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Geezus. Who else would’ve had a copy of that other than my brothers and the PR department. "Alex. Who sent it to you? A handful of people had that press release. Who sent it to you?"
"I'm not sure but…”
"Gerry."
He doesn't answer just winces. "Look. I didn't know that for sure. But… maybe. I had no idea there was so much internal turmoil at Baxter with Gerry. I didn't know until Luna told me. You guys had swept it under the rug so well. I had no idea until I came to see her and she told me that day. He had come to see me a few weeks ago. Said he was just coming for a chat. So..we chatted. I didn’t realize then that he might be…snooping."
Of course he was. "Okay, and what did you tell her about the press release?"
"Just what I had been told. That Baxter had a response ready for the article. And I had an advance copy."
The words run through my head. The same one I had immediately discarded. "She thought that I was going to send that out? ThatIwould have approved that?" My stomach does backflip after backflip, until I feel so sick, I might throw up on his carpet right here. "What else?"
"I told her that if you were actually found liable for the sharing of information, and were the reason for losing the contract it would have pretty dire consequences for your role at Baxter."
I shake my head. "You asshole."
"She asked me, Kingsley! She asked me what I thought was going to happen to you if she didn't do something. I was just being honest."
Acid trickles down my throat at the thought of her trying to find a way to protect me and thinking she had to put herself on the line "You have no idea what we were planning! You have no idea about what was going on in that boardroom! We were taking care of it. And what about the bid. What happened there? I had no idea Hamilton was even thinking of submitting for the contract. Now you're in bed with Farmington?"
He blanches and rubs his hand over his face. "He came to me. The day before the gala. He told me he had an idea, that he'dput together the numbers to secure the contract. And that we could do it together. It looked doable. He said we had to rush putting in the bid, and I assumed he'd done all the homework, he showed me the numbers. So I said yes."
Holy hell of fucks ups.
"Ernest is spinning in his fucking grave. That is not how you do business, Alex."
"It was an opportunity. I took it. Anyway, that’s what I told her. That Hamilton Group was going to work with Farmington. And then she kicked me out. She didn’t mention her response to the article."
I exhale, my entire body exhausted at processing what I'd just heard.
It was him, all him.
"She was covering for you. She was protecting me, and covering for you. When she sent that response. And now we've both ruined her name, forever."
He doesn't say anything, his head in his hands.
At least he has the decency to look remorseful. "If I had had any idea she was going to do it, I would've stopped her. You have to believe me."
I shake my head. "I don't have to do anything at all when it comes to you. But I will, for her. She did this for us. And neither of us deserved her."
He leans his head back, looking exhausted. "She loves you. She did this for you because she loved you."
"She loves you too,” I tell him, and not just to comfort him.
He straightens his back, picking at his cufflink, his voice small as he says, "She's never loved me in the same way, never. I thought it was going to just be a matter of time after she came to London. But when you walked into this office that day, in a split second I saw her look at you, in a way she never had nor ever will look at me."
I want to believe him. Every single cell in my body wants to believe him. But not until I fix what we’ve both broken.
"So. Now we do what we should’ve done all along. Be the men who deserve to be loved by her and clear her name. Tell me everything you know about the bid and don't leave out a single detail..."
Forty-Six
Luna
A week staying inthe same hotel room as Peeta has taught me a few things. One, I had quickly adapted to not sleeping with someone blasting music from their earphones three feet from me, and two, Peeta had just as quickly adapted to fully paid room service breakfast.
After I was released from the hospital, the doctors had strongly suggested that I not be alone until my second round of stitches was removed, and my invite for Peeta to join me at the Waldorf was replied to with a video of her jumping off the Tube and squealing "Yes, baby!" at the top of her lungs. And while she’s going on a group trip to Estonia next week, she’s been here with me when I needed her most.
