Page 27 of Calculated Kisses with a Scorpio
“Pops, do we need to go to my office, or can we talk here?” Kairo asked after he kissed his mother’s temple then my lips.
“No secrets. As your wife, she’ll be privy to everything going on. You’ll need that anchor, . . . a place to go when the days get too long and you need somewhere to unpack. That’s something only your wife can do.”
Kairo nodded, and I could see the admiration in him for his father.
He really looked up to Kane Moore, and it was the sexiest thing. Kairo was smart, but he knew when to step back and let his father lead. I respected him for that and knew that he’d leadme and our family the way I watched Bo White do for us growing up and still today. My daddy was a special man and paved the way for what I could expect in my future husband. Kairo winked at me when he caught me staring.
Rolling my eyes, I climbed onto one of the barstools and looked at Mr. Moore.
“Is everything okay? You look stressed.”
He smiled at me. “I don’t like people messing with my children. It does something to my brain.” Mr. Moore pushed a folder toward Kairo. “In that folder is proof that Camille was stealing from all three locations, and when Steven caught her, instead of bringing it to our attention, he blackmailed her with sex and whatever information she could get on you. When that stopped working, he started pushing the issue about you not being married.”
“Stealing?” Kairo shook his head. “Nah. That’s something I would have caught, Pops. I was hands on with everything. There is no way she was stealing from us and I didn’t know. The pussy wasn’t that good.” He looked between me and his mother. “My bad, but something not making sense.”
I watched as Kairo went through the paperwork in the folder with pinched brows.
The deeper he got, the more the vein in his forehead stuck out. He cursed under his breath, and I looked at Mrs. Moore, and she looked just as stressed as her husband. There was more they weren’t saying, and that made me anxious.
Kairo looked up at me, and the fire I saw in his eyes sent a chill down my spine.
“What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?”
He nodded toward my right wrist, and I looked down at my bracelet I never took off.
“The jewelry at Diamonds & Moore is exclusive. We only purchase pieces by the number of physical locations we have.Three were sent to Rushin Springs, and then one for each store, but there is a risk management report saying that all three bracelets were lost during transportation. When Camille showed it to you, she must have recognized it as being part of the set that she stole. You asking to buy something that technically wasn’t in stock must have made her nervous. I can’t help but think she was going to pin each missing bracelet on you, and that’s why she called the police. Camille really believed our history would make me believe her over what I saw with my own eyes. She must have left the bracelet out on the counter because she planned to grab it later. Our cases are tracked, so every time one is opened, a number is sent and logged in the control room. She wouldn’t have been able to go in that case unnoticed if she hadn’t. The SKU was damaged, but I had been able to purchase it via the catalog number, so it never clicked for me.”
“Seriously? What are the odds? I saw the bracelet on the website, so why was it there if it wasn’t in stock? That was the only reason I went. So instead of stealing money, she made it seem like the inventory wasn’t arriving where they were supposed to be.”
My head couldn’t wrap around what I was being told.
Kairo really saved my life that day because Camille would have done whatever not to get in trouble. She hadn’t only been worried about her income; her side hustle was at stake, too, with her being fired. I was shocked because I wouldn’t have come up with theft as her reason for her trying to send me to jail. She would have gotten away with her plan had there not been cameras around the entire store.
Kairo grabbed my hand, and it brought my attention to him.
“That was how Steven caught her. He oversees purchasing the pieces. The tracking numbers showed that several times, since she’d been promoted, her intake form would say something was missing when the tracking numbers showedas delivered. The Kingsland Boulevard location was my first location, so it was a hub of sorts. Every piece got delivered there, then Von or myself would take them to the other two locations. Steven must have confronted her about what she was up to and decided to blackmail her.”
“So, what happens next? Will this interfere with what the lawyers are doing with her going to the gossip blogs?”
“No, they’re putting everything together. In her panic, she got sloppy, and there is a lot of physical evidence of her stealing and being the anonymous source.”
I shook my head and looked at Kairo with wide eyes.
He and his father continued to talk, and I just couldn’t believe it. Mr. Moore let us know that Camille and Steven would be arrested on Friday to ensure they had to sit for the weekend. I couldn’t even feel sad, because she had been ready to tear my life apart just to save hers. That wasn’t okay.
I watched as Mrs. Moore packed three to-go plates with furrowed brows, but her intentions were made clear when she bagged up the food she cooked and told her husband and daughter it was time to go.
I laughed at Kashia pouting about being kicked out.
After they left, we ate, then migrated to the couch.
“Are you okay?” I asked Kairo then climbed into his lap, and he wrapped an arm around my waist.
“I’m more pissed than anything. I trusted someone with my family’s name, and I shouldn’t have. It makes me feel foolish.” He shook his head. “Pops let me know that Ma is beating herself up because it was at her recommendation that I promote Camille.”
I shook my head. “Camille’s actions aren’t on you or her. Just like I told you before, her actions are hers to own on her own. You can be pissed, but you better not be blaming yourself for her being trifling.”
He smirked, and I pressed my forehead against his.
