Chapter 20

William was not some walking libido. He was not the kind of man who, upon meeting a woman for the first time, would already be imagining what positions they might take that night.

Back in that other world, in a cramped cell, he had once listened to a friend tell his story. It was not dramatic, not filled with twists and spectacle. It was simply a story of numbers that kept growing.

That man had not done anything particularly remarkable, yet when he boasted about his brief moment of prosperity, he distilled a few key lessons. One of them stood above the rest.

You must make sure the accountant stands on your side.

An accountant could do far more than most people imagined. At the simplest level, one could make millions, tens of millions, even hundreds of millions disappear without a trace. If no one needed to access that money, the truth might never surface.

They could also blur the origins of funds with ease, present them to the Internal Revenue Service for review, and pass them off as legitimate. Most people hired accountants to reduce their taxes, but that was only the most basic use of their skills.

This world was not yet deeply digitized. Records were still maintained by hand, transcribed and archived physically. That made the role of an accountant even more critical.

Having an accountant on his side mattered.

Not in the sense of forming some inseparable partnership, but in binding their interests together so tightly that neither could expose the other without destroying themselves in the process.

It was a peculiar kind of bond.

If either party spoke out, they would not just ruin the other, they would ruin themselves as well. And so, before speaking, each would weigh the consequences carefully.

Compared to male accountants, who often sought control, a woman was, in William’s estimation, easier to anchor. People liked to say men were ruled by hormones. In his experience, women were no less so, at least some of them still believed in things like affection, attachment, even love.