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Unable to stand the quiet, I put on “Drunk Like You” by The Cadillac Three. Ever since I’d given in to my feelings for Mulaney, she’d had me the equivalent of shit-faced when it came to her.
When she finally emerged, her eyes went straight to where my long-sleeved T-shirt was pulled taut across my chest. Hers barely covered her ass. She grabbed her sweatpants off the bed and tugged them on, obstructing the one highlight of my day.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
I snorted as she plopped down in the oversized chair and opened her laptop. She yanked on her hair, pulling the ponytail even higher on her head. Visions of chestnut silk wrapped around my fist cluttered my thoughts.
Mulaney turned the screen toward me and the thoughts scattered, though I felt the after effects.
I kicked the ottoman back and sat so that her legs were between mine. She placed the computer in my lap, and I studied the screen. From beside the chair, she grabbed a bottle of whiskey, the same brand we’d consumed the night we wed.
“Need this?” She unscrewed the cap and took a long swallow.
I temporarily abandoned the numbers and watched her throat work. In my head, her hair was wrapped around my fist again and I tugged, exposing the smooth column of skin. I could spend hours there, driving her crazy by avoiding that spot she loved kissed the most.
She held the bottle in front of me. “You’re acting weird.”
“What’s normal anyway?” I chugged some of the amber liquid and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Her eyes flared with the motion. “Look. These figures match.” I showed her the spreadsheet I had on my laptop from the same dates, and she frowned.
“Every transaction is exactly the same, but in your version of EXODUS they’re in my department. In my version, they’re in yours.”
“How the hell does that happen? We’re both logged in to the same program.”
She typed in her username and password at warp speed and clicked to the screen of transactions. I did the same. She was right.
“Why are our versions different?” she asked, shoving the laptop away in disgust.
“I don’t know, but even so, these numbers don’t add up to a one-billion-dollar loss,” I said, shoving my hand through my hair.
She tapped her index finger on the arm of the chair. “It stands to reason when your father logs in, he sees something different than we do too, right?”
“I guess.” Pieces clicked into place. That was the only thing that made sense. He’d seen numbers that were cause for alarm that I couldn’t see because I didn’t have them.
“I’ll have Holly go through both of our accounts to be sure.” Mulaney snatched her phone up and fired off a text.
“I’ll do it.”
“Another set of eyes won’t hurt,” she said as an immediate response chimed. “She’s on it.”
I nodded.Holly. Did she really believe that Mulaney and my dad were having an affair?Not now.Now, I was itching to get my hands on the real numbers. “Do you still think I took the money?”
“No.” She bounced her knee. “But it doesn’t explain why you have a bunch of offshore accounts in your name.”
My legs involuntarily clamped around hers. “How the hell do you know that?”
“I asked Daniel.”
I gaped at her. “You brought him into our business?”
“Why do you have the accounts?” She glazed right over the more important issue.
“We don’t know Daniel. You should’ve come to me first. You should’ve asked me.” I stabbed my index finger into my chest.
“When exactly was I supposed to do that? You blabbed our shit and left.” She lowered her face, and although I knew she was confused, it was her anger and hurt that struck me the most.
“Still have a bag with my shit here.”
“Don’t you dare do that. You disappeared.”
