The days leading up to the event Saturday night were full of me grappling for anything I could cling to in order prove his innocence. But it was easier said than done. A couple warehouses the company rented out had overlapping leases. Almost like he’d taken it over before the last person stopped occupying it. I used the time he was out of the office to dig through the employee files. Now that I had found one massive question I couldn’t answer, I was on a quest to find all of them. But I didn’t find strings of numbers this time. Instead, I found flat-out wrong names on employee records.

For instance, I knew the woman who worked in the front lobby. Who greeted every customer of Abbott Financial as they walked through the door. Her name was ‘Alexa Rodgers’, but the employee listed that worked at the front desk was a man by the name of ‘Anthony Crawley’. Or the guy who headed up the company’s security, Albus Grier. According to the company records, his name was actually ‘Michael Snodgrass’.

And my name? Apparently, I was also a man. ‘Ryker McDonald’, to be exact.

But the worst of it was when he was out of the office Friday morning and there was an influx of calls that hit the emergency line on his desk. The line that was only his to answer.

The phone rang and rang. People hung up and called right back. I couldn’t get any work done and my curiosity got the best of me, so I got up from my desk and headed for his. I answered it, not knowing how I would explain myself. Not knowing how I’d answer the person on the other end. But the damn thing wouldn’t stop ringing and I figured unplugging it would be an even worse action.

“Mr. Abbott’s office,” I said.

“He there?” a man asked.

His voice was gruff and thick with an accent. It sounded Russian. Or possibly Ukrainian. I took a deep breath as my hand gripped the telephone. I needed to sound like I had permission to answer this line. There was a small chance I could snake it under his radar if this asshole didn’t open his mouth to Maximus.

“He’s out of the office currently. May I take a message for you?”

“No messages,” the man said.

Then, he quickly hung up.

I picked up the phone again and again, and every single time that accent bled through. Strong timbers and light timbers. Women and angry men. So many people with that thick accent attempting to get in contact with Maximus. There wasn’t any reason so many of them should have called any part of the company within that short of a period. Abbott Financial didn’t have business in Russia. I knew for a fact we didn’t have clients in Russia. Abbott Financial dealt with overseas finances, but the company itself targeted clients in the U.S, Canada, the U.K., and South America.

No Russia or Ukraine in that layout.

The whole morning was full of calls like those, and I knew something big was happening. Something bad. Or possibly good, depending on what side of the fence Abbott Financial straddled. I heard Maximus’ footsteps storm down the hallway, and the second he turned into the office his eyes met mine.

Those steely, lifeless eyes. Filled with rage and discontent.

“What?” he asked.

“Sir, the phone on your desk has been ringing off the hook. Line number nine,” I said.

The look on his face sank and his skin visibly paled.

“Put my meetings on hold and go home,” he said as he turned around. “I’ll be out of the office the rest of the day.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Go home, Christie.”

So, I did as instructed.

He texted me that evening, asking if I had changed my mind about the ride to the company event. I responded telling him I hadn’t reconsidered and that I would see him at the venue. After the events of the past week, there was no way in hell I was trapping myself with that man until I had answers.

Saturday morning, I went shopping. It was the only thing I could think to do to get my mind off everything. I’d stayed up all Friday night with all the evidence I had wafting around in my mind. Who was Maximus Abbott? What happened Friday that caused him to panic like he had? Was I in danger? Was I somehow trapped in a web with no way out?

So many questions rolled I had no answers to, and shopping was the only antidote I had.

The optimistic part of me wanted to impress him. The small part of me that refused to be convinced until I heard it the truth from him wanted to pay a little extra money for the beautiful dress that hugged my body all the way down. The part of myself that kept asking if Maximus could possibly be that bad of a man wanted to make his jaw drop. But the rest of me felt wary. Crazy, even. What I was theorizing was nothing short of the largest illegal operation that could’ve ever been fantasized. What the hell was I thinking, wanting him to wrap his arms around me when the man couldn’t be straight with his own personal secretary?

But the second I zipped up the red dress, I knew it would be mine.

It was far more formfitting than what I was used to. I enjoyed clothes that were practical. That enabled movement for my active lifestyle. But the red fabric with the light sheen that glistened whenever I moved mesmerized me. It boasted of a dipping bustline that snuggled up to my curves, laying them out in the open instead of concealing them. And I felt gorgeous. I turned to look in the mirror, taking in the shape of my body as I ran my hands along my waist. The dress made me proud of the woman I’d turned into. The woman that made it out of that small town and could afford a dress like the one I was standing in. The dress reminded me of all the things my hometown told me I wasn’t. The dress silenced all those raging voices that tended to scream on days that hurt a little too much.

And those feelings alone were worth the one-thousand-dollar investment.

Especially if I was going to confront the man behind the supposed operation I’d been uncovering the past week.

I bought a pair of matching heels and a small black wrap just in case the venue was chilly. Then, I went home and got myself ready. I piled my hair on top of my head and splashed on some makeup. I took the time I needed to breathe in deeply as I stood there in my newly-bought dress. I pulled the wrap around my shoulders before I went to grab my clutch purse, then I walked out to my car as the countdown began.

