Facade (Billionaire in Disguise 1)

“Now. Get some fucking sleep, Mr. Steele. I’m going to have John clear the rest of your house before I leave,” I said.

I turned my back to her, watching her reflection through the window as she left. The men were walking through my yard, making their way back to their stations. There it was. The truth I couldn’t fight. Sam didn’t want me the way I wanted her, and there was nothing I could do about that.

The only thing I could do was keep going even though everything inside of me screamed to run after her.

Chapter 24

Sam

One Week Later

I SAT IN THE WASHROOM office keeping tabs on the building. Derek was working late, so I was working late. This was how he was going to get around what I had said about keeping my distance at night and all. He was a stubborn fuck, I would give him that. I had relegated myself to only guarding him at his office, so he was staying at his office.

I shook my head as my eyes darted from television to television.

Things had been quiet for the past week, and that made me nervous. When there were attacks and letters, we could use them to carve out a trail, but when there was nothing to follow, trails went cold. Questions went unanswered.

Suspects started falling off the list.

Lance kept me updated on what Derek’s past security crew was doing. Griggs had moved onto a new client and had been talking about how generous his past employer was. He was getting his men to take part-time jobs until he could secure them a decent job working full-time for someone else. From the sounds of it, he was doing exactly what he was told, downplaying the break from Derek and not giving away what was really happening.

The problem? His disposition and constant work schedule made Griggs less of a suspect.

The list of employees Lance ran suggested more than a few disgruntled employees had left Derek’s company over the last couple of years. But all the evidence I chased down while being holed up in his office pointed to someone who was currently working for the company and still had access to the company.

None of the disgruntled employees’ information still worked in the system, and none of the employees boasted of any technological skills to get in and mess with things.

Hell, none of the employees fired over the past two or so years had even been from the IT department.

It was frustrating. I was missing something obvious. With all the suspects that had dropped off the list, another move would help point me in the right direction. Another

letter or another plausible attack. I had men in place in areas no one could see, so I was no longer concerned with anyone getting hurt.

Any sort of move would push us in the direction we needed to go so I could unload this case and get the fuck out of here.

Derek was hunched over his desk, filling out paperwork or something. The office was completely silent. No one was coming or going, and the security guards were getting boring to watch. I got up from my seat and pushed my way into Derek’s office, his eyes darting over toward me as I closed the washroom door.

I was going to see if he wanted to order a late dinner since neither of us had eaten.

However, when I turned back around, I saw something curious. I saw someone creeping around outside of Derek’s office door. I slipped over into the shadows as Derek looked up at me, a curious look on his face.

I put my finger to my lips to shush him as the doorknob of the door started to turn.

I pressed myself against the wall, the shadows of his office encasing me as Derek stood to his feet. I moved my hand to my gun and felt nothing there.

Fuck. I had left my firearm in the washroom.

“Jacob,” Derek said. “I didn’t know you were still here. It’s almost ten o’clock. What are you doing here so late?”

I stared at Jacob from the shadows as I studied him, his stance tall and his eyes piercing. The look of joviality he usually had on his features had been buried by something else.

Something that sent shivers down my spine.

“Did you know my father was a janitor?” Jacob said.

“No, I didn’t,” Derek said. “You don’t talk about your family much.”

“I know. It’s hard to talk about my family when I’m surrounded by people who come from successful families.”