Page 68 of The Inmate
“Is there anything you want to tell me, Natalie?”
Seth always calls me Nat. The fact that he’s repeatedly calling me Natalie makes me think he’s pissed off at me. That and the way his face is red and his knuckles are white.
“No…”
He slams his palms flat on the desk. “Santoro said you stole money from the company. Dawn knew all about it, apparently.”
All the air seems to leave my body. I open my mouth, but no words come out. “I didn’t…” I manage.
“Dawn wrote all about it in an email, apparently,” he continues like I hadn’t spoken. “She was about to confront you about it. About the money you stole from me…”
“No,” I breathe. “I didn’t steal anything…”
“That huge house you have in Boston…” He shakes his head. “I never understood how you were able to afford it. Or all those fancy labels on your clothing… those insanely expensive shoes…”
“Seth…”
“I always noticed how flirty you were with the last accountant we had,” he muses. “Now I finally get it. And of course, it explains why you wereso nice tome.”
“Seth!” My eyes bulge out. “You can’t possibly think that I would ever—”
His eyes are filled with rage. “I know what you’re like, Natalie. I’ve seen you bullshit customers. I’ve seen the way you do whatever you have to do to get what you want. I just… I never thought…” He heaves a breath. “I never thought you’d mess withmeto get what you want.”
“Because I wouldn’t!” I cry. “Seth, please…”
He holds up his hand. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re on unpaid suspension. Since we don’t have an accountant right now, I’ll go through the accounts myself today. Figure out how much you ripped us off for.”
“I didn’t rip you off!” My eyes are swimming with tears. I’ve managed not to cry through this whole ordeal, but I’ve never seen Seth look at me this way. He’s always been kind to me—I could always count on that. “I swear to you, I wouldn’t do that.”
“Yeah, right.” He turns away from me, his eyes focused on his computer screen. “We’re done here. Get your stuff and go.”
“Seth…”
“Now, Natalie,” he says through his teeth. “Or do I need to call security?”
I know Seth really well. We were seeing each other for over a year before I called it quits. There’s nothing I can say to change his mind. He is pissed off at me. And on top of that, he’s hurt. He thinks I played him. He believes every word the detective told him.
This is far from over.
ChapterForty
As I’m comingout of Seth’s office, Kim runs over to me. Her eyes are wide and curious. She grabs my arm to slow me down on my trajectory back to my cubicle.
“What happened in there?” she asks me. “Seth came around asking for you earlier, and he lookedreallyupset.”
I want to spit at her that it’s none of her damn business. Kim used to be my best friend in this office, but our power dynamic has changed over the years. When she started here, we were both single. We used to go out to bars together and meet guys. We had fun together.
Then Kim met the guy she ended up marrying. He wasn’t exactly handsome, but he was wealthy and offered her the life she always wanted. The second she got engaged, everything was all about her upcoming wedding—the honeymoon, the giant house he wasbuildingfor her, and all the perfect children they were going to have. I started to feel like Kim’s loser friend.
It didn’t help that she knew about me and Seth, and was super judgmental. Yes, I know it’s not a wise personal or career move to sleep with your boss. It wasn’t like I planned it out. You can’t control who you fall in love with.
Still, Kim is my friend. It’s not her fault that she’s gotten her life together faster than I have. And she was right—itwasreally stupid to sleep with Seth. It’s blown up in my face more than once.
“It’s fine,” I mumble. “I’m just going to work from home for a bit.”
“Why?”
I forgot how nosy Kim can be. She’s also a gossip. I’m sure as hell not going to tell her I got suspended for allegedly stealing from the company. “It’s been a stressful few days. He’s giving me some flex time.”
