Page 28 of Dominion

“Why are you here, Ben?”

He rubbed his eyes. “I have a suspicion who’s behind this.”

Ashley appeared in the doorway, eyes wide.

“Who?” Shayla asked.

“Well, one person knew about Ashley’s new role and that she’d have the opportunity to switch out my laptop. And that same person would know the importance of what’s encoded on the laptop.”

“Jack.”

“Yeah.”

Ben had come to Shayla, because if it was Jack, he needed to know how much affection she had for the man who had been her husband’s best friend and business partner.

She seemed to understand because she said, “Do what you need to do,” in a hard voice.

He raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

She nodded once, decisively. “If Leon had trusted him, he would’ve left the running of Stone to him. After all, Jack knew everything there is to know about it and he’s been there from the ground up. Why would he choose you? I mean, yes, you have a business degree from Harvard, but you’d never even worked for him.”

And he’d been gallivanting around like a party boy while Leon had worked his ass off to build a multi-million dollar company.

She left that part unsaid, but even so, it lay between them, along with all his other failures to meet his brother’s expectations. The teapot whistled and Shayla and Ashley had some conversation about which kind of tea she preferred while he wallowed in a moment of self-hatred.

“Mama?”

He whirled to see his little niece padding in her footed pajamas. “Ellie,” he said, jumping from his chair and swinging her up into his arms.

“Tío,” she exclaimed, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck in a strangling hold.

He pretended to eat her neck, making chomping sounds.

She squealed in delight. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I came to make sure you were in bed. What are you doing out of bed, young lady?”

She laughed, not taking his mock sternness seriously for a minute. “You woke me up,” she said.

“I’m sorry,mi amor. I’ll tell you what—how about if I read you a story and put you back to bed?”

“No,” the four-year-old said stubbornly. “I want to stay up with you.”

“Well, I’m not staying,angelita. I just came to ask your mommy something and now I’m leaving. What do you say, want that book?”

The child looked indecisive. “Did you bring your girlfriend?” she asked, changing the subject and staring at Ashley.

He ought to tell her Ashley was his employee, not his girlfriend. But the idea of having Ashley really being his mate, having her at his side at family functions, the way Shayla had been Leon’s, hit him with such a stroke of longing that he just wanted to pretend, even if it was only for a moment. “This is Ashley,muñeca. Es muy bonita, verdad?”

Ellie giggled. “Tíohas a girlfriend, Tíohas agirlfriend!” she chanted.

“Ya, mi amor.Let’s get you to bed.”

“No,” she squealed, kicking her feet.

“I’ll take her,” Shayla interrupted, reaching for his niece. “You should probably go.”

“I’m sorry,” he said to Shayla as Ashley sprang to her feet.