She picked up, sounding irritated. “It’s Saturday night, boss.”
“I know. Sorry. Can you come in early Monday morning? I need help with some personal matters.”
There was a beat of silence before she asked, “What happened to your rule about not asking me to do stuff like that for you?”
One of the first things I did after stepping into the CEO role was to hire a separate personal assistant to handle my private life. It felt weird having Susan do those kinds of things for me when I’d known her for so long. But no way in hell would I trust Jim with helping me get Tessa back. This shit needed to be keptto my inner circle. “When I apologized to the girl at the bakery, I talked to Tessa afterward.”
“Something you should’ve done three years ago.”
I wished I’d listened to her advice back then. “You have no idea how right you are about that. Then Vanessa wouldn’t have gotten away with tricking us into thinking we’d dumped each other, and I never would’ve gone through with the wedding, no matter what me backing out might’ve done to Rupert’s health.”
There was a moment of stunned silence before she whistled and murmured, “That must’ve been one heck of a conversation you had with Tessa.”
“I’ll tell you about it on Monday.”
“Then count me in. I can be there as early as you need me.”
Thank fuck. I needed all the help I could get, and Susan was one of the most efficient people I knew.
“See you at seven.”
I didn’t catchup on sleep over the rest of the weekend, but the lack of rest was well worth it because I’d gotten enough research done to know where to start on my list. And for once, arriving early at the office had nothing to do with quarterly forecasts or board memos. Making amends to Tessa for the shit she’d been put through because of my decisions was at the top of my to-do list.
Susan showed up ten minutes early, coffee in hand, and chomping at the bit to be filled in on what happened.
Even though we were the only two people in the office, she shut the door before sitting down across from me. “Okay, I’m here. Start talking.”
She didn’t need the emotional play-by-play, but I explained enough to make her eyes widen.
When I finished, she blinked before letting out a long, low whistle. “I expected it to be bad after the hint you dropped on Saturday night, but that’s even worse than anything I came up with.”
“Imagine how I felt when I found out.” Thinking about the woman who’d been hurt more than me, I winced. “Or Tessa.”
She leaned back in the chair, her brows drawing together. “What Vanessa did wasn’t just some petty jealousy stunt. It was malicious.”
“I know.” My jaw clenched. “As bad as things got between Vanessa and me, I never would’ve thought she’d be so devious.”
Susan shook her head slowly. “I’m trying to process this without resorting to vocabulary that would get me fired.”
“Have at it,” I encouraged. “There’s nobody around to hear you except me, and I’m not going to fire you.”
“Good, because your ex-wife is a damn sociopath,” she snapped.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I need solid proof. Rupert co-founded the company. He’s on the board with my father. The Carringtons still hold a minority share. I can’t just walk into a board meeting and accuse her without something airtight.”
“And you want me to help,” she guessed.
“I want you to help me prepare,” I corrected. “And I want you to be looped in because once this moves forward, I’ll need someone I can trust to watch my back.”
Susan’s expression softened. “I’m sorry this happened.”
I nodded, unable to speak past the tightness in my throat.
She straightened. “What’s the first step?”
“I need to call the PI Ethan recommended.”
“Good call.” Susan leaned forward in her seat. “I’ll go through my notes from three years ago to find the name of her assistant.Knowing Vanessa, she’s probably gone through a dozen since then.”
