Page 69 of Single Mom's Secret Diary
Her delicate shiver is enticing, but then she pulls back and points a finger at me. “Straighten yourself out, Mr. Ashcroft. We have a meeting.”
I can’t help but grin as I do as I’m told, adjusting myself, brushing my clothes back into place, and combing my hair with my fingers. Presenting myself to her, I ask, “Acceptable, Miss Caruso?”
Avery makes a soft noise of assent and stalks toward the door like a predator.
I chase after her, watching the alluring way her ass sways as she walks. In Ezra’s office, Wyatt is already waiting for us, so I close the door.
“What’s going on?” she asks, stopping behind the empty chair opposite Ezra. Her hands grip the back, and the tension in the room cranks tighter. This isn’t a personal meeting, although it certainly feels like it.
Frowning, I watch Avery re-erecting the walls we’ve been battering against. This isn’t something she needs to do that for.
“We’ve had a leak. One of our competitors has filed a patent for the project you’ve been working on.” Ezra sits with his hands folded together on his desk. It’s almost a pleading gesture.
Avery’s shoulders stiffen, the playful glint in her eyes vanishes, and she shuts down completely. She doesn’t say anything, staring at Ezra as if waiting for the accusation. She’s already been accused once, of course. Falsely. We all know that.
“The board checked your cloud and determined it wasn’t you.” Voice even, gentle, but the news he breaks is bad. I can see it transform her even further.
Her eyes narrow, and her hands ball into fists. “You did what?”
She’s whisper quiet. My heart rockets in my chest.
Shit. This isn’t going well. Not at all the way we’d talked about when the news broke and the board did what it always did. Overreact. That was its main function, however, to take big steps to secure the company’s future.
Ezra slumps back in his chair like he’s been beaten. His jaw clenches as he meets her glare. “Sit, please.”
I touch the small of her back to guide her around to sit, but she bats my hand away, putting distance between us. It’s like a blow to the chest I wasn’t expecting.
“And what? Did you need to check my personal phone, too, just to be sure about me?” She pulls her phone from her pocket, unlocks it, and tosses it onto his desk.
A picture of her son—Ezra’s son—smiles up at us from the background.
Avery crosses her arms and waits.
Ezra makes no move to take the phone, maintaining her eye contact without flinching. “I never thought it was you. But I’m only one vote on the board.”
Red splotches form across her cheeks, but they don’t spread like they do when she’s embarrassed or aroused. She’s spitting mad, and I’m braced for her to throw something.
Ezra doesn’t seem to be.
I chance a glance at Wyatt, who’s watching Avery with the same concern growing in my gut.
Avery plants her hands on her hips, brow lifting in accusation. Then, she turns to pin Wyatt and me with her gaze. Calculating. Dissecting. Judging.
“Why did you fire Laurel?”
I shake my head to clear the discombobulation from that sharp turn. Why would she ask about Laurel? It’s been clear this entire time that she and Laurel didn’t get along. None of that is Avery’s fault. She’s never been anything but polite and professional as far as I’ve seen, and I really can’t imagine that she would behave any other way while at work.
Except for with us.
Numb shock spreads its icy tendrils between my ribs.
“Was that a board decision, too? Or do you only hide behind them when it comes to me?”
Fuck, she sounds so cold. Cut off.
I won’t be surprised if ice sprouts across the carpet and up the walls.
Ezra turns and pulls something from a drawer in his desk. The file in his hand is the one we said we wouldn’t show her.
