“Do you have solid evidence?” Simon asked, his heart stuttering in its rhythm.

Everett balked. “Everything is circumstantial right now, but you have to admit it’s pretty damning.”

He hated to admit that Everett was making a compelling case, but they had to be careful with something like this. They would have only one shot to get this right, and if they jumped the gun too early they’d make a mistake they could never take back. If they wrongly accused Heather, she was likely to take it personally enough to do something drastic. If she was guilty and they accused her too early, she’d be able to cover her tracks.

Damn it! This can’t be happening.

But it was.

There was a chance that his assistant was more cunning than either of them realized. She would cover her tracks ruthlessly if she’d been sent by their rival. Corporate espionage wasn’t something for faint-hearted people.

“Circumstantial isn’t enough,” Simon said finally. “I managed to push Xander out because I had solid proof. Evidence he couldn’t refute.”

“Well, the financial investigator is still building a case,” Everett said.

“That’s fine,” Simon said. “But Josh Bradley can’t get close to Heather like I can. If I’m vulnerable to her, that means she’s vulnerable to me. She doesn’t know about our suspicions, and that could be useful for us.”

Everett raised an eyebrow and scratched his chin. “You want to beat her at her own game?”

No. He didn’t want to beat Heather. Simon hated double dealings and backstabbing. All he wanted was to get answers out of her. Figure out what she was up to. See if everything she had told him had been a lie.

His guts churned at the thought of her feelings for him being fake. Had every passionate kiss been a lie? Had every time he’d held her his arms been a game to her?

Fury and bitter disappointment started to eat away at him. The thought of her betraying him so completely seemed impossible. Heather was a kind, sweet, wonderful person. If she had played him, he would never trust another living soul for as long as he lived.

“I only want to get to the truth,” Simon responded. “She’s far more likely to let her guard down around me. If I can get closer to her, I’ll be able to get proof.”

Everett frowned. “You raise good points, Simon, but you have to admit you’ve been badly compromised by this woman. She’s managed to torpedo your reputation in a matter of months. Even if she’s innocent, she’s caused more damage to Dover than we’ve had to deal with in years.”

“If she’s innocent, then the damage is solely on me. It will have been my fault that our products haven’t done as well as we hoped,” Simon countered.

“You’re still defending her. Even now.” Everett’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you’re up to this task?”

Simon nodded forcefully. “I’m up to this. And Everett, when it’s time to confront Heather, let me do it.”

Everett paused. “I don’t know, Simon. She has a real hold over you.”

That much was true. Try as he might to fight it, Simon was still completely under her spell. He was enthralled by her. Ready to stake his reputation on still giving her the benefit of the doubt.

“I hired her. I handled the case against my previous assistant. It’s my responsibility to fix this.” If they had to confront her, Simon wanted to be the one to do it. He wanted to hear what she would have to say to defend herself. He wanted to look in her eyes so that he would know for sure if she was the same person she had always been.

“Fine. You have my permission to investigate this further and confront her if it comes to that,” Everett said. “But if this isn’t dealt with properly, you’re looking at a lengthy suspension.”

That cut him to the bone. He had known it was possible, but now it looked like it could end up being a reality if he didn’t set things right. “I guess that means I have to tell you how the reunion went.”

“I almost forgot about that,” Everett said. “Linda mentioned it to me. How did it go?”

“Not well,” he replied truthfully. “A photo was taken of me and Heather in a compromising position.”

“How compromising?” Everett demanded, his voice laced with warning.

“An old high school classmate got a photo of us kissing. Heather and I also spent the night together.” He hated having to reveal details of his private life, but he had to get everything out in the open if he wanted Everett on his side. He was running out of options and he needed allies at Dover.

“For fuck’s sake, Simon.” Everett started pacing up and down the office in agitation. “The board won’t suspend you in the middle of your investigation into your assistant. But mark my words, if you don’t nail whoever is behind VLA’s spying you’re looking at a suspension. And it won’t be for three months either. It would be six months at least, and it could even be an indefinite suspension if the investors are angry enough.”

He was on the brink of losing both Heather and Dover. Heather had been the one to encourage him to chase his dreams. Now there was the irony of her possibly being the reason his dreams might be crumbling. Dover was his life. The work they did at the company gave his life purpose. Meaning. The money was great, but nothing compared to how they changed people’s lives with the work they did here.

They had made so many things accessible to people with their technology. They did more than just create software that just about everyone with a computer or a smart phone used. Medical technology had improved over the years because of Dover. Cars were safer. People in remote areas could connect with the outside world in ways they never had before. Their technology helped people on rescue missions after natural disasters. Dover had totally changed the world, and the thought of no longer being a part of that was impossible to even imagine.

Heather and Dover were the only things in his life that mattered. And now it looked like there was a real chance of losing both, if he hadn’t already.

“I can fix this,” he said firmly. “I’ll investigate my assistant and put a stop to whatever VLA has planned.”

“You know this means she’ll end up in jail if she’s guilty,” Everett pointed out.

His chest tightened, and he suddenly felt out of breath. Imagining her languishing in prison seemed worse than merely losing her. It added an extra layer of misery to her life that unnerved him. “I know.”

