself. “I am so goddamn sorry I dragged you into this mess.”
“You did the right thing,” she said. “I respect you for knowing the difference between ambition and avarice.”
He looked down at the floor between his feet. “I just got off the phone with my mom. At my recommendation, she had her entire retirement savings invested in the boutique side of the house, and so did most of her circle. I couldn’t take it out without drawing attention to myself. I couldn’t tell them, in case they couldn’t keep the secret. They’ve lost everything. As have thousands of other investors. This had been going on for almost twenty years, part of a legitimate investment bank, an exclusive venue for select investors. It never fails. Making people feel special, like they’re part of an exclusive club that’s gaming the system, will always work.”
She knew exactly what it meant, because the same exclusivity and aura of mystery drove the branding for Demarchelier and Irresistible. “Couldn’t they somehow turn it all around?”
“For a little while I thought they could, but after I really understood the scope, there’s no way. The losses are too big. They’re ruined. The MacCarrens will be known not as the lucky ones in the inner circle, but as the unlucky ones, the children and family of thieves and liars. I spent yesterday with them,” he said. “I played with their kids, sailed on their boat. And then I got the confessions and called the FBI agent. The raids went down early this morning.”