Page 80 of Daddy Down Under

The anger radiating off him was palpable, yet I sensed a deep hurt beneath it. “I’m so sorry, baby. You shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

Ocean whirled to face me, his expression softening. “No, baby boy.I’msorry. I’m sorry he’s such a bastard that all these years later, he still can’t let go. The man gives a whole new definition to holding a grudge.”

I sighed. “I don’t understand why he’s suddenly so interested in me, in this specific deal. I mean, why is he…?”

Something occurred to me. Maybe this wasn’t his first attempt at sabotaging me. That string of deals that had gone wrong before I’d come here, what if that hadn’t been bad luck? Had Preston somehow managed to kill those deals?

“What’s wrong?” Ocean asked.

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, my phone buzzed. Oliver’s name flashed on the screen. Normally, I’d let it go to voicemail, but something in my gut told me this was important.

“Sorry, I need to take this,” I said. “Oliver, what’s going on?”

“I know how Preston found out about the deal.” Oliver’s usually bubbly voice was tight with tension.

My stomach sank. “How?”

“Markowitz.”

My accountant. Other than Oliver and me, he was the only one who knew about this deal because I’d asked him to do an audit. Jesus fuck, had he screwed me over? “You have proof?”

“No, but there’s no other explanation. After we hung up, it occurred to me that this might not be the first time Preston’s tried to kill a deal for you.”

“I had the same thought. Before I came here, I had a whole string of acquisitions that somehow went wrong.”

“Exactly. Markowitz was the common element. I made a quick list of who was involved in each deal, and other than you and me, he was the only one in the know about all of them.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “It’s not hard proof, but it doesn’t look good for him.”

“It’s illegal, right? What he did?”

“Definitely a breach of his professional code, but if he gave Preston financial data about my company, then yes, that’s illegal. That’s corporate espionage.”

“So you could press charges.”

I could…and I should. If what we suspected was true, I couldn’t let Markowitz get away with this. But pressing charges meant returning to New York and talking to the cops, maybe even the FBI. It meant leaving Australia…and Ocean.

“I’ll have to think about it,” I said.

Ocean spoke up for the first time during the call. “What’s there to think about? Of course you need to press charges.”

“Hey, is that Ocean?” Oliver said, perking up. “It’s so lovely to meet you.”

Ocean smiled despite it all. “You too, Oliver.”

And, of course, Oliver switched to video call again, but could I really blame him? The man had been born with an insatiable curiosity.

“Oooh,” he cooed when he saw Ocean. “You’re just as gorgeous as Cash told me. Your eyes are so beautiful!”

Ocean’s smile widened. “Right back atcha, pretty. I can see why he didn’t want to bring you here.”

Oh my god, he did not just say that. Was nothing sacred anymore? Apparently not when my personal assistant and my boyfriend ganged up on me.

Boyfriend.

Jesus, I’d never called Ocean that, but he was, wasn’t he? My boyfriend. My partner. My…Daddy.

“Oh, I know. We would’ve ended up screwing each other’s brains out,” Oliver said happily. “And while that would’ve been fun in the short term, it would’ve sucked in the long-term because I love my job, and Cash can’t function without me.”

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