Noah turned to glance in her direction with surprise.
The man she was speaking to shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back with a smirk. “Who says he’s a he? Maybe the person in charge is a woman.”
Noah didn’t stick around to listen to their musings. Most of the people here would be discussing their theories on his identity. He’d already assumed as much. None of that mattered. What did matter was trying to circumvent Jane from getting upset over him keeping the truth from her. The worst of it would be when she realized that he was technically her boss. She might be willing to overlook the money, but the fact that he was paying her to do this job might be the one thing she’d be upset about.
He straightened so he could see over the heads of the people milling around. Everyone around them was dressed to the nines. The outfits they wore were more than Jane’s monthly salary, if not several months’ worth if she was honest.
Noah finally caught sight of Jane near the main entrance of the event. She was speaking to someone, and the smile on her face was… everything. She’d successfully planned this whole thing,and it had come together famously. Not only that, but the excitement in her eyes over knowing that she’d turned the tides and the CEO of the charity was going to attend made her glow.
Without thinking, he moved toward her. He’d pull her away from whomever she was speaking to and tell her the truth before everything came out. Adrenaline pumped through his veins with each step he took toward her.
She was speaking to someone, but when she caught his eye, her smile lengthened. He stopped at her side, but before he could open his mouth to speak, the man at his side beat him to it.
“Mr. Reese. I was wondering when you’d arrive. Have you heard the chatter? Everyone is so excited for you to give your speech.”
Confusion flitted in Jane’s eyes. Noah’s stomach dipped. He glanced to the man, finding Thomas Dalton. Jonathan hadn’t given explicit instructions on how to maneuver throughout the evening except to not mention his name until he’d given his speech.
Cold dread wrapped around him as he sensed the tension coming off Jane in waves. He turned his attention to her, reaching for her hand as he mumbled her name. “Jane?—”
The confusion had left, replaced with betrayal. She yanked her hand from his grasp and shook her head.
When he took a step toward her, she shook her head again and held up her hand. “Don’t, Noah. Please… don’t.” Tears had sprung to her eyes, but she’d spun away from him too quickly for Thomas to notice the change in her emotions.
He attempted to go after her, but a different board member stood in his path. “Oh, good! You’re here. When Mr. Daniels toldus you’d be coming, we could hardly believe it. But now that you’re here, we don’t have to worry about keeping this secret. I believe anything related to your identity is fair game to discuss now?”
Noah ignored the woman as he sought out the direction that Jane had escaped. Jonathan should have been more explicit in the things he told his board were okay to discuss, because now he was being swarmed by not only the other board members, but reporters, too. Lights flashed, and people started shouting questions. He had planned on taking questions after his speech, which wasn’t on the schedule until after everyone got their meals. He’d wanted to have enough time to talk to Jane and explain himself.
She was too smart for her own good. She’d made the connection with a single statement from Thomas.
Now, she’d disappeared into the fray, and he didn’t have a chance to go after her.
More lights flashed, and a reporter moved into his line of vision. “Mr. Reese, was it? There’s hardly any information on you. Can you tell us about yourself? How you started up this empire to help those in need?”
“Mr. Reese, why have you kept your identity a secret? Are you hiding something?”
More questions were flung in his direction, and it wasn’t until a firm hand wrapped around his upper arm and yanked him out of the crowd that Noah realized he’d been drowning. He glanced up and found Jonathan’s concerned eyes on him.
“Thank you,” he muttered.
“Don’t mention it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jane pressedher forehead against the closed door. But the cool wood did nothing to ease the tumultuous feelings that threatened to overcome her. Paige Tyler and her two sisters had insisted she could use their home for anything she might need. At first, the idea had been laughable. They had trailers set up for the staff for this event. What reason would Jane need to use someone’s personal residence?
Her skin burned with the reality of her situation.
Apparently, Jane would need it to escape.
She closed her eyes and pressed a palm to the door before turning around and leaning against it. This couldn’t be happening. She had to have missed something. The reporters were mistaken. That man had to be mistaken. He’d said he was on the board of directors, though. It didn’t make sense for him to mistake Noah as his boss.
Sweat beaded her brow as the reality continued to get even worse.
Noah was the head of The Wounded Heroes Project. That meant that he was her boss, too.
Her stomach knotted and swirled, threatening to expel anything she might have consumed in the last several hours. Noah was her boss. Had he been responsible for her promotion? Had he pulled strings for her?
Jane’s breathing came faster. She’d never been given anything that she hadn’t earned. Her whole life, she’d been proud of herself for not falling into the trap of calling in favors. Everything she had, everything she was, she’d worked hard for it.
