“Give us a minute to talk,” I said.“Can you close the door?”
He nodded and withdrew just as Konni’s phone started to ring.He glanced at the number, and his gaze narrowed slightly before he put it on speaker.
I sat across from him and listened to his conversation with one of the stockholders.When he finished with that one, another called.Both conveyed the same message: The stock prices were falling due to the continued scandals, and he needed to handle it soon or risk losing his position as CEO.
His phone started to ring again.The door burst open before he could answer it.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Lianna strode in, dressed to kill—Konni, not me.If he were even slightly interested, the body-hugging dress with the questionable-for-corporate cleavage cut neckline would have done him in.
Her angry gaze dismissively swept over me as she crossed to his desk.
“Enough is enough, Drake.Stock prices keep falling.Stockholders are calling me, asking for explanations about what’s happening here.I can’t keep covering for you or stand by and watch as everything we’ve built together slowly falls apart because ofher.” She held up her printed resignation letter.“Choose.Me or her?”
It wasn’t quite the evidence I’d promised, but she’d literally hand-delivered what he needed to get rid of her.
Standing smoothly, I plucked the paper from her fingers and handed it to Konni.
He glanced at the paper, picked up a pen, and signed it.
“You’ve worked hard when you didn’t need to,” he said, looking up at Lianna.“I appreciate everything you’ve done for Steele and will make sure it’s appropriately reflected in your compensation package.”
Shock robbed her of speech as he glanced at Edi, who was in the doorway.
“Please notify Gail and escort Ms.Stonestock to her office so she can pack her personal belongings.”
Lianna’s shock turned to rage, then smoothed into her cool mask.
“You made the wrong choice, Drake.”
She turned on her heel and walked out.
Edi winked at me and shut the door again.
“Although her timing proves to me that she was behind the article, it’s not definitive proof,” I said.“Is the fallout as bad as she said?Have Steele’s stock prices been falling?”
“Stock prices are always moving.She’s only trying to stir up more trouble, which will die down now that she’s gone.”
Konni picked up his phone and called IT to revoke all of Lianna’s permissions and change any admin passwords she had access to immediately.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
News of Lianna’sabrupt resignation exploded within hours, and Konni’s schedule filled with emergency calls and meetings with project owners who either wanted to cancel their contracts or wanted proof the company wasn’t going under.
Determined to shoulder my share of the burden and prove everyone wrong, I pored over the approved projects lists, refining styles, branding, or innovation wherever the budget allowed.The client’s praise of my proposed revisions wasn’t enough to sway the public’s opinion of Steele Corp, though.
At home, the only place Konni had any peace, he and his mom swore the current crisis wasn’t that serious, pointing out that Steele had survived for almost two centuries, and that “a foundation that old doesn’t crack.”
However, their confidence wasn’t shared by the stockholders, who continued to pressure Konni while he juggled everything.
By mid-week, over half of the upset clients had been calmed, and we finally got some good news—Konni’s investigators found footage of a nearby car registered to someone with a lengthy criminal record.
I was relieved we had a lead on the arsonist, but who had hired him?Dad?Hestian?Lianna?Or the person behind Mom’s job losses?I doubted someone content to financially torment Mom for years would suddenly decide on murder.Meanwhile, unlike Konni, I fully believed Lianna was capable of unaliving me.The rage in her eyes didn’t lie.
Thankfully, the investigators called with another update on Friday.A large deposit had been made to the car owner’s account days before the fire.That, along with the car’s proximity at the time of the fire and the owner’s physical similarities to the bird feeder footage, was enough for an arrest warrant.
The police had the man in custody an hour later, and Konni contacted Garth to send out a press release with the latest, correct information about our house fire and who was actually involved.
