Page 19 of The Billionaire Boss and the Barista

“Actually, if she’s anything like before the accident, I have to side with Bethany,” Garrett said, resigned. “No special treatment.”

Bethany rounded on her coworker. “Ha!”

“As long as you’re not actively making her life more difficult,” he added, feeling the need to add that caveat. Bethany looked like the type.

She scowled at him. “I don’t do that.”

Kyle sniffed. “You don’t make it better, either.”

Garrett held up his hands when Bethany opened her mouth, ready to launch into an argument. “Which is fine. Neutral is fine.”

That didn’t do anything to wipe the sour expression off her face, but it didn’t matter because they heard something that diverted their collective attention.

A tiny meow.

Chapter Nine

GARRETT

He nearly bit his tongue off trying to keep from shouting at the gray tabby kitten that had pissed all over his keyboard.

“What the hell?” he hissed, trying to mop it up with the spare tie he kept in his desk drawer. “The PI just sent the accident report!”

The kitten skittered to the side. It looked at the floor as if it was contemplating jumping, but it was too far.

Sighing, Garrett picked the animal up. He set it in the makeshift bed he’d made from a file folder box and some microfiber towels from the supply closet. But the little beast immediately escaped to roam the expanse of his plush cream carpet.

“Crap on that and you’ll be…” He trailed off, at a loss to find a threat that didn’t make him sound like a monster.

Garrett unplugged the keyboard and threw it in the trash. “Just behave kid. I’m trying to do you a solid here.”

He’d already fed the animal a quarter of his lunch, some very choice tidbits from his favorite sushi place. A mobile vet was also on his way to check him out and give him whatever shots cats needed at this age.

The kitten sniffed around the couch before stopping to sit and scratch his back. “Guess I better add flea dip to the list,” he muttered.

On cue, Garrett began to get itchy. Ignoring the sensation, he buzzed Fletcher’s assistant to get him a new keyboard. Dismissing her as soon as he had it plugged in, he sat and opened the file.

The first blow came when he saw the date at the top. March twenty-third.

He closed his eyes for a long moment before taking out his phone to confirm what he already knew. March twenty-third had been the last Saturday of his spring break senior year of college. He’d thrown his last party in Verdant Falls that night.

The next day he’d packed his bags, going back to college, determined to kick-start his life in the fast lane, leaving the Podunk town of his birth in his rearview mirror. And not just the town but everyone in it.

He had never gone back.

Garrett shoved the keyboard aside and laid his head on his desk surface, belatedly remembering there might still be cat pee on it. Groaning, he went to find some disinfecting wipes before continuing with the report.

Fuck. It got worse. Emma wasn’tina car at the time of her accident. She had been walking when it struck her.

It had been a hit-and-run.

Garrett scrolled on as the vise around his chest got tighter and tighter.

The woods. Emma had been found at the bottom of the incline on one of those unnamed dirt roads that ran all through the woods. Her mom had been the one to find her a little after midnight, long after she had been expected at home.

The report didn’t say what road she had been on when she was run down. Where had she been going?

Jumping up, he began to pace. This was not enough information and at the same time too much.

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