Everett stopped his pacing and focused his attention on Simon. “I’m counting on you to get this right.”

“I’ll get it done.”

“Good. While you investigate, I’ll see how Linda is handling your little photo mishap.” With a grim nod, Everett headed towards the office door.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Heather walked inside.

“Oh.” Her eyes went wide when she spotted Everett. “Good morning, Mr. Eastman.”

Everett cast Simon a meaningful glance, as if he was trying to remind him of the task ahead.

Simon knew what the stakes were. If he failed to stop the spy in time, he’d lose Dover. If he succeeded, and that spy was Heather, there was a good chance that he’d lose her. Forever.

~~*~~

“GOOD MORNING, Mrs. Hall.”

Heather was sure she heard a hint of disdain in Everett Eastman’s tone, but she kept her apprehension to herself. She was a professional, and that meant never breaking a sweat at work. Even if Dover’s most powerful board member was currently glowering at her.

Though she couldn’t imagine why he was glowering at her like that. She didn’t like keeping Gary’s last name, but she’d done it for her son. So everyone would know she and Finn shared a last name and always would. If that offended Everett for some reason, that was his problem.

“Would you like me to give you two some privacy?” she asked.

“No need. I was just on my way out.” Without a second glance, Everett exited the office.

“Does he know about the photo?” she asked Simon, anxiety immediately flooding her now that Everett’s imposing presence was gone.

“Yes.” Simon’s blue eyes landed on her, but she couldn’t read the expression on his face.

“That’s why he seemed angry.” She chewed her bottom lip, no longer able to hide her worry. “How much trouble are we in? Has the board called a meeting?”

“No, the board hasn’t called a meeting,” he replied, his tone terse.

“Well that’s good, isn’t it?” She frowned as she watched him take a seat at his desk. There was something distant about him this morning. Heather had been certain that, once they were alone, he would at least acknowledge just how much things had changed between them since the reunion.

She had promised not to keep her distance from him anymore, but now he seemed agitated.

“It is,” he said. “Everett is doing what he can to help Linda keep the photo from going public.”

“What if it does?” she asked. “We should come up with a plan for dealing with that if it happens.”

“Everett will work with Linda if the photo gets out,” he said.

“That’s surprising,” she said. “I thought a board member like Everett would be a lot angrier about the reunion turning out to be a disaster.”

“Oh, trust me, he was angry,” Simon said.

Now she couldn’t shake the guilt. Of course, Everett was angry. He had probably given Simon hell for their mistake before she stepped into the office and found them talking. Which meant that Simon had taken the brunt of most of Everett and the board’s anger.

“That’s not fair,” she said. “You can’t take the blame for this. Let me go and talk to him—”

“No,” he said harshly. “Sit down.”

Sometimes it was easy to forget how powerful Simon really was. His command made her want to do exactly what he told her. If he asked her to slip out of her clothes right now, she’d probably do it. He had that much power over her body. Over her mind. And, if she was being honest with herself, he had control over her heart as well.

Doing as he told her, she crossed the office to sit down across from him. She swallowed hard. “Is your job in jeopardy?”

“Not yet,” he said.

“Is mine?”

He leaned forward and looked her dead in the eyes. “No.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “I know my three-month review is coming up and I really want to stay on at Dover. I love working here.”

“As long as you keep up the good work, you’ll be fine,” he said. “Let me, Everett, and Linda worry about the photo. I’ll buy it back if I have to.”

“That sounds like it could be expensive. I don’t want you to have to spend that kind of money,” she said. “Let me pay for the photo. I can pay you in installments out of my salary.”

“That’s not going to happen, Heather.” He gave her a small smile. “I’ll solve this. Please, don’t worry about the photo. I’d rather you focused on work.”

“Honestly, I think we should talk. About us,” she said. “I promised that we’d talk, and I meant it. I know we probably can’t talk right now, but the sooner the better.”

“I agree,” he said with a nod. “We have to talk things out and make some decisions.”

“Probably tough decisions.” Things were so complicated between them, but when she had spent the night at his place over the weekend everything had felt so right. Figuring out where they stood was going to be difficult, but she was finally ready to try. To at least see where their relationship could go if they took it to the next level. The problem was that there were so many obstacles to them getting together.

“How about we talk today after work?” he suggested. “We can go somewhere private and figure things out.”

“I usually pick up Finn from my parents’ house after work,” she said. “But maybe I can ask them to watch him for a few extra hours while we talk.”

“I understand if you can’t talk today while you take care of Finn.”

She waved her hand. “I’ll call my parents and sort things out. I can spare a few hours.”

“I know how tough it must be for you to make time to talk things out, so I appreciate it, Heather,” he said.

“No problem.” She got to her feet. “I’m going to start getting some work done in my office and call my parents to make arrangements for this evening.”

“Great,” he said.

When she opened the office door, she stole one last glance at Simon. He was staring at his computer screen, already hard at work despite the chaos that was building around them.

Knowing there might be a chance for them now made her heart swell. She just hoped that Simon didn’t pull away from her now that she was ready to give them a chance.