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“How the fuck did you go from researching her mother’s death to investigating the company she works for? Are you trying to get her to murder you?”
“On the surface, it does appear extremely obsessive—”
“Just a little,” Jim answered sarcastically. “God help you when Nat finds out you’re researching her company too.”
I rolled my eyes, “This sounds like I’m some creep investigating my girlfriend, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You know how I get when I sense something isn’t right. And knowing her father is responsible for her mother’s death was enough to get me on this bastard’s trail.”
“Well, you are a bloodhound when it comes to following your instincts about peoples’ dirty deeds. Okay,” Jim held his hands up, “without asking further questions or judging your sorry ass, please continue. You got on his trail, and what has been dug up?”
“He’s the top investor in the real estate company Nat works for. He all but owns that fucking place.” I shook my head, feeling sorrier for Nat than anything at this point, “Which means he still owns her ass, and she has no idea.”
“So, Triton Realty is owned by her father?”
“Looks like he’s a silent partner in the group. When I noticed the name Hoover as an investor from the Bahamas and Dubai, you know I went deeper.”
“Right,” Jim answered. “I’m positive you didn’t stop there.”
“No. As secure as those offshore accounts typically are, Jeff was able to break through the firewalls on them and confirmed the name attached to the accounts is Hoover.”
“You’re sure it’s her father?”
“Yes, and there’s more,” I answered. “From the correspondence on his server, apparently, the partnership with the company only lasts for as long as Nat works there, so they have a vested interest in keeping her.”
“Well, what the fuck are you going to do about it?”
“The only answer is to pull her from that company and watch it and her dad fall,” I answered him.
“What then?” Jim questioned. “Perhaps this is the part of you trying to help where you really fuck it all up.”
“Because it’ll cost her job?”
“Yeah,” he answered while I contemplated getting Nat away from that company and her father. “All because her billionaire boyfriend was feeling meddlesome, wanting to solve the puzzle driving him crazy, so he investigated her family and her company, and now she no longer has either. You solved your puzzle, though, right?”
“I get it, Jim,” I said, completely unsure of what to do now. “I promise you this isn’t because I’m bored and can’t let something mysterious go. You know me better than that.”
“I know. You just need to put yourself in her Louboutins and imagine how it looks from the outside,” he said, eyeing me. “Lucky for you, we’re friends, and I’m a big enough prick to take the heat off you.”
“What do you all plan to do to make my fuck-up right?”
“I plan to say that I hired another investigator and put his ass on the case after learning that her bastard father potentially murdered her mom.”
“Yeah, that won’t work.”
Jim smirked at me. “And I hired that investigator only because my best friend fucked shit up by doing so behind her back, and I wanted to fact-check his mother.” He sat back and studied me. “I know you want to make this right with her again, but this is something you can’t do on your own. Let me step forward on your behalf and talk to her and let her see that it’s in her best interest to distance herself from that company.”
“So, I could come riding in on the white horse and save the damsel that is broke and without her career? Because my best friend advised her to quit her job?”
“Although that’s a beautiful sentiment, no. Instead, I’ve had a plan for a real estate division through Alex and Bree’s firm under the umbrella of Mitchell and Associates for a while. I just didn’t have the candidates I wanted to head it up yet.”
I grinned, “She would do a phenomenal job.”
“You would, too,” he said.
“Can you imagine what this will look like then?”
“Like you used your best friend to hire her and work alongside you as a partner at a new firm?” Jim said. “Do you think she’d get insulted at the signing bonuses I’d offer to secure her as my top agent?”
I rolled my eyes, “You are the king of making people offers they can’t refuse.”
