And why hadn’t he tossed it at work, or shredded it?
Damn it.
Holding his hands up, he approached her slowly, not moving as fast as his mind was. “I can explain.”
She shook the envelope. “Tell me this isn’t what I think it is. Tell me you didn’t hire someone to investigate me.”
“In all fairness.” He took another step toward her. “I ordered that report right after I met you, but—”
She slapped it on her thigh. “Oh, well, then, I guess you’re forgiven.”
“Really?” he asked suspiciously. After their earlier conversation and her forgiveness over the fact that he was the one who was trying to consolidate Mr. Harper’s business, this was too easy.
She pressed her mouth into a thin line, trembling. “No, not really.”
Yep, too easy.
She looked seconds from killing him or walking away from him for good this time…maybe both. His chest tightened. No. She couldn’t.
“I’m sor—”
“You know, I was finally beginning to actually trust you.” She glared at the envelope, her shoulders stiff. “I was going to tell you everything, but you had to go and read it yourself. Did you like what you saw? I bet you laughed when you read about how I had to go live with foster parents when my real parents got arrested. Oh, and there’s the part where I cried as the feds dragged my parents away in handcuffs and I was left all alone. That’s a doozie, full of drama.”
Wait. What?
Her parents had gone to prison?
“It’s funny how they embezzled money from their employees, right?” She laughed, but it wasn’t a laugh. “That was your favorite part, I bet.”
“Embezzled…?” he said slowly, his mind reeling. “Your parents stole money? Went to prison?”
“Don’t act like you didn’t know,” she snapped, shaking the file. “What was your favorite part? When I ran away from my foster home, and they forced me to go back? When I tried to live on the streets but only lasted four hours because I was too spoiled?”
She was telling him things he’d been desperate to hear, but now that she was telling him all this stuff, he was desperate to shut her up before she said too much.
This wasn’t the way he’d wanted to find out.
“Sam, don’t—” He held his hands out in a peace gesture.
“You know what? This is good.” She nodded and scrunched her face up. “I’m glad you got all the dirty details like this. It only goes to show me that I was right about you the moment I saw you on that stage and judged you as an asshole who would do anything to win.” She tossed the file on his desk. “Guess I was your opponent this time, and you won. How’s it feel?”
He swallowed. “I didn’t win, and I didn’t read the file.”
“It’s open,” she scoffed.
“Because I opened it but decided not to read.” He held his hands out, imploring her to believe him. If she didn’t, he’d lose her. He had to fix this. “I opened it when I got it, last Monday, and I never touched it again until today when I threw it away.”
She hugged herself, face pale. “And I’m just supposed to, what, believe you? Take your word for it? Trust you?”
Something invisible squeezed his heart mercilessly. “Sam—”
“And even if you didn’t read it, even if you’re telling the truth, it doesn’t matter.” She slapped her palm with her clenched fist, no longer pale but red with anger. “None of this matters because we never should have let things get this far in the first place. You know that now, after reading the file. You know how wrong I am for you.”
He hung his head, fisting his hands at his sides. “I didn’t—”
“Don’t deny it again.”
Staring blankly at her, he wisely kept his mouth shut.