I shook my head sadly. I swore I saw disappointment in his eyes, but he blinked it away as quickly.
“Well, I’m here for you. Always.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
Little did he know that those simple words filled my unsure heart with so much ease.
Chapter 42
Chandler
I slammed my cup of coffee down on the kitchen counter frustratedly, black coffee spilling over the rim of the cup. I let out a long sigh and ran my hand through my hair. This morning was not going as I had hoped it would. In fact, the past three days hadn’t gone as I had wanted them to. As I listened to the shuffling of paperwork on the other end of the phone, I reached for a towel to wipe up the coffee before it crawled to my laptop and made my morning even worse.
“Did you find anything?” I asked sharply, trying to fill the annoying silence between me and Alan.
“No, Mr. White. Nothing,” he replied warily. “Without access to those files anymore, I’m afraid this is a bust.”
“And you didn’t come up with any sort of conclusions about who might be doing this?”
“No, sir. Whoever is transferring the money knows what they’re doing, leaving a mess of numbers that lead nowhere.”
Damn it. If only Mr. Harold had let my team look into the matter further instead of letting his anger get the best of him and kicking me out. Now, we had no access to any of the files we needed because the SEC had most likely seized everything by now. Alan and his firm were unable to find out who the culprit was, and unfortunately didn’t have any hunches in the aftermath.
“I’m sorry, Mr. White…” said Alan on the other line.
I grunted in response before hanging up the phone. I felt useless. I hadn’t heard anything from Gabriella since she chewed me out at the office. While I was sure she had her hands full with this mess that she somehow blamed on me, I had just been trying to help. I had no idea I would dig up the dirt I did. I was just trying to find ways to maximize profits, not destroy the company. But whatever she had in her head about me, her mind seemed to be made up.
However, I wasn’t done fighting yet. I drank the last few sips of my coffee and shrugged on my navy jacket. I was going to see Mr. Harold, whether he wanted me there or not. I had to at least try to help. I had hit so many dead ends the past few days here at my apartment, making calls and writing emails. I wanted to be in the thick of it, wading through it with the man who hadentrusted me his company and the woman who was carrying my baby.
My phone rang as I waited for the parking valet to bring my car around. I answered without checking to see who it was and immediately regretted it.
“Chandler?” my mom’s voice was soft, yet shrill.
We hadn’t talked in a while. Not since the disastrous dinner that probably ruined our favorite eatery forever. I blew out a breath through my closed lips and clutched the phone tightly. This was the last thing I needed to deal with right now.
“Hey, Mom,” I said, willing the stress out of my voice.
“What’s wrong?” she asked instantly.
She knew me too well.
“Nothing, nothing. Just work stuff,” I said.
“Mmm.” She seemed unconvinced.
I waited a moment to see if she was going to get right to it or beat around the bush. I never knew with her.
“I’m calling about the baby…” she started.
I threw my head back and looked up at the ceiling. I didn’t want to talk about this. I wasn’t going to be able to give her the answers she wanted. It still hurt like hell to know Gabriella had pushed me away, wanting nothing to do with me. I couldn’t very well explain it all to my mother when everything was so raw still.
“Yeah…” I said, as if this were any normal conversation.
“Don’t do that. Don’t act like it’s nothing,” she said sharply. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” I said, spotting my red sports car coming around the corner, the attendant’s hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel with nerves. The car was probably worth more than his entire year’s salary.
“Honey, please just listen to me, okay? I know Greg already talked to you…”
