16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
“H oly shit.” Rowan sat back, shocked at what she’d just figured out. She’d gone into work this morning and found her research all laid out, like Gerard had never touched it, though he must have. Shaking her head, she gathered it all up, stuffed it into her briefcase, and headed home, hoping a different environment would help.
It had, damn it. The puzzle was complete, though her satisfaction was muted by a deep sense of betrayal. How had she not seen this?
She got up from her kitchen table and wandered around the condo. A sharp twinge between her shoulder blades stopped her short. She’d come home where she’d have less interruptions and had been hunched over the table for hours, following the threads of deception. She braced against a wall, doing standing pushups, hoping to soothe the hurt, then stretched until the twinge eased.
So many little things started adding up as she went through it all in her mind. She knew who’d been messing with Barrett Investment. She’d finally found the last piece of the puzzle, the proof, and needed to tell Gerard right away. All thought of his cold aloofness disappeared as she went to find the phone she’d left in her purse.
Passing her front door, Rowan jumped when the intercom buzzed. “Shit.” She glanced at the large wall clock over the gas fireplace. Ten o’clock. Who would be here this late at night?
Only one way to find out. Her intercom buzzed again. Whoever it was, the person was impatient.
“Who is it?” she said after depressing the talk button.
“Barrett.”
Gerard? Here? This late? Rowan’s heart sped up. Had he come to apologize for being an asshole after what they’d shared? She sure hoped so. But first, she needed to tell him what she’d found out.
“Come on up.” She pushed the button to open the door. “Your timing is perfect. I’ve got news.”
No answer came, and it was only moments later that he pounded on the door of her third floor apartment. What the hell? Had he figured it out too?
She couldn’t stop smiling at the sight of him. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve figured out—”
“How the hell do you know Finn Murdoch?”
Rowan blanched. “Wh-what?”
“You heard me. Are you sleeping with him?”
The fury in his voice pushed her back, and she clutched the kitchen chair. “I thought you came to talk about the issues at work. I’ve—”
“Answer my question.”
He stood there, just inside her door, not taking a step, hands clenched at his sides. He was pissed. Shit. This wasn’t how she wanted to tell him. “Gerard—”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Answer me.”
“Fine.” She threw up her hands and walked past him to the living room. “No, I am not sleeping with Finn Murdoch. Is that what you want to hear?” As if. She shuddered.
“How does that man even know you?” He stood there for a long moment, glaring at her.
Rowan had a very strong feeling this was a make or break moment between them. Everything balanced on this conversation. “I can explain.”
He nodded. “Yes. Explain. Exactly what is your relationship with the Murdoch empire?”
How could she tell him, convince him, make him understand? “I got firsthand experience seeing how the Murdochs run their business, and I didn’t like it. At all.”
His glare got worse. He tipped his head just a fraction to the side, his eyes devolving to slits. “There’s more to it than that.”
“Why?”
“Because I saw Finn tonight, and he told me to give you his love. It sounded like he was very familiar with you.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Leave it to her brother to make her life miserable. Rowan thought she’d left his machinations behind when she left the company. No such luck.
“Just so you know, I didn’t lie. I-I omitted something.”
The look of consternation on his face had her backpedaling.
“Okay, so omission is a kind of lie, and I’m sorry. But you would never have given me a chance if you’d known.” She advanced on him. “I’m good at what I do, and I believe in Barrett Investment. You’ve seen that. You know me, Gerard.”
She put a hand up, intending to place it on his chest. She needed the contact, the reassurance. But he stepped back, closer to the door he’d never closed, away from her, so Rowan dropped her hand.
“One last time: What is your relationship to Finn Murdoch?” he ground out.
She looked down at the floor. He wasn’t going to believe anything she said. He had already made up his mind. “He’s my brother,” she whispered.
When she looked up, he was already out the door and down the first flight of steps. She raced to the railing. “Wait. I know who’s sabotaging your company.”
He paused and looked up, his face devoid of any emotion except hatred. “So do I.”
Rowan backed up as if he’d slapped her across the face. He thought it was her? She leaned against the hallway wall, her heart dying a little more with each footstep as he pounded away from her. She didn’t move until the building door slammed shut, then she stumbled back into her apartment, shut the door, and collapsed on the couch, covering her face with her hands. She couldn’t catch her breath and gasped as panic shredded her life like a Ginsu knife, one bold, deep slice at a time.
“What have I done?” He hadn’t given her a chance to defend herself. Did she deserve it, really? She should have told him, right from the start. Well, maybe not that soon. She wouldn’t have gotten her foot in the door if she had. Maybe when they started working on the Scott proposal, a client currently handled by her father and brother’s company. And she definitely should have told him before they went to bed together.
All that paled in comparison to the hole in her heart that now filled with the icy tendrils of dread, like the wafting smoke from dry ice. Pain because she had feelings for him. Oh God, she loved the man. How could she have gotten so deeply involved? And now, he’d never give her a chance to explain. He’d never let her tell him why she’d done what she did.
