Take Me Again (The Knight Brothers 1)

“I’m going to talk to the head of Purchasing again today, so I might have the name soon, too.” He was beginning to think Katherine had wanted him to find the answers on his own without her having to snitch to him with information. She’d handed over the papers too eagerly.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Parker asked.

He wasn’t willing to share the burden until he knew something for certain. “Gotta go, Parker. Talk to you soon,” he said, disconnecting the call.

He glanced at Ashley and she treated him to a reassuring smile. “Thank you,” he said, surprised when the words left his mouth.

“For what?”

“For being my rock.”

She glanced up at him in surprise, her eyes softening as she met his gaze. “If I can give you that, I’m glad.”

“You do.” He left it at that. “I’m going to have to meet with Katherine Downing again. I think she’s holding out on me.” He placed a hand on the file of bills.

“She has children. She needs the job.”

He nodded, having already thought about that. “I’m going to have to push her.”

“Do what you have to do,” Ashley said. “You have no choice.”

He treated her to a grim smile. He took in her empty yogurt cup and finished coffee. “Ready to go to the office?”

She nodded. “Let me grab my purse.”

Time to find out what the hell was really going on at Knight Time Technology in California.

* * *

On their way to the office, Parker called back. Ashley couldn’t help but hear and realized it hadn’t taken him long to find out that Sparrow was a new company that had opened up seemingly overnight. They didn’t have a track record with big companies buying from them, and Sebastian told her that made him nervous.

Once at the office, Ashley followed Sebastian into the conference room where Katherine Downing waited for them. Ashley had asked him if he wanted to deal with the woman one on one, but he’d insisted she join him.

His rock.

She didn’t know what to make of that statement, but she was glad she could be here for him when he needed her.

Katherine had chosen a seat on the longer end of the conference table, leaving the head for Sebastian. He took it, settling in.

“Katherine, how are you?” he asked, clasping his hands on the table.

“Good. Good.” But her forehead beaded with perspiration, her nerves at meeting the boss again, this time in a private conference room, showing.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Sebastian said. “Your job is on the line. Anyone having anything to do with this project isn’t safe if Knight Time loses this Keystone contract, so I need honest answers. Do we understand each other?”

She nodded solemnly, bobbing her head quickly.

Ashley knew this hard line wasn’t easy for him, but she also understood what was at stake. She was proud of him and how he was handling things. From Ethan, she knew Sebastian hadn’t taken his personal life seriously, though he’d tried to stand up for the business in the past. But she could see the changes in him now, as he found his footing and worked to save the company. He was a man she was coming to admire, something she never would have thought possible upon her return to New York.

“Good. Now, you gave me the purchase orders for the project and I went through them,” Sebastian said. “Let’s start with Sparrow Electronics. I noticed we bought most of our components for the locks from them. In fact, we purchased the main component from them. As the head of purchasing, you signed off.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I need to see all the bids.”

She flushed red. “I–”

He pinned her with a harsh glare.

“They aren’t the lowest bidder,” she said, the words tumbling out as she twisted her hands together on the table.

Ashley glanced at Sebastian, whose gaze had narrowed. “Why the hell not?” he asked.

She wondered that as well.

“Umm–” Katherine clearly didn’t want to answer.

“You picked a high bid from a new, untried company, and I want to know why,” Sebastian pushed.

“It wasn’t me,” she said. “I mean, it wasn’t my choice.” Tears formed in her eyes. “Please, Mr. Knight. I have kids. I’m a single mom and I need this job.”

“Just explain it to me,” Sebastian said, his voice gentling. “I’m not here to be the bad guy. I just need to get to the bottom of things.”

The other woman swallowed hard. “Okay. It was Mrs. Knight who made the final decisions on which bids to take.”

“Mrs. Knight?” Ashley asked. “Amanda Knight?” Her stomach churned at the direction this conversation was taking, and though it wasn’t her place to jump in, she couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes,” Katherine said. “She told me what to order and from which company. I questioned her. It didn’t make sense to me why we were paying so much more for components than we had in the past, but she said it wasn’t my place to question things.” Katherine glanced down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to say anything about the boss’s wife. Like I said, I really need my job–”