Page 67 of My Boss's Sons

“Please, have a seat, Ms. Bennett.” Gerald nodded towards that lone chair and clasped his hands together in front of him. “I’m sorry to call you here under false pretenses but this meeting had to happen as soon as possible.”

I didn’t want to sit but I did. I didn’t know what else to do. I’d never been in a situation so unprepared and confused. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew it wouldn’t be good.

When I didn’t say anything, Gerald sighed deeply and shook his head. “I’m sure you know what this is about, Ms. Bennett.”

Mary was glaring at me in a way that made me want to crawl under my chair and when the guys did look up, I watched in horror as their faces shifted into disgust and anger upon seeing me. My heart hammered in my chest and I knew whatever happened, I was already fucked.

“I don’t.” My two simple words drew a reaction from Noah and I watched as he scowled down at the table in front of him.

“The games are over, Sophia. The stealing, the blackmail, the abuse, it’s all over.” Gerald looked so smug that I knew whatever he had planned, I’d lost before I even sat down. “Along with the board, we have our lawyers and a very talented private investigator here with us. I want to make it very clear to you that we know everything you’ve been up to and we won’t hesitate to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law if we need to.”

I gripped my knees and looked around the room. “I’m…sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The Volley? That special company you pushed through and made sure Anderson Inc. acted on? We know. Bill Trent didn’t know enough to not stop you but we know.” Gerald shook his head. “There’s nothing I hate more than a thief, Sophia.”

I blinked a few times and frowned. “The Volley? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No? Well let me refresh your memory.”

53

***Sophia***

Feeling like I’d been dropped into an alternate universe, I nodded at Gerald. Facing him wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be when he was saying things that made no sense. “You can’t refresh a memory that isn’t there. I’ve never heard of The Volley. Every company I’ve ever sent up the chain is well documented and you won’t find The Volley in that list.”

“The Volley is a company just outside of Dallas, owned by a man named Peter Davis. Through your research, it was promised to be something on the cutting edge of technology and it was sure to return hundreds of millions. Anderson Inc. paid over thirty million dollars for the company, Sophia. None of that rings any bells?”

I shook my head and prepared myself for a fight that I didn’t want to have. “No. I’ll say it again. I’ve never heard of The Volley. I’ve never spoken to Peter Davis and any company I’ve sent to my managers, especially ones with a price tag of that size, havealways been thoroughly vetted. I would know if I sent something like that through.”

“Of course, you’ve never spoken to Peter Davis, Sophia. You want to know why? Peter Davis doesn’t exist.” Gerald pointed to one of the men I didn’t recognize. “Our PI found that Peter Davis is actually Davis Bennett. Are you going to say that you’ve never spoken to Davis Bennett?”

I held out my hands and shook my head. “Wait a minute. What are you talking about? Am I missing something? Is this a joke? Davis is my ex-husband. He’s a dentist. Even if he came to me with a business, I’d never act on it. It’d be completely unethical.”

Noah threw his pen down and sat back in his chair. “Totally unethical.”

Gerald patted his son’s hand and turned a nasty glare on me. “Deny it all you want. We have the evidence. You and your ex-husband sold us a company not even worth a thousand dollars and you got over thirty million dollars for it. That’s quite the theft. We’ll be looking into how such an oversight was allowed to slip through the system, but we know it was you at the root of this.”

I moved to the edge of my chair. “This is insane. None of this is true. I’ve never stolen anything in my life, much less millions of dollars. I’ve worked sixty-hour weeks at this company for five years. I’ve poured everything I have into vetting companies and I’ve done a damn good job. You suggesting that I’ve done anything like this is absurd.”

“Why would we make this up?” Gerald’s eyes practically twinkled.

I pressed my hand over my mouth as understanding set in. I’d earned Gerald’s wrath, it seemed, and that wrath came in the form of accusing me of theft. “This is your way of shutting me up, isn’t it?”

I knew I’d walked right into another trap when Gerald’s eyes brightened even more. There was a shift amongst the Anderson family and it was obvious to me that whatever was coming next was going to hurt even more.

“I’ve told my family everything, Sophia. I’ve admitted my mistake to them, and to the board. You can’t use it against me ever again.” He reached out and took Mary’s hand. She was sitting just behind Noah and I watched Noah’s hard exterior break for just a split second. Pain was so clear on his face in that second that it took my breath away.

It caused me to stammer. “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You can’t blackmail me anymore. I’m done. I confessed to my wife. I confessed what happened between us so I could finally be free from you, Sophia.” Gerald’s voice was so sincere and full of grief that I could’ve believed him if he wasn’t talking about me. “You won’t get another dime from me. You won’t hurt my family ever again.”

A horrified laugh escaped my lips and I watched the guys wince at the sound. “This is crazy. What are you talking about? What happened between us? You mean when youassaultedme? Is that what you confessed to?”

Noah shot out of his seat and slammed his hands down on the table. “Stop it! You’re not going to come in here and accuse my father of something so disgusting to get out of your own vile choices, Sophia.”

I jerked back like he’d slapped me. He might as well have. Raw emotion clogged my throat as I spoke. “My vile choices?”

Gerald pulled Noah back into his seat and tapped the table in front of him. “I’ve shown my sons everything. They’ve seen the evidence of your theft, your blackmailing, and your games. The evidence doesn’t lie, Sophia, unlike you.”

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