"Second news flash: if you knew Raven like I do, you'd know that absolutely no one is good enough for her. I'm doing everything I can to keep her from regretting her decision to bless me with her love. It's all I'm capable of."

Using the shocked silence I'd evoked as cover, I reached for the drink that Austy was offering. "Thanks, but I suddenly feel like dancing with my girlfriend." Austy gave me an encouraging nod as I left to find the woman who has made everything so clear for me.

Chapter 25.

T he letters exploded off the page like little landmines trying to take out my eyesight. Alone, each letter was harmless, but string them together and ka-boom! I stared at the doc.u.ment, willing the letters to rearrange themselves on the page. No doubt there were enough of them to make up other words. Other words that wouldn't hurt someone I loved.

Nicholas Paul. Saul Cholinos, Chip Anolusal, Palino Lausch, the combination of letters could easily be found in other names. So why weren't they? Why was I staring at a corporate charter doc.u.ment that listed Nicholas Paul as the CEO? And why did the charter list the business type as a bank? And for the love of Pete, why did the bank have a DBA name that matched the one on the loan doc.u.ments in front of me? The same name on that loan doc.u.ment that I'd questioned at Paul Industries.

This was not good. So not good that I actually hesitated trying to figure out the right thing to do. Of course, I knew the right thing to do. I just didn't know if it was right for everyone involved. In the end, only one option remained.

With dread weighing down my limbs, I gathered the resolve to do what had to be done.

"h.e.l.lo, Ms. Simonini, back for more?" the receptionist at Paul Industries greeted me a few hours later.

190*

On the drive over, I'd managed to rationalize away the awful feelings, knowing I was doing the right thing. I'd rehea.r.s.ed what I was going to say before calling to make an appointment. This had to be done delicately.

"Just a standard follow up. Archie should be expecting me." She handed me a visitor badge, notified his EA, and told me to head on back.

Despite my relationship with Raven, this was the first time I'd been back to this building. I wanted time to let all the changes that I'd recommended settle in before offering my mug as an object of hatred again. Too bad the papers in my briefcase screwed that up for me.

Walking down the hall toward Archie's office, I scarcely remembered the supply room encounter on that weird day.

I didn't know if that kiss truly helped open me up to the relationship I had with Raven, or if it was simply a harmless kiss. All I knew was that I glanced at the room with fondness as I pa.s.sed by.

Only I didn't get far. A dragging force pulled me into the dark room, igniting an eerie sense of deja vu. Breath rushed out of me in a silent exclamation of surprise as I was pressed up against a wall so quickly I barely had time to think. "I'm not Raven!" I protested, saying the first thing that came to mind.

A low, throaty chuckle filled the small room. A sound I knew so well. A sound I loved hearing. "I'd say so." Raven pressed her familiar body up against me. I wished I could see the satisfied grin I knew she was wearing right now, but when her lips descended on mine, I didn't think about anything other than how her tongue swept delicately into my mouth, tantalizing and coaxing mine into hers. Now, this was a kiss. I might have been provoked by Kelly's, but this kiss enlivened and electrified. Raven's kiss was love.

"You're so bad," I croaked when she pulled away. "You can't kiss me like that and expect me to go on with my day."

*191 "How do you think I feel?" Her breath was heavy against my temple where she'd buried her head. "I'm innocently going about my day, and I see the s.e.xiest, most alluring woman I've ever met walking down the hall toward me. What was I supposed to do?"

"Wait, you saw yourself walking down the hall?"

Her palms pressed against my shoulders, pushing playfully at me. She flipped on the light and that s.e.xy grin of hers made my legs tremble. "You're too good to be true.

Now, tell me why I got to enjoy this secret fantasy today?"

"This was a secret fantasy of yours?"

"Ever since I heard my own d.a.m.n AA got to kiss you in this very spot."

The trace of jealousy in her tone delighted me. "She didn't kiss me like that. In fact, compared to your kiss, she didn't kiss me at all."

"Good answer," she practically growled and brought her mouth to mine again. She wasn't just claiming me with her mouth this time. Her heart took hold, too. "Tell me you came to convince me to play hooky again? I no longer care about all these meetings today. Not with you on a flight tonight."

Oh, how I wish I could tell her that. I wish I could tell her anything, but I couldn't. I needed to inform the CEO first. It didn't matter how much my heart screamed at me; I couldn't make myself feel better at the expense of professional propriety. I would tell her afterward.

