“There are only a few people in this world that I trust. Up until a few days ago, you were one of them.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know what you did to Sophie. I know it wasn’t her who took money out of my accounts. It was you.”
“Cox, why would I—”
“Don’t, Althea. Let’s skip the part where you deny everything. It’s insulting to both of us.”
She folded her hands on her desk, the phony shock melting from her expression. “Okay. Fine. But you have to know, I only had your best interests at heart.”
“Really? That is a fascinating bit of bullshit. Do my best interests also include a hostile takeover of my company?”
Her mouth opened and her confident demeanor slipped. “No. You have the wrong idea.”
“And there you go insulting me again. I know that you’ve been working with Dominic behind my back. I know you two plan to force me out and put him in charge so you can sell Skyline. That’s all pretty straightforward. I get it. You stand to make a shit ton of money if we sell, and I wasn’t cooperating. So you decided to go around me.”
She stood. “Not exactly. You don’t understand what I’m trying to do here.”
“No, I certainly fucking don’t.”
“Dominic is just a pawn. We both know he’s useless. A week out of rehab, he was already out partying. But for the time being, he does have good PR. Who doesn’t love a redemption story? So I’m letting Dominic convince your investors that there’s trouble at Cox Development and he’s ready to save the day and do the right thing by selling Skyline and returning their money.”
“And what were you planning to do once you had your pawn sitting at my desk?”
“It won’t ever get that far. Dominic isn’t going to take over. But word of unrest and a project in trouble has elicited a lot of interest in Skyline. Now we not only have one buyout offer, we have three.”
“So you convinced Dominic to screw me over just so you could start a bidding war and drive the price up so I couldn’t refuse. And once I agree to sell, you just screw over Dominic instead.”
She smiled triumphantly. “Precisely.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“Cox, this is brilliant. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, but everything is very delicate. I had to be careful. And you’ve been… preoccupied.”
“I know what you’re getting at, and that’s what I don’t understand. What does any of this have to do with Sophie? Why work so hard to get rid of her?”
Smiling, she stepped closer and put a finger on my chest. “I’ll admit, that part was personal.”
I grabbed her finger. “Excuse me?”
“She’s nothing but a distraction, and a ridiculous one at that. You bang some woman in Vegas and suddenly you have a goddamn conscience? If Shepherd Calloway hadn’t been one of your investors, we both know you would have taken Easton’s offer. But somehow you decided you gave a shit about your fake wife’s boss.” Rolling her eyes, she jerked her finger out of my grasp. “Trust me, I did you a favor.”
“How the fuck was that a favor?”
“She was a mistake from the beginning, but apparently she has a magic pussy and you can’t see it. We’ve worked together for almost a decade, but suddenly some cutesy assistant matters more to you than I do?”
“You’re jealous of her? That’s what this is about?”
“Jealousy is such an ugly word. And really, how could I be jealous of that little twit? I’m a corporate attorney and she’s a glorified secretary.”
I stared at her for a long moment. “You’re absolutely right.”
Her mouth curled in a smile and she touched my chest again. “See? I knew once I got rid of her, you’d start acting like yourself again. Do you want to see the offers?”
“No, that’s not what I mean. You’re right that Sophie changed me. She called me out, and she was right. It matters who I do business with—who I surround myself with. I didn’t think it did. I knew you were fucking ruthless. Dominic dug his own grave, but you were the first to shovel the dirt on top. And how many times before that did I turn a blind eye to what you were doing because it benefited me and my company?”
“Cox, we built this business together. You don’t get to this level without doing a little dirty work.”
“No. That’s not how it’s going to be. I can’t change the road I took to get here, but I can certainly change where I go next. And this underhanded, backstabbing bullshit is not how I do things. I’d rather go back to the rusted-out pickup truck and single-wide trailer.”
“Now you’re just being dramatic.”
“I don’t think you understand what I’m saying to you right now, Althea. You’re fired. As of this moment, you’re out. And I don’t want to see your fucking face ever again.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I assure you, I’m dead serious. And you know, you’re right about something else. You did do me a favor when you set up Sophie. You overplayed your hand. If you hadn’t gone after my wife, I might have made the mistake of forgiving you for this bullshit stunt with Dominic.”
“Cox, listen to me.”
My phone buzzed with a text. Just in case it was Sophie, I pulled it out to check. It wasn’t, but the text from Oliver made me laugh out loud. “Well, holy shit.”
“What?”
“This is poetic. Looks like your comeback kid put a hitch in your grand plan. Dominic was arrested early this morning for soliciting a prostitute and possession of cocaine. He couldn’t keep his shit together quite long enough, could he? But good luck with your hostile takeover. I’m sure it’ll go just fine.”
The color drained from her face. “Cox, wait.”
I turned my back on her and opened the door. Two men with barrel chests and building security badges waited just outside.
“See her out and don’t let her back in the building.”
“Yes, sir,” one said.
Without so much as a glance over my shoulder at Althea, I went back to my office and shut the door.
But my triumph was short-lived. I sank into my chair, the weight of my mistakes threatening to crush me.
Because regardless of what happened with my company, Sophie was still gone.
34
Sophie
“Here, kitty, kitty,” I said, peering beneath the bed. “Come out. You’re not supposed to be in Nora’s room.”
A pair of glowing eyes shone at me, but the cat didn’t move.
I got up, wondering if I could lure her out with cat treats. Had I gotten cat treats? Probably not. Maybe tuna would work. Cats liked tuna fish, right? Did Nora have any tuna fish in her kitchen?
After I’d left Cox’s house on Monday night, I’d called Nora. She hadn’t been able to understand a word I said because of all the sobbing, so she’d told me to come to her place. Everly and Hazel had arrived soon after, and they’d listened to me tearfully recount the day’s events. They held me while I fell apart and they’d be there to help me pick up the pieces.