Possessive Boss

“Not yet, but these men wouldn’t say even if they knew. They’re not stupid, dear.”

“I see.” I look over at Valerie again and now she’s staring at me, not blinking. I give her a tight smile. “Thanks for calling.”

“I’ve been asking some more. Politely and discreetly. There’s something to this, Jacob. I want you to be careful.”

“You be careful too, Mother.”

“I always am, dear.”

She hangs up then. I sigh and toss my phone down on the couch.

“What was that about?” she asks.

“Nothing.” I stand up.

“Nothing? I heard some of it.”

“I know you did.” I finish my whiskey and pour another. “Have you found anything yet?”

She frowns down at her papers. “Nothing yet. I mean, you have some places where you could improve things, I made some notes, but—”

“This isn’t about improving my business,” I say, glaring at her. “But type up your thoughts and send them to me.”

She smiles and nods. “I will.”

“Thank you.” I close my eyes and drink the whiskey. “Let’s stop for the night.”

“But I want to know what your mother said.”

“I know you do. I’m still processing it.”

“You talked a while.”

“She’s a little long-winded. Likes to make little games and lessons out of things.”

“Still?”

I give her a flat look. “Forever, as far as she’s concerned.”

“Must have been a difficult house to grow up in.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

She takes off her glasses. “Seriously, Jacob. If you can tell me, it might help. I want to speed this along as much as possible.”

“I don’t,” I say. “I’m not doing this to catch Darin. I’m doing it to prove that he’s innocent.”

“And what your mother had to say doesn’t exactly make him look good, does it?”

I don’t reply. I just give her a flat look.

She shakes her head and stands. “Come on, Jacob. Don’t you trust me yet? I’m not in this to hurt you.”

“I believe you.” I step toward her. “I don’t think you’re in this to hurt me at all. But I think you might hurt Darin, at least accidentally. Even if things look bad, it doesn’t mean he’s breaking the law. Sometimes there’s smoke but no fire at all.”

She frowns and crosses her arms. “I need you to be open with me.”

“And I need you to trust that I’ll tell you anything that’s pertinent.”

She clenches her jaw. “Maybe I should get going for the night.”

“That’s a good idea.”

She snatches up her little notepad and glares at me. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

“I’m sure you think so right now.”

She walks to the elevator and hits the call button. She lingers there, waiting, barely suppressing her anger.

“I thought we were going to be a team on this.”

“And I thought I wasn’t beholden to you.”

“You’re not, but—”

“But I’m still trying to protect my friend. I’m not misleading you about that one bit.”

We stare at each other for a long moment. She’s pissed off, but she still looks so fucking sexy.

The elevator arrives and the doors slide open.

“I’ll see you Monday,” she says, gets inside, and disappears.

I watch the doors shut and let out a long sigh.

I know I shouldn’t push her. I don’t want to be a dick to her, first of all, but I also need her just as much as she needs me. If I’m involved in this investigation then I can make sure that things like what my mother just told me aren’t taken out of context.

So Darin’s father plays golf with gangsters. Or men that are probably gangsters. That doesn’t mean he works for them and it doesn’t mean that Darin’s cleaning their money. It just means that Mr. Ficino has some suspect associates and probably needs some new friends.

Fucking hell. I know exactly how it’ll look to Val.

And I know I should probably tell her.

I finish my whiskey. I’ll give it the weekend. We’ll both cool off and I’ll figure out what the best way forward is, for both of us.11ValVisions of spreadsheets danced through my head all weekend.

I was angry that Jacob was keeping something from me, but I heard parts of the conversation, at least his end. I know what they were talking about, and I know his mother is fairly well connected.

But I don’t know a whole lot about the Lofthouse family. I have the basics from my superiors: insanely wealthy, absurdly connected. They’re the kind of family that made their money early on in America and haven’t had to work hard since. They own some companies and apparently own an entire small town in Virginia called Loftville, but I don’t know anything else about them.

Still, it’s entirely plausible that his mother knows something about Darin, or at least knows someone that knows something. If they think he’s a gangster, then it seems likely that he really might be.

The way Jacob reacted surprised me, but it shouldn’t have. They’ve been friends for a long time. Of course Jacob’s going to be loyal. I can see that loyalty in him already, see it so clearly.