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I spot one of the security guards, who tells me he saw her heading to the far end of the floor, an older part of the building where a few vacant stockrooms and unused offices are located. What the hell is she doing over there?
I walk the length of the store, exiting through a staff door into a narrow hallway. I smile as I hear Eva talking to herself through the open door of an old storeroom. Pausing in the doorway for a second, I drink her in. She has her back to me, and her long, brown hair is released from its usual bun to tumble down her back. My fingers itch with the desire to thread through those silky strands. God, I've missed her.
"Eva?"
She shrieks and spins on her heel, losing her balance and falling backwards into the boxes stacked behind her.
"Shit!" I race towards her as the boxes tumble around her. By the time I reach her, only her legs are visible, sticking up through the fallen cases.
I thrust my hand into the jumble, grasping her arm and pulling her up. "Fuck, are you okay?" I demand as I steady her on her feet and check her over for injuries.
"I'm ... fine," she huffs, placing a hand on her chest. "You scared the living shit out of me, Max!"
I pull her towards me and wrap her up in my arms, inhaling her sweet scent. "Back at you, sweetheart. Frightened me to death when I saw those boxes fall on you. Are you sure you're okay?" I ask again, pulling back to look at her.
"Fine, just got sideswiped by a box," she says, rubbing a small red spot on her forehead.
I move her fingers aside and probe the area gently. "It hasn't broken the skin."
"Um, Max?" Eva says, her eyes widening as she looks around us.
I follow her gaze and curse. Several boxes have spilt their contents all over the floor, revealing everything from designer clothing to expensive jewellery to high-end homewares. All items that are meant to be tagged and moved to the relevant floor.
"What the ...? These items aren't supposed to be hidden away in boxes marked as faulty," Eva says, stating the obvious. "Gerald told me this room was empty. I came looking for a missing item for a customer on the off-chance it was here. I never expected to find ... this." She spreads her hands wide, indicating the array of goods. Her eyes lift to mine. "What the hell is going on, Max?"
"Is Gerald the only one who uses this stockroom?" I ask, ignoring her question.
She nods. "He has a key. I found it in his desk drawer earlier. I saw him leaving this room a few weeks ago, and he looked uneasy, but I passed it off as Gerald being Gerald."
I look around at all the "faulty" merchandise. There must be thousands upon thousands of pounds worth of goods stashed in here.
Eva's eyes are wide as she looks at me. "Do you think ...?"
My mouth settles into a hard line. "Looks like Gerald is turning a personal profit by marking perfectly saleable items as faulty. The items register as a loss for the company but a gain for the sleazy little shit selling them online as his personal side hustle."
"Oh, my God," Eva whispers, shaking her head in disbelief. "Who knew Gerald was intelligent enough to pull off something like this?"
"Oh, he’s a slippery little shit. Hiding the goods in plain sight," I say angrily.
This is the ammunition I need to remove Gerald—and not just remove him. I have enough proof here to send the little shit to prison. I should be happy, but all I feel is anger that he's abused his position this way. I'm also pissed off at myself, that it's taken Sutherland's teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for me to pull my head out of my arse.
"He's effectively taking money from hardworking people's pockets," I growl. "There's no telling how long he's been doing this, and while he's not solely responsible for Sutherland's financial issues, I'd hazard a guess that he's cost us thousands, if not hundreds of thousands."
"What do we do? Call the police?"
I shake my head. "Not yet. I need to catch him in the act."
"Are you saying that as Max Lincoln, the sales assistant or Max Sutherland, the boss?" she asks, lifting wary eyes to mine.
I move towards her and place my fingers under her chin, tipping her head up so she's looking at me. "Both because they're one and the same. The Max you know is exactly who I am. Everything I told you, everything I shared with you, was true, Eva. But I'm sorry I hurt you. That's the last thing I wanted to do."
Her blue eyes search mine. "I know. You did what you had to for Sutherland's. I see that now. Besides, it's not like we knew each other before you came here. You didn't owe me anything, so it was unfair of me to blame you for a decision I may have made myself were I in your situation."
"I have a boardroom of executives who knew things were heading into the red and didn't tell me until it was almost too late. I couldn't trust them to give me the answers I needed about why the business was haemorrhaging money. The only way I could do that was to see for myself. And you can bet your beautiful, curvy arse if I'd done that as Max Sutherland, I'd never get any real answers. Going undercover was the only way, but I swear it was never my intention to use or hurt anyone, Eva, least of all you."
She gives me a watery smile. "I couldn't figure out why I was so pissed off when you told me who you were, especially as I was the one holding you at arm's length. And then I realised why. I felt betrayed when you told me you weretheMax Sutherland because I thought of you asmyMax. My colleague, my friend, and"—she pauses and bites her lip—"a man I was developing feelings for. And then I panicked about the kisses, and you being my boss, and, shit, I'm so sorry—"
I place my fingers over her mouth. "God help me, Eva, don't you dare apologise," I growl. "Not for a bloody thing, least of all a kiss that made me feel alive for the first time in a long time."
