Page 72 of The Boss

While Mrs. Posner had been talking, I’d managed to surreptitiously get a private jet ready and waiting. I’d considered going straight from the apartment to the airport, but I needed clothes. I didn’t know how long I’d be staying in Virginia Beach, or how long it would take me to find Ashlee once I was there. I didn’t want to waste time by having to buy clothes.

The flight landed late, but I was tempted to start searching right away. However, Ashlee was with her mom. I had a feeling that waking up her mom in the middle of the night because I was impatient wouldn’t be the best way to start an already rocky relationship. I couldn’t sleep, though, so I spent the time making contact with every hotel, calling in favors, and promising a few of my own. It still took me until after noon to find them.

The guy at the check-in desk took fifty bucks and directed me to the beach. As I walked the direction he’d pointed, I reminded myself that I was just here to get the information I needed to get A&R back on track. Nothing else.

I came up behind the two women and took a moment to gather myself before stepping around and saying the first thing that popped into my head.

“How’s your book?”

It took her a moment to look at me, and when she did, she said my name.

“Wait, Nate? As in the Nate you told me about?” The white-haired woman next to her sat up straight. Her hair might’ve been white, but her face was still young, and the resemblance between her and Ashlee left no doubt as to her identity.

“What are you doing here?” Ashlee nearly stumbled getting to her feet, her book falling to the sand. “And how the hell did you find me?”

I had a moment to register how absolutely fuckable she looked in a bikini that matched her eyes and showed off all of her curves in a way that made me want to forget why I’d come here in the first place. My voice was rougher than I intended as I answered her first question and ignored the second. “You left with Manhattan Records proprietary information.”

She blinked at me, as if she didn’t understand what I’d just said. “I did what?”

“There were several projects you were working on that have fallen apart since you…left.” I clasped my hands behind my back, unable to stop from fidgeting with my fingers. I hated that I felt so rattled.

“If you remember correctly, I didn’t leave voluntarily,” she countered, her face flushed with anger.

“I need that information so Stu and Suzie can complete the projects in a timely manner.” I couldn’t look at her.

“Why did you come all this way to ask me for something you already have?”

“I don’t have it.” It was painful to admit, but she knew it didn’t make sense for me to be here.

“I don’t give a fuck.” She sighed. “Sorry, Mom.”

“Don’t apologize to me.” Roberta Webb’s voice was cold. “Anything you want to say to that bastard seems appropriate.”

Damn. She’d told her mom about what’d happened between us.

“Look,” I said, “your computer was wiped and your accounts deleted.”

“Again, I don’t give a fuck. I don’t work for you anymore. I didn’t steal anything from your company, so you have no right to be here, where my mother and I are on vacation, demanding I give you something that you foolishly threw away.”

I looked at her now and nearly flinched at the fury on her face. My reaction pissed me off, and I took a step toward her. “No, this is not on me. You falsifying information on your job application is why you were fired. That’s on you. As per policy, you should have backed up everything somewhere, which means you either stole the backup or didn’t make one. Both of which means it’s on you.”

“I didn’t falsify shit.” She pointed at me.

“You had research on me,” I shot back.

“No, I had research on Finley Kordell!”

I didn’t quite know how to take that. “It’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not.” She shook her head. “He’s my father.”

Forty-Seven

Ashlee

As soon asthe words left my mouth, I wished I could take them back. For four years I’d kept this secret close, never wanting my mother to know that I’d gone looking for the man who’d contributed to half my genetic makeup.

Tears flooded my eyes as anger and shame battled for control. Anger quickly won, and I stepped forward, planting my hands on Nate’s chest and shoving him with every ounce of strength I had. He stumbled back, almost falling, the look on his face so comical that, had circumstances been different, I would have laughed.

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