Chapter 28

CHAPTER28

He wasn’t letting her go.

Over the past month, Devyn told himself that he needed to let her go, needed to stay focused, and keep his head in the game only…

He couldn’t do it.

He also couldn’t help but wonder why she was sitting at a table with his biggest competition, smiling down at whatever Nicholas Mitchell, owner of Emerald Castle Hotels, was showing her. He should have known this was going to happen, Devyn thought as he made his way through the busy restaurant, his gaze shifting from the admittedly handsome, insanely rich man that was smiling at Andi in a way that had his jaw clenching, to the small woman that he hadn’t been able to get enough of last night.

“How was Cheraton Hotel?” Nicholas asked with an easy smile as Devyn took the seat across from him.

At his questioning look, Nicholas said, “It’s not exactly a secret that Carta Hotels’ CEO is trying to make its hotels more profitable, but imagine my surprise when I heard that you were spending the night at one my favorite hotels.”

“It is a lovely hotel,” Andi murmured in agreement with a solemn nod as she took her time selecting a slice of bacon off the huge platter in front of her.

Ignoring the traitor, he kept his focus on Nicholas. “I considered sending a welcome basket, but then I heard that the infamous Andi Dawson was with you and I couldn’t stay away,”

“You heard about me?” Andi asked, frowning in confusion.

“The miracle worker for Carta Hotels?” Nicholas asked, shooting her a warm smile that Devyn didn’t like one fucking bit. He also didn’t like the fact that word of what they were trying to do had become common knowledge. “Word spread quickly after the Hillshire Hotels disaster. It didn’t hurt that the hotels you visited started scrambling to make big changes after you left and began giving several of my hotels a run for their money.”

“I’m very thorough,” Andi said, nibbling on a piece of bacon.

“Yes, you are,” Nicholas murmured, sending her a curious look. “You know that you cost me a little over two million dollars worth of reservations for next year, right?”

“Three-point-five,” Andi said, blinking innocently as she finished off her bacon.

Chuckling, Nicholas helped himself to a slice of bacon and popped it in his mouth as he sat back, considering her for a moment before he said, “Double,” making Devyn’s jaw clench as the asshole tried to steal Andi out from under him.

Nibbling on her bacon, Andi shifted her attention to him.

Keeping his glare locked on Nicholas, Devyn said, “I’ll match it.”

Nodding absently, she shifted her attention back to Nicholas.

“Tell me that you’re not really trying to steal her right now,” Devyn drawled even though he had to admit that if the tables were turned that he would be doing the same thing.

“I’m going to try,” Nicholas said, his lips twitching with amusement as he helped himself to another slice of bacon. “Double and I’ll give you a very generous benefits package.”

“I do like benefits,” Andi murmured, sounding thoughtful as she glanced back at him.

His glare never leaving Nicholas, Devyn grabbed a slice of bacon and popped it in his mouth as he thought it over. “Unlimited access to the supply closet,” he said, watching as Nicholas’ lips pulled up into a smile.

“I already have that,” Andi pointed out with a disappointed sigh and a sad shake of her head as she glanced back at Nicholas.

“Unlimited bacon,” the bastard said, clearly understanding Andi’s one true weakness.

“I do love bacon,” Andi said with a heartfelt sigh as her curious gaze once again landed on him and-

“I won’t tell your brother that you lied about taking it easy,” Devyn said as he shifted his attention to the woman that he couldn’t live without as she noticeably swallowed.

“I do like staying alive,” Andi said, nodding solemnly before quickly adding, “I accept your very generous offer.”

“My loss,” Nicholas said with a good-natured smile as he shifted his attention to Devyn. “And you?”

“I’m happy where I am,” Devyn said as he reached for another slice of bacon only to sigh heavily when Andi mumbled sadly, “My bacon,” and decided to let the little brat have the last slice.

“That’s not what I hear,” Nicholas murmured, looking thoughtful.

“And what did you hear?” Devyn asked, leaning back in his chair as he watched Nicholas push his chair back and stand up.

“Enough to know that we’ll be talking again,” Nicholas said with one last curious glance in Andi’s direction before he left, leaving Devyn to glare at the small woman that was giving him a hopeful smile.

“He was nice,” Andi said, only to wince when he said, “Traitor.”

“Understandable,” she said, clearing her throat as she shifted, opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, closed it, and then saw the look on his face and mumbled, “I should probably go back to work,” as she stood up, cleared her throat and then with a nod to herself, headed back to their suite.

God, she was fucking adorable, Devyn thought as he sat there, thinking about a different future, one that he’d never thought he would want, only to frown as he found himself watching as the last person that he’d expected to see here sit down across from him.

“We need to talk.”

* * *

“What the hell am I missing?”Andi asked herself with a heavy sigh as she leaned back in the oversized tub and stared up at the ceiling as she once again found herself trying to make sense of this mess.

She should be working on the rest of the audits, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling that they were missing something. For two years, their mysterious James Jamerson had been busy working behind the scenes, setting up fake employee files, an office, emails, bank accounts, altered files and when he couldn’t do that, he’d destroyed them, leaving them struggling to piece together information and through it all, he’d somehow managed to stay one step ahead of them.

They’d tracked emails, phone calls, and even put the janitor’s closet on the tenth floor under surveillance, hoping to catch him, but so far, the only thing that they’d managed to do was waste their time. Whoever was doing this knew what they were doing. That much was clear. It was either that or they got lucky, Andi thought as she thought over everything that they’d learned over the past few months and-

They were definitely missing something.

The first transfer happened two weeks after the funds for the Hillshire Hotels stock purchase had been authorized. It had been for a thousand dollars and it had been transferred back to the original account. The second transfer had been for the same amount two weeks later and had been transferred to a Carta Hotels’ bank account that had been scheduled to close in less than a month. The third transfer went to a dummy account and when no red flags were raised, he kept going.

The mysterious James Jamerson had been testing to see what they could get away with and for two years, he’d managed to get away with a lot, Andi thought only to frown as something occurred to her.

They’d failed at the beginning.

They transferred money to Roman Palms hotel and failed five times, Andi thought, climbing out of the tub and hastily wrapped a towel around herself as she quickly made her way back into the room and-

Where the hell was her bag?

Worrying her bottom lip, Andi stood there, dripping all over the floor as she glanced at the bed where she could have sworn that she left her backpack and found herself wondering if she forgot it in Devyn’s car. Since she didn’t have the valet stub that was going to be a problem, Andi thought even as she resigned herself to hunting Devyn down so that she could get her hands on that valet stub and get her bag.

Grumbling to herself, she moved to drop the towel so that she could get dressed only to sigh with relief when she spotted her backpack by the door. Not really caring how it got there, Andi grabbed her bag and-

Found herself wondering why it was so light.