And she’d never feel the impact of his devastating smile, see those intense eyes lit with a fire meant only for her.
“What have I done?” Rowan said again. She curled into a fetal position as the misery washed over her. Everything she’d tried to accomplish in her career had just gone down the drain, but even that paled to the pain she felt over never getting the chance to be with Gerard again. How had she let this happen? The man had gotten under her skin and snuck into her heart without her noticing. Now, when she was so close to grasping everything she’d ever wanted, and the one thing she’d never thought possible for her—love—it had been torn out of her grasp by her own simple omission.
She had to do something. But what? She lay there, miserable and spent, well into the night, trying to figure out how she could turn things around. She should be angry. The man she loved had jumped to conclusions—labeled her guilty—without giving her a chance to explain. Whipping up righteous anger took more energy than she could muster. That would have to wait. Right now, she needed to prioritize. First things first. Barrett Investment Group needed to know what she found. Gerard needed to know, but how? He wouldn’t believe her. Ready for the stab to her heart, it still stole her breath. She hugged a couch pillow tight to her chest, wishing the pain away. She needed to think.
By the time the rising sun lightened the sky, she’d devised a plan. One that would kill her to enact, but it would save Barrett Investment Group and Gerard’s position as head. Her career would remain in the gutter, and she’d be starting over. Again.
It was the only gift she could give him. He’d never know this was her apology. Again, not important. The only thing that mattered was him.
Rowan couldn’t call this early, so she lay back down on the couch and shut her eyes. Ten minutes later, she was up and pacing the floor again. At the open window, she watched a sleepy Haight wake up. The smell of yeast bread from the women-owned bakery on the corner wafted in. Mrs. Rosen was already outside painstakingly watering her flower baskets. Traffic on Octavia was still sparse, but picking up.
Life moved on. Rowan went to take a shower, knowing she wouldn’t sleep until she made this call. Two hours. She could call in two hours. Then she could sleep and begin picking up the pieces of her heart—currently littering the floor of her condo like tear-soaked tissues.
Two hours.
On Friday, three days after the last time he’d seen Rowan, Gerard stared out his office window at the San Francisco skyline. It had always been a solace to him, this view. Today, he barely saw it.
He’d been duped. Again. First Brittney, now Rowan. And, if he was honest with himself, he needed to add Mary to that list. Faking a pregnancy right after high school just to reel him and his money in. Although how a woman thought she could carry out a lie like that, he still didn’t understand. Thankfully, she’d bragged to a girlfriend, who told her boyfriend, who let him in on the secret before it became fodder for the paparazzi.
Why did he let women do this to him? High school to now, they all had an angle and not one single bit of remorse about pursuing that. That pledge he’d made with the guys had been a good thing. Except he’d already broken it, with nothing to show but a wounded heart.
Rubbing a hand over his chest, Gerard realized that, once again, he’d let a woman get past his defenses. He had feelings for Rowan. Or had, until her deception. He’d let her in, believed her to be different from the others, with her hair in disarray, a smile that brightened the dreariest of days, and a mind sharp enough to entangle him. Not to mention a body meant for loving.
No. He wouldn’t think about that. She wasn’t any different than other women.
McCarthy. She’d lied about her name as well. Why wasn’t she going by Rowan Murdoch? What the hell kind of background check had Emersyn done? He should have done the deep dive himself.
Shaking his head again, he turned as his office door opened and his sister stepped in, glaring at him. What was that about?
“We need to talk,” she said without preamble.
“Yes, we do.” He sat in his office chair, work just about the farthest thing from his mind. “Explain to me exactly what you discovered about Rowan before you decided to hire her?”
“I—” She looked away with a deep frown.
He knew his sister pretty well and saw the struggle in her expression. Whatever this was, she wasn’t happy about it. Better to rip the band aid off. “What?” he asked again.
She sat down across from his desk and took a deep breath. “I know who’s been undermining the company.”
“So do I.” Gerard slumped back in his chair, unable to say the words out loud. “Did you know Rowan is a Murdoch?”
“It’s not Rowan.”
“She’s a Murdoch.” He all but spit the words out. “Did you know?”
The hurt showed in Emersyn’s eyes. “Yes, I knew, and I still wanted to hire her. She took her mother’s maiden name before she went off to college. She started at entry level at Murdoch and fought for the one promotion she got. And she tried to change things, but couldn’t. Gerard, that’s not important right now.”
“Bullshit. It’s everything. She’s pulled the same stunts here that her brother and father have there.”
“No, she hasn’t. And I have the proof.”
He sat forward, frowning. “What proof?”
Emersyn pulled a flash drive out of her pocket and handed it to him. “I, umm, didn’t want to email it.”
He took the drive and plugged it into his computer.
“Open the Excel spreadsheet,” Emersyn said, coming around the desk. “See this,” she said when he did so. “It’s all the changes that were made to funds. And all the board meetings that occurred right before each change. There are documents attached that show the affected funds were discussed in each board meeting.”
