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She sat back, folded her arms across her chest, crossed her legs. She wagged her foot, brainstorming a new approach.
“Is there something else?” he asked.
“Nope.” She shook her head with fierce determination. “I’m not leaving until we talk this out. I don’t care if I have to sit here all day.” She dug her phone out of her pocket. “I can do a remarkable amount of work sitting right here.”
“Mr. Langford?” Adam’s assistant’s voice broke in over the intercom.
“Yes?”
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, but I have an urgent phone call from Samuel Haskins. He says it can’t wait.”
Anna grimaced. Sam Haskins had held a seat on the LangTel board of directors longer than anyone, even before Anna had been born. He was big on propriety and manners. He would never ask Adam to interrupt a meeting unless it were a life-or-death situation.
Adam picked up the phone. “Put the call through.” He tapped his pen on the desk nervously, his forehead creasing. Right then she could see how much things weighed on him. It was the same sort of look her dad had when things at work were a bear. “Sam. What can I do for you?”
His sights darted to Anna after a few seconds. “So we were right all along.”
What in the world could they be talking about? And did it have something to do with her? Why else would he look at her like that?
Adam nodded in agreement, but there was anger in his eyes. “Yes, of course. Whatever you think is the best course of action, but clearly we have to stop these guys. Now. I’ll clear my schedule and we’ll get on it right away. It’s all hands on deck.” He glanced at his watch. “Yes. I’ll see you in an hour.”
“What’s going on?” she asked, trying to disguise the worry in her voice.
“Your boyfriend? Jacob? He’s heading up a secret investment group. They’re the ones buying up LangTel stock.”
Her heart felt as if it didn’t know whether to leap to action or keel over. “What are you talking about? That can’t be right. I just saw him last night.” I’ve been seeing him every night. This couldn’t be right.
“Jacob Lin and a bunch of guys with a lot of money are preparing for a hostile takeover of LangTel. He’s trying to destroy the company our father built, Anna. He’s trying to destroy our family’s livelihood.”
“That can’t be right.” Her eyes darted all over his office, desperate for some sign that this was all a bad dream. “I’ll go talk to him. Right now. This must be a mistake.”
“It’s not a mistake. Sam has the evidence. And if you were looking for proof that Jacob is scum, here it is.”
* * *
Anna had never just shown up at Jacob’s office. Not once. But here she was, standing in front of his desk after storming in, eyes wild, chest heaving, looking as though she was about to explode. What a relief that he’d put the bag from Tiffany’s in his desk drawer. From the look on Anna’s face, this was not the time to propose marriage.
“I’m going to have to call you back,” he said into the phone, not waiting for a response before he hung up.
“Please tell me it’s not true,” she blurted, a distinct tone of panic in her voice.
Oh, no. His stomach sank as if he’d just swallowed an anvil. “Tell you what’s not true?”
“You and your investment group, Jacob. Please tell me it’s not true. Please tell me that Adam got some bad information. Because right now I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His worst nightmare had just come true, but he couldn’t lie to her. He’d already endured the guilt of not coming out with it in the first place, or even better, not starting the endeavor at all. “Please let me explain.”
All color drained from her face. “Oh, my God. It is true.” Her voice was fragile and delicate, as if she’d just been broken in half. It killed him to hear her sound like that and he was responsible. “I can’t even believe this. Did you sleep with me just so you could get information about LangTel? Because Adam thinks you did. Has this whole thing been a big lie?”
“No. Of course not. How could you think that?” He stepped out from behind his desk, but she shunned him with a quick turn of her shoulder. The physical pain of her rejection resonated deep in his body, but he couldn’t deny that he had it coming. “Adam knows about us?”
“Yes, Jacob. I went to him this morning to tell him. Do you know why?”
