I took a long, hot shower, then blew my hair dry, wondering how I was going to break the news at the board meeting about our funding options drying up and the scandal I’d brought on Matchify.
An insistent knock sounded, and I set the blow dryer down. I hesitated. I was still in my towel.
The knock repeated, and the muffled but familiar voice of Katie accompanied it, demanding entry.
I hurried to the door, opened it, then blinked.
Katie, Jackie, Brooke, and Nick stared back at me, each with a bag in hand.
Katie pushed past me. “We brought dinner. And the results of our investigation.”
I moved aside for the others to come in. The fact that Nick was here was a big deal. He and his wife had been married for two years, but they still acted like newlyweds who feared they might spontaneously self-destruct if they spent more than a few hours away from each other. He missed our founder get-togethers more often than not.
“What investigation?” I asked as I shut the door.
“It was Alex,” Katie said.
I raised my brows expectantly, waiting for her to expound.
“Forgive her,” Brooke said to me as she put a hand on Katie’s shoulder. “She’s…upset. What she means is that Alex was the one who leaked your compatibility score to Tanner.”
“Little skeezeball,” Katie said, pulling little white containers full of Chinese food from her bag with unnecessary violence.
“Apparently, Tanner used LinkedIn to contact some Matchify employees for information about you and Grant. None of them would give him the time of day. Except Alex.”
A flash of gratitude for my employees warmed my chest.
That Alex had been Tanner’s source made sense. I should’ve thought of it, but with everything else going on, I’d kind of forgotten about him. Ironic, given that he was the one who started the whole 12% debacle.
“We thought you might like some company tonight,” Nick said. “And food, obviously.”
“Perhaps after you’re clothed,” Brooke whispered.
I got dressed, and we sat on the floor surrounding my coffee table, covered in enough food to feed a group twice our size as we discussed the article from The Sentinel.
“How’d they even find Chase?” Brooke asked.
“Probably Alex,” Katie said bitterly.
I laughed at the resentment in her voice. It felt good to laugh. “I don’t know who it could’ve been. It’s not like I parade my dating history around the office.”
“I hate to ask this,” Brooke said with a wary look at me, “but…are you sure it wasn’t Grant?”
“Yes,” I said, even though the question stung.
“What has he said about the article?” Nick asked, biting into a wonton.
“Nothing yet,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Jackie asked.
“He…um…hasn’t responded to my text about it.”
It went quiet, and the little flicker of doubt in my chest intensified in the silence.
My heart insisted Grant wasn’t behind the article, but what if I was wrong? What if his boss had made all the convincing arguments to him about why he should, at the very least, help The Sentinel with the article?
Fear’s fingers started curling around my chest, one by one.
