She’d fallen in love with Braxton Farris, and now it was over.
* * * *
As Braxton watched her leave, he knew she was carrying a part of his soul away with her. He wanted to chase her down and beg her to believe him. Then again, he’d like to chase her down to wring her pretty little neck.
But, cheating?
Ha!
The idea that he was actually capable of being unfaithful to her was so laughable he let out a sour chuckle. Was she insane? He was in love with her. He loved her more than he’d ever loved any woman. He couldn’t even look at another female without comparing her to Lenna.
How dare she? How dare she accuse him of such a thing? How could she believe her father—
Wait a second.
Her father
.
That lying bag of shit. This was his fault. Tom had to know about them. That was the only explanation. But how in the hell had he found out? What in God’s name could’ve tipped him off?
Braxton could only figure Tom had learned at work somehow. But how?
Braxton didn’t have anything sitting out in his office with Lenna’s name on it. He didn’t have her picture—
Oh, Lord.
Her picture.
His computer was full of those pictures he’d copied off her camera’s memory card. But how would Tom have gotten onto his computer? Braxton had set passwords.
Okay, no, he didn’t have a hi-tech security protection on his office computer. But he honestly hadn’t thought someone would ever try to break into it.
Still, there was no way Tom—
Tom
of all people—could’ve gotten past his passwords.
“Brax?” Tyler’s voice came from behind him.
Braxton spun around and realized he was standing stupidly in the middle of the street.
“You okay, bro?” his brother asked. “I heard the fight. That was brutal.”
Braxton glanced in the direction Lenna had fled. “I have to go,” he murmured and started toward his Land Rover.
“Good luck.”
Curious to find out exactly what had been done in his office, Braxton didn’t chase Lenna down. He drove to Farris Industries at nine o’clock on a Sunday night. He hurried through the empty building until he reached his office. Seating himself at his desk, he fidgeted as he watched his computer boot.
As soon as he logged on, he could tell someone had been snooping. But it hadn’t been Tom. Whoever it was must’ve shown him Lenna’s pictures, though.
His face heating with indignation, Braxton used his techno-savvy knowledge to decipher exactly when and where his cyber-guest had gone.
What he found left him sick to his stomach.
Tom walked into work Monday morning, having no idea what the day would bring.
Though he refused to regret lying to Lenna, he still feared the repercussions.
Farris might be a punk, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d figure out Tom knew the truth...that was, if Lenna had dumped him yet. But knowing his girl, she’d already visited the kid and stomped all over his nuts.
Strolling slowly toward his office, Tom almost expected a pink slip waiting on his desk. But he never made it to the room. On the way, an anxious Ben intercepted him, grabbing his arm and yanking him aside.
“What the hell did you do to Farris?”
Tom froze.
Oh, shit
. “Why?”
“He’s called an emergency meeting this morning,” Ben hissed. “He wants everyone in the conference room...immediately. Tasha said he’s pissed. Dear God, Tom. You didn’t tell him I snuck onto his computer, did you?”
“No. God, no.” Tom drew in a deep breath. “What’s the meeting about?”
Ben could only shake his head. “No one knows.”
Even more on edge, Tom changed his course and moved toward the conference room. He wondered if this had anything to do with Lenna.
Lord, he hoped not. He did not want the boy to announce he was screwing Tom’s daughter. God, anything but that.
Fearing publicity and termination, Tom entered the room and was doubly shocked to find Spencer Farris seated to the right-hand side of the head spot at the table.
It was a surprise to see his former boss in the first place, but to see Spencer anywhere other than the lead chair was even more disconcerting.
Pat Foley walked in behind Tom and also halted when he spotted Spencer. But Pat grinned at their former boss instead of sending him the sickened I’m-going-to-lose-my-job-aren’t-I look Tom gave him.
“Hey, Spence. Couldn’t handle retirement, huh?” Pat asked.
Spencer merely chuckled. “To tell the truth, I have no idea why I’m here. Braxton asked me to come in as a consultant. I’m just as clueless as to what he has planned as everyone else.”
Braxton appeared in the doorway.
Talk in the room died as soon as everyone saw the stony expression on his face.
