His Hush-Hush Baby - Holly Rayner Page 0,42

find out the truth about Kai. She’d been an idiot to bypass asking him about the emails and fully recognized that doing so could have done extra damage.

A knock on the door made her frantic pacing stop.

“Yes?” she called.

“It’s Brie.” The door opened, and Brie popped her head in. “Hey.”

“Oh. Hey.” Diane tucked her hair behind her ears, only then noticing how much her hands were shaking.

Entering the room, Brie closed the door softly behind herself. “How’s it going?”

“Okay.” She wrapped her arms around her torso.

What a lie. Nothing was okay. She’d thought by coming to Kai’s office she was seizing the chance to make things better. But what explanation could he have for those emails that wasn’t completely criminal?

The tears came fast, streaking down Diane’s cheeks. Her inhale was jagged, her strength leaving her starting at the knees.

Brie’s eyes widened. “Hey now.”

Diane took a step and nearly collapsed. Rushing forward, Brie wrapped her arms around her and guided her to the couch. There, Diane let out a choked sob.

“What’s wrong?” Brie asked. “Tell me.”

Diane closed her eyes and waited until she was sure the tears had stopped. After a minute, she opened them up and blinked hard. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

“Don’t say that. You want to talk to him, right? Try and make things work?”

“I don’t know.” She couldn’t stop chewing on the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know.”

“You’re scaring me a little. Want me to make you some tea?”

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary.” Diane pressed her palms to her hot cheeks.

“Okay. Want to tell me what’s going on?”

Turning on the cushion, Diane looked at her friend. A few hours ago, she’d been at another doctor’s appointment, and this one had included her first ultrasound. It would have been so nice to have someone there with her.

Instead, she’d come out of the building clutching ultrasound pictures, eyes misty from a mix of joy and sadness.

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.

Brie’s eyes bugged. “You’re pregnant?”

“Yeah.” She glanced at the office door.

“Is it…”

“Yes.” Diane sniffed, but wouldn’t let herself cry again. “It’s his.”

“Wow.” Brie studied her face. “He doesn’t know, does he?”

“No, he doesn’t know, and I know that sounds awful, but I have my reasons, okay?”

Brie grabbed Diane’s hand. “Honey, my opinion is that it’s your baby first and foremost. You do what you need to do. However, with that said, I also think Kai would make a great dad.”

Diane grimaced.

“What?” said Brie.

“You’ve known him for a while,” Diane broached.

“Years.” Brie’s eyes narrowed. “Is there something I should be picking up on here that I’m not?”

“I found something out about him while he was away the other week.” She glanced at the door again and lowered her voice to a whisper. “There were these emails he’d printed out, in his apartment. He gave different people different prices for the same stock, all on the same day.”

Brie stared, frozen, at Diane.

“That’s fishy, right?” Diane asked. “That’s not how it works.”

Brie shook her head slightly, as if she was waking up from a dream. “No. Stocks change fast, though. It’s possible that they could have changed that swiftly.”

“Really?” Diane sat a little straighter. God, if all the drama she’d put herself and Kai through had been for nothing, she deserved a kick in the butt.

Brie made a face. “Yeah, it happens.”

“You don’t look convinced, though. Why don’t you look convinced? This is your field.”

Brie blew out a heavy breath. “Here’s the thing. If this were an isolated event, I would overlook it.”

Diane’s blood ran cold. “You’ve seen this before?”

“Not exactly that, but there’s been some suspicious activity lately.”

Diane wondered if she was really still sitting down. A few seconds ago, things had been looking up. Now they were back in the toilet, and the room was spinning.

“Tell me what you mean by suspicious activity.” She tried her best, but it was hard to keep the desperation out of her voice.

“Unusual checks.” Brie closed her eyes, shoulders sagging. “Missing paperwork.”

“Oh my God.” Diane raised her palm to her mouth. “You don’t think he’s…stealing from the company?”

Brie met her gaze. “It sure does point to something like that.”

“You really think he would do that?”

“I haven’t wanted to believe it, but now you’re telling me about these emails. As awful as it sounds, Kai could be not only manipulating stocks but…” Rather than finish, Brie looked away.

“Embezzling from his own company,” Diane finished.

“Why haven’t you done anything?” Brie asked. “Or have you?”

Diane pressed her fingers to her tight lips. “Because I didn’t want