Freedom (Billionaire Secrets 2)

She bit her lip. “Do you still want to talk?”

“Of course I do.” He kept his gaze on her, searching for anything that would give away what she was really thinking. Really feeling.

Everything he had just said to her had been said with his real emotions. But part of him had said those things to keep the charade going. If he pretended that all he was interested in was a relationship, she’d never catch on that he was trying to get the truth out of her.

But as her hazel eyes looked back at him, shining with unshed tears, guilt gnawed at him. What if Heather was innocent? He would have had this conversation under false pretenses. Which meant nothing he had just said to her was pure no matter how much he meant it.

His stomach started to churn. He felt sick over his deception. If Heather was playing him, he was playing right along with her.

“Can it wait?” she asked. “I need a little time.”

“I completely understand,” he said. “Do you want me to maybe check on how you’re doing in a few days?”

“I’d like that. Thank you, Simon.”

“Thank you for sticking to your promise,” he said. “I know it can’t be easy with all the craziness that’s been going on.”

“Working at Dover has made things easy. It’s been good to have a job I enjoy.” She flashed him a smile, and his stomach knotted at the sight. Because he wasn’t sure if her smile or her words were genuine, and that was killing him.

“Glad to hear it,” he forced out.

“Coming to work keeps my mind off my problems,” she said. “Gary is still trying to take Finn away and that’s been so stressful.”

“I’m sorry I drove you into being with him,” he said.

“Don’t blame yourself. You were right. It wasn’t fair for me to blame you for my decision to be with Gary.” She ran her fingers through his hair. The touch was so intimate. And unusual for her during work hours while they were at Dover headquarters. Which meant Gary was either putting her under considerable pressure and she needed to reach out, or she was faking it all to keep Simon under her spell.

He covered her hand with his. “Heather.”

“Not here,” she whispered.

“You haven’t even heard what I was going to say.”

“I’ve seen that look in your eyes before. I know what it means.” She smiled knowingly. “We can continue this in a few days.” Something seductive flashed in her eyes. “It’s time to get back to our offices.”

He forced back a groan and reluctantly pulled his hand away. “You’re right.”

Minutes later, he stepped into his office to get ready to go out for lunch. Heather would more than likely eat in one of the cafeterias, while he was going to be taking a business lunch with an investor. With the media frenzy, he still had a lot of work to do to regain the trust of Dover’s investors. Simon tried not to remind himself that some of that work might mean exposing Heather, but deep down he knew that was the only way to save both Dover and his job as CEO. He had to find the spy, no matter the cost.

He grabbed his jacket and stepped out. Down the hall from his office he saw Heather walk over to her ex-husband, who was heading out of the elevator.

Heather glanced over her shoulder, as if she was suspicious of being caught with her husband. Without thinking, Simon ducked back into his office. If she caught him watching her, she might get even more suspicious.

Simon cursed under his breath, hoping like hell she hadn’t spotted him spying on her.

For whatever reason, Heather didn’t want anyone to see her with Gary. And that felt like another piece of the puzzle falling into place. Heather had often mentioned her fractured relationship with her ex-husband, but for all he knew she could have been exaggerating all that. Even outright making some of it up.

If she had been so ready to lie about her identity during her job interview, there was no telling what else she might be willing to lie about. Which meant there was a chance that her ex-husband was in on her scheme as well.

SHE EYED HER EX-HUSBAND suspiciously. “What do you want now, Gary?”

“I thought I’d take you out to lunch today,” he replied.