Page 57 of The Billionaire in Her Bed

Chapter Fourteen

“Get out,” Eli barked, slamming shut the file he’d been reviewing. He shoved it across his desk at the hapless flunky who’d no doubt drawn the short straw and been sent into the lion’s den. Eli didn’t know his name, and to be honest, he didn’t give a shit. Just like he hadn’t given a shit about anything in the two weeks since Brooke had stranded him in the storage closet. “And don’t come back until those numbers are right. Check them as many times as it takes to be sure.”

“Y-yes, sir,” the flunky stammered, picking up the file and backing toward the door.

“I need them on my desk first thing in the morning. I don’t care if it means you’re here all night.”

“Yes, sir.”

He fled as fast as his shiny shoes would take him. Eli opened another file and tried to focus, but the numbers and letters swam in front of him.

“Heard you scared off another one,” Simon observed, coming into the office without knocking. “Keep it up and we won’t have any associates left. At least, none willing to work with you.”

“Don’t you ever knock?” Even as he said the words, Eli heard them in Brooke’s voice, giving him hell for his habit of entering unannounced. The knife that had been lodged in his heart for the past fourteen days twisted again.

“Nope.” Simon took up residence in one of Eli’s guest chairs, stretched out his long legs, and crossed them at the ankles. “Partner privilege.”

Eli leaned back in his chair and studied the man who had been his friend since college. He’d struggled with whether to continue their partnership. His original intention had been to leave Momentum and force Simon to buy him out and waive their non-compete agreement so Eli could throw all of his energy into Hearthstone. But somehow, with Brooke out of the picture, that didn’t seem quite as appealing now.

So he’d decided not to make any rash moves, at least until they’d outed Krystal as their mole and gotten Momentum back on track. That had all come to a head yesterday when she brought Dupree a copy of the dummy file Simon planted. It hadn’t taken long for Dupree to take the bait and call Ginny, who was posing as the commercial real estate broker handling the fictitious transaction.

Simon propped his feet up on Eli’s desk. “You look like shit.”

Eli looked down at his outfit. Immaculately tailored gray herringbone suit. Pale blue button-down shirt. Navy polka-dot tie. Now that he was back in the penthouse, he had his full wardrobe at his disposal. Small compensation for losing the woman he loved. “This is my favorite suit. And I’m pretty sure you gave me the tie.”

“I’m not talking about your goddamn clothes. I’m talking about the circles under your eyes. Are you sleeping?”

“Yes.” If an hour a night—two, tops—counted as sleep. Eli did a quick reverse and changed the subject. “How did it go with Krystal? She out?”

“She was escorted from the building half an hour ago without incident.” Simon laced his fingers together. “I’ve turned everything over to the police. They’ll let us know if there’s enough to prosecute.”

“Glad that’s taken care of that.” Eli stood, took off his jacket, and hung it on the hanger behind his door. Then he crossed to his credenza where he uncorked a decanter of Macallan Sherry Oak and poured out generous amounts of the amber liquid in two glasses. “Any idea why she sold us out?”

He handed one glass to Simon, who took it and sipped before answering. “Money. Turns out she was doing more than her nails at her desk. She was a compulsive online shopper. All her credit cards were maxed out, and she was three months behind in rent. Dupree paid her ten grand for every tip and promised her a job down the line.”

“Ten grand,” Eli scoffed. He sat on the edge of his desk and pushed Simon’s feet off. “That’s chump change for him. Cheapskate.”

They drank in silence for a minute before Simon spoke. “Now that all this shit with Krystal and Dupree is in the rearview mirror, I have to ask. Are we good?”

“Truth?”

“Truth.”

Eli swirled his scotch. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be good. I’m hoping our business relationship can be saved. But you slept with your PA. Risked everything we spent years building together. I’m not going to be able to forget that any time soon.”

“I thought I was in love with her.” Simon slumped in his seat and took a healthy slug of scotch. “I don’t know how it happened, or why. But once it started, it was like I was powerless to stop it.”

“The heart wants what it wants.” Eli swirled and sipped, swirled, and sipped again. “There’s no denying it.”

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

“What makes you think that?”

Simon absentmindedly ran a finger around the rim of his glass as he studied Eli. “Why else would you be stomping around here like Godzilla?”

“Are you seriously expecting me to discuss my love life with you?”

“Does it have anything to do with Brooke Worthington?”