Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 61939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
It isn’t… “Sure. Just text me after the interview and we’ll set something up.”
“Thank you!”
I ended the call and slipped out of his front door and to the elevator. I made it all the way to the town car, convinced I wouldn’t see him until later—when his name crossed my screen.
Of course…
“Hello, Mr. Cross,” I answered. “What do you need?”
“Just a simple answer,” he said. “How was your nap?”
“I…” My cheeks heated. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You think I don’t monitor the cameras in my own home, Miss Stone?”
“I’m sure you do, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“You talk in your sleep,” he said. “Do you know that?”
“I wasn’t sleeping, so I don’t know why we’re discussing this…”
“You said my name an hour ago while you slept.” There was satisfaction in his voice. “You said it quite a few times.”
“I did not.”
“I was disappointed to hear you refer to me as ‘Mr. Cross’ during whatever you were dreaming about, though.” He paused. “You should call me Harrison whenever I’m inside you…”
I gasped.
There was nothing I could say to that.
“While we’re on this topic,” he said, “is Andrea what you would prefer for me to call you when that time comes?”
“That time will never come, Mr. Cross,” I said, hating that he’d made my panties wet without even touching me. “I can admit to napping on the clock, though.”
“I’ll get you back for that later,” he said. “Anyway, whenever you get back to headquarters, Aaron and I would like you to meet us in the basement’s mock café.”
“Am I getting fired?”
“Meet us there and see.”
A beep followed, and dread pooled in my stomach with every block that carried me closer to him.
SIXTEEN
ANDREA
Our basement café was a replica of Mr. Lewis’s very first location in his Tennessee hometown. The “windows” were wall-length screens that simulated waves rippling atop a lake.
“You look well-rested, Miss Stone.” Harrison smirked as I stepped inside.
I looked past him and realized he and Aaron weren’t alone. Almost every executive I’d ever worked with was here, huddled around tables and booths.
“Glad you’re here, Miss Stone.” Aaron pulled out a chair at the center of the room. “Have a seat here, please.”
I moved closer, obliging.
“Do you know anything about how the receivable and escrow accounts are set up here?” he asked.
“Yes.” I nodded, glancing around the café.
Everyone in this room knew all about that.
“Well, your team members have suggested that you may know more, so… we’re going to need your help over the next couple days.”
“Um, okay…”
He slammed a packet in front of me, and Ciara slid her laptop toward me.
“We’re missing millions across the last three quarterly reports, so if we were thinking like you, where should we start?”
“Depends,” I said, confused. “How many millions?”
The room fell silent, and everyone looked as if they didn’t want to give me the answer.
“Miss Stone didn’t have access to these things.” Harrison spoke from across the room. “I’ve checked the codes and already told you this. She can return to pretending to do work until the rest of us figure this out.”
“Fifty to seventy-five million?” I asked, ignoring him.
“More,” Aaron said.
“One hundred to two hundred?”
“More than double that.”
I stifled a gasp and nodded. “You should start with the vendor accounts,” I said. “Sometimes we’d forget to transfer payments for months.”
“We looked there already.”
“I doubt it.” I tapped the laptop and logged into one of our banking accounts. The screen flashed a fifteen-thousand-dollar balance.
“See?” I asked. “There’s some money.”
“That’s not even a drop in the bucket, Miss Stone.” Aaron sighed. “Although, at this rate, we’ll find everything two decades from now.”
“Each vendor had its own account with us.” I ignored the condescension in his tone. “There are over two hundred.”
Silence.
“It’s an amazing start.” He shifted his tone and sat across from me. “Accountants, focus on that. Miss Stone, tell us where to look next…”
At ten o’clock, my eyes drooped and my brain begged me for a break.
Just one more account. One more account.
I forced myself to look through a few offshore accounts where Mr. Lewis once kept special funds for employees. Then I jotted down a few notes and set down my pen.
Standing up from the table, I picked up my bag.
“Going somewhere, Miss Stone?” Harrison called out to me from across the room.
“Yes,” I said. “Home.”
“Do you see anyone else going home?”
I didn’t have the energy to look around.
“I need to get some sleep,” was all I could say. “My eyes are burning and my back needs a break.”
“Have you ever heard someone say, Pain is merely weakness leaving the body?”
“No one with actual compassion or brain cells…”
The room somehow fell even quieter, and I could feel everyone staring at me.
Not wanting to wait for whatever came next, I walked out of the café and headed straight for the exit doors.