Nervously, I smoothed out the card Holden had given me as I approached the stairs. This was probably coming perilously close to the line I shouldn’t cross. But knowing how miserable Gilbert had made Lukas as a child, and the fear he carried inside him that he was like the man he believed was his father, staying silent didn’t seem to be the right option.

The morning had dawned cold and dreary, the iron-gray skies bearing the promise of snow. I hadn’t even made it to work before that promise proved to be true and there was already an inch of the fluffy white stuff on the ground. It would have dampened my mood but I was too excited, too nervous.

If Lukas took the paternity test and it proved that Holden was his father, what would that mean for him?

I didn’t know.

But it had to be good – something good.

My hand trembled a little as I knocked. Not wanting to risk him sending me away before I could say who it was, I called out, “Mr. Grayson?”

So far, unless he was on a call, he’d never once told me to come back at a different time.

He didn’t this time either.

I slipped inside at his gruff, “Come in,” but upon seeing the room full of suits and lawyers, I immediately tensed.

“This is a bad time,” I said softly. I summoned up a smile, disappointed but determined to hide it. “I’ll come back.”

“No, please.” Lukas inclined his head. “Stay.” He gestured to the others, and as they started for the door, I stepped aside.

“If this is important–”

“It is, but I needed to speak with you regardless.” He waited until the last suit left the room and I recognized her – she was from legal, I thought. She’d joined Breanna and me for lunch a week or two ago. She’d seemed friendly enough then, but now she wouldn’t look at me as she closed the door.

A strange tension settled over the room as I turned to meet Lukas’s eyes, and I had the weird feeling it had nothing to do with the excitement that had been vibrating inside me. I’d wanted to call Lukas and tell him what I’d discovered over the weekend, but each time I called, he’d been too busy to talk or the call had just gone to voicemail.

Now, I wished I’d left the news on voicemail so at least he had some idea and wasn’t staring at me with distant eyes.

“Somebody’s been skimming from the company,” he said, his voice toneless.

Taken aback, I gaped at him. “I…what? You’re sure?”

“I’ve spent the past week going over records, checking everything over. I brought in accounting and even had a friend who works in forensics accounting look things over. Yes. I’m sure.” He paused a beat. “You look surprised.”

“Well…” I laughed weakly. “I am. You’re the last person I’d think anybody would steal from.”

“Really.” He moved behind his desk and sat down, that distant expression still on his face. Leaning back, he steepled his fingers in front of his face. “I don’t suppose there’s anything you want to tell me, is there?”

“I…” I frowned at him, then realized, dimly, what he was implying. The card I’d been holding fell from numb fingers. “You think I did it.”

He remained silent, but his eyes had iced over, back to the frozen expression he’d so often watched me with initially.

“I haven’t stolen anything,” I said vehemently. “My family is rich, Lukas. What reason would I have to steal?”

“It’s been my experience that people take things for many reasons – a need for money isn’t always the reason,” he responded, lifting one shoulder. The cool disdain in his eyes was enough to make me want to shudder, but I managed to hold still.

“How much?” I asked, my mouth so stiff it was hard to form the words.

“What?”

“How much money do you think I’ve supposedly stolen?” I demanded.

“Nearly twenty thousand has been…removed from petty cash or…misspent,” he said.

That cold look in his eyes was killing me. “What does misspent mean?”

“Can’t you guess? All the lunches you take?”

I barked out a laugh and went to shove a hand into my purse to pull out receipts, only to remember it was downstairs. “I go across the street with Breanna and I pay with my debit card, you ass. Again, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“The facts don’t lie, Stella.” He shrugged. “You’re fired. I’m not reporting this because I’d rather our…personal interactions not come to light, but you’re not to come onto these grounds or speak to any of the clients who have business with this firm. The non-compete clause is good for two years. But…if I were you? I’d stay away from them for much longer.”

The threat in his voice was clear.

“Don’t worry,” I said woodenly as the impact of what he was saying hit home. “I won’t be anywhere near this place or your clients.”

On wooden legs, I walked down the steps and back to my cubicle. Two security guards were already waiting there, one of them with two filing boxes, the collapsible kind, in his hands. I stared at them dumbly as he held them out, not understanding. “You have to take your personal belongings. We will, of course, monitor what you’re taking. No company files, thumbdrives, SD cards or anything will be allowed. I’ll watch everything.” He delivered those words in a cool, remote voice then nodded at the woman at his side. “Meredith will check your computer for any company files. You need to unlock it.”

“My computer?”

“You declined having the company purchase one for you, said you had one of your own. You accepted that search when you signed on with the firm,” he said.

Of course.

I went to the desk and sat down – for the last time, I thought. As I was logging onto my laptop, Breanna came rushing in, neither of the guards quick enough to stop her.

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

“I’ve been fired,” I said flatly. Looking from one security guard to the other, I finally looked at Breanna. “Lukas thinks I’ve been skimming money from the firm.”

Her mouth dropped open. “He what?”

Dimly, I noticed the shocked expressions that danced across both of the guards’ faces before they smoothed back into implacability but I didn’t care enough to wonder why they might be surprised.

“You heard me.”

“Oh, I’m going to go tell him a thing or two,” she said, spinning on her heel. It made me think about what Lukas had said – she breathed fire.

Reaching out, I caught her hand. “Don’t,” I said gently. “It won’t matter. I couldn’t stay here now anyway. Not after…” I dropped her hand and turned back to the computer. “Not after this. I should have gone back home after I found Aaron cheating on me. I just…” I laughed bitterly. “I thought I could make something of my own. Thought I could have something on my own. Without my family.”

What a joke that had turned out to be.

I unlocked the laptop and picked it up, turning it over to the stern-faced Meredith. She sat in the only other chair and put the laptop on her legs, fingers flying across the keyboard.

Turning back to my desk, I accepted the boxes from the other guard. I hadn’t caught his name – couldn’t even remember if he’d offered it. Nor did I care.

He watched me with cool eyes as I carefully took down pictures of my nieces and nephews, of me and my sisters. I went to remove one of the cards from the ad set I’d done for the philanthropy group, but he said, “That’s company property.”

My heart sank a little. I’d put my heart and soul into the project, and I couldn’t even have that simple card to remember it by.

“For fuck’s sake, it’s a postcard,” Breanna said.

“It’s company property,” he repeated.

She turned on her heel and strode away. In the cubicle next to mine, I could hear her muttering, swearing – inventively.

It almost made me smile.

Almost.