Page 34 of In Love and Revenge

‘Dove’s friend, Aurora,’ I interject.

Gabe’s brow scrunches. ‘Dove said she specialises in fashion.’

I wave a hand in the air. ‘It’s still a product people buy. No different to an insurance policy.’

‘If you say so.’ Gabe frowns.

‘We’ve got nothing to lose. Give her a call. Offer her a short-term contract. And we’ll see how it goes.’

‘Okay. I’ll speak to HR. Get them to draw up the standard offer.’ He closes his laptop and tucks it under his arm.

‘Double it,’ I say.

He pauses, before bending to retrieve Benedict from one of the many cat beds strategically placed around the building.

‘All right,’ he says, knowing better than to question me once I’ve made my mind up about something. He tucks Benedict under his other arm, saying something to him in a low voice before kissing the top of his ginger head.

‘Actually,’ I call as he reaches the door, ‘tripleit. Make it impossible for her to say no.’

He gives me a quizzical look, but nods. ‘You got it.’

I pause, before adding, ‘Just ... keep an eye on her. She might be Dove’s friend, but we don’t know her that well. I don’t want her having unsupervised access to any company files.’

‘I’ll run a full background check on her before we reach out. I know there was that stuff with her father.’

‘No,’ I cut in sharply. ‘That won’t be necessary.’

I hate lying to my brother, but the thought of him digging into George Thorne runs the risk of him finding out that I invested company money with his old firm. A fact I’ve successfully kept hidden and have no intention of sharing. No one can know my own stupidity almost cost us the company for a second time.

They still don’t know what really happened the first time around.

I’d like to keep it that way.

‘All right. Well, I’ve got some data scrapes to run.’

He leaves with Benedict, and I steeple my hands over my chest as I spin in my chair. The city comes into view, forty floors below. My mouth goes dry at the sight, and I quickly turn back around so I’m looking through the glass wall into our offices instead.

It’s the perfect plan.

I can gain her trust. Get close to her. Know where she is at all times.

She was obviously working at Tanya’s to maintain her façade of being penniless, so she’ll need to keep up the pretence of earning her own money. She won’t be able to turn down the figure in our usual package, let alone triple it, if she wants her cover to remain intact. No one in their right mind would turn down an offer like the one Fairfax Guardian is about to extend to her.

I’ll have her exactly where I want her, and I’ll finally get my money back. Every last damn penny.

‘Mr Fairfax?’ AJ asks, peering through the open doorway.

‘Yes?’

He walks over and places a pink envelope on the desk. My name is written on the front in loopy handwriting.

‘What’s this?’

‘I’m not sure. Miss Thorne left it for you. She said she owed it to you.’

‘Of course, thank you,’ I say, plucking the smooth envelope from the table and sliding it inside my inner jacket pocket.

The thing burns against my chest for the entire walk back to my office. Angelo stops me to talk about the new client he’s come back from having lunch with. But even the sight of him wearing a suit for a change and taking his role in the business seriously isn’t enough to quell the incessant urge to get into my office so I can see what she’s left for me.