Page 29 of All That We Keep
The logic makes sense, but it still feels wrong. "Okay, but who actually took the money? Because someone obviously has access to our accounts."
"I have somebody looking into things," Luther says carefully. "Once they have some information, we'll be able to get through this."
"Okay, I got it." I slide down from the counter, already feeling more centered with a plan in place. "However, I don't have any clothes here that are appropriate for a business meeting."
Luther's lips curve into a small smile. "Did you really think I hadn’t planned well enough? Besides, my beautiful Delta owns a company. I’m pretty sure I could order one or two things to the house." I snort at that before pushing my way out into the hall, still fully naked to see one of my suits hanging up over the banister.
Twenty minutes later, I'm dressed and ready to take on everyone who stands in my way, although I have to wade through the kitchen first. We make our way downstairs to find a feast of breakfast foods spread across the kitchen table.
Luca is curled sleepily in Grayson's lap, my Alpha feeding him small bites of scrambled eggs and fruit. The domestic scene makes me smile, but I can see the strain around Grayson's eyes and the tension in his shoulders that speaks to how much yesterday's events affected him. Only now that I’m seeing it do I feel a tendril of uncertainty through the bond.
Grayson looks up as we enter, offering me a weary smile. "Morning, babe. Someone cleans up well."
"I'm going to the company to protect you," I announce, moving closer to where they're sitting. "I'm going to fix this."
Grayson's expression grows more serious. "Baby, I just need you to be careful. Whoever is doing all this means business, and I'm not sure what their end game is."
"I don't care," I say fiercely. "This is my company, and they're not allowed to play with my family."
Both Maceo and Luther laugh at my declaration as Luther checks his watch. "All right, it's time for us to go."
I lean down to give Luca a deep kiss, breathing in his sweet scent before pulling back. "I'm coming back to you. I have to go fix this."
Luca's hand comes up to cup my cheek, his cheeks puffed out with pieces of melon. "I'll be right here, my beautiful Delta." Hearing my designation said again makes it more real and I like it. Ireallylike it. I kiss him again and then move around to give Grayson the same treatment before Maceo drags me into a swift one, mumbling ‘take care, genius’.
A flush creeps up my neck as I rush out the door, Luther and I lost in our own thoughts during the drive. He hands me the small stack of papers Gerald had pulled together during the board meeting, my anger moving to confusion and shock back to anger when literally none of the numbers add up and nothing makes sense. If someone had justlookedat it, they would have realized that someone had doctored it.
I don’t even really start focusing until I step into my office, sudden clarity making me realize how dire the situation is. I twist around to see Luther settling down on the couch in my office rather than the one in his.
"Wait, I thought we would do this meeting in your office.”
Luther shakes his head. "No, baby. We need to do this in your office because you are the CEO, and this is a problem with your company. You need to lead this meeting. You need to find out what Addie knows." I frown at him as he continues. “I didn’t mean to make it sound bad. I meant that Addie will feel more comfortable talking to you and I know you want to fix this. I’m here for moral support and will step in if needed but you’re driving, baby.”
Before I can respond, there's a soft knock on my office door. Addie pushes inside hesitantly, her usual confident demeanor replaced by something that looks almost like guilt.
"Hey," she says, her eyes darting between Luther and me. "Oh, I didn't know that Alpha Luther would be here." She bows her head a little, more deferential than I've ever seen her. "I know Luther called the meeting, but I thought it was just going to be with Blake."
"Well, I have him here because he drove me, with everything else that's going on," I explain, watching her carefully for any tells.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," Addie says quickly.
I come around my desk and settle on the couch beside Luther, gesturing for Addie to take the seat across from us. The seating arrangement feels formal and intimidating, which I guess is exactly what we want in this situation. After all, either Addie has ill intentions or this was a weird but honest mistake where she was just trying to help.
"So, I want to know what's going on," I begin, keeping my voice level. "Because I heard that at the board meetingyesterday, one of the investors got a list of financials from you. Usually we don't even look at financials in our department. We just work with the games and the creative assets."
Addie fidgets with her hands, not quite meeting my eyes. "Oh, well, you were tied up with a lot of things, and I didn't want to bother you. But when I was running one of the ad spends, it bounced back, and so I was trying to figure out why. I got into the account and—"
Occasionally, departments share workloads so Addie working on ad spend doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. However, the last part of her sentence does. "But you shouldn't have access to that account to look at the financials," I interrupt. "How did you get there?" As an Omega, I’ve always been confrontational but some part of my biology held me back. Right in this moment, I don’t feel like I’m betraying anything, my scent moving from sweetened pear to something a little more tart.
Addie starts getting visibly nervous, twisting her hands together and stumbling over her words. "Well, um, I... well, I tried..." She starts stuttering, which is completely unlike the confident woman I've worked with for years. "I've had access for a while, from when I used to be in finance, and they just never took it away. So, sometimes I look at the different accounts so that when we do ads in the art department, I can let them know what kind of budget we have."
"You've never told me that," I say, my suspicion growing.
"I didn't think it mattered once I became part of your team. Like, I didn't need the access for my regular work, and you never asked to use money from those accounts," she throws back defensively.
"That's fine, but that's not even an account we use regularly," I point out. "It's a backup account. And nobody actually has a card attached to that account. The purchases that supposedlycame out of it would have had to be charged directly to the bank account, not to a credit card or debit card."
Addie's face goes pale. "Well, I don't know all of that. I just know what the statements say."
