Hayden

The driver opened the passenger door. I dipped my head to get in, then groaned at the sight of my brother. “I hope you’re here to tell me good news.”

“Welcome home, brother. I thought I’d meet you at Heathrow as I knew you’d be so pleased to see me.”

“I’ve had quite enough of you at the moment. Especially after a commercial flight.” I was exhausted.

“Christ, you poor bastard. You had to fly commercial from your superyacht? Did the world run out of private jets?”

I pressed my lips together, trying not to let him see the grin threatening at the corners of my mouth. “And? I presume you came with news.”

“I’ve found your leak,” he said as he pressed his thumb against the side of his tablet, his fingerprint bringing it to life.

“About time. I thought I wasn’t going to be able to go back to my office.”

“It was Gerald,” he said simply.

I recoiled. “I thought that having an offshore account wasn’t conclusive? How can you be sure?” As financial controller for Wolf Enterprises and right-hand man to my finance director, he would have a lot of access to a lot of information.

“Because I’m that good.”

“It’s taken you nearly eight weeks—you’re not that good.”

“What can I say? He covered his tracks well. We had to wait for him to make a mistake.”

“Prove it to me.” When he’d told me about Avery, I’d refused to believe it until I’d seen the evidence for myself. And even after I’d found the phone and the business card, I still went ashore to see the photographs for myself. When I’d confronted her, her explanations were a little too polished. She’d had an answer for everything. I’d wanted to hear more—when had she started with Cannon? Had she been in their pocket all along? But she’d stormed out of my office, indignant. There was only one piece of the puzzle missing with Avery. Landon hadn’t been able to track the payoff to her account.

Landon swiped through various documents and photographs, showing me records of Gerald receiving large payments into an offshore account on dates just after Cannon closed the four deals they’d stolen from under me. Landon had also had people search Gerald’s home and recovered various electronic files stored in a safe, which were full of confidential details about the transactions Wolf Enterprises had been working on.

“Jesus. He’s worked with us for years. He was so competent and professional; he’d be the last person I would have thought capable of something like that.”

That wasn’t true. Avery was the last person I’d ever have thought would betray me. I might have known her for a fraction of the time I’d known Gerald, but I’d been certain I’d looked into her eyes and seen nothing but honesty and truth. Her selflessness was one of the things I’d liked most about her. The way she had such strong values—the way she’d sacrificed so much for those she cared about. I’d just thought I was one of those people. Apparently it had all been an act, a means to an end.

“Does that mean Anita is in the clear?” I asked.

“Yes. That was an inheritance from her grandparents. They paid some before the sale of some real estate and some after.”

I hadn’t even known her grandparents had died. I liked to keep things professional but my assistant should be able to tell me about things like that. But I’d have the chance to put that right. At least she hadn’t been the leak.

“I’ll have Gerald’s pass cancelled and his desk cleared.” I tipped my head back on the headrest. “At least that’s done.” I’d expected it to feel more like a victory. Perhaps all my adrenaline had been used up completing the deal, but I wasn’t elated or triumphant at catching the guy who’d threatened everything I’d worked for. Instead I was hollow and gray inside. Avery’s warmth had left me. I had only known her a few weeks, but she’d carved a place in me that was so deep and profound that I didn’t feel like myself now I knew I’d never see her again.

Was I so easily manipulated?

I hadn’t seen Gerald betraying me over the course of months and I’d known that man years, sat across a board table from him a thousand times, met his wife and kids.

Why did Avery’s betrayal feel bigger?

The image of her smiling face—an expression I knew her other guests never saw—her long hair wrapped around my wrist, her panting little moans that went straight to my cock. I couldn’t get any of it out of my head.

“You heard anything about Avery?” I asked Landon.

He shook his head. “I told you that it would be a few weeks. I’m tracking her finances and her father’s. The payment will show up.”

“But if she was the leak, how did I manage to get Phoenix done? It still doesn’t make sense.”

“What do you care?”

I had no idea why I still cared. I’d completed the Phoenix deal and now owned the company I’d always dreamed of. I should feel ten feet tall, but it felt as if I’d got to the summit of Everest and found the vista was nice and everything, but it wasn’t that different to the view a couple of thousand feet down. I don’t know what I was expecting—a coronation, a key to the city? Yes, I’d outwitted Cannon, but the victory echoed it was so hollow.

“We uncovered it and now you’ll never see her again.”

I’d never understood women who stuck around while their husbands and boyfriends abused them physically and mentally—why couldn’t they just walk away? But I wasn’t sure that if Avery was here right now I wouldn’t want to take her back to my flat, strip her naked and fuck her into next week. Despite watching the guilt on her face, hearing her excuses as she sat across from me, I’d never stopped wanting her. Had the last year of Cannon’s attack on my business undermined more than my net worth? Had it chipped away at my judgment and instincts about people? I still wanted to believe Avery couldn’t have betrayed me. I needed that final puzzle piece to slot into place before I gave up hope and accepted I’d opened up to someone who was just using me.

“I want to know, Landon. I want to see the money move. She just didn’t strike me as a woman who would . . .” Would what? Do anything to care for her brother? It was one of the things I’d liked most about her. She’d sacrificed her own life ambitions for her family. Taking money for their future wouldn’t be so difficult.

“Like you said, everyone has their price,” Landon said.

“Maybe,” I said. “But I want to see it for myself. And can you track that ginger guy down? I’d like to talk to him.”

“Jesus, that pussy must have been good.”

“Don’t be a dick. I want to know we were right about her. At the moment, she had an explanation for everything. As soon as that money hits, there are no more excuses that make sense. As you know, I’m all about the details. I’m ruthless but I’m fair. And for the record, I’m going to kick your arse at squash.”

As soon as I saw the money in Avery’s account I would be able to close that chapter in my life and move on. Until then, I’d still wake in the middle of the night with the sensation of her hair between my fingers, still see her every time I closed my eyes. I needed to see the price she’d been bought for and then I could forget she ever existed.