Thirty-nine

LILAH

A week later, my office door is flung open. I’m sitting behind my desk going over some paperwork that Edward sent over earlier.

When I look up, I discover that he’s the intruder.

Pulling a smile from deep within me, I pretend to be happy to see him.

“Mr. Knight, how are you today?”

“We need to talk,” Edward says forcibly, dropping down into the guest chair on the opposite side of my desk.

“What can I do for you?”

I have an idea about why he’s here but I’m not going to be the first to broach the subject.

Edward shoots daggers at me and my cool demeanor.

“Is there a reason why you haven’t had your client move forward with the next investment I lined up?”

I’m sure all the color drains from my face as I try to formulate my answer. I’m still waiting on Mason to get back to me before I have Andrew sign anything. But I can hardly come out and say that to him.

He’s popped in my office three times already this week. This is the most I’ve seen him in a single week since I started here.

He’s been blowing up my inbox all week to have Andrew go all in on a tech company out of Silicon Valley. Even with all the necessary paperwork in place, I’ve been hesitant to have Andrew authorize anything until Mason gets back to me.

It’s taking him a lot longer than I expected. I don’t know how long I can stall without it being a problem.

“I haven’t seen Mr. Knight because he’s been out of town. But as soon as he’s back, I’ll be sure to schedule a meeting with him to move things in the right direction.”

Lies, lies, lies.

I’m not doing anything until I know for sure that everything is on the up and up. My intuition won’t let me ignore how uneasy I feel about this.

Edward looks disgusted by my excuse. “Well, have it done by Friday and not a day later.”

“I’ll do my best,” I offer with a small smile that I know will go unreturned.

Puffing out an agitated breath, Edward doesn’t linger and storms out of my office without another word.

With him out of my vicinity, I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding. Staring at the empty chair he just vacated, I nearly jump out of my skin when my phone vibrates near my keyboard.

Snatching it up, I see Mason’s number and grow anxious.

Hey, I got something. When are you free to talk?

Hands shaking, I respond and tell him to meet me at the same café as last time after work.

The rest of the day passes painfully slow. When five o’clock arrives, I dash out of the front door and don’t stop until I reach the town car Andrew sent to pick me up.

He has a meeting in the city today so he won’t grow suspicious if I don’t come straight home.

I send Andrew a message anyway.

Hope your meeting went well. Grabbing coffee before I head home. Meet you in bed later. :-)

Headed home a little early. I’ll be waiting when you get here. Be safe.

I send back a kissy-face emoji and settle against the cushion of the leather seats. Knowing that he’s home already makes me want to rush through this meeting so I can get to him.

Before I can blink, we’re pulling up outside the café. Mason is standing near the entrance with a tall cup of coffee.

After telling the driver that I’ll be back soon, I hop out of the car and head to him.

Mason watches my approach with a friendly smile.

“Hi,” I say, suddenly feeling queasy.

Despite his friendly smile, I have a gut feeling that I’m not going to like the news he has for me.

When Mason offers to order coffee for me, I turn it down and focus on finding a quiet table tucked off in the back. The last thing I need is caffeine to add to my growing anxiety.

“What do you have for me?” I ask once we’re finally seated in a secluded section of the café.

Mason’s expression grows somber as he pulls out his phone and studies the screen.

“I searched for hours and came up blank. Rio Venture Corp doesn’t exist. There’s no trace of a company bearing that name here in the United States or globally. I even had a couple of my buddies back in NYC trying to dig up stuff,” he sighs, shaking his head. “But all roads led me back to the same conclusion. It doesn’t exist. Never has.”

Red spots appear before my eyes and I’m not sure where I am for a minute.

It doesn’t exist.

Never has.

Still processing his findings, I tilt my head and try to find a loophole. Hoping against hope as always.

“Are you sure you checked everything?”

Mason nods confidently. “Trust me, Lily Cat, if there was something to find, my colleagues and I would have found it. We’re sort of like hounds in that way. We can sniff out an investment opportunity from miles away. But Rio Venture Corp is just a figment of someone’s imagination.”

The weight pressing down on my chest is suffocating.

How could this be happening?

What kind of shit has Edward gotten me involved in? Better yet, what kind of shit have I gotten myself involved in?

“I don’t know what to say…” I start but a lump forms and clogs my next words.

I was played. Plain and simple.

But that’s not even the worst of it.

Edward is a thief who stole from his own flesh and blood. And now I’m stuck in the middle of it.

His obsession with Andrew makes perfect sense now. As I remember their confrontation in the Hamptons, Edward’s look of contempt comes to mind. He absolutely hates Andrew and wants to drain him of his inheritance since he isn’t playing by the rules.

Oh my God.

“Lilah, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

I feel chills break out across every exposed surface of my skin as the gravity of his words continue to sink in.

It doesn’t exist. Never has.

Edward tricked me in order to steal from Andrew and I fell for it because I was so blinded by my ambition to get funding for my project.

So blinded that I was willing to ignore signs that pointed to the obvious a long time ago.

This is where I get off the psycho train and come clean to Andrew. I don’t care what it costs me, I just have to be the one who tells him.

“Thanks for your help, Mason,” I say, already standing up. “But I really have to get out of here.”