Freedom (Billionaire Secrets 2)

Chapter 19

Heather opened her office door, to find Simon sitting at her desk. She blinked in surprise. “Simon? What are doing in my office?”

“Your office? Not for long,” he said derisively.

“Is that a joke?” she asked in confusion.

“No.” His blue eyes focused on hers, all the warmth she always saw in them gone. Staring into his eyes now was like staring at a glacier.

A chill ran down her spine. “What’s wrong? Did the photo get out?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’d want that photo to get out,” he snarled.

“Why would I want something like that to happen?” She swallowed hard. “Something’s wrong. What happened? Talk to me.” She took a step towards her desk.

He held up his hands. “Don’t come any closer.”

“What?” Her breath caught in her chest when she saw the rage on his face. His entire body was shaking with barely-contained fury. She’d never seen him like this.

“If you come closer, I’ll believe whatever lie you tell me,” he spat out. “I’ll look into your eyes and do whatever you ask. I’m helpless when it comes to you. And I one thing I can’t be is helpless.”

“Simon, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on is that I found the photos you and your accomplices took,” he said.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” she said desperately. “Please, help me to understand.”

“Lies! Everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie.” He glared at her.

“No—”

“During your first interview, you told me a pack of lies,” he said. “You kept your real identity a secret. Then you fed me some nonsense about having to lie because you didn’t want it to get in the way of your work. That wasn’t true, was it? You lied so I wouldn’t know what you were up to.”

“Of course, it was true,” she insisted. “I mean, I did lie about who I was, but not for any nefarious reasons. I swear. Just talk to me.”

“You’ve been working for VLA this entire time,” he said icily. “You’ve been spying on me for them.”

“I—”

“Do you deny it?” he demanded.

Her secret was out. He had figured it out. She hadn’t told him everything about her time at VLA, because he never would have hired her. And because if she had told him the truth and VLA found out, her former employers would sue her to within an inch of her life. Whatever money she still had from her grandfather and from her VLA severance package had to go to taking care of her son and her mounting legal bills. If VLA got a hold of her money, she’d lose Finn forever.

“I don’t deny it,” she said, her lower lip trembling. “I agreed to be part of VLA’s layoffs because I refused to spy for them. Executives thought I’d be a good spy because of my history with you, but I flat out refused. When I found out they were paying people to take layoffs, I took the chance. I was disillusioned by then, and I didn’t want to work for a company that was capable of spying like that.”

“More lies,” he snarled. “You’re still spying for them. Tell the truth for once.”

“That is the truth,” she said sharply.

“If it’s the truth, why didn’t you tell me that VLA had come to you with a shady offer like that?” he asked. “Why didn’t you explain how you’d refused to go along with their scheme?”

“Because I signed a non-disclosure agreement,” she said. “I couldn’t tell you even if I’d wanted to. Now that you’ve figured it out, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“You’re still working with them, Heather,” he said. “I saw the photos of my servers on some internet forum.”

“What? No. I never took photos of your servers,” she said. “What are you talking about?”

“Someone got into my apartment and took photos of my servers,” he said harshly. “The only people who know about those servers are you and me. I didn’t take the photos. So that only leaves you.”

“When? How?” Her head was spinning. “How could I have taken those photos?”

“When you came over to my apartment and seduced me,” he said.