"I wish, lovely. No, I've got a meeting with Archie. I did push my flight to the red-eye, so we'd have a few more hours tonight. Can you slip out early?" We're going to need to talk. Only I didn't voice that. In a relationship, no one liked to hear those words. Not that I meant them the same way others in relationships did. We'd need to talk about my meeting with Archie. She'd be upset, rightly so, but we could work through that, and I wanted those extra hours to make love with her before I had to leave for two weeks.

192*

"I'll leave as soon as my last meeting is over. Forget the notes." Raven winked conspiratorially. "A few extra hours, ooh, I can't wait." She kissed me chastely this time otherwise we'd never get out of this room. "You leave first. I don't want to cause a scene. Not that they won't see that you were well kissed as you walk away."

I laughed at her feigned c.o.c.kiness. Everything about her made me crackle. I'd never felt this alive in my life, probably because, before I'd met her, I was merely existing. "I can't get over how much I'm in love with you, Raven."

Her eyes misted, and she touched her forehead to mine.

"Do me a favor and don't try to get over it, Jos. I love you just as much."

I bit back the responding moan, but a breathy sigh escaped. "Archie's going to wonder if I got lost."

"Go, darlin'. I'll be going insane all day waiting to get to your place later."

I cupped her neck, feeling her pulse thump under my palm. She matched my intimate gesture. I couldn't stand that I might bring hurt to her with this meeting, but I had a job to do. I turned and left the room, not wanting to look back and see Raven slip out after me.

"Well, Joslyn, what brings you back down?" Archie greeted me at the door of his office. It was the first time I'd seen him since the dinner at Raven's house. While that night had been daunting, it didn't compare to how I felt facing him now.

I closed the door behind us and asked to take a seat.

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news, Archie. I hate to be the one to bring it to you, but I really have no choice."

"This sounds serious."

"It's grave, and I'm not one for dramatics." I pulled out the loan doc.u.ment and charter papers from my briefcase and placed them on the desk. "These doc.u.ments show that your nephew Nicholas has been embezzling money from your company under the guise of repayment of a loan."

*193 Archie rocked back against his chair without focusing on the proof in front of him. "If you'll notice here," I pointed to the charter doc.u.ments, "Nick established a corporation several years ago. Please note the name in the DBA line matches the name of the bank which granted your 'loan' for a manufacturing warehouse you already owned. A few years ago, you sold the warehouse, but continued to pay on the fict.i.tious loan."

"Nicky's always been an enterprising lad. I'm sure there are thousands of businesses out there with this same name."

"You're probably right. Unfortunately, the checks your AP division has been sending match up to the address of Nick's company."

"That doesn't mean it was Nicky." Archie's face hardened. I hadn't expected it to go easily, but his look of disbelief was a little disconcerting.

Glad that I'd gotten further proof, I pulled out the canceled checks. "These are the checks your company has issued as payment of princ.i.p.al and interest on the loan.

You'll note Nick's endors.e.m.e.nt on the back. You can also see the account number into which they've been cashed.

Having looked over your payroll records, I know that Nick's paychecks are deposited to the same account."

"You're accusing him of stealing from me? From the company? From Nathan, his own father?"

"I have proof that he's been stealing from you, sir. I'm sorry to have to give it to you." I hoped he could recognize the regret in my tone.

"What if I told you that I authorized a loan to Nick?"

"I'd like to believe that, Archie, even if the means by which you would have provided that loan isn't exactly on the level. Unfortunately, I know it's not true."

"You can't know that," he spat at me.

I sighed heavily. "I understand this must be hard for you to hear."

194*

"I'm telling you it's a d.a.m.n loan to my nephew!" Archie roared, standing up to lean over the desk.

"I have his bank and credit card statements," I came back calmly even though my pulse raced at his intimidating stance. "Nick uses his credit and debit cards at various casinos, Emerald Downs race track, and one well known betting house. He's obviously been paying off gambling debts for several years. If you'd known and wanted to help him, you would have given him money, Archie. Setting up a payment stream on a fabricated loan would have risked exposure by your auditors."

"This is a family matter," Archie said gruffly. "We'll handle it internally."

"The amounts have escalated significantly to just shy of 300 thousand over the past five years, Archie. He's responsible for fifteen percent of the losses your company has suffered in recent years." That didn't seem to sink in either. "It's not just internal, and you know it. You have silent partners and a board of directors that aren't related to this family. Nick has perpetrated a fraud on them, too. If they find out, they can press charges."

"Are you threatening me?"

I sighed again, baffled that he was acting like a mama bear protecting her cubs. Nick didn't deserve that kind of unconditional devotion, not with the proof I had. "No, sir. I don't plan to tell them."

