***
Elena smiled at Devon when she opened her bedroom door. “Sorry.” She had used the excuse of needing to go to the restroom to retreat to her bedroom, even for a few minutes, while Devon talked to her mother.
“Hey. Listen, I don’t wanna make anyone feel uncomfortable. I can stay at a hotel. In fact, this whole family thing is new to me too.”
She closed the door behind him. “No. You shouldn’t leave just because my brothers are overbearing idiots.”
Devon paced in the room in slow but completely confused movements. Besides her bed and a couple of chaise lounges, there wasn’t a seating area. Her parents bought the townhouse after her brothers started to make all the money with the olive oil business, and never left the place. Not that it was a bad house. Nope. Just not big enough for that amount of testosterone that currently had invaded its space. “C’mon. They want what’s best for you.”
She plopped down on the bed. “As per usual, since I was an infant. However, I don’t think they know what’s best for me.”
He scanned her shelves. “That’s why you moved away?”
Caressing the embroidered pattern on the bedspread, she sighed. “I love my family. I do. After my divorce, I couldn’t hang out with them anymore. I needed some space.”
“Please don’t tell me you feel guilty for that creep abusing you.”
She smiled. Was it wrong to wonder if, at times, he cared for her? Other than just sexually? Heat crept up her neck. “I don’t. I’ve done my homework, remember?” Where would she be without Dr. Hodge’s sessions?
“You don’t need to take crap from anyone, Elena.”
Nervous, she stood. Should she be insulted or encouraged by his statement? “Thanks. You are turning out to bequite the travel companion. Stirring up a little bit of trouble with a hint of psychobabble on the side,” she said in a playful tone. Then, she raised her eyes to his. Gosh, what wouldn’t she give to forget the family-meets-boyfriend-who’s-not-a-real-boyfriend fiasco? “Although it’s the trouble part that interests me.” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, but he withdrew. “What?”
“I can’t have sex with you here. My condoms are in my room, and I wouldn’t want to break that bed.” He pointed at her bed, and she had to agree the curvy carvings and swirls on the frame didn’t scream sturdiness. Her stomach dropped to the floor. Especially good old pounding.
“Who needs a bed?” She winked at him, and cocked her head in the direction of the lavender round rug.
His jaw clenched. His eyes followed hers, as if for a second he entertained the idea. Little currents of anticipation traveled through her.
Inhaling deeply, he shook his head. “Nope. Sex isn’t happening. I’m not old-fashioned, but your parents are. If they wanted us to sleep in different rooms, well, that’s a rule hard to ignore.”
“How gentlemanly of you,” she teased him. If the gossip sites knew just the Devon she was getting to know, she wondered if they would be more into him or disappointed.
“No. I’m still a dirty son of a bitch. I just don’t want to stir up more trouble with your folks.”
“We better get ready for dinner then.”
“Can hardly wait,” he said, and was that a hint of sarcasm she detected in his voice?
Can you blame him?Nope. Not a single bit.
***
“Doesn’t look like Toby cooked the books,” Lew, the specialist that Devon hired, said on the other end of the line. “I checked his accounts, portfolio, and even had access to his ex-wife’s bank information.”
“How did you do all that?” Devon said into the phone. Hacker would be a more fitting job description for Lew. He had avoided contacting him at first, but as Elena suggested the idea that the accountant himself could be up to something, he decided to forgo the rules and take a risk. Why was Imani so adamant about keeping the cyber theft a secret?
Lew had been hired because he guaranteed discretion. So Imani’s desire for secrecy had been maintained.
“You know that’s what I do,” Lew said. “The less you know, the better.”
No shit.Devon rolled his eyes, and rubbed his eyebrows. While a few friends arrived for hors d’oeuvres, he decided to take the call in the foyer, away from the small crowd. “You’re sure the amounts were transferred from the building, you said?”
Lew sighed. “Yes. Same IPO address. It was blocked, but I found a way to hack it. Whoever did this didn’t even bother to go back home and steal. They really thought they would get away with it.”
His blood rushed through his veins, pounding hot and heavy. Someone thought they could get away with it. The image of his brother, with his smug smile on his brown face, formed in his mind. “Why can’t we trace the IPO address?”
“Whoever did this used an untraceable account.”
