Victoria stood from behind the desk. “You think I don’t know that? I can’t twiddle my thumbs, hoping Terry’s a changed man. If we’re wrong, oh well, the staff gets a great party and I am out some money. But if I’m right, at least it’s something.”
Simon glared up at her, trying to think of anything to calm her down. But she was right. Throwing a last-minute appreciation party for her employees wouldn’t hurt her case. And it might be something new and exciting to keep her mind off the legal drama.
And the emotional trauma of possibly losing a parent. Victoria was careful to keep her emotions guarded, but Simon had seen her with Richard a few times. They’d always had genuine affection for each other. Even her desire to get control of the company was out of love for her father.
Terry had almost run the place into the ground during his two years at the helm. Not only did she put her blood, sweat, and tears into the company, but it was her family legacy.
“I’ll talk to Grace and see if she can help.” A smile tugged at Victoria’s mouth. “No promises, though. I’ll have to check with her schedule.”
~~~~~
“She wants what when?” shouted Grace from the couch. The man was insane.
Simon took a deep breath and repeated himself. “I said that I’d like you to coordinate an appreciation event for three hundred people in two weeks.”
She stared blankly at him. “You’re out of your mind. I can’t do that! Do you have any idea how many moving parts go into an event of that size? How many vendors, caterers, and reception halls I have to deal with…reception halls! How are we going to find a place decent enough with such short notice?” Princess, apparently disapproving of Grace’s yelling, got up from her dog bed and retreated into the bedroom.
Simon set a hand on her leg. “Relax, okay. If you have to say no, you can. I promised Victoria I’d ask you, though.”
Grace’s brows drew together as she stared at him. “You like her?” Simon drew back a bit and she quickly clarified, “Not like like. But you think she’s a decent person?”
“Oh. I suppose. She’s been put in a rough spot and, technically, it’s my job to pull her out of tight spots. She doesn’t need to go through all this trouble, but it will make her feel better. And since it’s such short notice, I’m sure you can charge an inconvenience fee.”
Grace snorted. “I thought you were supposed to be saving her money.”
“I am. But this isn’t going to break the bank. I’m more of the guy who makes sure the revenue streams are working the way they should and determines whether the company should expand into different markets.” He sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
She sighed at the warmth and sunk into his hold. She’d been much too excited to see him when he’d shown up at her apartment. After a relaxing day off, she’d been more than happy to pick up right where they’d left off.
But Simon had different ideas. Instead of taking her right to the bedroom, he’d immediately started to talk about work and some crazy party. His arm over her shoulders was the first sign she had that he considered her as more than a client since he’d walked in the door.
“Why don’t you give me Victoria’s contact info? I’ll make some calls and see what I can do. It’s not going to be cheap, and definitely not easy, but it might be doable.”
He squeezed her tighter. “Thanks, Grace. I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, you do,” she said with a smirk. “But it’s still my day off, so no more coordinating talk. I want to discuss the Mark situation.”
Simon’s body immediately filled with tension. “That,” he muttered.
“Yes, that,” she said. “I’ve been doing some thinking about it and decided the legal avenue is the best one. You said he couldn’t be taken down by traditional methods. Why not?”
“I told you, the police can’t do a damn thing. He’s covered his tracks too well. The guy’s a slimeball. He sets it up like he’s making an investment, but he actually steals the funds right out of the mark’s account. Except they think it’s a valid withdrawal, so they don’t report anything.”
She crinkled her nose. “In order to move money, especially the money he’s moving, there are bank approvals and signatures involved. So Mark needs a network in place to help him, right?”
“He has to have some established channel set up,” he agreed.
“And Mark can’t do that alone. For one, there are signatures involved and for any large withdrawal, the signature would have to look remotely legit. And I’ve seen Mark’s writing. Penmanship isn’t his strong suit.”
Simon stared down at her. “You think he hires someone to do the forgeries?”
“Probably. So maybe we don’t have to get Mark to mess up. All we have to do is get to one of his people.”
“And he has someone at the bank helping him too,” murmured Simon. Grace could practically see the wheels turn in his mind. “Now we just need to figure out who would be helping him…”
“I already have an idea.” Grace leaned forward and grabbed her laptop from the coffee table in front of her. “Check this out.” She pulled up a website and turned the screen to face Simon.
He frowned as he studied what was in front of him. “This is art? It’s hideous.”
“But familiar, right?”
Simon nodded. “Are these all by the same woman who did the hideous painting in Mark’s study?”
“Yep. I looked up the name of the artist. Sandy Gonzalez. Except it’s not a chick. It’s a man.”
“There goes the theory that Mark was sleeping with the artist,” he muttered.
“So what other reason would he have that hanging in his office? Front and center for everyone to see?”
“Cocky son of a bitch is practically bragging about it.”
“Pretty much.” Grace set the laptop back on the coffee table. “I was thinking we could stop by the gallery tomorrow. It’s open ’til nine. Does that work for you?”
Simon looked her over. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
Something in his tone set her on edge and she raised a brow. “It’s just an art gallery. Hardly a big deal.”
He pulled away from her and scooted a few inches back. “I don’t know how this is all going to play out. I’ve played a hundred likely outcomes in my mind, and in a lot of them, you get hurt.”
“That was the deal. You help me get the senator off my back, and I help you with Mark. I’m not going to renege on my end of the deal because Mark said some mean things to me, Simon.”
“Even so, I don’t want to put you in an unnecessarily risky position,” he said.
She tilted her head and studied him. “Is this because we had sex?”
He pushed off the couch. “What?”
She tried to tell whether he was as shocked as he seemed or whether he was a really good actor. “You gave me your consulting expertise and now that we’ve slept together, you’re saying I don’t have to pay you.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “That feels wrong to me.”