“Yeah?”
“Sean wants to talk to you.” Teagan stares at Deklan, her face expressionless.
“Has Andrew been by?”
“Yeah, he just left with Brian.”
They look at each other for a moment without speaking, and then Deklan glances at me.
“I don’t want her alone.”
“I’m going to show Kera how to run the numbers for the legal books,” Teagan says. “Sean wants me to start networking with Neil’s associates to start gathering information. He also wants Grange released.”
I feel Deklan tense around me.
“Why?” he asks.
Teagan glances over her shoulder, staring out into the hallway for a few seconds before responding.
“We’re going to need to talk privately,” she says softly.
Deklan nods.
“Kera,” Teagan says, “come on with me. I’ll show you how to get to the spreadsheets.”
I follow her back into the study. The tension in my shoulder releases slightly when I see that everything has been cleaned up. Neil’s body is gone, and there is a brand new couch in the room. Sean is still in his chair, leaning back and grinning as if he’s on an iron throne.
“Deklan, we need to have us a little conversation,” Sean says.
“Sure, boss.”
“In the back room.” Sean stands and Deklan follows him to a small door in the back of the study while Teagan and I sit at the desk, and she starts to show me a bunch of spreadsheets full of numbers.
“These are the legal books,” she says. “You’re going to start with those. Once you get the hang of it, I’ll show you the real ones.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll also show you the reporting features within the database. You can run monthly reports for the accountant and Lucas.”
Teagan shows me how to navigate the spreadsheets and gives me a few simple tasks so I can get used to using the software before excusing herself and leaving me alone in the study.
Deklan and Sean haven’t returned from the other room, and I feel a little weird being here by myself, especially after what was going on here just a couple of hours ago. I close my eyes, breathe deeply for a few seconds, and then try to focus on the work.
Teagan’s spreadsheet is complicated, and it’s taking me a while to figure it all out. I get through three rows of calculations before I glance at the door to the back room and wonder what’s taking them so long.
I strain my ears, but all I hear is muffled sounds coming from the room. I can’t help myself—I slowly and quietly get up from my chair and tiptoe over to the door. As I get close, I can hear Sean’s voice.
“She was supposed to be mine anyway,” he says. “You know that.”
“You made the decision to change that, Sean.” Deklan’s words are slow and steady. “You made that choice, not me. You were right about it, too. Doesn’t make sense for you to marry O’Conner’s kid. I was the better choice, and you saw that. You helped him save face, too, so we can keep doing business with him.”
“And you ended up with a hot piece of ass. I could have given her to Lucas.”
“But you didn’t. We’ve been over this before. You made the right decision, boss.”
“Why? Because you’ve fallen for her?” Sean laughs. “You have! You have fallen for her! You fucking idiot.”
Whatever Deklan says in response is too low for me to hear. I shuffle closer to the door so I can press my ear to the wood. Deklan’s words become clearer.