Chapter 23 Theo
Theo
Nearly a week later, Whitney hurries into my office and closes the door behind her. I catch a glimpse of someone standing at her desk with their arms crossed impatiently over their chest, but I don’t have a chance to get a good enough look to identify them.
I had barely seen her today; both of us swamped with tasks that never seemed to end. It feels almost like a relief to see her. I’ve missed talking to her today. In the back of my mind, I think about maybe suggesting we go to dinner tonight.
But when Whitney spins back around, her face is somewhat pale, setting me on edge. I frown and stand up from my desk. “What’s wrong?”
She leans against the door and takes a deep breath. “Elena’s here. And she wants to see you.”
My frown deepens, and I tilt my head in confusion for why she’s having such a reaction to the head of our Board of Directors. “Okay, why don’t you let her in?”
“I just wanted to warn you,” she whispers, holding my gaze steady. “She’s in a shit mood, Theo. And that means something in regard to her. She just chewed me out for glancing at my phone while she was walking up. I—”
She stops short when I walk up to her, cupping her cheeks in my hands and tilting her jaw up so I can look into her eyes. “Breathe,” I instruct. Her eyelashes flutter closed, and she takes a deep breath through her nose. “Good girl.”
Her eyes open again and flare with the familiar primal hunger I love to evoke in her. She reigns it in quickly and whispers. “She wants to see you. I don’t know what about.”
“Okay.” I breathe before leaning down and pressing my lips against hers. Some sick part of me finds joy in the fact that Elena is just a few feet away, behind a mediocre oak door, while I’m kissing Whitney until she’s breathless.
And she is.
When I pull away, her chest rises and falls as she breathes in deeply. Her slate blue eyes are sparkling with a newfound desire. While I’d like to clear off my desk and bend her over it, I know this is where I need to draw the line.
At least for now.
With one last peck on those plump lips, I say, “You can send her in.”
I let Whitney go with one last longing glance and turn to head back to my desk. I hear her take a deep breath before disappearing to the other side of my office door.
Not even a whole minute later, Elena is sauntering into my office like she owns it—like she owns me.
She stares down her pointed nose at me with a level of disdain that I think is customary for her.
I give her a tight smile and motion to the chair in front of my desk.
“Elena, please have a seat.” To my utter surprise, she does, sitting down and leveling the playing field so we’re eye to eye.
I fold my hands on my desk and inquire, “What can I do for you?”
Elena reaches into her briefcase at her side and pulls out a manilla folder. “These are the details of your board review and everything we hope to see.”
My eyebrows raise up at this. Is this some kind of trap?
I open the folder and stare down at the bulleted points on the sheet as well as the date bolded at the top.
I’ll have to make sure Whitney has this date blocked off on the schedule.
I narrow my eyes when I see a few extra points on the list that I haven’t yet prepared.
“Thank you, that was very considerate of you.”
“Oh, it wasn’t my idea,” Elena clarifies, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “If it were up to me, I’d let you walk in there blind and let you crash and burn yourself.”
I laugh under my breath. “I bet you would. Tell me, Elena, what is it about me you find so disappointing?”
She tilts her nose up, glaring down at me again. “I do not find you trustworthy, Mr. Hurst. And I do not see you being capable of meeting my personal expectations.”
I clench my jaw as I stare her down. Personal expectations? “Then why hire me in the first place?”
“I was outvoted,” she says matter-of-factly. “As it were, though I do have a lot of sway on the Board of Directors, it seems I don’t have total control. Hopefully, that allows you to sleep better at night, knowing that despite my wishes, there’s a chance you might prevail.”
I fight off the amused smile. She is one hell of an ice queen.
Elena glowers at me another moment, likely planning multiple avenues of sabotage.
Finally, she stands, smoothes out her dress, and then sniffs.
“Consider this your one free chance, Mr. Hurst. We’ll see you in a few weeks. I hope you do not disappoint.”
Elena walks out of the office, her posture just as rigid as her attitude, leaving me reeling in her wake. She leaves my door wide open, and I see Whitney peer her head around the side of the frame.
She gives me a tight smile and says, “I’m sorry.”
I try my best to smile back at her, but something is nagging me at the back of my head. I reach for my phone and dial my brother up.
Chase picks up on the second ring. “Hey, did you know Pinnacle is hiring for an executive position?”
I pause only briefly with the news about Nexus’s top competitor. “No, I didn’t. I have something I need to talk to you about.”
“Okay, shoot.” I can hear my brother shuffling around on the other line and can picture him leaning back in his chair.
“I need you to get a hold of a private investigator to look into Elena Dawson.”
More shuffling noises and the sound of a pen clicking. “As in, Board of Director Elena Dawson?”
