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This was ridiculous. I just told myself that I didn’t need to worry about the factory, and here I was still thinking about the place. What was wrong with me? I could relax now.
But it was the report that troubled me. My father wasn’t there to be questioned. That meant the next in line was...Almi.
I had just put my ally in the line of fire, and he had no idea it was coming. I grabbed my father's cell phone and called Almi.
“Yes,” he answered in a serious tone.
“I need to tell you that Mr. Rio wants a report from me. I mean from my father.”
“Yes. I know. I’m on my way to his office. Can’t talk now,” he said, ending the call.
Oh no. What did I do?
What if by protecting my father, I got Almi in trouble and fired?
I should’ve minded my business. My parents taught me that one lie leads to many. They were right and now I was caught up in them and unfortunately so was Almi. I needed to find a way to make this all right. Just not sure how to do that without hurting my father.
Looks like I’m going to have to see Mr. Rio one more time.
CHAPTER 5
Niko
I could blame my lack of sleep solely on jet lag, or on the reports that I received yesterday. I couldn’t stop thinking about Ovi. And it wasn’t just about all the reports she emailed me. From what I learned from Almi, Ovi didn’t have a background in business, yet she was able to pull together some very detailed information. She was good. Very good. Her beauty and intelligence definitely haunted my thoughts.
But I couldn’t let that distraction blind me from what needed to be done. Those reports were high on the list of things that I had to address today. I knew it was bad, but if those reports were accurate, then things were worse than I had thought.
Mr. Baker wasn’t the only customer who was going to receive the product late. We had fallen behind on at least a dozen orders. This was beyond unacceptable. If I didn’t turn things around quickly, my fear was going to become a reality. The suggestion in the email was to hire more people to meet the increasing demand. I usually would have Trye sit in on the interviewprocess, but that wasn’t going to happen. Not now. Not ever again.
Even thinking about Trye got my blood pressure up. My meeting with Almi yesterday left me speechless. It sounded more like a practical joke than anything else. It also explained a lot about what had been going on. Like why Trye wouldn’t take my calls and only reply via text message. Never mind doing his job, the guy wasn’t even in Tabiq.
That was something that I’d need to address with him when he eventually decided to show his face again. I’d hear him out, but his ass was fired. I’d done right by him all these years, and he owed me at least the courtesy of letting me know he was taking a leave. I could’ve returned or hired someone to take over for him while he was gone. Instead, I was left in the dark and it was costing me.
Almi wasn’t off the hook either and he was lucky I didn’t fire him after that meeting. I understood. He felt that because he reported directly to Trye, he needed to do what he was told. But I owned the place. I signed his paycheck. As I explained to him, if anything like this ever happened again, or I felt as though I couldn’t trust him, then I’d send him packing too. He swore he wouldn’t tell anyone about our conversation, not Trye and definitely not Ovi.
Trye wasn’t the only person I was angry with. I was pretty pissed off at myself. I should’ve guessed that she was Trye’s daughter. Probably would’ve if she’d been sitting behind the desk, but her position distracted me from the obvious. So did her eyes, and that little smirk of hers, when she was trying to prove to me that she wasn’t scared of me. Damn, I found that very...very attractive. But the facts were, she wasn’t forthcoming about who she really was. She referred to her father as Mr. Mayas. And now I knew that she intentionally didn’t provide mewith her last name because she didn’t want me to know they were related.
Now I needed to figure out what I was going to do about this. She had done some impressive work over the past month. Even though I would like her to continue until I found a replacement for her father, how could I have someone I couldn’t trust in my building?
Maybe I would have a better idea of what to do after she and I spoke. Requesting her to come into the office wasn’t going to work because she had no idea that I knew who she was, or that I was aware of everything that had transpired this last month. It left me with only one option. I was going to go to her.
I’d never been to Trye’s home before, but I knew where it was. And thanks to Almi, I also knew that Ovi lived there. Not uncommon in Tabiq for a single woman to continue living with her parents. It used to be for safety reasons. Now it was more out of convenience, I believe. I couldn't handle not having my privacy. Then again, as soon as I turned eighteen, I wanted to be out on my own and I’d been living happily by myself ever since.
Pulling into their driveway, I noticed a curtain in one of the windows move slightly before closing again.
You know you have company. And I know you’re home.
I parked my SUV, walked up to the door, and knocked. There was no answer, so I knocked louder. This time, I called out, “Ovi, I’d like to talk to you about your father.”
That should be clear enough. There was no point in her hiding or lying any longer. Actually, it would serve her better to come clean with things now before I learned any more from others. I’d be more understanding and forgiving even.
It took a moment, and I was beginning to think she might not open the door, but eventually, it opened a crack. I could barely see her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m here to talk to you,” I said. “May I come in?”
“No,” she said firmly. “Give me a minute, and I’ll come out and we can talk there.” She closed the door. I was speechless for the second time in less than twenty-four hours.
