Page 110 of Forget Me

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MIMI

I turned awayfrom the entrance. I couldn’t watch Ben make heart-eyes at someone who looked so much like the man I’d thrown away and lost.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” I asked Natalie.

But she was distracted, too. Her brother Andrew slouched next to her, his eyes darting around the room. “She didn’t come,” he mumbled, just loud enough for me to hear.

Natalie hugged him. “It’s still early—”

“She’s not coming. She’s afraid. She doesn’t love me enough to…”

I blinked at the pair of them. If I were Ben, I’d get caught up in what sounded like a juicy situation. But Andrew’s words were too much like my own thoughts. Someone I loved was missing, too.

“I’m leaving,” he said, his voice stronger. “Great party, sis.” He shook himself and gave me a tight smile. “Fantastic job, Mimi.”

“Stay,” Natalie pleaded. “There’s time.”

“No. She’s had enough time. And, fuck, here comes smug Jackson. I can’t.” Andrew dived into the crowd just as Jackson Jones sauntered up to us. His brown eyes were champagne-bright.

“Where’d Andrew go? He hasn’t given me his donation yet. But you’re going to love this. I just accepted a ten-thousand-dollar check from that van der Poel asshole. He wanted to give it to you, Nat—isn’t he your date?—but I told him it was my fucking foundation, and ten Gs wasn’t going to get him into your pants.

“Anyway, I wanted to thank you two again for pulling this together. Whatever I pay you, it’s not enough for what you’ve done here tonight.” He waved at the dinner tables sparkling with crystal and silver, at the band and the couples dancing, at the people who’d come in their finery on Valentine’s Day to support neurodivergent kids.

Natalie snorted. “You don’t pay us anything, Jackson. I helped because you’re my brother and I didn’t want you to fall on your face with your first big event. Mimi helped out of the kindness of her heart. Because she loves supporting kids.”

I did want that assistant director position, though. “Well, that’s not entirely—”

“Wait.” Jackson frowned. “I’m not paying you?”

“No.” I mirrored his frown. “Well, I mean, you are paying me for my work at Synergy, but my work for the foundation is pro bono.”

“But I’ve been transferring money into the payroll account every two weeks. Larissa said she’d distribute it among the staff.”

Natalie gasped.

I went cold. The foundation didn’t have a payroll account. Larissa said Jackson paid her directly, and I didn’t have to worry about it. I’d planned to talk to Jackson about how to better manage the foundation funding and its impact on his personal taxes, but I’d wanted to wait until after Larissa decided about the assistant director position. Bile surged in my belly.

I swallowed. It was a big accusation. But there was no other explanation for everything Natalie and I had seen. “I think Larissa’s been enriching herself through the foundation. She kept the entire payroll. And there have been other questionable expenses. Conflicts of interest. I have documentation I gave Larissa cash for a deposit, but she didn’t give it to the vendor. It’s disappeared. And I have this”—I pulled the folded papers out of my clutch—“proof that Larissa drained the foundation’s rainy-day fund last night. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it before now.”

“Oh, fuck.” Jackson scanned the papers. “Fucking amateur move not to even mask her IP address. It’ll take me two seconds to confirm it was her.”

He ran a hand over his face. “I suck at the business end of things. I should’ve gotten Cooper to help me with this. But she came so well recommended. And, frankly, she scares me a little.” He drew himself up. “I’m going to need copies of the rest of that documentation for my lawyer.”

“Of course. I can get it to you tomorrow morning.”

“Send it to me Monday. You shouldn’t work on the weekend. Let’s hope she goes quietly and money can straighten out this mess.” He pulled out his phone, dialed, and murmured into it.

“I never thought—” I whispered.

“I did,” Natalie said. “That guy Flavio is her partner in crime, not her fiancé.”

“He did give off a certain vibe.”

Jackson pulled the phone from his ear. “Security’s going to locate her and avoid making a scene.” He tugged at the roots of his hair. “Now, where am I going to find a new foundation director to straighten out this mess?” He scanned the crowd like they were a line of candidates.

“Jackson, you numbnuts,” Natalie said. “Your new director is standing right in front of you.” She grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in front of herself.

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