Page 43 of Little Did You Know

Back in my office, I sank onto my couch, the leather still warm from Kaylee's earlier presence. "Hey, Walker, you got some news for me?"

His exhale crackled through the line. "I found Emmett."

My stomach knotted. "And?"

"And I think you should fly up." Something rustled on his end—papers being shuffled.

I pressed my fingers against my temple. "That bad?"

A chair creaked as Walker presumably leaned back. "I'm not entirely sure, but I’m emailing some paperwork for you to go through before you get here." His pen tapped against his desk. "Can you get here by tomorrow?"

My calendar glowed on my screen, tomorrow's meetings already dissolving in my mind. "Yes, I'll be there by eight."

"See you tomorrow." The line went dead.

Within minutes, my phone chimed, alerting me to a new message. I sank into the seat at my desk and went through my emails. I had no idea what Emmett was up to, but he was definitely involved in something that put both him and his sister’s life in danger.

Chapter Twenty

The more I shuffled through the paperwork, the angrier I became. Everything Emmett had told his sister was precisely what I thought—a lie. Their home was never in foreclosure; he sold it for 3.2 million dollars, along with every other asset they'd left us.

According to all the bank records, none of this made any sense because there was no money. Unless Emmett was hiding it somewhere Walker couldn't find, they were broke after being given millions of dollars in cash and assets.

How could they spend all that money, and on what? Olivia didn't have anything to show for it, and according to the papers, neither did Emmett.

I gripped the edge of my desk, knuckles white. Tomorrow I would confront Emmett and get answers. But now came the harder decision: tell Olivia or wait? I didn't like the idea of lying or hiding things from her, but the thought of seeing her heartbroken over her brother's betrayal made my stomach turn.

The only option I could see was to tell her nothing right now and see what Emmett had to say tomorrow.

Some truths were better served with answers attached.

It was already after seven. I'd been going through these papers for hours and got lost. I shuffled everything together and headed out. Before reaching the elevator, I noticed Hannah's office lights were still on.

I paused in Hannah's doorway, surprised by the warm glow still spilling from her office. "What are you still doing here? I thought you left hours ago with Olivia."

Hannah's head emerged from behind a mountain of paperwork, her reading glasses perched low on her nose. "With everything that's been going on, I'm pretty behind." She gestured at the chaos on her desk. "Decided to stay and get things caught up."

Hannah was an excellent employee, and she was already guaranteed a position after graduation because she outworked everyone else. I leaned against the doorframe. "Hannah, I appreciate you helping out with Olivia. This whole thing was unexpected, and I'm not sure what I would have done without you. It definitely would have been a mess."

A tired smile crossed her face. "As I said before, I like Olivia, and it's been fun, but—" Her fingers drummed against the desk as she searched for words.

"But what?"

Hannah pushed back from her desk and rose slowly, her expression turning serious. "Who is she?"

"Who is who?

She began pacing behind her desk, her heels clicking softly against the floor. "Who is Olivia? Where did she come from?" She stood from behind her desk. "I know she's special to you; that much is obvious, but I don't know why, and I don't know what happened to her." I narrowed my eyes in confusion. "I'm not trying to dig, but I've seen the scar on her back, and when we talk about the past, or I ask her a question, she immediately closes up. I'm not trying to be nosy; I'm trying to be her friend."

"What do you want to know?" I asked, moving to take a seat in the seating area of her office, and she followed by taking a seat across from me.

"Whatever you're willing to tell me."

What was I willing to tell her? Truthfully, she'd been good to Olivia, and it was evident that she cared about her, but could I tell her the whole story? I never discussed it with anyone other than Kathryn. I looked over to Hannah, who sat completely still, and decided that if someone should know, it should be her.

"Okay." I wasn't sure where to start, so I decided on the beginning. "Olivia's older brother, Emmett, and I were best friends as kids. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I moved in with Emmett's family. Olivia was a baby when I moved in, so she doesn't remember much. Emmett's parents treated me like part of the family, no different than Olivia and Emmett."

I paused briefly to catch my breath; I knew I was talking fast, and I was trying to slow myself down. "I lived with them until I left for college. Emmett graduated two years after I did, and I flew home for his graduation vacation. We all flew to Hawaii for two weeks." I smiled, remembering the trip. "The day after we got back, Emmett and I wanted to go catch up with some of our old high school friends and shoot some hoops, and of course, Olivia wanted to go too."

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