Page 79 of Strictly Business
“Finn, please let me go.”
“No, because if I do, I’ll never see you again, and I’m not going to accept that.”
“Finnley,” the sound of his full name shocks him. “If you do care about me and I’m not part of this game, then you’ll let me go.” At first, I don’t think he’s going to, but after a moment his grip loosens until his hands fall to his side and he stands to his full height. “I hope it was worth it,” I say and step into the hallway closing the door between us.
Chapter Forty-One
MICHAELA
“SURE, COME ON IN,” Nina says when I pass her to enter the penthouse. She’s still dressed in her gown, which means they haven’t been home long. She yawns rubbing her eyes, “I wasn’t expecting you ’til Tuesday.”
“We need to talk now.” I’ve spent the past hour trying to figure out how I missed the memo about this whole thing being a sham to help Finn keep his inheritance. I planned on talking to her at the office before we meet with Kai, but I can’t wait. I need to know the truth. Now.
“Oh, hey, Mic,” Nick walks down the hallway. “I was about to order pizza. Want some?”
“No,” I say sharply turning back to Nina, “we need to talk.”
“Whatever it is can wait until Tuesday. We had a great night, let’s not ruin it with—”
“This is important.”
Nina sighs and I wonder if she already knows what this is about. I watch her face transform from Nina to Davina in a matter of seconds. Her lips press into a firm line, and her shoulders straighten slightly. She turns to Nick and tells him not to wait for her before leading me to the office.
Nina leans back in her chair. She doesn’t say anything, only watches as I pace the length of her desk. Back and forth. Back and forth. Repeatedly. Trying to compose my thoughts. I have to do this; I have to know how much she knew and why she didn’t tell me.
“Did you know?”
She doesn’t react, “I’m going to need a little more information.”
My heart drops. “You did,” I scoff. “How could you do this to me, Nina?”
“What exactly did I do to you, Michaela? From where I’m sitting, I only offered you an opportunity to try something new. Get out of the rut you had put yourself in.”
“I wasn’t in a rut! I had life shit going on.”
“Shit you chose not to tell any of us. You chose not to tell me! I’m supposedly your best friend, but you still hid it from me. So, from my standpoint, it was either give you a change of pace or fire you.” I swallow the lump in my throat under her burning gaze. “I chose the former because I didn’t want to fire you. You left me no choice. And it’s not my fault you decided—”
“But, you fucking knew! You knew about the wager with Oliver, and you didn’t tell me.”
Nina straightens in her chair, “It wasn’t my place, Michaela. I cannot gossip to you about confidential business matters.”
“That’s not a confidential business matter, Nina!”
“Yes, it is!” Her words echo in the space around us, the first time she’s raised her voice since we stepped into her office. She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, the light reflecting off the emerald on her finger. “I’m sorry, I am, but it wasn’t my place to out his business. I knew how you felt about him, and I didn’t want to give you any ammunition, especially something he told me in confidence.”
“When you knew we were sleeping together—”
“I didn’t, though!”
“Oh, come on, Nina.”
“I had my suspicions, but you were a married woman. I didn’t want to assume. Then, Josh told Nick about walking in on you and… Michaela, I didn’t think it mattered. Why does it matter what got him here? All that should matter is he’s here!”
“It matters, Nina. He lied to me. He didn’t want to help kids, he only wanted to keep his money.”
“You’re wrong,” she says matter-of-factly. “When Finn decided to move forward with a nonprofit, he knew it was a risk. Oliver isn’t exactly the type to care about things like this, but Finn did it anyway. He knew he might not earn the money back and did it anyway.”
Nina doesn’t understand. She can’t understand.