Page 36 of Claiming My Cocky Boss

I shrugged, turning back toward the window. “Maybe. I don’t know. Just... thinking about some options.”

Carla didn’t say anything for a moment, then she stepped closer, lowering her voice. “You know, Liam, you’ve built something incredible here. But it’s okay to want more than this. Or less, depending on how you look at it.”

I glanced over at her, surprised by the insight. Carla was always practical and always focused on the job. But in this moment, she seemed to understand more than I expected.

“Thanks,” I said, meaning it.

She nodded and straightened up. “Just let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be around.”

After Carla left, I sat at my desk, staring at the proposal but not really seeing it. The excitement of another big deal wasn’t there, just an emptiness I couldn’t shake. I stood up, shrugged on my jacket, and called it a day.

The drive to my penthouse was quick, but the city outside felt distant. Normally, being back in Dallas would mean slipping into the rhythm of work, meetings, and business. But now, everything felt... off.

Is this really what I want?The thought nagged at me, something I hadn’t allowed myself to fully confront. Cedar Cove had changed things—shehad changed things.

When I stepped inside my penthouse, it was silent, untouched. The place felt sterile, like a museum display of someone else’s life. I headed to the fridge, already knowing it would be empty after weeks away.

“Of course, no food. Guess I’m not really living here anymore, am I?” I muttered to myself.

Sighing, I ordered from my favorite Thai restaurant and dropped onto the couch, flipping on the TV to a football game. The glow from the screen filled the room, but my attention was split.

The food arrived, and as I ate and half-watched the game, the city lights outside didn’t feel like home anymore. As the sunslipped below the horizon and the lights of Dallas lit up my view from the top of the world, I dozed off, exhaustion pulling me under.

I woke up groggily, the dim glow of the city filtering through the windows. Rubbing my eyes, I glanced at my phone on the coffee table. It was past midnight. A notification lit up the screen—Mia had texted hours ago.

MIA: Found something interesting in the accounts you had me review. Let’s talk.

I stared at the message for a moment, my mind snapping to attention.Maybe this was the breakthrough I’d been waiting for. I quickly dialed her number, but it went straight to voicemail. “She must have already gone to bed,” I told myself.

Setting the phone down, I felt a strange mixture of anticipation and dread settle in.

Eighteen

Mia

I slipped out of my cabin, the cold air biting at my skin as I pulled my jacket tighter around me. The sky was still dark, the stars barely visible through the trees, and the only sound was my footfalls on the dirt path. My heart was pounding—more from nerves than the brisk walk to the park office.

This was stupid. Reckless, even. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was onto something. I just needed access to the secure system to dig deeper into the files I found last night. The thought of using the park’s resources for this—something completely unrelated to my job—made me nauseous. If anyone found out, I could kiss my career goodbye.

I reached the office and fumbled with the keys, hands trembling slightly from both the cold and the adrenaline surging through my veins. The door clicked open, and I slipped inside, closing it behind me as quietly as possible. The park was dead silent, and the stillness made me second-guess this whole thing. But I’d already made it this far.

Once I was inside, I hurried to the computer in the corner and logged into the park’s secure network used for law enforcement issues, background checks, and so much more. The office felt almost too quiet, the hum of the computer the only sound breaking the silence. I drummed my fingers on the desk, glancing toward the window every few seconds, half expecting someone to catch me at any time.

As the system slowly loaded, I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves as I used the back door of the server to access the files hidden on the internet. If I got caught doing this, I could lose everything. But I had to know what was going on. I had to figure out what I’d stumbled upon last night.

The screen flickered to life, and I quickly navigated to the section I needed. The system was frustratingly slow; every second felt like it was dragging on forever. I was hyper-aware of the risk I was taking. My eyes kept darting toward the door, convinced someone would walk in and catch me red-handed. I wasn’t even supposed to be here at this hour, let alone digging into sensitive financial data.

Once I finally accessed the files, I scrolled through the Riverstone Hospital and Golden Rock Consulting transactions. On the surface, everything looked normal—routine payments for consulting services. But as I started to dig deeper, I noticed something odd. The payments were far larger than they should’ve been, especially considering the minimal work Golden Rock supposedly provided under the Edgewater contract.

My heart raced as I clicked through more records, cross-referencing the dates with the project logs. There was almost no detail on the work Golden Rock was supposed to be doing for Riverstone. In fact, half of the projects listed were incomplete or delayed, yet they’d been paid as if everything was on schedule. That didn’t make sense.

I leaned closer to the screen, frowning as I pulled up some of the email communications. Derek’s name came up in a few threads, which wasn’t surprising, considering Riverstone Children’s Hospital worked closely with Edgewater. But something about how his name was mentioned didn’t sit right with me. The language in the emails felt too casual as if he knew more than he was letting on. And why was Golden Rock getting so much money for barely doing anything?

The more I dug, the more suspicious it all seemed. But I wasn’t a financial expert—I didn’t understand half of the jargon they were using, and I had no idea how deep this went. What I did know was that something was off. Something was very wrong here, and Derek was somehow involved. But I couldn’t piece it together on my own. I needed Liam’s help to make sense of this.

I grabbed my phone, my fingers hovering over his contact. I needed to talk to him—now. I dialed his number and held my breath, waiting as it rang once, then twice. But it went straight to voicemail. I pulled the phone away from my ear, staring at the time on the screen.

Of course. It was only 4:30 in the morning in Dallas. He wasn’t even awake yet.

---