Chapter 33

33

M alorie

The Trip

I knew Neko was up to something when he wanted to drive an SUV to New York instead of flying. Not only did we spend a week at one of my favorite hotels in Times Square, but we also were able to catch three shows on Broadway. After that, we got an Airbnb and enjoyed a weekend in The Hamptons.

We spent time on a yacht, had a beach bonfire picnic, did a wine tasting, and shopped until I literally dropped. I wasn't expecting him to have the same mentality as he did at the bookstore, but he did. Neko told me that I could shop until I was tired with no limit. And I did. Gucci, Chanel, Prada, Louis Vuitton—I bought it all, and he didn't blink or sweat. At one point, I just started picking up things for him because I literally had all I wanted, and all he did was laugh.

I think my favorite part of the trip was when we went down Meadow Lane and looked at the houses that were available where billionaires lived and vacationed. He promised me he'd gift me one of those homes within the next three years, and that we'd use it as one of our vacation homes, and I honestly believed him. By the time we left, I cried. It wasn't just because he scratched that itch of gifts and provision that made me feel loved, but it was simply the fact that I was spending time with my man making plans for our future.

What was crazier was we didn't have sex. We'd been fucking like rabbits lately to make up for lost time. At one point I asked him if there was a chance he'd ever get tired of me and my body. He assured me he never would. That he'd never get tired of having me and me alone. That put me in my feelings even more. I was truly in love with this man and a tad bit obsessed with him, but that was okay because there was no doubt in my mind that I was safe with him… always in all ways.

Back Home

As I waited for Trent, I was conflicted. I'd already told Neko that I wanted to meet with him about my findings immediately after this, and I was surprised he even let me handle this myself. It had to be because he was prepping for his final meeting with Saveth. Apparently, they were in agreement about Neko sending a different artist to her gallery for consignment and a showcase every quarter. I was sure if he wasn't getting ready for that, he would have come with me.

It was fine that I had to handle this on my own, but I was still a little on edge. It didn't feel like my place, even though I was the one that found the discrepancies. When I first found them, I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. I'd never truly doubted myself when it came to my work, but to me, I would have preferred to be wrong than to find hundreds of thousands of dollars being stolen from Neko and Elias.

My pacing in Trent's office stopped when he entered. He eyed me skeptically and took a sip of his coffee before closing the door.

"Is this the moment you confess your love for me?" he teased, making me chuckle.

"No, not quite. You remember when I approached you about the discrepancies in the accounts?"

"Yeah."

"Were you able to have a look at them like you said?"

"No, unfortunately, but I'll get around to it."

I sighed as he sat down. "You don't have to. I had a friend from school go behind me to confirm. There is, in fact, a total of three hundred and sixty eight thousand dollars missing from several accounts from this year alone."

He choked on his coffee, and I rushed over to pat his back.

"Jesus, Malorie. Are you fucking serious?"

"Yeah, I am." I set the manila folder in front of him. There were twelve pieces of paper inside. I'd highlighted what I needed to him to see—the account numbers the money had been taken from.

"What am I looking at?" he asked, shuffling the papers.

"The highlighted numbers at the bottom. Those are your accounts, Trent."

After going through all the papers, Trent sat back in his seat. He rolled his tongue across his cheek before chuckling and shaking his head.

"You can't possibly think I stole that money."

"I did… at first. But it kept bothering me that you could be that damn stupid." Rounding his desk, I hovered over him and pulled my phone from my slacks. I opened my photo album and showed him the pictures I'd taken. "On these statements, you'll see that I was able to trace the accounts this money was sent to. Basically, the person took the money from twelve of your accounts and deposited them into two of their accounts."

"Shit. Were you able to figure out who the accounts belonged to?"

"No, and that's why I need your help. You know the accountants log in information, so you can look up this number and it will show who made the deposits."

"I could kiss you. You're a genius."

"Thank you, but I don't advise that. Neko already doesn't like you. He'd probably kill you if you did that."

Trent laughed as he typed on his computer, but I was serious. I watched as he accessed the log in information from his leadership portal.

"Hmm… that's odd." He turned his screen more in my direction for me to see. "You're right. Only one person made the deposits from my account. They were definitely trying to set me up, but I don't think they took into consideration their log in information could be tracked regardless of what computer they used."

"Yeah. Elias told me only heads of departments knew they could see what everyone did after they logged in."

Trent looked up at me with a softness in his eyes that wasn't there before. "Even knowing that, you still gave me the benefit of the doubt?"

"Yes, now I need you to show me who actually did this, so I won't look dumb for trusting you."

He chuckled and nodded. "Aight. So, you see how the log in numbers are in red?" I nodded. "Each department is assigned a different color. Our color is yellow. The administrative department is in red. I don't have the credentials to look into their members and log in information but that's where you'll find the person responsible."

"Okay. I want a name before I go to Neko. Do you think Parker can look this up for us?"

"For sure. If not her, Kyle."

"Perfect." I was surprised when he decided to come with me. We made our way down to my floor, and Parker smiled at the sight of us.

"Hey, Park. I need a quick favor."

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Can you log into your portal and look up a log in number for me?"

"Sure, what's going on?" she asked, reaching for the piece of paper that had the number on it.

"Long story short, someone's been stealing, and that number is going to help us find out who," Trent said.

The next sequence of events happened in a blur. One minute, Parker was accepting the paper. The next, she was throwing her coffee in Trent's face and running toward the elevator. I had to tackle her ass to keep her from getting away. Between Trent's yelling and her grunts, everyone on our floor came to see what was going on, including Neko.

Adrenaline surged through me causing me to shake as I held her. It wasn't long before two associates came and picked her up, holding her down in her chair while I explained everything to Neko. It hadn't crossed my mind not once that she was the one stealing but her attempt to get away proved it. For good measure, Neko searched the log in number, and sure enough, her name and picture came up.

I was so disappointed in Parker I didn't know what to do. It felt like we were building a genuine bond and I had no idea she was capable of something so cynical. While we waited for the police to arrive, she came clean. Apparently, when everyone else left for the day, she took that time to funnel money into her personal accounts. She used Trent's accounts because she knew no one would go behind him since he was the head of the accounting department. Neko asked her why she stole from them, and she had no reason beyond the fact that she knew she could get away with it.

By the time the police came and arrested her, I was exhausted. Neko and Elias wanted to take me out to thank me for my findings, but I couldn't even. I just wanted to go home and process everything that had happened.