Page 40 of The Perfect Secret
There was nothing left to say. She rose and returned to her office, where she shut the door and dropped into her chair. She would have to take herself off the account. It was either remove herself, or further harm her company and ruin any remaining chance she had of a promotion. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but itwas, because she was counting on success with Fortex to get her a promotion. Grabbing her phone, she punched a number onto the keypad.
Dan’s deep, familiar voice answered. “Hey, Hannah.”
“What did you do?”
Dan pushed back in his chair, sending it rolling across the chair mat. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re the one behind the Fortex investigation?”
He frowned. How did she know whom he was investigating? “Yes.”
“They’re my client.”
Oh shit. “They can’t be.” He mentally reviewed all the things she’d said about her job, fitting them together like the pieces of a puzzle. They clicked into place and he shook his head. How had he never noticed the similarities before?
“Well, they were. I have to take myself off the account.”
“You mean your boss found out I’m investigating them and realized I’m your boyfriend?”
She nodded. “He thinks I shared information with you. If I don’t remove myself, I may lose my job. I’ll definitely lose my reputation.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’ll contact him and straighten it out.”
“No, you can’t. You’ll make things worse.”
“You’re right. If you’d told me the problem, you can’t say you’ve never spoken to me about it. Shit. Hannah, I’m sorry.” Dan waited for her to acknowledge his apology, but she remained silent. “Hannah?”
“I have to go.”
Her voice sounded thick, and it hit him after she hung up she’d been crying. He’d made her cry. Lunch sat like a weightin his stomach. For some reason, making her cry bothered him more than losing her the account. Not that it didn’t bother him as well. It did. But there was a professional distance he could put into place, a knowledge that once all of the evidence was presented, her losing the account before things crashed around her might not be all that bad.
But making her cry?
He’d seen her cry when she talked about her brother. The thought of her crying over something he’d done slayed him. His chest tightened. There had to be something he could do. Anything.
He was halfway out his office door when her request penetrated his brain. She didn’t want him talking to her boss. But there were others to whom he could.
Dan was sitting at her dining room table munching on one of her grandmother’s muffins and chatting about her grandmother’s mah jongg group when Hannah arrived home early from work.
She came to a dead stop in the hallway. What the hell? Why was he in her apartment?
Her grandmother was feeding him, the Jewish grandmother equivalent of promising him her hand in marriage. He was listening to and participating in a conversation about the new versus the old mah jongg card and seemed to be enjoying himself. Anger, shock, and embarrassment threatened to overwhelm her.
The aroma of her grandmother’s raisin muffins made her stomach growl.
“Hannahla, don’t stand there, come in. Dan and I were talking.”
She marched to the table and perched on the edge of the chair.
“Are you hungry?”
She was angry, not hungry. But good luck telling her grandmother. Jewish grandmas solved all problems with food.Bubbeheld out the plate of muffins. After waiting a moment, Hannah took one and nibbled on the edge. She’d never be able to swallow more than a morsel or two. Already, the tiny bit she’d bitten off turned to sawdust in her mouth.
Placing a glass of milk in front of her, her grandmother headed toward the door. “I’ll let you two talk.”
Hannah tracked her grandmother as she left the room, and she raised her hand to cover her cheek where her grandmother had kissed it before she left. The silence in the room was heavy. Needing something to do, Hannah stood and skirted the perimeter.
“Awfully chummy with my grandmother.”