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Owen
I waituntil I leave the hotel room to check my phone. I assume Jack is going to have something to say about my early departure the night before, but I’m out of fucks to give. I don’t know what it is about Ella, but she makes me question the stupidity of having stayed employed by Harrington Enterprises even more than I have been lately.
The only thing I can’t let go of now is my conversation with Bill the night before. He’s here in Saint Lucia for a reason. The board wouldn’t have sent a member here if everything was fine. I shouldn’t want to find out what’s going on, but after investing in this company for five years, I can’t deny my interest.
As I scroll through my notifications, I find that Jack has called and texted me once each and only emailed twice. Surprisingly, he doesn’t seem as angry as I assumed he would be. Maybe today won’t be as bad as I thought.
I don’t bother to call or text Jack back since I’m headed to where he should be right now, which is our first team-building activity: mini golf.
Jack is standing at the entrance to the tropical course with Mason from marketing, Todd from projects, and Natalie. Mason and Todd aren’t much better than Jack, and I hope that Natalie doesn’t get herself too tightly wrapped up in the company politics now that she’s gotten the promotion. Then again, Jack doesn’t seem too pleased with her, so maybe there’s nothing to concern myself with.
“Look who finally decided to show up,” Jack says with a roll of his eyes. Apparently, he doesn’t have to remain professional in front of this group.
I glance at my watch. “Unless you made last-minute schedule changes that weren’t emailed, then I believe I’m two minutes early, Jack.”
“If you’re not a half-hour early, then you’re late,” Jack replies and turns to Mason to mutter something.
I don’t bother to try to listen. “I’ll go grab my things so we can go.”
Natalie steps forward, pushing her short nearly-black hair behind her ears. “I’ll show you where to get the putter.”
I almost tell her I don’t need help, but when I look at her pale blue eyes and see the tension in her shoulders and slight tremble in her hands, I don’t object.
When we’re far enough away that the others shouldn’t hear us, her elbow brushes against mine. “Did Bill talk to you yet?”
I keep my eyes ahead. “Nothing more than a short greeting last night. Why?”
Her hands twist together in front of her. “I found something I wasn’t supposed to during an account audit. My supervisor was out of the office, so I brought the discrepancy to Jack. I wanted to tell you sooner, but Jack manipulated me before I even knew what was happening.”
Fuck. This was even worse than I had thought after Jack asked me to bring Natalie to the party last night.
She glances behind us before continuing. “Bill reached out to me after my unexpected promotion was announced. He’s trying to help unravel the web I’ve fallen into, but even I don’t really understand everything that’s going on. I told Bill I trust you and that you might be able to help us since you’re close to Jack but not under his thumb like the other assholes who work for this company.”
We round the corner of the building, and I can’t see Jack any longer. My steps slow before we reach the window to get the items I’ll need for the game. “What did you find?”
She lifts her head slightly and peeks around again. “I’m not even sure. All I know is there was nearly three million dollars missing from the main corporate account when I was done with my audit.”
Holy shit. That isn’t small. No wonder Bill made an appearance. Hell, I’m surprised more of the board didn’t come with him.
“Last night, Todd wouldn’t leave me alone. He was trying to get me drunk and to go back to his room. I don’t know what Jack’s up to, but I’m scared,” Natalie adds, making my anger for the men waiting on us rise tenfold.
I can assume what Todd was trying to do, given how Jack asked me to help him take care of a problem when it came to Natalie. She deserves better than that, and I know I can’t ignore this, no matter how much I wanted to at first.
“What can I do to help?” I ask.
We get to the line for the putter, and she quiets. “Let’s meet up later.”
I nod. This isn’t something to be discussed in public, not when we’re talking about the embezzlement of millions of dollars by the company CEO. While Jack might run the company, he doesn’t own it. Not after he had to go public and hire a board of directors to prevent the retirement account lawsuit from going too public.
Shit, this is bad. I didn’t think anything could ruin the high I was riding from last night’s events and even this morning, but Natalie’s admission fills me with dread. I don’t want to be wrapped in the middle of something I had nothing to do with, but at the same time, this could be just what the company needs to get Jack out of the picture. This company could do so much good in the world without him running it.
Natalie steps to the side when we get to the front of the line. “A stick with one or two balls?” the young kid at the counter asks me with a smirk.
“Just one is fine.” I want to find his questions funny, but despite Natalie’s revelation, my mind wanders back to Ella while we wait for him to return with the items.
Aside from thinking my dick was going to fall off this morning, everything about being with Ella is more than I could have imagined.
I knew there was something exceptional about her when I saw her on the plane, but damn. The sparks between us, the attraction, natural chemistry… All of it combined is nothing like I’ve felt before.
