Page 23 of Coming Home

Sure, it sounds like I am totally smitten, and I am. I look at my screen and wait. I see little text bubbles, so I know she is replying. My desk phone rings, and my assistant lets me know that my 1pm appointment has arrived. I am meeting with Stephen to talk through the last few details of our business proposal, and I am keen to get it all signed off and wrapped up.

I grab my laptop and files, ready to head to the conference room when my phone pings.

Scarlett: Well, I hear that you always get what you want, don’t you, Mr. Marshall?

There’s my flirty, confident Princess, I think to myself with a grin. All apprehensions I had of her not answering my calls immediately vanish, and I turn into that teenage kid again as my dick jerks with wanting. Although I want to text her back immediately, I know that I won’t be long in my meeting and then I will call her, because I just want to hear her voice. I put my mobile in my pocket and head to the conference room, and as I enter, I realize Stephen is not alone and sitting right next to him is Scarlett, my Princess.

Shocked, I stare at her as a slow grin forms on my face. She is smiling back with a glint of mischief in her eyes, and I like it. It melts my façade, and I look at Stephen as I shake his hand. I smile and say, “I see we’re bringing in the big guns now that we are at the pivotal end of this business deal, Stephen.”

Laughing, Stephen shakes my hand. “Always good to see you, my friend,” he says with a knowing smile on his face he looks to her as she stands.

Wondering if she has told Stephen of our dalliance, I look to her and grab her hand, not caring that this is a business meeting and pull her close to me. With my other hand, I grip her hips and I kiss her on her cheek, and near her mouth I whisper, “God, you’re sexy Princess.”

This enlists a small giggle from her which only I can hear, and my heart races and it takes all my self-control not to pick her up caveman style and lock her in my office so she can’t escape from me. I let her go and we take our seats. Stephen and I are both grinning, and Scarlett has a slight blush to her cheeks, which I find to be so loveable, but otherwise, we all look like the model professionals we are.

We get settled around the table and start going through the business deal. Stephen and I are going through the financials one last time, dotting the ‘I’s and crossing the ‘T’s before we give it to our lawyers for a final review before signing. I notice that Scarlett is looking at her own copy of the deal and as she flicks through the pages, her eyebrows knit together in what looks like deep concentration and concern.

Forgetting where I am and what I am doing, I look to her. “Everything all right, Princess?” Her eyes quickly flick to mine, and I see Stephen lean back into his chair, watching the interaction with a smirk on his face. He isn’t surprised by my pet name for her which makes me think she has told him about our date last night, and he doesn’t appear to have an issue with it. He sure didn’t have an issue with giving me her cell number, so I know he has our backs. Not that I need his approval, but he and Scarlett are close so I know that it would make her happy that at least one member of her family approves of me.

“What makes you look so confused or upset with the paperwork?” I prod her.

Looking to both Stephen and I, Scarlett lets out a sigh and takes a deep breath.

“Page 32, second paragraph.” I look at the document and flip to the page she is referring to. Shaking my head, I look to Stephen. “I don’t see anything,” I mumble to Stephen, who also shakes his head in confusion.

“Then compare it to the financial reports on page 56 in the P/L.” Stephen and I both flip through, looking to see what exactly Scarlett is referring to. As my eyes scan numbers, and I look back to the earlier page, but I am still confused, and when I look at Stephen, he appears to have the same look of confusion.

We both turn to Scarlett. “I found the discrepancies yesterday as I was going through the document.” Looking at me, she continues, “I couldn’t figure it out, but the numbers didn’t sit well with me, and I have been going over them for weeks. This morning, I finally connected all the dots. I look at her and get lost in her deep blue eyes. I have no idea what she is referring to, but I nod to her, willing her to continue.

“If you look at the report and compare it to the statement on page 35, it doesn’t add up. Not even in the slightest.” She looks at Stephen.

“But it is a small discrepancy, nothing that can’t be reviewed and amended,” Stephen adds.

As I look closer to the financial reports, I see what Scarlett is pointing out. While I agree with Stephen, the look on Scarlett’s face tells me there is more.

“While it is small, Stephen, I notice this pattern is repeated on both pages 15 and 38. Not only that, I had the finance team review it twice and also had Harvey, Uncle Ray’s right-hand man review it, and no one highlighted it…”

“Or if they did, they are hiding it,” I say, picking up on what Scarlett is alluding to. As I look through the document again, I can see it clearly, there are these financial discrepancies throughout the entire paperwork. It appears that old man Ray is trying to hide or launder money through our deal, and we had no idea. In fact, the way he has done it implicates me in the process. I look to Stephen and see the moment he realizes what this means. Shock, hurt, and anger cross his face.

“What the fuck, Stephen?” I say, my voice on the edge of yelling, my anger starting to boil.

“Fuck, I had no idea. Scarlett, how did you even pick this up, this is crazy.”

“There is more, Stephen…” Scarlett whispers, her big eyes focused on her cousin, waiting to see what his reaction is.

I’m confident that Scarlett thinks Stephen is innocent in all this, otherwise she wouldn’t be telling us this together. The fact that she is highlighting this to me as well, indicates to me that she is starting to trust me and whilst I am a competitor and hate old man Ray, I have a lot of respect for Stephen, and now that Scarlett is here, well, I want her more than ever. As I look at her, I now see what a huge burden this has been for her to carry. With old man Ray looking to be a crook, this is going to have dire consequences for their business and their family.

Laundering money is a serious offence. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for 20 years and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction. This business deal between our two companies extends well into the millions. If what Scarlett has highlighted checks out, their business will be bust and their family will need to repay millions, just on this one business deal alone, but if he has done this before, there is no telling what will become of him.

I reach out and hold her hand, strumming my thumb across the back of her knuckles, letting her know I am here for her and not going anywhere. I see her sigh in relief. Relief of knowing she has done the right thing. We haven’t known each other long, but I can’t deny the feelings I have for her. My sense of protection for her started the moment I saw her on the plane. This woman has me all tied up, and I will protect her with everything I have. We are brought out of our thoughts by Scarlett’s mobile ringing, fishing it from her bag. She looks at the screen, frowns and then answers.

“This is Scarlett.” As she listens, I notice the color drain from her face. She shoots up and drops my hand, and I notice she starts to shake. Stephen jumps up along with her.

“Who is it, is it them, give me the phone?” She turns to look at Stephen, absolute terror running through her eyes, and she drops the phone to the floor. I go to her as Stephen grabs the phone. “Fuck, they hung up.” I hear him say as I grab her, hold her close to me and put my hand back in hers.

“It’s okay, Princess, I got you, I’m not going to let you go,” I murmur into her ear, strumming her knuckles just like before trying to calm her, not really knowing what the fuck is going on, other than my girl is scared out of her mind. She pulls away from me, looks to Stephen and says, “They have found me.”

30

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