Glancing around, Braxton shut the door and strode to the front of the large conference table.
Tom couldn’t breathe so well.
The boy tossed a file he’d carried in with him onto the table and remained standing as he glared accusingly around him. “Someone’s been hacking into my processor,” he said without preamble. “And I want to know who.”
Silence cloaked the room; a person could’ve heard a pin drop. The employees looked at each other, confused. Tom’s face drained of color. He itched to glance toward Ben, see how his friend was holding up, but didn’t dare. Ben would be fired if Farris found out it’d been Hendricks.
Braxton waited another moment before adding, “No one is leaving this room until someone confesses, and I know someone in this room did it.”
Tom’s mind filled with the pictures he’d seen of Lenna and how that punk bastard had stared at her in a couple of them. At the time, it had turned his stomach sour. He’d felt duped, wondering how much Farris had to be laughing at him behind his back for not figuring it out sooner when there’d been so many clues.
But looking at Farris now, Tom couldn’t forget the expression of complete adoration he’d seen on Braxton’s face in those pictures. And telling her he loved her during that phone call might not have been a ploy to piss off his employee. There was a possibility the kid really did have feelings for Lenna.
If anyone could survive termination, it would be the father of the girl Braxton claimed to love.
Taking the largest risk of his life to help out his friend, Tom slowly stood.
Everyone gaped at him, including Braxton.
The boy gave him a slight shake of the head, cautioning him not to act. “Don’t,” he whispered.
But Tom ignored the warning. He looked Farris in the eye. “I did it.”
Braxton’s jaw tightened and he closed his eyes. Tom swallowed, hoping to God the boy was as crazy about his daughter as he suddenly suspected.
“Everyone else...out.” Braxton said as he lifted his lashes and drilled his gaze into Tom. The hate in his stare was unmistakable.
The room cleared in record time. The only three people left after thirty seconds were Tom, Braxton, and Spencer. Tom eyed Spencer, but his old boss was busy studying his son with a thoughtful, almost proud expression.
Braxton waited until the door closed before he took a seat. Sitting directly across from Tom, he folded his hands on the table and lifted his somber gaze. The hate had fled his blue eyes; now he just looked grief-stricken.
Tom swallowed.
An unexpected and abrupt burst of respect swelled inside him. All thoughts that this was just some young, inexperienced kid flew out the window. Braxton Farris vibrated with power and authority.
He could crush Tom and ruin his life. Twenty-five years of work were about to slosh right down the drain.
Braxton’s voice was laced with doubt as he said, “
You
hacked into my computer?”
Tom nodded, even as he realized standing up for Ben might’ve been the stupidest thing he’d ever done. Needing to make it sound authentic, though, he shrugged. “How do you think I found out about you and Lenna? Her face was everywhere when I logged in.”
Tom glanced at Spencer again, but the older man didn’t bat an eyelash when Lenna was mentioned.
Braxton nodded. “Yeah, I figured you knew about us.” Farris studied his hands a moment where he had them laced tightly together on the tabletop.
Then he moistened his lips and raised his gaze. His soft chuckled was an evil, menacing sound. “I also figured the only way you could’ve found out was by seeing those pictures. And that’s why I came to work last night at nine o’clock to discover exactly what had been taken off my hard drive.” He frowned, his jaw hard. “I didn’t like what I found, Tom.”
Just when Tom thought he was going to wet himself, Braxton softened and actually smiled... though it wasn’t a happy smile. “After the lies you told her, the way you made her break up with me, I’m already in a bad mood. In fact, right now, I’d like nothing better than to watch you suffer considerably.”
Tom’s face drained of color and Braxton continued, “So, you see, Tom, it’s almost like...providence...that you stroll in here today and confess a thing like this to me.” Opening his hand, he looked down at his empty palm. “You just
handed
me a reason—a damn fine reason—to fire you.”
Balling his fingers into fists, Braxton pressed them against the top of the table and stared at Tom so intently, the fury rolled off him in waves, splashing across the room in a drenching monsoon. “It’s just too bad that’s personal shit and this is business. Otherwise, you’d be gone.”
Tom was so scared, he couldn’t even swallow. Hoarsely, he asked, “So, you’re not going to fire me?”