A month and a half ago, my biggest worry was whether my boss would make another move on me. Now, my biggest fear was whether the man I had feelings for was a lying little monster. I pulled up to the Marriott Marquis and drew in a deep breath. The clock screamed seven thirty, and my mind screamed ‘time to talk’. The valet drove off with my car as I stood on the sidewalk, clutching my purse tightly. It was time.

It was time to talk with Maximus.

A row of security guards led employees from the front door all the way to the Broadway Ballroom, and as I walked inside my breath stole away from my lungs. The large conference hall was draped with flowers and shrubberies that casted a fragrant smell along the entire room. Waiters and waitresses dressed in black and white walked around with silver trays of finger foods and flutes of champagne. People talked in corners and a few danced in the middle of the room. The lights were low and the music sophisticated. It was every bit the man Maximus was. Dark. Trimmed. Minimalist, yet laced with an unassuming decadence. It was beautiful. So beautiful that I stopped in the entryway of the ballroom and gawked.

“Welcome,” a man in a tuxedo said.

I nodded my thanks as he ushered me through the threshold. The cool air of the ballroom was soothing against my warm skin. My nerves had my body raging with a heat I couldn’t ignore. I slid my wrap off my shoulders and handed it to a coat check, who then presented me with a ticket I slid into my purse. There were so many people I didn’t recognize. Come to think of it, I never saw much of anyone coming into work day in and day out. I knew Maximus did have employees. But I never stopped to talk with them or interact with them in any way. They didn’t work around us on the top floor and I didn’t hang out in the main lobby enough to acclimate myself with them.

Did any of these people know what I knew?

A tray passed by me and I plucked a flute of champagne off the surface. I walked around, distracting myself with listening to other people’s conversations. I took in the sparse artwork decorating the hall. The click of my heels against the marbled floor. The dark shadows of the corners of the room and the second story of the ballroom with a railing to lean on and look over.

Not a single statue in sight for decorative purposes.

The thought made me shake my head and grin.

“Care to invite me into the joke?”

I froze at his voice before I turned my head to look at him. And the second I laid my eyes on Maximus, I couldn’t breathe. He donned a deep navy suit with a crisp white shirt and a skinny navy tie to bring it all together. The colors brought out the silver of his eyes. They pulled me in instantly, numbing my body as every sound of the ballroom faded into the background.

I watched his eyes take in my form, raking along my dress and taking his time with me.

“Christie,” he said. “Red really does suit you.”

It hurt, how much I liked hearing him say my name the way he did. Deeply. Reverently. As if in the presence of a goddess he couldn’t refuse. The warm look he gave me as his eyes came back up to my face left my stomach doing somersaults.

Stop it, Christie. You know why you’re here.

“Every other color in the spectrum should be jealous,” he said with a grin.

My heart fluttered at the compliment even though I attempted to regain control. I liked it too much. Enjoyed it too much, coming from him. Maximus had a way of making me feel attractive in my own skin. He had a way of making me feel beautiful because of my appearance, and not despite it. All the men I’d dated, they acted as if they did me a favor. As if their very presence in my life was a compliment to the ‘big girl’. No man had ever looked at me the way Maximus had in that very moment. No man had ever said the things to me Maximus said, like the compliment in his car coming back from our first outing together.

Say something, Christie.

“I don’t think I’ve seen that suit before,” I said.

“It’s new.”

“Retail therapy?” I asked.

He quirked an eyebrow and I mentally chastised myself for the remark.

“Are you enjoying yourself so far?” he asked.

He took a sip of the dark drink in his hand and my eyes followed the motion. The way it touched his lips before disappearing into his mouth. The way his long, dexterous fingers dwarfed the crystal glass and glistened underneath the dim lighting of the venue. I wanted to say yes. I wanted to tell him how happy I was that I was there with him. Surrounded by his presence and taken by the lust-filled gaze in his eyes.

“This place is beautiful,” I said as I looked around.

Anything to get my eyes off his lips

“Is something on your mind?” he asked. “You look a little flushed.”

“There is something on my mind actually,” I said as I took a sip of my drink. “I need to talk to you about some concerns I’m having.”

The opening I had been looking for finally presented itself. The reason why I had come to this function in the first place was upon me. But now that I was there, I felt angry. Cornered. Frustrated that I had purchased this beautiful dress and was standing in front of a beautiful man holding a glass of the most tantalizing champagne I would probably ever taste. It was something out of a fairytale. The dark prince and his innocent bride. The fallen angel and his enlightened counterpart. I wanted it to be something out of a dream. I wanted it to be my dream.

But it wasn’t any of those things.

I had to know. I couldn’t wait a second longer. I couldn’t continue torturing myself like I had the night before. Above all else, I needed to know if Maximus was lying to me about what his company really did, or if he was simply ignorant.

And for once, I wasn’t sure which one would’ve been worse.

“Oh?” he asked. “I take it this might become a work conversation?”

“I’m afraid so,” I said. “I hope that doesn’t bother you.”

