Fifth Avenue Devil

Chapter 13

Thirteen

Annalise

W hen I take three steps into the office, I am immediately ambushed by Lori.

"Where have you been??" she demands. She grabs me by the arm and starts hauling me toward her office. "I texted you five times!"

Knowing that Lori is loyal to my dad, I grimace. "Yeah, about that..."

"Never mind." Lori pushes me past the cubicles and drags me into her private room. She closes the door behind us and whirls to put her back to the door. "We have a huge problem."

Looking at Lori's wild eyes and her unusually messy desk, I surmise that is true. But what kind of problem could have arisen over the long weekend? Will it still be an issue once I explain about the merger to Lori?

"Slow down." I take a seat on her couch and pat the seat next to me. "Tell me what's happened."

Lori perches on the couch next to me. "There are serious accounting irregularities."

I furrow my brow. "That's not what I expected you to say. How did you find out? What's the probable source?"

Lori looks down at her hands. "Lance came to me with his suspicions Friday afternoon. I begged him not to tell anyone while I get to the bottom of things." She takes a deep breath. "The irregularities started six years ago. And they stopped the day your father fell ill."

"Whoa. Slow down." I shake my head slowly, trying to absorb the information. "You think my dad had something to do with the accounting irregularities?"

"Yes." Lori bites her lip, her eyes filling with tears. "I spent the last few days piecing a document trail together. Your father used his office computer to log into the company's accounts and move funds out of the employee pensions and insurance accounts. I added it all up and it is something like twenty-two million dollars that was taken in regular withdrawals."

I put my hand over my heart, feeling its frantic pace. Nothing could have prepared me for this news.

Dad is a lot of things. A prick? Sure. A narcissist who only cares about himself? Definitely.

But a thief? And a poor one at that? After all, Lori was able to find a paper trail in a matter of days.

"Annalise?"

"Sorry." I shake my head, at a complete loss. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around it. Twenty-two million dollars?"

"It's shocking, I agree," Lori shoves her hand through her hair. "But I have multiple records of logins from your father's password-protected account, so..."

"I can't believe it. I mean, I know Dad likes to gamble. But taking money from the company's coffers?"

As soon as I say it, I realize that it isn't much different from my dad wagering the merger on a fucking poker game. I don't know why I'm so damned surprised.

My dad has a real problem.

"What do we do?" I look to Lori for help. "Can we just return the money?"

Lori purses her lips. "I don't know. Do you have a spare twenty-two million lying around?"

I scrunch up my face. "No."

"Me neither. We can cover with the company profits, but that's only a few hundred thousand." She hesitates. "I respect your father. But I think we have to come clean with the board about this. We should formulate a plan. Maybe we could take Nate Fordham up on his offer to buy the company?"

I wince. I hadn't even thought about telling Nate. If I told him about it, that would be the end of my dad's run as owner. If my dad wakes up, Nate will probably force him to go to jail. If my dad never regains consciousness, his legacy will be the laughingstock of Wall Street for years to come.

I put my hand to my brow. "Can we keep this between ourselves for a little while? I need to make a plan."

"Of course." Lori frowns. "That's why we're talking about it right now."

Just as I am winding up to tell Lori about the merger, a knock comes at her door. "Go away!" she responds.

"Nate Fordham is here to see Ms. Gellar!" a voice calls through the door.

Lori looks surprised. She stands up, glancing at me. I grab her hands and yell, "We'll be out in just a second!"

Pulling Lori closer, I whisper to her. "I trust you to keep this between us. Okay?"

She nods. "Of course. I can only keep it under my hat for so long, though."

"I swear. It's just until I make a plan. I'm not looking to excuse my father or hide his misdeeds. You know I wouldn't do that."

She offers me a hug, which I take. But while we're hugging, I tell her, "Nate Fordham is here because I signed the papers to begin the process of a merger between our companies."

Lori pulls back, her eyes searching my face. "Wait, really?"

I give her a half-smile and nod. "Yeah."

She squeezes my upper arm. "That's great, Annie."

Her use of my childhood nickname makes me smile. "Should we go see Mr. Fordham, Lor-Lor?"

Lori chuckles. "Yes. We'll talk more about the other situation later."

I open her office door and Nate is right there, scowling at me.

"Mr. Fordham!" I say. My cheeks are probably the color of a ripe summer tomato about now. "Were we expecting you? It's almost six thirty."

He smirks. "You should always expect me, Annalise."

His eyes burn into my face. I swear, I could actually die from embarrassment. Mercifully, Lori cuts in.

"It’s nice to see you, Mr. Fordham.”

“Ms. Parker.” Nate shakes her hand, looking her up and down. "You know, you actually went up against my brother Cash's start-up a number of years ago. They were making a new block chain currency and you sued them for some reason?"

Lori lights up. "I remember. Block chain currencies are a scam. That's still a hill I will die on."

Nate grins. "They're mostly used to trick the unwise into parting with their money. There are some exceptions, of course."

Lori gives him a knowing smile. "Of course." She turns to me. "Well, I won't keep you. I imagine you two have quite a bit to hash out before you get to the contracts, right?"

Nate and I exchange a look. "Actually, I'm going to take Annalise out to dinner."

"Oh!" Lori smiles. "That's nice. Well, you two have a great time. Annalise, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Does that include moaning Nate's name? Because I have a feeling that I'm going to be doing plenty of that tonight.

"I'll be careful," I say with a wink. "See you around, Lori."

Nate puts his elbow out and I take it. He escorts me from my office, not saying a word until the elevator doors close. He presses the button for the lobby, then turns to me.

"You look good in that dress, Kitten."

I look down at my dress, a Givenchy design. I paired it with something from my own wardrobe, an oversized black sport coat with gold accents on the pockets.

"Of course you like it. You chose it." I bite my lip. "You look good. But you always look good."

Nate leans down and gives me a single, searing kiss. I kiss him back, feeling my engine begin to rev up.

He quickly moves away, flashing me a grin.

"Later. I promise. First, I want to take you somewhere special. Are you ready, Kitten?"

I want to roll my eyes at his use of my ridiculous pet name. But I don't.

If I am being one hundred percent truthful with myself, I think I am starting to like the sound of the word rolling off my lips.

Kitten .

"I'm just waiting for you," I say with a secretive smile. "Lead the way."

He kisses me again and I forget everything else.