Quiver & Burn (Surrender to Them 5)

“You should publish a cookbook with all of your recipes laid out just like that.” I grinned and laughed.

I wanted to tell our mother about Brylee, but I didn’t think it was a good idea—not yet. Our mother loved us unconditionally, but finding out that we were both involved with the same woman might be a little more than she was ready for. I had a sneaking suspicion that she knew about Hannah. It was hard to hide the heartbreak we both experienced when the relationship fell apart. She might not have fully understood what was going on, but she was not an idiot. We spent so much time at Hannah’s house that it would have been impossible to believe the three of us were just friends. We stayed for a little while longer after dinner was over, and then decided it was time to head back to the apartment. After another round of hugs, we were back in the truck and on the way.

“You know.” I looked over at Jett. “That’s the first time she’s brought up our love life that I didn’t feel a stab in my gut when I thought about Hannah.”

“Same here.” Jett nodded aimlessly. “Brylee might be the one that lets us put those memories to rest once and for all.”

“I think she’s done a very nice job of doing that already.” I smiled and shifted in my seat to focus on the road. “We might need to invite her over tonight.”

“I doubt she’ll have any objections, especially if we let her try some of Mom’s roast.” Jett tapped the container in his lap.

Chapter Eighteen

Brylee

Earlier that day

I was sore from head to toe when I did the walk of shame back to my apartment. It was only shameful in context because I didn’t have an ounce of regret over what we did. I took a shower that lasted longer than normal because the water felt good on my aching muscles. I definitely wasn’t looking forward to feeling that ache every time I moved around at the office. It would be worth it though because there were a lot of happy memories to go along with the muscular discomfort. Memories that I wasn’t going to forget for the rest of my life. Once I was dressed, I headed to the office and every step gave me a reminder of what they did—a reminder that made those memories flash in my head. I had to force myself to stop thinking about it or letting my mind wander, because my pussy was starting to tingle, and I didn’t want to spend the whole day with wet panties between my thighs.

I’m going to need more of that as soon as I get off work—they’ve turned me into a sex junkie.

“Good morning.” Paul lifted his hand with a slight wave, but the look on his face suggested something was wrong.

“Hey.” I tilted my head to the side. “You look concerned. Did someone else get fired?”

“No, nothing like that.” He exhaled sharply and shook his head. “I’m just worried about something I found in one of my accounts.”

Oh no, not this again—please tell me this isn’t going to be similar to what Dana showed me.

“Have you talked to the boss about it?” I lifted my eyebrows inquisitively.

“Not yet. This sort of thing usually goes straight to Mr. Dunkirk, but I don’t want to get in trouble, especially if I’m the one who made the mistake.” He stared at the floor and sighed. “I don’t think I did anything wrong, but after what happened to Dana…”

I shouldn’t ask to see it, but I have to know if he’s found something. That would mean Dana was right, and possibly got fired for finding it.

“Why don’t you show me?” I tilted my head in the opposite direction. “We could look at it together.”

“Do you promise that you won’t tell anyone?” His fingers rubbed together nervously.

“Of course.” I nodded quickly.

Paul took me to his desk and pulled up the account he was working on. It was another one of the big accounts at Dunkirk Accounting that belonged to some sort of shipping company operating out of Savannah. I didn’t know all of our big accounts yet but judging by the amount of money the shipping company was making, it looked like it was nearly as big as the Russo account. My heart dropped into my stomach when Paul started highlighting cells and showed me a line of formulas that had been inserted to manipulate the output. It wasn’t similar to the Russo account—it was identical. The account had belonged to Paul for years, so there was no way it was changed like that without some sort of manipulation by an outside source.

“Yeah, that looks strange.” I nodded after I studied the formula for a moment. “I’m surprised you haven’t noticed this before.”

“I normally don’t look at stuff this hard. I just key the figures and trust the spreadsheet to give me the outputs. I’ve been carefully examining everything after what happened with Dana because I didn’t want to make a mistake.” He leaned back in his chair and groaned. “Why did this have to happen with one of my accounts? I’m fucked.”

“You didn’t do it though.” I blinked in surprise. “There are formulas in stuff you entered last month. That means someone has tampered with your spreadsheet.”

“Is it going to matter? The only people who have access to my accounts except me are members of management. If I bring this up to someone, I’m basically accusing my boss—or his boss, of tax fraud.” Paul shook his head in disbelief. “I’m definitely fucked.”

I understood Paul’s concern. His situation was different than Dana’s because her account was new. She believed that the person who made the mistake—or made the adjustment intentionally, was someone who had the account before her. Paul didn’t have that luxury. That was his account. If he didn’t change it, then it meant someone in management did. There was no doubt in my mind that something unethical was going on at Dunkirk Accounting. I just didn’t know how high up the ladder it went. I did my best to reassure Paul and told him that he had to talk with someone about what he found. I just wasn’t sure the person he needed to speak with was in the building. He needed to call the SEC, even if it was just an anonymous tip.

I definitely have to find a new job.

The sick feeling that had been present in my stomach after Dana showed me the issue with the Russo account returned. I couldn’t shake it. I was afraid for Paul and afraid of what would happen once he reported what he found. The company was about to be in serious jeopardy. They might have blamed the error with the Russo account on Dana, but they couldn’t blame Paul when another account showed the same issues. That also meant there could be more to her termination than what people knew. I checked my Facebook multiple times throughout the day, just hoping a message would miraculously appear. I knew that wasn’t likely going to happen, especially since she hadn’t responded to anything I sent before, but I still maintained a shred of hope—it was all I had left at that point.

I was almost glad that Rand and Jett didn’t answer the door when I got off work. I wanted to see them, but I didn’t feel like I was going to be very good company. I went to my apartment and sat down on the couch with my laptop and a glass of wine. I definitely needed a drink. I wanted to put my resume out there and line up some interviews, but I was scared to do it after what happened with my boss before. I needed to hang onto my job until I found a new one, and if I started applying to other firms, there was a good chance one of them would call Mr. Smith. It was a double edged sword and both sides could easily cut me. Regardless of what waited for me on the other side, I wouldn’t be able to sit on the information Paul shared with me. If he didn’t tell someone, my ethical obligation would compel me to take action.