Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
FINN
The magazine sat open between us. No one wanted to touch it.
Elliott said the quiet part out loud—sometimes all that matters is how it looks—and the temperature in the shop dropped ten degrees.
Emily’s shoulders were climbing toward her ears. I knew that posture. That was the posture of a woman rebooting into shark mode, except this time the shark was scared, and scared Emily didn’t strategize. Scared Emily retreated.
I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“The best thing to do is lay low for a while. Stay under the radar and don’t give Rydell, Marks it was an offensive move.
“Run the hurry-up. Snap the ball before they’re set,” I agreed.
Emily blinked, the motion slow as the pieces clicked into place behind her eyes. Then her expression went sharp, slow, and lethal. “A voluntary disclosure. I report myself to the legal board before they can spin it. That’s actually brilliant.”
“Of course it is, you came up with it,” I said, meaning it.
The energy in the room had shifted. Emily was leaning forward now, the game board laid out in her mind. “Next, he’ll threaten a payout freeze. That’s his play-action fake. There’s no way it would ever hold up long term, but he could make me sweat for a bit.”
“How do you stop that?”
“I move the money so it can’t be easily clawed back right away,” Emily said.
“By the time they got an order to recover funds, the point would be moot. And after I move the money,” she added, my own thoughts racing to keep up.
“I create a documentation trail. Voluntarily give up access to my emails to the legal board, proving I didn’t touch any firm materials after I left.
And I sure as hell didn’t do anything with AVX Core beyond being offered the client. ”
“Beautiful.” The word left my lips before I even thought it. “That’s what I call good pocket protection. Keep your money safe and your play alive.”
Elliott rubbed his forehead. “I can’t decide if I hate this conversation or love it.”
From the corner, Angela let out a low chuckle. “It’s kind of fun, actually.”
Emily finally broke her intense focus, glancing at Elliott with an indulgent smirk. “You can’t hate this. We’re speaking both of your love languages at once—football and legalese.”
A glow spread through me, because she was glowing now, too.
This was the woman I loved.
I pushed the strategy one step further, testing the strength of our new defense. “And if Douglas still breaks through? Still manages to get to you?”
Emily’s eyes glinted. “Then I throw deep.”
“Trick play?”
“Anonymous compliance tip to the regulators,” she said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Nothing illegal, nothing traceable—just enough to make him too nervous to chase me publicly.”
A low whistle escaped me. “Now you’ve got it.”
Elliott whistled. “You two make me nervous.”
“You should be. I’m about to run the table.” Emily lifted her chin with a challenge in her eyes.
“Who taught you to talk football?” I leaned in.
A familiar glint of mischief lit her eyes. “You did.”
“Sounds like you have a game plan,” Elliott said with unmistakable pride.
She smirked with confidence. “Finn? You gonna put it on a whiteboard for me?”
I moved closer, the world narrowing to just the two of us. “Only if you let me call the plays.”
Her grin hit me square in the chest. “You already did.”
From across the room, Angela’s voice floated over. “They’re kind of perfect together, you know that?”
Elliott just grumbled in response.
“It doesn’t mean you have to like it. Yet,” Angela promised him. “But you do have to take me to the airport like you said you would.”
“Let’s go.” Elliott held the door for her and when it clicked behind them, the shop went quiet again.
Emily looked up at me, the corner of her mouth curving.
I shrugged. “Guess I’m good for more than just light lifting.”
Her giggle was soft, tired, perfect. “Finn? Give yourself more credit. You’ve always been there for me. Always. And you know that means more to me than anything.”
“Well, don’t tell anyone. They might think I’m reliable and we can’t have that.”
“Finn?” she asked, shrugging on her jacket.
“Uh-huh?” I asked grabbing my own.
“Are you really going to Seattle?” she asked, and her voice was careful in a way that told me she’d been holding the question for a good while.
I straightened up. “No.”
She bit at her lower lip.
“Absolutely not,” I said, stepping toward her and tilting her face with my thumb at her chin.
“But Denver doesn’t need to know that. They’ve been sitting on their hands waiting for my clearance, and nothing lights a fire under a front office like finding out someone else is interested. Elliott knows that. It’s leverage.”
The relief on her face was quick. She covered it by looking away. “Smart.”
“I learned from the shark.”
When we locked up and drove home, she fell asleep against the window before we hit the first light.
I drove slow.
She’d said the night before that when I told her I loved her for real, she wanted it to be the only thing happening in the room.
I decided right then that I was going to make that happen.