Filthy Rich Alpha - Virna DePaul Page 0,55
me a while ago?”
“Yes. Since Branden’s busy, Mike brought it to me. I’m not your boss, Cara, but I am helping Branden clean house around here. This report is exactly the sort of thing we’re concerned with.”
“I can see why. I can only tell you what I told Mike. Not only do I not know S. M. Mahoney, but I never send my reports to anyone other than Max and Jean…and now Branden. If it was forwarded from my computer, it wasn’t me who did it.”
“I understand. Unfortunately, who struck the key on the computer will be a difficult thing to prove. Mahoney bought that stock at a very low price. He sold it the following week at market value. He made over ten million dollars off the sale. This looks very much like an insider tip.”
Deena’s gaze was so direct Cara felt like it was penetrating her brain. She actually wished that it was, so that Deena could see Cara was telling the truth.
“I don’t know what to say, Deena. I promise you I had nothing to do with this, other than preparing the report and sending it to whomever I was supposed to. I can’t prove that, but if you check my other reports you’ll see that I never sent them to anyone other than Max, Jean, and then Branden after he took over.”
“We will check those. Again, it’s unfortunate that history alone won’t be enough to prove anything,” Deena said as she stood up.
Cara stood, too. “Am I in some kind of trouble?”
Deena studied her intently, as if seeing Cara for the first time. “I’m not sure. But Cara, if you have done something wrong, don’t think warming Branden’s bed will protect you. Because it won’t. And I’ll do anything to see Branden protected.”
Branden had been in a meeting when the calls came in from Mike and Deena. Now, standing in the hallway, he checked his messages.
The one from Mike said, “Mr. Duke, I’ve found something interesting that involves Miss Michal. I’d like to speak to you about it as soon as you have a free moment.”
The next one from Deena said, “Call me. Your girlfriend has found herself in the middle of a mess.”
Branden looked at the time: eleven-thirty. He had another meeting in an hour. He called and rescheduled, then instead of calling Mike or Deena, he held the phone in the palm of his hand, staring at it as if the weight was unfamiliar. Uncomfortable.
If he was being completely practical, he shouldn’t call Cara first. She wasn’t his girlfriend, as his sister had said. He hadn’t had one of those since college.
But it didn’t matter. With Cara, practicality was the least of his concerns. She might not be his girlfriend, but she was his.
And now Cara was supposedly in a “mess” at D&M, but hadn’t called him to fix things for her. Why?
He punched the autodial button assigned to her, and when she answered, he bluntly said, “Join me for lunch.”
A brief silence met his statement, then Cara quietly asked, “Have you spoken to Mike or Deena yet? Because that might affect whether you really want to have lunch with me.”
“I was in a meeting. Got messages from them both. I know they’re concerned with something having to do with work. I’d rather hear the news directly from you, but you were the only person I didn’t have a call from. Is everything all right?”
“No.”
Frustration pitched over him. Despite the closeness they’d shared recently, she was determined not to ask for help. Not to need anything. Not to need him. He resisted stating the cliché “no man is an island” and instead blew out a slow breath, then said, “Yet you didn’t call me.”
“I don’t want to run to the principal’s office with my every little problem,” she said. Branden could tell by the sound of her voice that she didn’t think whatever was going on as a “little problem.”
“Fine. You’re being called to his office and he’ll force you to talk.”
Cara laughed and said, “That actually sounds like fun. Kinky, but fun.”
Branden smiled. This woman either had him completely fooled or had absolutely nothing to hide.
And he figured it was the latter.
“How about Inatesso in about an hour?”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
“Great. I hate to eat pizza alone.”
Chapter 17
“So it seems pizza was a good idea,” Branden said.
Cara felt her face go hot. She looked down at the warm slice in her hand. They had been talking about the email Mike found