I scanned the papers and was shocked at what I found.
“You have their financials,” I said.
“I do,” Logan said.
My eyes flickered up to him before they moved over to Ralph.
“Mr. Foster was the one who acquired all the information we needed for this meeting,” he said.
I nodded but wondered if that was merely a coincidence or purposeful. Either way, the information he had was awesome.
“I take it all these signed contracts you have correspond with the refunded transactions on this statement?” I asked.
“They do. They’re color-coordinated. Within the contracts themselves, I’ve highlighted the loopholes the company is using to secure these refunds, which doesn’t work well in our favor, because they’re winning these in-court lawsuits,” Logan said.
“But this last page is an email.”
“Read it.”
My eyes flickered back up to him before they fell to the page in front of me. I had wanted to ignore him the entire meeting and had been prepared to try my best, but he had found a way to engage me. I drew in a deep breath through my nose before I began reading the email, and the more I read, the more my eyes bulged.
“How did you get this?” I asked.
“Let me see it,” my boss said.
I passed him the email before my eyes returned to Logan. How I wished I was having this conversation with anyone else, anyone who didn’t have those comforting eyes.
“Holy shit. This email alludes to what they’re doing. Where did you get this?” my boss asked.
“From his personal email,” Ralph said. “I can’t subpoena confidential business email unless I have viable proof to support it. That personal email gives it to me.”
“How did you get the email in the first place?” I asked.
“Mr. Foster has some creative tactics he uses winith regard to bending a few loopholes of his own. It’s why I keep him on my team,” Ralph said.
Again, my eyes darted back to Logan.
“So, where do we go from here?” my boss asked.
“I’ll contact them and tell them we’re willing to sit down and settle this out of court. We’ll get them in here, present them with all this information. Then I’ll let them know I’m fully willing to subpoena any and all private and confidential business records and emails should they choose to further their witch hunt for money,” Ralph said.
“That—sounds like an excellent plan. Set it up,” my boss said.
“Will do. We’ll be in touch, Mr. Craven.”
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us,” I said.
“It’s never a problem,” Logan said.
My eyes whipped over to his, and even I noted the odd look Logan’s boss gave him. Ralph dismissed the meeting, and everyone quickly dispersed, wanting to get to lunch as quickly as they could. I packed up my things and headed for the doorway, wanting to get away from Logan as quickly as possible.
I should have known he would stop me in the hallway.
“Ava, wait.”
I sighed and shook my head before I turned around and looked at him. “Yes?” I asked.
“How are you feeling?”
“Look, you were right, okay?”
My boss passed us and patted my shoulder, so I shut my mouth so we wouldn’t be overheard.
“What do you mean?” Logan asked once they were gone.
“You were right. I wasn’t actually on my—you know. But I still wasn’t feeling well.”
“What happened that night, Ava? I’ve been worried about you.”
“You could’ve fooled me,” I said.
“Just because I was upset with you doesn’t mean I wasn’t worried,” Logan said.
“Look, a lot has been brought to my attention over the past few days, and I think we’re better off as friends.”
“What?”
“In fact, I honestly think we’re better off as just two people whose work runs them into one another every once in a while.”
Logan’s eyes locked heavily on my face as I sighed.
“Why?” he asked.
“We got off on the wrong foot. We started all this behind the back of someone we shouldn’t have. We said we’d keep everything business and did everything but. And now? We’re reaping the consequences of those actions.”
“What consequences? Ava, I enjoy spending time with you. I don’t want this to be a business relationship.”
“It doesn’t matter what you want sometimes,” I said.
“Well, it does when it comes to people I care about.”
His words slammed me in the gut and took my breath away.
“I care about you, Ava.”
“Well, I don’t care about you,” I said. I forced the words out of my mouth and watched how they broke Logan down.
“You don’t mean that. I know you don’t.”
“We are working together on business stuff, and we should leave it at that,” I said.
“No, Ava. I’m not leaving it at that.”
“You have no choice.”
“I always have a choice. When that dating agency offered us a second go-around, I didn’t choose to do it because of the paperwork, Ava. I chose to do it because—”
My phone rang out in my purse, and I scrambled for it as quickly as I could. I answered it and held it to my ear without even looking at who was calling. Anything to get Logan to stop talking. Anything to get him from talking me back into something I knew we couldn’t continue.