Chapter Fifteen
“Do you know what this is about?” Matthew asked Devon as they strode toward the appointed conference room.
“No idea,” Devon said. He had just finished one meeting with a client, and all he wanted was to take a breather before a high-profile lunch. He’d been back from New York for less than a day and somehow that weekend getaway seemed like years ago.
He felt like half a person until he saw Elena again. They’d crossed paths in the hallway for a brief moment earlier that day and she’d winked at him. That’s when he realized he had to tell her he loved her. And take a chance to have it all.
During their short months together, he had battled his sexual attraction to her, then he yielded to temptation and made love to her. And she was perfect. For him. Now his blood pounded hot at the idea of letting her go. Although sexually she graduated with honors from his tutoring, he had been the one who’d learned the most. That he could trust himself to be the right man if he had the right woman beside him. And that woman was Elena.
He loved her, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.
Matthew scratched his chin. “Do you think this is about Elena?”
He leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
“Mom’s secretary, Angie, told me she’s in the conference room with Elena.” Matthew stopped for a moment and turned to face him, his expression sincere. “Despite our differences I want you to know I didn’t tell Imani about what you were up to with Elena.”
His blood chilled. What the hell was going on? “So you knew?” Devon stretched to his full height. Since when did his half-brother do anything to help him out? Something was off.
“Yeah, Elena told me.” Matthew shrugged. “We’re friends.”
Of course. Friends. Which was why Elena hadn’t kept their affair a secret. Elena’s loyalty to Matthew meant far more than hers to Devon. His heartbeat accelerated and blood thundered in his ears. Devon had jeopardized his goal of becoming the company’s next CEO by sleeping with Elena. He’d trusted her.
God, he had been taken for a fool. Or had he?
Devon rubbed his temple. Maybe there was an explanation to all this. Maybe Matthew had discovered about the two of them and was simply playing him, to get him riled up. A part of him laughed at his own naïveté, but Devon willed it away. First things first.
He’d get through the meeting, and then talk to Elena and figure things out.
Matthew whispered something he didn’t quite hear. When the doors swung open, Devon’s attention snapped onto Elena who sat next to Imani behind the conference desk. Elena. What on Earth could she be talking to Imani about? He, for one, hadn’t requested her presence as his PA.
A gasp escaped her lips, and he could read the guilt burning in her cocoa eyes. She leaned in her chair, as if there was some sort of cloud surrounding him that sucked the air from the room. And she had no choice but to draw back.
He curled his fist, desperate to stop the wild race of his pulse. The tension inside him stretched his usually comfortable shirt and jacket. “What’s going on?”
“Sit down,” Imani said.
Matthew sat down on the chair at the other end of the oval table, but all Devon managed was to smooth his hand down his tie. Unfazed by his unwillingness to obey her request, Imani clicked on a button to lower the electric blinds.
“Devon.” Elena mouthed, and he doubted anyone else but him heard her. She swiveled in her chair a little, and he wondered if she was tapping her feet on the floor. Something was up, and fuck, it didn’t seem good.
“What is this about, Mom?” Matthew asked and tossed Devon a glance.
“I want to announce I have made my decision about the new CEO,” Imani stood, hands tapping the table, and smiled. “I truly believe this is the best choice for Wilder & Co.”
Devon curled his fingers into a ball so hard, he felt the ache from his nails digging into his flesh. He swallowed. Why would she make that decision so soon? When neither of them had even unveiled the mystery thief?
“That’s unexpected,” he said nonchalantly, albeit he was anything but calm. His body was charged with confusing emotions. A moment earlier, he’d mused over loving Elena and wanting her in his life, forever. If she had helped Matthew and betrayed him, would his feelings change?
Imani upped her eyebrow. “Some of the best changes are.”
He slanted a look toward Elena, who simply stared down at her lap. If she had told Imani anything about their affair to give Matthew some advantage… She did. His gut clenched. Even though he wasn’t confined in an elevator, his temples throbbed.
“I have something to confess. There wasn’t a thief. I was the one withdrawing money from the company and injecting it into different departments. Wilder & Co.’s top accountant, Toby, also knew about my plan and obeyed my directives.”
Devon clenched his mouth. Come again? He had gone over the accounts and hired help, and done all that work for nothing?
“What the fuck? Why?” Matthew asked, his voice louder than usual.
