Caught in the Billionaire’s Embrace(36)
Author: Elizabeth Bevarly

She wasn’t sure if Marcus was talking only about information in that statement, so she diverted to their original subject. But she did her best to be as vague as possible. She didn’t want to say anything that might compromise the hearing next week. She couldn’t stand the thought that everything she’d gone through over the last eleven months might end up being for nothing.

But then, without the last eleven months, she never would have had her weekend with Marcus, would she? So regardless of what did or didn’t happen in the future, those tedious, anxious, interminable months could never have been for nothing.

“Look, Marcus, I can’t give you any particulars about the case I’m involved in,” she said. “I’m not even sure if your mere presence here right now is going to mess everything up or not. Suffice it to say that one day, I was doing my job and living my life and everything was as normal as it could be. The next day, I discovered something my employer was doing that was illegal, and I turned all the information I had over to the proper authorities. The next thing I knew, I was being told I couldn’t go back to work, and that I was going to be placed into protective custody while the government took over the investigation. I was told it would only be for a couple of months. That was eleven months ago.”

“And to explain your disappearance,” Marcus said, “they concocted a story about you having an affair with a married man in another department.”

Now it was Della’s turn to blush and look away. “That wasn’t concocted,” she said softly. “And if you know that, then you do know something about my situation.”

His expression changed then, turning contemplative, and he said nothing for a moment. Then his expression changed once more, this time to one of understanding. “Whitworth and Stone,” he said. “That was your employer.”

“Yes.”

His lips parted fractionally, as if he were going to say something else, then closed again. For another moment, he studied her in silence, then he opened his mouth again. But, again, it took a moment before he spoke. “I read in the trades and the Wall Street Journal about the arrests. It was because of you, wasn’t it?”

Her stomach knotted again, and she shook her head vehemently. “I can’t say anything about it.”

“You don’t have to,” he told her. “It didn’t occur to me until now to put it all together. There just hasn’t been that much in the news about what’s really going on there. There was so little fanfare, in fact, that most of us figured the charges were bogus, just the government flexing its muscle to keep Wall Street in its place, or that it would turn out with one or two guys getting a slap on the wrist for some minor infractions. It never occurred to me that they’d actually make a federal case out of it.”

Della said nothing, but couldn’t pull her gaze away from his. The wheels were clearly spinning in his brain now, and he was obviously able to put way more than two and two together. A man like him, as highly placed as he was in the financial community, could fully appreciate how much was at stake here, and how much trouble a company like Whitworth and Stone could be in. A man like him would know exactly how important Della’s role was in what was happening, and he would understand completely how devastating her impact would be.

He nodded slowly. “But the reason there hasn’t been much media coverage is precisely because of how massive a case this is going to be. Executives that high up, with that much money and that many resources at their disposal—not to mention that much to lose—can afford the kind of lawyers who can keep things quiet, at least for a while.”

Still, Della said nothing. Still, she couldn’t look away.

“It never occurred to me to put those arrests together with your disappearance,” Marcus said. “The married lover story made a lot more sense.”

“I didn’t know he was married,” she said, finally relieved to be able to talk about something that wouldn’t compromise the case. “I was supposed to meet him on New Year’s Eve. Though after midnight because he said he had a professional dinner to attend. I arrived a little early and saw him kissing another woman good night before putting her into a cab. When I asked who she was, he informed me she was his wife, who he had no intention of leaving because, by the way, he also had three kids and his wife’s family was so well-connected socially and financially, and he couldn’t afford to lose those connections.”

Marcus’s expression then indicated the wheels were still turning in his head, though they might be going in a different direction now. “You disappeared in mid-January, meaning you must have uncovered the wrongdoing at Whitworth and Stone right before that.”

“On New Year’s Day,” she said without thinking. But that wasn’t compromising information, was it? Surely not.

Marcus nodded slowly, as if making more connections. “So you found out on New Year’s Eve that the man you were seeing was married, and then, hours later, discovered that your employer was involved in matters that threatened national security.”

“That’s it in a nutshell, yeah.”

“Sucky way to start the new year.”

She wished she could laugh, then wondered if she would ever be able to find humor in anything again. “Yeah.”

“You know, anyone else would have been devastated by either one of those things, but even after suffering both, you still had the presence of mind, and the courage, to do the right thing.”

Della had never really looked at it like that. “I just did what anyone else in that position would do.”

“No, you didn’t,” he said. “A lot of people would have walked away from both and wallowed in self-pity. Or they would have kept their mouths shut and not risked losing their job or their benefits or anything else that might mess up their life.”

“Maybe…”

“Instead, you risked everything to make sure the people who were putting other people—strangers you didn’t even know—in danger didn’t get away with what they were doing.”

“Yes.”

He lifted a hand and started to reach for her, then hesitated, as if fearing how she would react. Reluctantly, without touching her, he dropped his hand to the table. “And you have to ask why I came looking for you.”

Whatever was left of the knot inside her unraveled. In spite of that, she told him, “You shouldn’t have come, Marcus.”