Page 63 of Office Affairs

“I knew he was a bastard, but this is more than I can handle.” Garrett brushed his hands over his cheeks and around to the back of his neck. “He contributed to her DNA, but he’s not a father.”

It was a flimsy excuse, but it twisted open the lock on my feelings for Sabrina and brought them back into the light. A car horn blared, followed by another. The ricochet of noise jarred me enough that I stepped closer to the car. “Fine. We can agree that Leon is a shit father. What does that mean for us and Sabrina?”

“Why don’t we talk to Sabrina about that?” Russell walked around the car and slid behind the wheel, then reached over and popped open the passenger side door. “I have something I need to show you. Come on. You too, Garrett.”

We didn’t bother arguing, not when Russell gave us both a look we understood to mean he’d dog us until we gave in. Better to get it over with now than to have another thing to fight about.

Once we were in the car, Russell handed me his phone. “Play the video. I took a call from Sabrina not long ago, and that just arrived. She figured out who’s been stealing from us.”

“What the fuck?” I tapped the screen and concentrated. “Who’s recording this?”

The camera shifted and Keith came into view. He shot a wide smile at the screen and whispered, “We’re going to catch the bad guys for you, Mr. Russell.”

Damn, I loved this kid. My heart swelled to bursting when he flipped the camera back around and homed in on Sabrina and Miranda striding down the hall toward the storage closet.

“Fuck.” Garrett leaned in closer and gripped my shoulder so tight my bones ached.

Keith followed them into the room, exclaimed over the computer, then set the phone down. His fingers flew over the keyboard. “Miranda said she saw my Uncle Markus come in here. I’m going to try his password on this computer.” The screen flickered, then the main dashboard appeared. “I’m in. Look, I did it.”

Sabrina appeared at the edge of the screen but never looked at the camera. The computer took up her entire focus. My fingers twitched with the need to touch her, to smooth the lines forming in her forehead and tell her everything would be okay.

“Markus Adams.” I rolled the name around, the familiarity of it setting off a flash of warning. “Didn’t we hire a new receptionist by the name of Mark Adamson?”

“Don’t tell me we let the wolf in ourselves.” Garrett groaned and flopped backward. “Damn it. We have to increase our security protocols on hiring and deepen the background check. Unless he had a completely fake identity set up, we should have caught him.”

The video ended with Sabrina picking up the phone and aiming it directly at the computer screen. “I’m sending this to you, Russell, so you can see everything that happened. I’ll email everything that I can find, print off the rest, and I’ll download everything from the hard drive. Miranda is on her way to talk to security and get Markus’s pass revoked. He won’t get back into the building. Unless he can log in remotely, which I’m guessing he can’t since he set up this whole thing, then the computer and everything on it should be safe. But I’m not taking any chances. Call me later. Please.” Her voice cracked on the please, and my heart constricted at the plea.

Jaw locked, I dialed Leon’s private number, drumming my fingers on the dash as Russell took a sharp turn that slammed my shoulder into the door.

“Russell?” Leon’s sharp voice spurred my anger to new heights.

“It’s Chase. We need to talk to your son, Markus.” I bit back the explanation as fury exploded deep inside.

Leon’s hesitation worked a tangible threat between us. “What’s this about?”

“We’ll tell you when we talk to him. Set up a meeting.” I eyed Russell. “Tomorrow.”

Leon evidenced his annoyance with a sharp curse. “Fine.” The call ended without another word.

“Drop me off at home.” I set Russell’s phone in the cupholder and rubbed my throbbing shoulder.

“You’re not going home to sulk.” Russell changed lanes before he studied me with a sideways look. “We need to straighten things out with Sabrina.”

“Not tonight.” The last thing I needed was to look at Sabrina and realize how much I’d disappointed her. Then again, waiting to apologize wouldn’t make it any easier. My ego and my pride were a problem I thought I’d overcome, but facing Leon today and understanding that I’d fallen in love with Sabrina hit me with a combo punch that left me reeling.

Russell clicked his tongue, and a sly grin emerged. “That’s too bad. I’ve already sent someone to pick her up. She’s meeting us at your house.” He took the next turn, bringing my condo into view.

“Damn you.” I thumped my fist into my thigh. “Why did you wait to say something?”

“Figured you’d try to jump from the car.” Garrett snorted from the backseat. “I might be the one with the temper, but you hold grudges.” He clapped a hand to the back of my neck, his fingers digging into the muscles. “Time to let it go and get in touch with your feelings.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I tried to shove him off, but the man had an iron grip.

“It means.” Russell stopped the car but left it idling. “That we are all going to apologize to Sabrina for being a bunch of assholes. You, in particular.” He poked me in the chest. “And you.” He repeated the motion with Garrett. “And you’re going to keep apologizing until she forgives us, because I’m not letting you two asshats ruin the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“We’re not the damned musketeers,” I muttered. But the ache in my chest eased with his demand. Russell rarely pushed his authority. When he did, it was always for a good cause. “It’s not all for one.”

“Yes, it is.” Russell pinned me down with a stare that could shatter glass, the laser focus locked on. “This is important. It is an all-or-nothing kind of thing. So if you can’t go in there and admit that you’re in love with her, tell me now.”

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