Chapter 69
ALEX
It’s been four days since Brooke walked out of my office, and I’ve done nothing.
I’ve sat on the evidence, unable to report my findings and making excuses to myself because I don’t want to admit she’s got under my skin.
Elise is still unreachable. After Paris Fashion Week, she requested some vacation time, and I suspect she’s been hiking in the mountains with Giovanni Esposito, which is making her almost impossible to track down.
A knock sounds on my door.
“Hey,” Elise says, popping her head in. “Nolan said you wanted to see me?”
“You’re back,” I say, earning a frown. I wave her in, hating what I’m about to do, but needing to know for sure.
If what Brooke said is true, that Elise knew what was going on and lied to me, what else has she lied to me about? I hate that I’m questioning myself and everyone I care about.
“No Brooke?” she says, motioning to the empty desk outside my door. “Did she have a lovely time at her friend’s wedding?”
I shake my head, hoping my voice holds.
“She’s gone,” I say.
Elise’s brows furrow. “She’s what? When?”
She steps inside and closes the door.
“Is she coming back?”
I’m surprised at how invested she appears.
“It was Brooke.”
“I don’t understand. What was Brooke?”
I run a hand through my hair, my chest tightening every time I say the words.
“Brooke was our mole.”
Elise looks at me, the lines on her forehead deepening, her expression one of complete disbelief.
“Why on earth would you think Brooke was the mole?”
“You might want to sit down,” I say, motioning to the chair opposite me.
She walks into the room, her face a picture of confusion.
“I don’t understand,” she says, taking the seat opposite me.
“I know you were fond of her, but she played us… me especially.”
The words physically hurt as I say them, like I’m betraying her. All those nights wrapped in each other’s arms. I’m a sad, nearly forty-year-old man whose head was turned by a beautiful young woman who lied to him.
“You’ve lost me. Maybe you need to start at the beginning,” she says. “Because I think you’re wrong.”
I reach into my drawer and pull out Brooke’s folder, sliding out the designs and placing them in front of her.
“The design drawings. The ones you showed me. I found copies hidden in a file in her desk.”
“Can I see?” Elise asks, leaning forward and picking up the sheets of paper. She shakes her head.
“No, no, no,” she says. “Brooke didn’t steal these, Alex,” she says, her eyes meeting mine. “They’re her designs. She has remarkable potential, a natural talent… even greater than yours was.”
She smiles across the desk at me, but whatever she sees causes her smile to drop.
“Please tell me you didn’t fire her, or worse, have her arrested?”
I stare at the woman opposite.
Some of the tension in my shoulders loosens, only to return with my next thought.
If that’s the case, my mind races back to what Brooke said about Elise knowing. But Elise would have told me, not kept it a secret. My thoughts descend into chaos as I try to uncover the truth.
My stomach drops, sweat breaking out along my spine.
“Do you care to elaborate?” I say, leaning back and steepling my fingers.
She mirrors my position, although her hands remain in her lap.
“I found out not long after Easter. You know I work as a guest lecturer at the night school downtown. Brooke was a student there, studying fashion. I’d suspected there was more to her when we were in Italy. Her eye for detail and her fabric selections amazed me.”
I sit back and stare at my friend and colleague.
“And you didn’t think to mention this to me?”
Elise closes her eyes. When she reopens them, they lock on mine.
“She asked me not to say anything,” she says. “I shouldn’t have listened. I’m sorry.”
My stomach drops as the enormity of what I’ve done begins to sink in.
“Did she say why?”
“She didn’t want you to think she’d come to work for you as a way of getting into the industry.
I told her it was a mistake, but… fuck, Alex.
I never expected you’d think Brooke was the leak.
If I had…” She drops her chin to her chest before raising her gaze to mine.
“Alex, the girl has raw talent. I showed you those designs because I hoped it would spur her into telling you once I told her how good you thought they were, but I never got the chance.”
I drop my head forward and close my eyes.
“How did you have her designs, the ones you showed me?”
“As part of the assignment I set for my module, I asked her to complete our internship brief. She did, and with flying colours, I might add.”
My chest swells. Typical Brooke. She does nothing by half, whether she’s working in the office or living her private life.
“If Brooke is not the leak, who the fuck is?” I say, my stomach churning. “We’re back to square one.”
The thought sends a chill through me.
Elise’s eyes drop, and she nods.
“That’s why I came up here. I set a trap using Brooke’s designs before I left for Paris.
It’s been sprung.” Her eyes meet mine, and I’m shocked by the devastation I see there.
She swallows. “I used Kris’s list of staff who had viewed the previously stolen files, the one his team collated. I didn’t think…”
“But I didn’t think it showed anything,” I say.
“Neither did I, but then…”
“Who, Elise?”
“Nolan.”
I rock back in my chair and stare at her.
“What? Are you sure? He’s recently been promoted to your second-in-command. He’s been with us forever.”
She shakes her head, her lip quivering. Betrayal is hard, especially when trust has been destroyed.
“Nothing in his file raised any red flags, but I don’t know.
I kept thinking back to a few things he’s said, especially when his designs had failed to make the final selection.
Then he excused himself from our Italy trip in December.
When I asked him how his sick family member was, it was as if he didn’t know what I was talking about and then quickly brushed it off. ”
“You set him up?”
“I did.” She bites her bottom lip. “The trap I set, with the help of Kris, meant Nolan was the only person privy to Brooke’s designs besides me, and now you.”
“You’re sure?”
“Nolan was the only one who accessed the files, as Kris’s team and my own checks have now confirmed.” She pauses.
There’s a knock.
“Come in,” I say, my voice sounding tired.
“Alex?” Sue appears. “Ah, Elise, there you are. I got your message.”
“Come in, Sue,” I say. “It looks like we have uncovered our mole.”
* * *
Seven hours later, the board members convene in my office, and the authorities arrest Nolan Banks on suspicion of corporate espionage.
“Job well done,” Dom says as we’re about to leave the room.
“Thank you, Dom,” I say, forcing a smile, although my gut is still clenched tight.
I tried to call Brooke earlier, but her phone is off, or she’s simply not answering. Not that I blame her.
Elise appears at our side. She looks at me.
“Any news?”
I know what she’s asking. Have I managed to speak to Brooke?
“I’m heading over there now,” I say.
“Do you want me to come?” she asks. “Explain why I used her designs?”
I shake my head. “This is something I need to do alone.”
“Tell her I’m sorry I wasn’t here, that I didn’t warn her,” she adds.
I squeeze her shoulder. This has been a tough few days for us both.