“Well...” Braxton actually looked thoughtful.
Tom choked on his tongue. Shit, he was going to lose his job. After twenty-five years of giving his life to Farris, he was going to lose his position...for confessing something he hadn’t even done.
Glancing at a pen on the table, Braxton slowly rolled it across the desktop, from one hand to the other. When he finally glanced up, Tom thought he was going to suffer from a massive coronary. The anxiety was killing him. God, he was too old to handle such an extreme level of apprehension.
“If I truly believed you were the one who was in my computer, then yeah, you’d be gone,” Braxton said.
Tom’s eyes flashed wide with hope. That “if” word sounded promising.
“As it is,” Braxton added, sighing wearily and rubbing at his face. “The fact that I know you’re lying royally pisses me off.” He narrowed his eyes. “But then, you’re an excellent liar,
aren’t you, Tom
?”
Tom licked his dry lips. “What makes you so sure I’m lying? I wanted to know what you were up to just as much as everyone else around here.”
Braxton shook his head. “It’s not a question of wouldn’t. It’s couldn’t. You’re a relic on the computer, Tom. Sure, you’ve learned the basics. You do what you have to do, but other than that, you’d rather not mess with that kind of technology.”
Tom didn’t see how that meant he couldn’t snoop on Braxton’s computer. Like the kid said, he did what he had to do. He could turn his processor on and log in—
Suddenly comprehending, his eyes flashed to Braxton’s.
Braxton nodded to confirm. “You don’t know enough to get into the files this person hacked into. You aren’t that clever. Whoever broke in went through passwords. They cracked encrypted codes, found back doors. You may be an intelligent man, but you are not techno savvy.”
“You’re wrong,” Tom said, not knowing why he bothered. Hell, Farris was right, and everyone knew it. Even Spencer. He knew nothing about getting by passwords.
Braxton sighed. “No, I’m not wrong.”
More scared than he’d ever been, Tom kept thinking about the mortgage he owed. The car loans. The two kids he still had to get through college. He was going to lose his insurance, his home,
everything
. If he lost his job, his life as he knew it would be over.
“Fine,” Braxton said on a short nod of the head. “You say you broke into my computer. Then prove it.”
Tom frowned. “What?”
“Tell me where you went. Tell me what you copied. Tell me when you did it.” He lifted the file in his hand. “I’ve got the facts right here. I know when, and I know what was snooped through.”
Tom paused.
Fuck. How was he going to answer this one?
Braxton shook his head, looking disappointed. “You can’t tell me, because you didn’t do it. You know who did though, and they gotta be close enough to you that they gave you the heads up about Lenna and me. They probably even gave you all her pictures they copied.”
Tom’s face drained of color; his breathing went shallow. For the first time in his life, he thought he was going to pass out.
“Who was it?” Braxton said. “Charlie? Ben? Pat? I know it was one of your good buddies. They’ve kept quiet about Lenna in loyalty to you; otherwise that news would already be spread through the entire office as the biggest piece of hot gossip yet.”
Tom said nothing.
“Whoever it was also copied some very sensitive information, information that, if sold to a competitor, would put Farris in a very vulnerable position.”
“No.” Tom shook his head, denying it. Ben would never sell out Farris. He’d been with the company for almost as long as Tom had. He wouldn’t believe it of his friend.
“Believe it,” Braxton said. He leaned over the table toward Tom. “Someone printed out bank account information and stock numbers. If that’s used against us, it could hurt everyone in the company. Are you seriously going to protect a traitor? A thief?”
“I’m sorry,” Tom croaked. “I can’t tell you.”
Braxton’s eyes filled with bitter disappointment as he fell back into his chair. “Then you’re suspended. Effective immediately. You have thirty minutes to pass your workload along to other people; then I want you off Farris property.”
Tom’s breath shuddered from his lungs. “Until when?” he managed to ask.
Braxton shrugged as if unconcerned. “Until you tell me who. Or until he comes forward. Or until I find our culprit on my own. Whichever comes first.”
Tom glanced one last time at Braxton’s father.
Spencer Farris shook his head sadly. “Don’t look at me, Tom. I would’ve fired you.”