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I just needed to make sure it didn’t come down to a choice. I needed to find a way to fix this where she could have both.
“Is he telling the truth?” Elizabeth asked. “He’s… Travis,” she said simply.
Adrian nodded, as if that made sense.
I tilted my head at her. “What does that mean?”
She looked somewhat apologetic. “It means sometimes I don’t think you even know if you’re telling the full truth.”
“I’m the most honest person I know.”
“What about you, Noah?” Adrian asked.
“Not much progress,” he admitted. “It’s like Jordan said. If they have physical copies of everything, wiping their evidence or corrupting it isn’t going to do us much good. Short of someone physically stealing it all, I’d say that whole avenue is off the table.”
“What about getting dirt on her? Blackmail might be the easiest option short of finding a way to sabotage her business,” Adrian said.
“There’s some possibility,” Noah said. “Considering how many laws Brandon Glass broke, it would almost be a miracle if she didn’t at least accidentally implicate herself in a crime or two.” He pulled out an ordinary looking flash drive. “If someone stuck this in her personal computer, I’m almost certain I would get enough to spook her.”
“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?” Adrian asked.
“Because it’s dirty,” Noah said, meeting Adrian’s glare. “If someone deserves it, let them burn. But this would be catching her on a technicality if it worked. Maybe an email or transaction that arguably implicates her as an accomplice to her husband.”
Adrian narrowed his eyes. “You could’ve still mentioned this. If you don’t like the idea of following through on the threat, just tell me it’s off the table.”
Noah met Adrian’s eyes. “I’m not sure I believe you’d keep your word if it came down to a choice between her and us.”
Adrian’s jaw flexed. “Then don’t leave it in my hands. Give it to Travis. It’ll be his call. Can you do it, Travis?”
I considered. “I’ve already got something much more elegant in the works.”
“That’s not what I asked you.”
“Can I slide a thumb drive into Mrs. Glass’ computer? Yeah. Probably. She’s hosting a company party at her place this weekend.”
“Give him the drive, Noah.”
Noah hesitated. “You agree we aren’t going to actually send this woman to jail on a technicality if she’s clean? It’ll be an empty threat, right?”
“Yeah,” I said. “This is an empty threat.” I snatched the drive and pocketed it. “Where’s Jordan, anyway?”
“Something came up,” Adrian said. “But she said she was running out of ways to stall for time. So you two need to make this work.”
I nudged Elizabeth. “Sounds like we’ve got a big party to get to. You ready?”
Elizabeth looked like she might be sick. “No.”
I forced a smile. To tell the truth, my usually unshakable confidence felt like it was hanging by a thread. There was too much on the line here. Maybe that’s why I usually felt so confident. I usually found myself in situations where I didn’t care too strongly about the outcome. But with Elizabeth, I cared too much.
I walked her outside after our meeting with the guys and she stopped me in the lobby. “What are you thinking?”
“Is it that obvious?” I laughed.
“Yeah, you haven’t made a stupid joke in a full minute, and you didn’t even look when I bent over to pick up my keys in the elevator. That usually cheers you up.”
I shook my head. “Sorry. I don’t think I trust myself to tell you what I’m feeling because I don’t want to pressure you.”
“I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
I sighed, taking her hands. “I’m fucking terrified this is going to go wrong somehow and I’ll lose you.”
She lowered her eyes, then slid into my chest and rested her head there. “Me too.”
There was more, but I bit the words back. A selfish part of me wanted to swear I was going to do anything to make sure this mess got cleaned up, even if it meant screwing up her chances at running Glass Design or unfairly punishing Mrs. Glass. But I knew I couldn’t do that.
Elizabeth’s dreams and aspirations were part of her. I didn’t want to break her in the process of trying to keep her. I had to accept that it was better to know she was still whole, even if it meant I had to let her go.
“We’ll figure this out,” she said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. That bald little bastard better show up to the party and he better do everything I was expecting. There was too much riding on it. Way too damn much.
32
ELIZABETH
Mrs. Glass lived in a cabin outside the city and she loved hosting company parties. It wasn’t hard to see why. Her house was a gleaming testament to everything she’d accomplished. It practically screamed wealth, from the rustic industrial decor that was executed with perfection to the jaw-dropping views and isolated land in the mountains.
