shoved the chair back from her legs. “Excuse me.” The latter she said toward the whole room, walking as calmly as she could.
When she hit the doorway, she broke into a run and didn’t care who saw it. For once, she didn’t care how her actions affected anyone else. She couldn’t.
For once, she had to think about how her heart felt. How she hurt.
Could anyone blame her?
Chapter 40
Tommy
Tommy felt like he’d been kicked in the gut by a steer. As Amanda fled from the room, she took the oxygen with her.
He half-stood, but then sank back into his seat as he realized everyone was slowly turning toward him with ambivalence in their gazes and on their expressions.
Of course, they would blame him. They would be stupid, if they didn’t. And two families didn’t become billionaires doing what they did by being dumb.
Tommy sank back to his seat and splayed his hands on the table. “Yes, I did lie to her. Ms. Halliwell, Jennifer, hired me with a story about how a family stole from her and for her to get back what was rightfully hers, she needed some information and a couple items. To be fair, I was impartial about the whole thing until I met Amanda in person.” Tommy glanced the direction she’d escaped, blinking as one of the sisters followed after her.
“Why would you lie to her, though?” Taylor leaned forward, curiosity in her features, minus the anger. Why wasn’t she mad at him? She should hate him, like he hated himself.
“I lied because I wanted to take the opportunity to see if I could get what I needed. Honestly, it was just a part of the job. It was never my intent to hurt anyone or to even get involved. But as you know, Amanda is hard not to care about. She’s hard not to want to be around.” He shrugged, ignoring the heat in his face and up his neck.
He shook his head, readjusting his hat as he leaned forward and folded his hands in front of him. “I know how it looks, but I told Amanda the truth and I’m helping her get the information she needs from that woman, now.”
“So, you’re like a double agent or something?” Lily furrowed her brow and glanced at her husband.
“In a manner of speaking, yes. Ms. Halliwell told me today that she’s getting keys and passcodes to be able to access a safety deposit box and an account at the Mistletoe Municipal Bank. There are papers in the box that give Amanda something that her mother desperately wants. She will have paid me a total of one-and-a-half million dollars upon completion of the project.” Tommy swallowed, as if he’d just told how much he’d been paid to betray his heart.
“Dad, what could the papers be?” Brooke glanced at the head of the table where her father sat, anxiety riddling her finely proportioned features.
“I don’t know, but I do think we need to consider combining our resources. Merging both matchmaking companies would only make for a stronger foothold when whatever this is comes to light. If Jennifer is paying that much for information, then whatever the payoff is, will be massive and to her benefit.” David pressed his fingers together and studied Tommy above them. “Is there anything you have left out, young man?”
“Ms. Halliwell said she has to be a part of whatever happens because one of the contingencies on both accounts has to do with either of the original account owners being present, if they’re alive with Amanda. Amanda is the key.” Tommy’s heart twisted. She was his key to happiness and he hadn’t stopped her from running away.
Tommy cleared his throat and glanced around the room at everyone who hadn’t left yet. Some wouldn’t look at him, but for the most part, they studied him with expectations he had for himself. “I’m so sorry this happened. And not that I got caught, but that I did it in the first place. Someone like Amanda deserves a man with integrity and honor. I’m obviously lacking in both, but I’m doing whatever I can to fix this for her. She’s the most important thing to me. I don’t care if that hurts any of your feelings or makes the situation seem less important, but that’s the way it is. She matters. She’s all that matters.” Tommy leaned back in the chair.
How was he going to get out of there to stop her from running? How would he get