Dropping my eyes to my lap, I tug my phone out of my pocket, ready to ask Aubrey to come before anyone else takes it upon themselves to. Beck starts bugging Asher about why he looks like he hasn’t slept in a week, and I take that as my cue to get up. The contact I pull up makes my pulse skip when I slip into the hallway.
She picks up on the third ring, and I lean against the wall, grinning like a fool as her voice registers.
I should have paid each one of the guys what they’d bet on us, because I’m completely owned by this woman, and that’s not ever going to change.
26
The contentsof Evan Walsh’s crypto disclosure are scattered across my desk like a paper bomb, thanks to yesterday’s court order. PDF printouts, wallet screenshots, and exchange histories all laid out for me to pry through.
For the last hour, I’ve been trying to match transaction numbers between the documents and the spreadsheet my paralegal prepared, but something is wrong. Really wrong.
The transactions skip.
There’s a gaping hole of missing data, and I feel my stomach drop through my ass into my office chair as I take a second look, then a third. By the sixth, I’m certain there’s a mistake here.
I’d like to believe that when I chose which paralegal to work with me, I chose the best. Yet, it seems every week there’s something else that’s missed or jumbled. And this right here? This is a nightmare.
I’ve got a forensic accountant waiting for my folder to come through so they can begin tracking money. Only now, I’ve got a missing span of three hundred transfers to find first. It wouldn’t be completely unrealistic to assume that Evan “accidentally” forgot to include said transfers when his lawyer sent everything over, but something tells me this issue happened on our end.
Spencer’s already swimming circles around me like a hungry shark after learning of my motion for these files, and if he heard that someone on my team fucked them up? He’d take a chunk out of me and then swat me around like orcas do with their food.
Rowena wasn’t upset about my plan. She approved it immediately the moment she finished reading through the motion, and that only pissed him off more. I’m not about to let this cause any issues for me. Not when I know that I can fix it.
Opening up the shared folders with all of the original files, I search through each one until I find what I’m looking for. It takes longer than I wanted it to for me to move them back into place and then restart my initial read-through of the spreadsheet. Even longer to finish it and start a second time, needing it to be perfect before sending it through to Rowena and the accountant.
There’s tension between my eyebrows that’s only grown in strength since I woke up this morning in my bed, alone and confused. The last thing I remember is the slow drag of Finn’s nails up my back as he held me against his chest, neither of us speaking for a long time.
That must have been when I fell asleep and hecarriedme to my bedroom. God, I couldn’t have even woken up for a second to see that? I’ve never been carried anywhere by a man, yet here I am, sleeping through my first and possibly only time.
Truthfully, I didn’t think he could do it. I’m not a small woman by any means, and yeah, he’s jacked, but not to the point where I’ve ever considered asking him to pick me up and throw me over his shoulder when my feet hurt.
I know better now.
Rubbing the space between my brows with my thumb, I close my eyes and slouch forward. The cold edge of my desk digs into my stomach, briefly distracting me from the throb in my head.
Maybe this headache is karma for not texting Finn this morning and telling him that I had a good time last night. I had the message all typed out before I left for work but couldn’t press Send. It felt wrong to tell him that, as if what we did was just something I’d have done with anyone.
He’s not some fling. And I don’t know what the protocol is when it comes to riding your best friend’s covered dick to completion in the middle of the night. A simplehey, that was great, let’s do it again sometimefeels pretty gross.
My phone buzzes from beside my keyboard, and I open my eyes, searching for the lit screen beneath the mess of papers. After swiping away a few printed screenshots, I see a picture of a smiling Finn with his lips pressed to my cheek on my phone.
I swallow the sudden ball in my throat and pick it up. “Hey.”
“Well, hello, my pretty worker bee. You sound stressed.”
“You can tell that from a simple hey?” I ask, unable to bite back my grin.
“Is that a serious question?”
I lean back in my chair and let Finn distract me from the pain in my head. “I guess not.”
“Anyway, yes, I can tell from a simple hey. And you’re worrying me. What’s up?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be at Wes’ place?”
“I am. That doesn’t change the fact that I know something’s bothering you.”
I uncross my legs and drop my second foot to the ground, rolling out my ankle. “I just found a problem in one of my files. I’ve already fixed it.”