“Not at all. Come. We can go talk somewhere privately.”

“Right here is fine,” I said.

“With all due respect, I don’t want to interrupt a personal evening with company politics and questions.”

He held out his hand for me and my eyes dropped to it. The entire point of coming to this venue was to be able to have this conversation in a room full of people. But when I looked around, I didn’t see much of anything I expected. No Sebastian. No Scarlet. Way too many security men. The only question that remained was whether my changing opinion of Maximus outweighed my need for answers.

But my opinion of Maximus meant nothing if I didn’t have the correct answers. And I needed those answers more than I needed the comfort of having people around us while we talked.

I slipped my hand into his and he wrapped his fingers delicately around my skin. His touch was hot. Guiding. Commanding, but in a soft way. He didn’t drag me around and he didn’t wrench me into a corner. He simply walked and expected me to follow. He led me through the party, walking with those long strides I always had trouble keeping up with.

Damn the heels I bought for this evening.

He led me up a set of stairs and onto a private balcony that jutted out from the second floor of the ballroom. Fireflies blinked around our heads as traffic buzzed in the distance. A light breeze kicked up, fluttering his hair around his shoulders as he looked down upon me. The moon framed his body, darkening his features and sending my heart into overdrive.

I felt his thumb trace circles on my skin before he released my hand.

“What is it, Christie?” Maximus asked.

His eyes burrowed into me like lasers.

“I’ve been noticing some things with the company that keep recurring. Some inconsistencies I can’t find explanations for.”

“Is there a question in there somewhere?”

Well, if he’s going to be a dick about it.

“You don’t run a financial business, do you?” I asked.

My pulse deafened my ears as I looked up into his eyes. His stare hardened on me and his body began to loom. The comforting presence I had once associated with him quickly defaulted into a darkness I couldn’t explain. But just like it surged through my veins with my old boss, I felt the fires of independence dilate my veins. If I was at risk, I deserved to know. If I had been hired under false pretense, I deserved to know. No amount of intimidation or coercion on any man’s part would get me to back down from discovering the truth.

People, at the very least, deserved that from others.

“I’ve seen the strange payments, Maximus. The fake client names. The rented-out buildings in areas we don’t have offices. Those Russian calls? The fake purchases for items that make no sense for this company? It’s all there,” I said.

His eyes kept a hold on mine, unwavering and unblinking. But he still didn’t answer me, and with each beat of silence I grew bolder and more terrified.

“You didn’t do a very good job of hiding it,” I said. “The spreadsheets with strings of numbers for identities. The fake employees with randomized names and genders. Now, I know you have employees. But there are only a few instances where someone would need to hide the identities of his employees. And none of the options are good.”

His silence was infuriating, and soon I felt as if I was staring into the eyes of my father.

“I need you to answer me,” I said. “I know what lying does to people. I know the kinds of foundations it crumbles. And I can’t work for a liar, Maximus. I refuse to work for someone who isn’t open with me.”

Something ignited behind his eyes, but his walls were still towered in front of his gaze.

“Is Abbott Financial really a financial business? Or is it a front for something else?” I asked.

“What conclusions have you drawn?” he asked.

Anger bubbled in my gut. Answering a question with a question? My father did that shit all the time. The first reaction I’d gotten from him, and it was to implore about what else I knew. Was he patronizing me? Trying to figure out if I really knew anything? Or did he simply think I was some idiot woman he had employed to do his busy work while he funneled troughs of illegal substances through his fake company?

I wanted him to look at me and tell me what was happening. I wanted him to man up and speak his own truth. Because making a woman form the words he should of his own volition made him a coward. At least, in my eyes it did. I exhaled hard, biting on the inside of my cheek as I gathered myself. I couldn’t come at him in anger. It would get us nowhere.

“My conclusions can’t possibly be true,” I said. “So, tell me they aren’t.”

I wanted him to tell me I was wrong before me made me say what I thought everything was. What I thought he was. Then, I watched his gaze morph into a hawk-like stare that left my heart aching.

Oh, no.

No, no, no.

I was right.

“I hired you because you’re intelligent, Christie,” Maximus said plainly.

“I can’t believe you’re going to make me say it,” I said with a whisper.

Then, in a shocking twist of actions, he rose his hand up to my face and softly tucked a rogue strand of hair behind my ear. His touch filled my skin with a heat I’d never be able to snuff out. And I hated him all the more for it. I was about to ask him a question that could very well solidify my prompt and definite resignation from his world, and he had the audacity to grace me with the kind of softness that had drawn me to him in the first place.

A softness no one else understood but me.

My eyes fluttered closed as his thumb slid against the skin of my cheek. My knees grew weak and my mind came to a dead standstill. I wanted to lean into his body. To wrap my arms around him and wake up from my nightmare. I wanted to look up at Maximus and listen to him tell me Abbott Financial was just that. A financial institution he hired me to work for. Nothing more, nothing less. I wanted him to be an honest man.

But when I opened my eyes and watched his hands disappear behind his back, I knew I was about to expose his dishonesty.

“Maximus? Are you running drugs?”