I motion for him to sit across from my desk. I move to lean on my desk, facing him and splaying my hands on the polished wood. “What we talk about here stays in this office. Do you understand? You will be the only person besides myself who knows, so if I hear any of this circulating, I’ll know exactly where it came from.” I fix him with the hardest look I can, making sure he knows I’m serious. I don’t like having to strong arm Larry, but it’s important he obeys.
“Y-yes. I can keep a secret.”
I size him up, letting the moment hang between us. “Good,” I say finally. “I believe you.” I spend a few minutes catching him up on everything I know about Dean and what he could do to bring the company down.
Larry licks his lips when I’ve finished. “I’m sorry to hear it, Mr. Steele, but I don’t see how I fit into all of this?”
“You’re going to help me bring Dean down. He thinks he has everything there is on the company, but he’s missing one critical file. I have three foreign bank accounts. A portion of sales are discreetly moved to those accounts. I pay taxes on those funds, but a smaller percentage.”
Larry’s eyes search the floor and I see the gears churning. He’s already figuring out where I’m going with this. “You want to make sure he doesn’t know about those accounts when he takes over control of the company. If someone tipped the IRS about it, he could face serious charges for tax evasion. Incarceration is rare, especially in this case. It would be hard to prove he willfully avoiding filing when there wasn’t clear documentation about the accounts.”
“Yeah,” I say. “I figured as much. That’s just the first nail in the coffin.”
As if on cue, there’s another knock at my door. I let in Henry, who looks tired, but took the time to put on a polo and some slacks. He nods seriously to me. “Mr. Steel.”
“Come in, Henry.”
Larry gives Henry a curious look.
I dismiss Larry and give Henry the same warning I gave Larry.
“I need you to do a very big favor that’s of questionable legality.”
Henry has always been ambitious, and as I hoped, he agrees without pause. “Whatever you need, Mr. Steel.”
“When Dean takes over the company, he’s going to make it public again. All I need you to do is make sure Dean has this information.” I hand Henry a USB drive. “It has sensitive information about the company detailing the dates some of our deals will close. When we’re publicly traded, these events will all cause the stock to fluctuate. It doesn’t matter if Dean ever looks at these, it’s just important that it’s on his computer. It also has some fake emails saved to an alias I’ve created.”
“You’re going to make it look like he participated in insider trading?”
“Yes,” I say.
“He could go to prison for this.”
“I’m aware,” I say. “Can I count on you?”
Henry eyes the USB and sighs. “Yes, sir. I’ll make sure he has this.”
“Good,” I say, standing and clapping him on the shoulder. “Go get some rest. Sorry to wake you.”
I watch out the windows of my office, scanning the city below me. If I go through with this plan, I’ll be willfully taking myself out of the tower that looks down on all of it. I’ll be putting myself back on the ground level, positioning myself to work back up to the top. Instead of scaring me or making me angry, the thought is rejuvenating. It will be a fresh start. I never cared as much about the destination as I cared about the journey anyway. And this time, I can start the journey with Emmaline at my side.
I smile, nodding slowly. A fresh fucking start.22EmmalineMy mom has already been staying with me for two days. The plan was to get her a place as soon as I could, but I just haven’t gotten to it yet. It’s after midnight when I wake up to get a glass of water. My mind replays the sensations of the previous day. Being with Logan so completely and so fully was better than anything I’ve ever felt. I don’t think my days of BDSM are behind me by a long shot, but learning I could be with him outside of that was important. It meant everything.
The thunderstorm outside has been keeping me awake. Every time I’m about to fall asleep, a huge crash booms through the house, making my heart pound. Rain patters hard against the roof and windows, driven so hard by the wind that it’s coming in almost sideways.
I don’t think Logan knows I spotted the guy he has keeping an eye on me, but the same white car has been parked across the street since I told him about Ronnie. Figuring it out after that wasn’t too hard. I’ve made a habit of peeking at the car. Seeing the man behind the wheel watching has become something of a comfort for me.