She looked surprised for a second before sadness and anger slipped over her features again.
“If this was your fault, we are through. I’ve forgiven too much already.” The way her voice shook as she spoke told me she didn’t quite believe those words.
I ran my hands up her legs to her hips, pressing my forehead against her stomach. “I promise, I didn’t know. We’ll figure this out.”
Tentative fingers stroked my hair, her thumbs running over the tense muscles in my neck. “Are we going on our own? No security?”
Fuck. I still hadn’t decided if Joshua was trustworthy. He had been helpful the night before by alerting me to Anita’s strange behavior and suggesting we follow her down to the water. But just because he didn’t want Maddie to die didn’t mean he wasn’t working for my father.
“We have to go with Joshua. I should keep an eye on him anyway.” I rose to my feet and pressed a kiss to her temple, pulling her against my chest. This wasn’t how I wanted to spend my Sunday. I wanted Maddie naked in bed or on her knees with my cock in her mouth, not to be down at the office reprimanding Anita and trying to avoid federal prosecution for selling to terrorists. Not secretly working from my office when I’d made it my goal to keep her from working in the first place.
Joshua insisted we sit in the back seat while he drove, and I didn’t object. I closed the partition to prevent anyone from snapping photos through the windshield as we drove. Conrad called me multiple times on the ride, but I ignored each one.
“Is that your dad?” Maddie was staring at the phone in my white-knuckled hand. “Is he going to be there?”
“He has to be. You’ll need to stay in my office.”
I texted him. Are you coming in?
Conrad: You should have waited for me.
Meyer: I’m sorry. We’re already in the car.
Conrad:We?
Shit.
Meyer:Joshua and me. Are you coming in?
Conrad: Answer my call.
The phone rang the second after the last message appeared on my screen. I had no choice, but I attempted to preempt his tirade by speaking first. “Are you coming in?”
“You answer your fucking phone when I call you.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” My fingers rubbed my forehead, trying to smooth out the wrinkles forming there. That made three times I’d apologized to him this morning.
“It had better not. Whose fault is this?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I wasn’t ready to throw Shawn under the bus just yet. “I’m not sure.”
“But you have a hunch.”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry.” Four times.
“I don’t want your fucking apologies. I want you to stop fucking this up. Do you understand that this could ruin me?”
“Yes, Dad. I do. I’m so- we’ll fix it. We’ll figure it out.”
“You’d fucking better. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” The sudden silence let me know he had hung up.
I lowered the phone, vibrating with nerves. Maddie’s hand found mine, and she pried away my phone. I heard the click of her seat belt as she slid across the bench to sit next to me, our thighs touching.
“Why were you apologizing? And you called him Dad.”
I shook my head, avoiding her eyes. I didn’t want to talk about this. “He’s pissed. It’s his company.”
“But this isn’t your fault, right?”