“The one and only,” I mutter. “She said something to me today that just kind of had my red flags rising. I think she was involved with Peterson in the embezzling. So I need you to get someone on it. We need to know what happened to that money, where it went, and who it went to.”
“On it,” my brother says. “I’ll get back to you in a week.”
I don’t know who my brother will hire for this, but I trust him to get the best. If we are going to bring this kind of accusation forward, we need more than just a few stray listing and payment reports. I need to know for sure if any of the Board is involved in this scheme.
As soon as I’m alone again in my office, I rest my elbow on my desk and run my fingers over my brow, trying to ease the ever-growing headache this company is turning out to be. I never saw it coming, and I have to wonder that if I had, would I have taken the position?
But when I catch a glimpse of Whitney outside the office talking to our receptionist, Charlotte, and seeing the way she tosses her head back in laughter, I have my answer.
Though I never knew the undertaking this company would become, I don’t regret a thing, because this position led me to her.
That thought is what seems to drive me for the rest of the day, knowing that I get to go home to her and close out my day lying next to her.
When she knocks on my penthouse door later that evening, I’m filled with anticipation of seeing her again.
After we finished work, she said she wanted to head back to her apartment to grab a few things for the weekend.
Now, bag in hand, she gives me a wide smile as soon as I swing the door open to face me.
“Miss me?” she teases, and my stomach tightens. I can’t help the smile that forms on my face.
“You have no idea. Here, let me grab that.” I take her overnight bag and set it on the counter before drawing her into my arms and holding her close.
Aside from the explosive physical attraction I feel for her, I can’t get over how wonderful it feels to just hold her in my arms. It’s something I don’t believe I’ll ever tire of.
“I wanted to talk to you about something, but it didn’t feel appropriate to discuss it at the office,” I explain, holding a hand out to lead her into my home office.
Whitney’s brows furrow a bit, but she follows me anyway.
Once I’m behind my desk, I pull her into my lap and show her what has been plaguing my mind all day.
Up on my computer screen is a small report on Elena.
It’s not exhaustive, as I’m sure it will eventually become once my private investigator gets deeper into the assignment, but until then, I need to know as much about my new adversary as possible.
“Elena?” Whitney asks, her tone sounding surprised as she turns to me.
I hum deep in my chest as a response. “What do you know about her?”
“Not very much. I mean, she’s the head of the Board. She has a lot of financial stake in the company.”
“I figured she did,” I say, musing.
It must be the way that I say it that has Whitney frowning at me now. “What’s going on?”
My hand runs up and down her back, loving the way she leans into my touch as if searching for more. “What do you think the likelihood of Elena being involved in Peterson’s scheme is?”
I want her opinion. She has worked at this company far longer than I have and seems to know everyone on a much more personal level than I probably ever will.
Even if she had no idea about Peterson’s actions before, she does now.
So, she may be able to shed light on new information now that she’s seeing the world through new lenses.
My eyes study Whitney intently as she rolls over the idea.
The corners of her eyes narrow just a little, and then she nods once.
“That wouldn’t surprise me.” Vindicated, I lean back a little in my chair but don’t remove my hand from her back.
Whitney turns her head to hold my gaze still.
“Elena and Mr. Peterson were very close friends. There were many times they’d schedule lunch together or private meetings where I wasn’t included.
I had no idea what happened in those meetings, just that they were important to Mr. Peterson. ”
She nods again. “So yes, knowing what I know now about him, I could easily see Elena having a part in it all.”
I run my tongue over my bottom lip. “Chase is looking into a private investigator to get us the answers. I want to be totally transparent in the fact that I’m going to bring this all to light. I won’t be able to move forward with this company until it’s all out in the open.”
“I think that’s the right thing to do,” she says. Her eyes fall to my lower lip where my tongue just ran. “How do you always know what to do?”
Her comment means a lot to me. “I don’t. At least not always. I just try to do what feels right in the moment.”
She runs her fingers through my hair, her nails scratching lightly against my scalp, which has goosebumps rising up on my arms. Her eyes are emotional as she studies my face. I find myself staring into her eyes, watching her watch me.
Heat blooms throughout my body, and suddenly, I feel a great urge for her. As if nothing will be right in this world until I’m buried deep inside of her.
“But enough about that,” I say, leaning toward her until her lips are only a breath from mine. “Ms. Palmer, I believe I have something private of a more sensitive nature to discuss with you.”
Whitney’s eyes flare at the new seductive tone my voice has taken on.
She gets on the same page right away, and she wiggles a little in my lap, enhancing my need for her tenfold.
Then, her eyes widen, her pupils blowing wide with desire.
She licks her lips and says two words that I never knew I needed to hear out of her mouth in such a context.
“Yes, sir.”