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Lorena inhaled, steeled herself, and feigned a noncommittal look. She turned on her heels, staring straight at Thomas. “Okay, yes, I know you’re particular. Maybe it was the maids. You know how they go through this building at night, dusting and whatnot.”
“Okay, now you’re playing me for a fool, and I don’t know why. You know for a fact I lock my office door before I leave for the day for the express purpose of keeping those nosy people away from my files.”
Lorena merely stood there, hoping her face was completely nonchalant. But she was frozen and couldn’t bring herself to shrug or blink. She couldn’t do anything. Her terror of being found out had made her completely stiff. She was positive there was nothing she could say or do at that moment which wouldn’t get her to confess to the man.
Thomas blinked and then stepped around her and returned to the couch. She watched his every step. Suddenly, his demeanor relaxed. His shoulders sagged, and a hint of a smile lingered on his lips.
Or is it an angry grimace?
Lorena’s knees shook. She sat before she fell down. She didn’t dare pick up her coffee cup, for her hands might shake it right off its saucer.
Thomas leaned back and inhaled deeply before he spoke.
“The person who looked at the files did whatever they did and put them back, not in the inbox but to the side of it. It was you, Lorena. It was you.”
“Thomas …”
“Yes?”
“Sure, it was me who touched those files because it was me who brought them to you. They probably toppled over in your inbox. That’s all. I don’t remember now, but I’m sure I simply tried to straighten them up. I thought they might topple over again, so I left them out of the box. That’s simply all I would do about that.”
He breathed deeply in through his nose. “You really expect me to believe that, do you?”
“Thomas, no, you see …”
Thomas put up his hand to stop her from talking, from digging deeper into the lying hole she had made for herself. He leaned forward and got into her private space.
“No, Lorena. No more is it a question ofwhether there is a mole in this operation? Andwho the mole is? The answers are yes and you. What I don’t have the answer to is why. Why would you, of all people, betray the pride like this? Betray me like this? And for whom? You’re not the type to do this on your own. Somebody is behind this. Who is pulling your strings? I suggest you fess up now before I really have to punish you.”
Lorena’s top lip quivered. She quickly picked up her coffee cup and took a sip as she thought quickly about what she was going to say. In her gut, she knew Thomas wasn’t buying any of it. She couldn’t think of any way out of this corner she had painted herself in, so she did the only thing she could. She slowly put down her cup and saucer, leaned back in her chair, and looked him straight in his eyes. Her own eyes were full of tears yet to drop.
“Okay, Thomas, you’re right. You’re dead right. It was me. I rifled through those files and took pictures with my cell phone, and put them all neatly back, but not in your inbox. The stunt went fine, except for that error.”
“Lorena, why on God’s Earth would you do that? Spy on the pride which has given you support all your life? My mother adored you. You’ve been like family. Why would you betray the pride and betray me? The one person who gave you this opportunity to step up and take an active role in the firm.”
“Thomas, please, before you judge and decide to fire me, hear me out.”
Thomas nodded.
“You know my father has been injured by a hit-and-run accident. Well, the surgical treatment he needed was beyond what I could afford. It was either I find another way or watch my dad die. My survival instinct kicked in, as I know yours would for your pride members, and I sought financial help from Sonny.”
Thomas’s eyes popped. “From Sonny? That cut-throat? He’s been after this pride, to lord over it for as long as I can remember. Lorena, you know he’s a transactional guy, and the transaction will be risky. How could you do something so dangerous? So, are you telling me your repayment for your father’s treatment was spying on the Leone pride?”
This time it was Lorena who silently nodded, shoulders shaking, tears streaming.
“Oh, Lorena …”
With a tremor-filled, emotion-choked voice, Lorena spoke. “I know, Thomas. I know. You have no idea how guilt-ridden I’ve felt ever since. This snooping, spying, it’s not me. It’s never been me. I put it off for as long as I could, but Sonny threatened me and my father if I didn’t come up with documents soon. Documents he thought he could use to oust you from power.”
“He threatened you and your father? That is no good …”
“And Thomas, just so you know. Your dear mother, I adored her. The last thing I’d want is to weaken the Leone pride for any of us, but especially for her. Just, when I watch my father dying, and then Sonny’s threats ….”
Lorena broke down, sobbing. Thomas got up and went to her aid, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, letting his anger go, and giving her a warm hug.
After a while, Thomas stepped back so Lorena could see his expression.
“Listen, I see now how you were put in an impossible situation.”
