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“I told you it was important,” Lea says breathlessly. “The phone has been ringing off the hook for you. At first I thought it was fake,” she adds quietly.
“It’s not fake,” I say darkly.
“He confessed to stealing from Lockdown,” Lea says. “And now the press wants to speak with you. Should I arrange a press conference?”
Her words go in one ear and out the other. I have to grip the edge of my desk to keep from collapsing. I feel numb and shaky, like I’ve just survived a plane crash or something equally catastrophic.
When I speak, I can barely hear the words coming out of my own mouth.
“Yes. Arrange a press conference, Lea. For this afternoon.”
Lea nods. “Yes, sir,” she replies. “Anything else?”
I shake my head numbly. “No. That will be all.”
When Lea leaves my office, I stare at the TV until the screen turns into a big blur. The aerial shot of James’s – and Allie’s! – home is distracting and I feel sick to my stomach. Eventually, I can’t take it anymore and I turn it off and lie down on my couch with my hand over my eyes.
God, it finally happened. So many years have passed that I had resigned myself to believing that James would never be caught. And yet, he confessed!
I’m sure someone threatened him.
But who?
Did one of my employees hack into his computer or financial records? I know that he’d never voluntarily tell the truth about what happened.
Allie’s face pops into my mind and I sigh. God, I want her now more than ever. But I can’t go back. She’d never have me.
And I have a feeling she’d be quite angry with me for concealing the information about her father.
Things are still better off this way. At least now, Allie will be free from the toxic influence of James. She’ll be traumatized by this obviously, but she’ll heal. Now maybe she can have a normal life.
I want that for her more than anything.
Except her, of course.
The image of James Carter being led away from his tacky abode is replaying like a gif in my head.
I have to get my shit together. Taking a deep breath, I get up and cross the room to my desk. I reach into a bottom drawer and pull out a bottle of tequila I keep for emergencies. After a long, burning swallow, I almost feel like myself again.
“Lea,” I call as I open the door. “I want you to set a companywide meeting for tomorrow morning. Attendance is mandatory and I want it catered. Get a big brunch spread.”
Lea nods. “Yes, Mr. Andersen. I’ll get right on that.”
“And Lea?”
“Yes?”
“Make sure no one will panic when they see the announcement. Make it seem like it’s going to be good news,” I say in a low growl. “Because it is good news.”
Lea nods. “Of course. Anything else?”
I crush the powerful urge to have Lea arrange for Hanson to pick up Allie and bring her here.
“No,” I reply curtly. “That will be all.”
Chapter Seventeen
Allie