The spark of hope inside him deflated. “That shows a trend, not proof of who is behind this. We need to tie it irrefutably to Silverman. And to Rowan McCarthy.”
“Pull up the video.” Emersyn pointed at the file with tight lips.
The video showed an empty conference room. He glanced at Emersyn.
“Just listen.”
He did, and that glimmer of hope grew. Silverman came into view, speaking to someone Gerard couldn’t see. Her, most likely. His gut churned. Except, he only heard male voices? That acid in his stomach rose to his throat. Silverman wasn’t talking to Rowan? He shook his head, focusing on the video.
“Out in the hall,” Silverman said and moved off camera. The man didn’t seem to realize the cameras recorded 24/7 including sounds, so the audio came through clearly.
“Listen. He’s telling someone, some man , to make changes to the fund just discussed at the board meeting. Changes that spiked a downturn.” Emersyn was positively bouncing.
“Shhh. Let me hear.” He couldn’t place the other voice, but he knew it. He’d figure it out eventually. At the end of the video, the man with Silverman walked into the conference room. Gerard sank back in his chair, more surprised than he thought possible.
“Michael Wentworth?”
“Yes!” Emersyn bounded back to the other side of his desk and plunked down in a chair. “Those security cameras you put in last year really paid off. Keep watching.”
Wentworth seemed to have forgotten about the cameras they’d sent a company-wide email about after installation. He opened his laptop with the camera behind him and the video caught it all. He adjusted the funds exactly as Silverman asked, logged off, then logged into what must be his personal bank account. A deposit of fifty thousand dollars showed.
They had him. Wentworth was in cahoots with Silverman. Gerard put his head in his hands. How had he not seen this? Silverman he could believe. But Wentworth?
“It’s not your fault, brother. The spreadsheet shows this has been going on for two years.”
“It could have been going on longer.”
“No, it coincides with Dad’s retirement. Row— This research goes back three years, and there’s nothing earlier.”
He looked at the other files, all corroborating the data on the Excel spreadsheet. It looked like Rowan’s data, except carried through to a conclusion. Had she talked to Rowan? If she hadn’t, how could she have pulled all this together so quickly? Shaking his head, he pushed concern over Emersyn and Rowan’s relationship to the back of his mind. First things first.
“This is great, Emersyn. Very thorough and proof that cannot be ignored. I don’t know how you pulled this together in only a couple days. Were you working during your vacation? You had to be to gather all of this in such a short time.”
Emersyn stared out the window for a moment, her smile both poignant and full of contentment. “I didn’t think about work once while I was away. Sorry. Not sorry.”
That was a first for his sister. She’d always played hard, but worked hard too. To have disappeared during this turmoil was unusual. Was she losing her focus? “Do you still want to be here, Em?”
“Definitely. Just because I can shut work out and enjoy life once in a while doesn’t mean I’ve lost my edge.”
“Good. I still don’t understand how you put this together.”
“That, my dear brother, is something I can’t answer. Your pig-headed brain will have to figure it out. And I strongly suggest that you do exactly that.”
Emersyn was pissed at him? Gerard shook his head. He’d have to sort this out later. For now, he had work to do. Finally.
“I have to call the FBI and the SEC. Time to make this official.”
His sister shook her head, staring at him like he’d missed something really important. “Let me know how I can help.”
“You’ve helped already. Thank you for this, Emersyn. You’ve saved Barrett Investment Group singlehandedly. They’ll want to interview you, know your thought processes, and how you figured this out.”
Emersyn shifted in her seat. She looked uncomfortable.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she said, sat forward chewing her lip, then reached out to put her hand over her brother’s. “This proves Rowan didn’t do this.”
His head shake was more adamant than his heart wanted. “Doesn’t prove anything. She could have come in for the killing moment, which feels imminent, or it did until you brought this in. I owe you. Barrett owes you.”
“Then think about what I’m saying, brother. I know she wasn’t involved. In my brain. In my heart.”
“It will take a lot more than your instinct to disprove her culpability. She lied to us.”
“She didn’t tell us about her family. That’s all. She wanted to make it on her own, to prove herself.”
“She wanted to infiltrate.”
Emersyn’s lips turned to thin lines. “I was hoping you’d see the reason. I guess you’re not there yet. But you’d better get there. Rowan McCarthy is good people. And you two, umm, work well together.”
Did Emersyn know he’d slept with Rowan? How could she? Gerard chose to deflect instead of answer. “Rowan Murdoch, you mean.”
The white lines were back. Emersyn stood. “I can see there’s no reasoning with you right now. I hope, in time, you’ll figure out how to get your head out of your ass.” With a flick of her hair, she turned and left his office. He watched as she went into her own office, frowned at him, and then clouded her walls.
His sister was angry at him? She should be taking that ire out on Rowan. If that thought seemed flawed, he buried it deep as he reached for his phone. Time to get the authorities involved.