“And you don’t think they’ll see a problem with it?”
“I honestly don’t care,” I say, dryly. “If they want me to resign simply because I’m in love with you, then so be it.”
A breath whooshes past her lips, and I can’t help but grin at her. “Theo.”
“Yeah?”
“Say it again,” she whispers.
I smile wider, taking a step toward her until our fronts are flush against each other. “Say what? That I’m helplessly in love with you? That I think I might’ve fallen in love with you the very first time I saw you sitting at your desk? And that every day that has passed, I’ve only fallen more and more in love with everything that is you?”
She looks at me so hopefully it makes my heart hurt. I wantto brand those words on her skin so she might never forget them. “You really mean it?” she asks.
“With every fiber of my being.” I hold her gaze steady, unwavering. “I’ll love you until I’m old and gray, and even then, that might not be long enough.”
“Theo.” Her voice is so low I can barely hear her. Her lower eyelids glisten with overwhelming emotion as she looks up at me. “I love you too.”
“When you asked me if I’d ever been in love the other night, I should have said yes. Because I loved you then, and I love you now.”
She leans up on her toes and kisses me, sealing the promise we just made to each other. Her arms wrap around my neck as she kisses me over and over and over again.
Finally, I have to break away, knowing this isn’t the time or the place to get carried away—not with the meeting with the Board of Directors looming over our heads.
“We’ll definitely pick this up later,” I say, leaning forward and kissing her one last time. “But we need to get back to work.”
Whitney pouts at me in a way that makes me want to bend her over my desk, just like I did the other night. But unfortunately, I can’t. Though unhappy about it, Whitney agrees and wanders out of my office to gather everything we’ll need for our big meeting today.
A few hours later, we find ourselves walking into the conference room. Chase has joined us for backup. He walks in, takes a seat, and whips out his phone, likely to message the FBI agent that we’re ready whenever he is. Whitney sets up her items at her usual place. However, I take the position at the head of the table, which is typically occupied by Elena, herself.
When she walks in, she stops mid-stride, seeing me in her place for the first time. Her eyes narrow, and herexpression morphs into a scowl. I give her a tight smile and motion to one of the free seats at the table.
“Elena, happy you chose to join us today. Please have a seat.”
Out of my periphery, I notice Whitney cover her mouth, and I wonder if it’s to stifle a giggle. I won’t lie that, although this is not something I ever thought I’d have to face in my professional career, I will be getting some sort of sick pleasure from handing Elena’s ass to her on a platter. She’s been nothing but rotten to me since the moment I walked into this office.
Justice is always best-served ice cold.
“Thank you all for coming today on such short notice.” I begin the meeting once everyone is settled. I feel eight pairs of eyes on me, but really, only a certain pair of blue-ish gray ones seem to matter to me right now. “There are a number of items that we’ll need to get to today.”
“Let’s skip the pleasantries, Mr. Hurst,” Elena’s frigid voice echoes across the table. All eyes are now on her as she glares me down. “What is the real reason behind this meeting. Was our date not sufficient enough for you?”
I glance at Chase, who is now giving Elena a firm stare of his own. Whitney, next to him, gives me a small nod of her chin, and I feel emboldened to cut right to the chase. “Actually, Elena, it seems that there has been a matter of extreme misconduct that has arisen within this Board.”
The room grows eerily silent, and I can hear everyone holding their breaths for me to drop the next bomb.
I stare at Elena straight in her witchy face and square my shoulders. “My brother and I discovered a number of properties that were subjected to improper reporting. We traced that back to Vance Peterson himself. And with the help of a private investigator,” I pause for effect, holding Elena’s gaze beforejumping to Maxwell and Kurt, the other two offenders, “we discovered the others involved in the scheme.”
“This is absurd.” Elena immediately goes on the defense, her voice rising up an octave into a shrill register. “You’re accusingthisBoard of embezzlement?”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” I say calmly. “And I have proof to back it up.”
She gives me a stern look while the other two share concerned glances but don’t make any effort to defend themselves. I watch her expression morph from that of slight alarm into a cool, frigid collectiveness. She tilts her nose up and sniffs. “I’m not sure if you really want to be going down this path, Mr. Hurst. You’re not completely innocent yourself.”
Now I frown at her, wondering what she’s getting at. “Is that so?”
Elena drums her fingers on a manilla folder and then slides it toward the middle of the table. “I believe your indiscretion is just as damning.”
I narrow my eyes and reach for the folder. When I open it, my stomach sinks as I realize it’s pictures of Whitney and me. Together.
