I huffed out a quiet breath.I’d heard this argument from him enough times to know logic wasn’t going to get through to him.“It’s also not a revolving door, but you’ve gone through, what, three assistants already in the last six months?”
“Four,” he corrected without a hint of shame.“And the common denominator isn’t me.It’s their inability to keep up.But we have bigger problems right now.We need to talk.”
The abrupt change in his tone, from irritated to concern, caught my attention.“Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about whatever this problem is?”
He turned his laptop around and pushed it forward so that I could see what was on the screen.I scanned the most recent profit and loss statement from GalvaTech.I’d already reviewed the report yesterday when it hit my own inbox, and everything seemed fine to me.
I glanced up at him, unsure what the issue was.“Okay, what am I missing?”
“Look closer,” Simon said, his tone insistent.“It’s subtle.”
This was Simon’s specialty.I was decent with numbers, but my strength was in business management and working directly with the companies we invested in.Simon, however, excelled at dissecting financials, and his keen eye had saved us from bad investments more than once.
So, I leaned in, scrutinizing the figures and finally saw the subtle decline in capital.He was right.Something was off.
I glanced back at him.“The money we invested is going out fast,” I said.
“Way too fast,” Simon agreed, reclaiming the laptop.“Based on the projected budget and allocation of funds to each department we’d forecasted, it doesn’t add up.”
I dragged a hand through my hair.“At this rate, our investment will be gone well before the launch even happens.But is this legitimate?Could it just be expenses in areas we hadn’t anticipated?”
“The red flag for me is definitely the operating expenses, which seem inflated based on the breakdown of monthly costs we were given,” Simon said, a frown pulling down his brows.“Something isn’t right.I want to hire a forensic accountant to look over all the financial records so we have a clearer picture of what’s draining the capital so quickly.”
“Agreed,” I said without hesitation, because our firm would be the one taking the biggest hit on any financial mismanagement at GalvaTech.
Simon hesitated.He wasn’t one to hold back speaking his mind, so this uncharacteristic pause made me a little uneasy.
“I think we need to keep this between the two of us for now,” he said carefully.“No one at GalvaTech should know we’re looking into this.Including Morgan.”
His gaze was direct and knowing.I’d told Simon about my one night with Morgan, but the fact that he’d singled her out now told me he was somehow aware of my current non-business relationship with her, which I hadn’t mentioned to him.
“You know about me and Morgan?”I asked cautiously.
He leaned back in his chair.“Remember when you forgot your phone in the conference room when you were in the office last week, when you went to grab us dinner from the deli down the street?She texted you four times while you were gone.”
I glared at him.“You looked at my phone?”
“I wasn’t snooping,” he said, sounding offended I’d even think such a thing.“It kept going off and distracting me while I was trying to review the proposal from that health food company we’ve been considering.I just glanced over and saw her name on the screen multiple times, and I may or may not have seen part of her texts to you.”
I expected judgement from Simon, but his expression remained neutral.But if I recalled correctly, those messages she’d sent while I’d been out grabbing dinner had been…sexy enough to be incriminating.
“Okay, fine,” I admitted.“I’m seeing her.But it’s not affecting the job.”
“Then you won’t have a problem keeping this from her.”He held my gaze.“Noneof the Starlings need to know about our concerns until we have some definitive answers.”
Every muscle in my body tensed.“Morgan has nothing to do with this.”
I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I knew with absolute certainty that she’d never compromise the integrity of her family’s company.
“That might be the case,” Simon conceded, his voice firm but not accusatory.“But it doesn’t change anything.We need to wait until the forensic consultant’s results come in before we tellanyone.”
I clenched my jaw, hating the idea of keeping secrets from her.But I understood Simon’s logic, which was frustratingly valid.If someone was embezzling, which seemed to be a strong possibility, it could be someone Morgan knew.Someone she trusted or cared about.Telling her now would be more of a burden on her, because it would be a secret she’d have to keep from everyone, including her family.It was better that she didn’t know.At least for now.
“Fine,” I said, though my reluctance was clear.“I’ll keep this quiet, but this becomes our top priority.I want answers on where the money is going as soon as possible.”
Until then, I’d have to keep Morgan in the dark.For her own good.Even if it went against every grain in my body to keep something this important from her.
CHAPTER TWENTY
