Sold To The Sheikh Bidder

Having them look into the problem internally was one option, but if there was a problem, having the team investigate it could cause them to point fingers at each other. It wouldn’t be good for morale. But an external audit could keep the peace, and if it showed a problem within the operation, it would give her a chance to fix it without causing a fuss.

Kayla was apparently thinking along the same lines. She said, “Yes. I’ll get Greg on the phone and have him go over the books.”

Lauren nodded even though Kayla couldn’t see her. Greg was a friend of theirs from college who had started his own accounting firm. He’d advised Lauren when she was starting out, and the company still kept him on retainer for regular external audits.

“Good. Let me know what you find. I’ll be out running errands for a bit this afternoon, but text me if anything comes up.”

“Are you still wearing that awful maid’s uniform?” Kayla asked and Lauren could hear the teasing grin.

“Yes. Not so awful today, since I made a few alterations to it.”

Kayla laughed. “What if he rented it?”

“Oh, well, too bad,” Lauren said in a sing-song voice. “I guess he should have thought of that before he made me wear it.”

“Maybe he’ll let you have it as a gift when this week is up.”

“Funny, Kay. Talk to you later.”

Kayla, still laughing, said goodbye and Lauren disconnected the call. She didn’t like not being there if something was going wrong, but she knew Kayla had everything under control. Wonky books could be anything: a simple mistake, a sign of a poor process that she would need to update, or something more sinister. Whatever it was, she would keep a closer eye on the office for the next few days.

A thought flitted through her head that she could ask Hakim how he handled problems like this one. She could always ask her mother, but Lauren tried to keep her company independent from Patricia, something her mother encouraged. She was always happy to offer advice, whether Lauren asked or not, but Patricia had also told her several times how proud she was of the fact that Lauren could manage her business on her own.

It would be nice to have another CEO’s perspective. But she didn’t want to open her business up to him. She might be willing to give him a chance, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable with him having that kind of insight into her company.

Her phone dinged with a text from Kayla containing the background on the calls Lauren needed to make. Lauren put the question of talking shop with Hakim out of her mind, and focused on running her business for the next hour.

After lunch and running Hakim’s errands, she took Zeus for another walk. It wasn’t on her list of chores, but Zeus was happy to oblige; he tugged Lauren down the street and around the block while she let her mind wander.

If there was a problem at work, maybe Hakim would let her work out some sort of delayed fulfillment plan. She could come back and finish out her week later on. Though if the rest of the week were like that day, Lauren could handle the work remotely. She’d gotten more done than she’d expected.

And after that morning, she was looking forward to getting to know Hakim better. If she gave him a chance, maybe she could broker some sort of peace between him and Patricia. At least she could form her own opinion of him, instead of simply believing everything her mother had said.

Before Lauren knew it, the sun was setting and the afternoon was over, and Zeus had led them back to Hakim’s. His car was sitting in the garage, and so Lauren hurried inside.

The first thing she noticed was that Hakim looked upset.

“Hey, sorry we’re late getting back,” she said. “We were having fun exploring the neighborhood and I didn’t realize the time.”

Hakim shook his head. “No need to apologize. It’s fine. Thank you for taking him out.”

Lauren cocked her head. “To be fair, it was more like he took me for a walk, but you’re still welcome.”

He gave her a distracted smile in response. Lauren could tell something was off as he knelt to say hello to Zeus. She put the keys back in place and hung the leash up on its peg on the wall.

“How was work? Start any more blood feuds today?” Lauren’s tone of voice made it clear she was teasing, and she smiled to take any sting out of her words.

“Work was fine. It was a busy day, as usual.”

There was a bitter tone in his voice that surprised her. Lauren crossed the room and laid a hand on his arm.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She knew he was supposed to be some kind of mortal enemy, but he looked preoccupied and even a little upset. Lauren supposed she was sympathetic, knowing what a bad day at work was like when you didn’t have anyone to come home and vent to.