Page 82 of Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice

“Hey.”

He looked up. “There you are. I’ve been trying to call you. How did it go?” Noticing my sour face, his frown deepened. “Not good?”

“Somehow my mother worked out where I am.”

He blanched. “What? We were careful with our posts, and Eric wouldn’t say anything.”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. She said it’s not Eric.”

“Who else knew? Would Naomi have said something?”

“I trust her. Maybeyoudid something wrong with your posts.” My tone was accusing.

“I didn’t.” Alec scrolled through his phone and held up one of his posts for my inspection, showing that it was set toFriends except…“See?”

My phone pinged, and it was my brother, surprised to hear about the phone call. I racked my brain, trying to walk back the past few weeks.

Then it hit me. Something Jacqui had said about a press release.

I scrolled frantically through my phone, then waved it in his face when I found what I was looking for. “The GPG press release, announcing the acquisition. They used the photo from the dinner to accompany the article.”

Alec took the phone, his eyes scanning the post, his face turning grim. He had his arms around me in the picture, both of us beaming at the camera. It was proudly displayed on all Goodwin Property Group’s social media accounts for the entireuniverse to see. There was a short write-up about Alec and his company, calling him a “prominent, award-winning residential developer on the rise.”

And the proverbial nail in the coffin was the caption.

Alec Mackenzie, CEO of Mackenzie Constructions, and his partner, Ellie Pang.

My heart—and my stomach—crashed to the ground.

“That’s got to be it.” Alec handed me my phone back. “She could have set a Google alert on your name and got notified when the article was posted.”

“She said something else.” My mind jumped back to the conversation with my mother. “About your father being a criminal. Said you’re lying about why you moved here.”

Blood drained from his face, and I was taken aback by his horrified look.

“What was she talking about, Alec? What aren’t you telling me?”

His jaw clenched. “That’s a private family matter. It’s not her story to tell.”

I gaped at him. “So she was right?”

“It’s none of your business. Or hers.” He turned around, walking away from me. “It’s late. I’m going to bed.”

“Don’t you walk away from me. We’re not done here, and you’ve got some explaining to do. Did you really leave home because of a job offer? Why did she call you a liar?”

Alec didn’t reply and kept walking.

“Why did you really leave?” My head felt light, and I could feel the beginning dizziness of a hypo, but I brushed it aside and marched after him, because I was too fired up. “What happened with your dad?”

He only quickened his pace as we speed-walked on the quiet, dimly lit garden path.

“Alec. Stop ignoring me.” My legs were a bit shaky, but I pushed on, moving faster to keep up with him.

He came to an abrupt halt in front of our room, turning around to face me. “You want to know the truth? Yes, my father is a criminal. He had an affair, had a second family with another set of children, nicely tucked away in some small town in God knows where. Whenever we thought he was on a business trip, he actually went to see his second family.”

“You told me that. That makes him the worst father in the world, but not a criminal.”

“Well, he’s both. Because to support that second wife and set of sons, he stole money from his employer.” Alec turned around to slide the key card, then pushed the door open. “He embezzled close to three million dollars over six years and went to prison because of it. The company he worked for paid off a lot of people to keep it hush-hush, so it didn’t make the news. Nine years, Ellie. He was in prison fornine fucking years.”

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