Once it was just the three of us left, Kameron spoke what he really wanted to say and that was pointing out that he felt Daley had something to do with the missing money.
“Kameron, none of this makes sense. Daley is our main accountant with the most access to the money. I’m sure he would've caught it.” Hearing Kandon take up for that piece of shit and his reasoning for not reporting the missing funds intensified the tension in my neck even more.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, I caught the slight tremor in Kameron’s hands and knew his anxiety was doing a number on him. “Kandon, separate your personal relationship with him and think like a CEO of a large company. Son-in-law or not, how did he not notice the money missing? It’s okay for him to perform half an ass job, bypass the system and override the errors?” He pounded his hand on the table causing a cup of water to turn over.
I felt the stare of Kandon before he opened his mouth. “You have nothing to say, Paxton?”
With little might, I forced myself to remain impartial to his whining. Leaning against the wall with my hands in my pockets, rubbing my knuckles against the fabric to stop myself from rubbing them across his face, I chuckled. “Actually, I do have something to say and that’s I told you so and you better fix this shit.” Was no need for me to yell. The reverberant depth of my voice touched each corner of the room with ease.
His nose flared, fingers tightening around the pen he held. Pushing off the wall I walked around until I stood beside him and knelt until my scowl was right in his face. “You think I care that you’re puffing your chest out over that nigga? Nah, I’m not taking responsibility for the shit you did on your own. We all specifically told you to choose wisely. We placed trust in you to find a qualified candidate for the job. Did you listen? No, you didn’t. Why, because Kandon likes to do what Kandon wants to do. You, my brother, lack knowledge and wisdom. Can’t forget about good ole common sense. I advise you to divert that attitude towards yourself.”
I placed my arms on the table and leaned in closer, “What I will say is this, if I find out he is behind this both of you will be held accountable by my mercy.”
When it came to business, Kandon and I disagreed each time we sat in the boardroom. Outside of the office and business attire, he and I were best friends - being the loving brothers our parents raised us to be. However, once he stepped inside this building, he allowed his title to turn him into a corporate asshole.
The large oak table separated us from any physical contact, but it did nothing to shield the heat rolling off his body. “Have you forgotten your place in the company, Paxton? I run things on this side of the water. While you were out drinking your life away and being a fuck up, I ran things. I don’t give a damn about your accusations because I know what I did and didn’t do.”
Grinding my back teeth, I shook off the urge to pound my fist in his face. I knew he’d flaunt his title in my face eventually. But that’s the thing, he couldn’t fire me if he wanted to. And if he did have the power, he’d be doing me more of a service than he thought. “I don’t give a fuck about your title, Kandon, and you know it. Your title don’t mean shit because you’re incompetent to do your job.”
He barked a pissed off laugh. “I’m incompetent? Motherfucker, it was you who screwed up shit in the first place. Did you forget that, or you don’t want to remember? Want us all to forget that you didn’t care shit about this company as long as you got drunk. Fuck you. I don’t have time to sit here and listen to you.” He grabbed his notepad and stood. “I’ll put together a team to look for the money.” He gave his attention to Kameron. “Regardless of what you think of me, Kam, I didn’t steal the money.” He glared at me one last time before leaving out.
As soon as he left Kameron dropped his head on the table and exhaled. “I heard what he said but I don’t trust him. I feel like he’s going to try and fix it before we can find the real thief.”
I felt the same way too.
“I hired someone to come and do what we failed to do - figure out how the money was able to go missing right under our nose and clean up the rest of your shit.”
“Who is he? Are they credible?”
Kameron sucked his teeth turning off all the lights in the conference room. “Out of all the things to ask, you dare to ask if I chose someone credible?” He shook his head.
I wanted to smack that stupid ass grin off his face. It worked with women, but it was annoying to me. “It’s a she. She will be here tomorrow.”
She?
The wider his grin got the more the dots connected, and I understood the subliminal message. I knew who she was.
There’s only one woman.
Only one she.
One she to tilt my axis. I should’ve felt embarrassed about how my body reacted to the thought of her. My legs felt heavy. Weighed down. Numb and tingly. My sassy baby. My shoulders rolled as my eyes closed.
Apricots and honey.
She’s coming here.
Coming to me.
Coming home.
It all made sense now. I thought I finally lost my mind last week when the smell of my Irish Spring soap changed to citrus. Changed to smell like her - apricots and honey. My showers went from ten minutes to half an hour. I needed to smell her even if it was my imagination playing tricks on me. Seven years had passed, but I knew that smell…her smell.
His hand on my shoulder felt heavy. “Pax, she’s only here for business purposes. At this point, I don’t trust anyone to fix all this shit.” He gave me a look of concern.
Clearing my throat, I spoke honestly, “Jacolby and I haven’t crossed paths in years. Last I knew there wasn’t any animosity.” That’s a lie. A bold-faced lie.
He nodded. “Good. Jacolby will be working in the office down the hall from yours on the other side. Shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Such an asshole. “Before you know it, she’ll be done and moved on to her next assignment.” That was the problem. Jacolby had a cruel way of moving on without the other party involved getting the memo.