He sat back down and laced his fingers behind his head.

"That's more like it."

"You can cover for Nick internally if you really believe that will do him any good. To do so, you'd need to pay back the money for him so that your silent partners aren't cheated out of their share of the current and back dividends."

"It's about time you showed some loyalty to this family." A hand unlocked from behind his head, tapping a finger in the air at me. "I like that you're placing your *195 relationship with my niece ahead of your sense of duty.

There's no reason this has to leave this room."

"Ethics is the reason it should leave this room." I paused to let that sink in. "But I'm in love with your niece, and that's the only reason I'd even consider letting you make reparations for your corrupt nephew."

"That's good to hear. I'm sure Raven would appreciate it if she ever found out, which she won't."

I shook my head, dread filling every inch of me.

"Obligation, sir."

"Pardon?"

"Legal obligation is the reason it will leave this room."

He stopped the rocking of his chair. "You're only legally obligated if the firm wants to press charges. Since I own this company and I plan to make rest.i.tution, no one outside the family will have reason to press charges."

"That would be true if Nick hadn't pulled the same scam at his previous employer."

Archie's head fell into his hands as he took in the magnitude of his nephew's predicament. I took out the copies of the loan doc.u.ments he'd drawn up with his former company. The one that had just hired my consulting services, which is how I'd come across Nick's embezzlement scheme. The amounts were much smaller, but theft is theft, and Nick was in deep trouble. "I'll pay that back, too,"

Archie offered.

"Do you really believe that would help him, Archie?

He's committed two felonies. If you bail him out, he may commit more."

"Don't tell me you know what's best for MY nephew!"

Archie stood again and grabbed up the phone in a vicious swipe. "I helped raise that boy. If you're going to tattle on him, you better be sure you let that company know that I'll pay them back. I'll have my lawyer over there so fast they'll beat you to the door. But not before I throw your ungrateful a.s.s out of this building. You are no longer welcome here, 196*

and you are no longer welcome in my family." He barked orders into the phone, but I was already grabbing my briefcase to leave. This went far worse than I expected, and I hadn't expected much.

Security intercepted me when I was ten feet from his office. They made a grand show of flanking me until I'd gotten into my car and driven away. How would I explain all this to Raven? She adored her uncle. If he hated me now, could she forgive me in time to make it up to her tonight before I got on the plane?

Gravel and dust soared when Raven's car skidded to a halt in my driveway. The door flew open and her voice preceded her body out of the car. "How could you not tell me?"

The accusation sounded so unfamiliar coming from her.

Hard, serious, indicting. I hated the sound. "I get how you might be upset, Raven."

"Might be upset?" Her usually loving brown eyes blazed. I felt like stepping to the side in case they shot flames into their path. "Two hours ago you're in my arms, kissing me, acting like nothing is wrong. All the while you're planning to drop this bombsh.e.l.l on my family."

"I needed to notify the CEO first and would have asked permission to tell you had he not had me escorted out."

She started pacing from the front of her car to the back, her door still open, keys left in the ignition. That annoying dinging sound kept time with her steps. "He asked you to leave after you hung a member of my family out to dry."

"You make it sound like I deliberately intended to cause Nick harm."

"Are you saying that you haven't yet turned over your evidence to the police?" Her pacing stopped so she could turn a hopeful look in my direction. .

*197 "I didn't have a choice," I replied, chasing the remnant of hope from her expression. My newest client made that decision for me. They weren't satisfied with Archie's offer to pay back what Nick had stolen. I couldn't blame them, despite my hope that they'd let greed rule their decision.

"There are always options. If you'd come to me as my girlfriend, we could have evaluated the choices together."

"Raven!" I was shocked as much by my admonishing tone as her belief that any other outcome could have been reached. "I'm actually disturbed that you believe there are other choices here. I knew you'd be upset, but I can't let my personal life shape my ethics. Your cousin stole from your company, your silent investors, and, in turn, your entire family. How can you think I did the wrong thing?"

"Because you're putting my cousin in prison when he should be in a rehab program dealing with his gambling problem. I grew up with him. I love him. I can't stand by and watch him go to prison. Had we discussed this, had you respected me enough to include me in this, we could have come to a reasonable solution."

I chose to ignore her deliberate jibe about not respecting her. No need to add more fuel to this incendiary situation.

"I'm shocked that you believe I should have kept this under wraps just because of our relationship."

"He needs help. He needs our compa.s.sion. My lover should have recognized that, but you let your usual professional detachment rule your decisions. You made this a black and white situation like almost everything else in your life."