Fascination: (Billionaire Venture Capitalist #9): A Friends to Lovers Romance

by Ainsley St Claire

  Mason leaves to make the call, and I’m left to rethink every conversation I’ve had with Evelyn. I always kept it professional, but we traveled to Fashion Weeks all over the world and spent time talking to one another. I knew about her love life, and she knew about mine. We talked about our goals for the company. She knew I was an advisor for SHN.

  I hear the doorbell sound, and Angela knocks on my door. “Miss Caroline, Cora Perry with the FBI is here to see you.”

  “Thank you, Angela. Bring her in.”

  Cora arrives, and I start to cry. “I can’t believe this.”

  She puts her arms around me. “I’m so sorry.”

  I sob for a few minutes. When we finally break apart, I feel a bit better. “I’m sure you don’t have to comfort too many of your victims.”

  She shrugs. I’m so grateful that Cora took over my case. If Agents Winters and Greene had dealt with this, I don’t believe it would be at this point.

  I walk over to my chair and pick up the emails. “I’ve highlighted the strange conversations. Hopefully your team can figure out what the mistakes mean.”

  “We knew they were somehow off, but without the institutional knowledge, we couldn’t pinpoint anything.” She thumbs through the book and sees all the notes I’ve written. “This is incredibly comprehensive. It’ll help a lot.”

  “Thank you.”

  “When does Evelyn come into the office?”

  “She’s usually in by nine.”

  “We’ve already located her at her condo in the East Bay. We’ll be following her wherever she goes beforehand and then into the office in the morning. I’ll plan on coming in and being there when my team makes the arrest.”

  “Thank you. I’d like to be there, too,” I tell her without asking.

  “I certainly understand. Not a problem.”

  “I’ll work with my team to make an announcement to the press. May I tell Becca and Christy, since once this breaks, the press is going to go wild?”

  “That works, but make sure they don’t tell her. It would be ugly if they did.”

  “I’ll let them know. Thank you.”

  She leaves, and I call Jeremy. It’s after eleven in New York, but part of what I pay him for is to be available when things go sideways. When he answers, I let him know what I’ve learned.

  “We’ll have a press release ready to go as soon as you give us the word. Do you want a notice to go out to your employees?” he asks.

  “I’ll meet with the management team, but since she’ll be arrested at the office, we’ll want to address this company-wide.”

  “Sounds good. I do suggest you bring in Becca. She’ll be fielding calls.”

  I breathe in deeply. I agree, but I also don’t want to tip my hand. She’ll know in advance, but I’m just not sure how far in advance. Once I get it all figured out, I text her. Can you meet me in the office at 8?

  Becca: I’ll be there. Can I stop and bring you a cup of coffee from Andytown Coffee Roasters?

  I love that she’s offered. Andytown is out in the Sunset neighborhood and really out of the way if you can’t just stop by on your way to work.

  Me: You fly, I’ll buy.

  Becca: A Snowy Plover?

  A Snowy Plover is a cold drink composed of Pellegrino, espresso, and brown sugar syrup over ice, topped with homemade whipped cream. It sounds perfect.

  Me: Please. Feel free to pick out a few bakery items, too. We have a big day tomorrow.

  Becca: See you in the morning.

  Mason returns. “I just talked to Jim. He’s agreed to meet us here at seven tomorrow morning.”

  “I’m meeting Becca at the office at eight.”

  “Could this mean this mess is almost over?” It just doesn’t seem possible. How could it be?

  “Gawd, wouldn’t that be nice!”

  “Angela has dinner ready. Then let’s go to bed early.”

  “Deal.”

  When the alarm sounds in the morning, Mason rolls over. “Did you sleep at all last night?”

  I read, I watched the clock change, and I went to the bathroom a dozen times. “No, not at all.”

  He puts his arms around me. “Today is going to be a good day.”

  I know he’s right. One way or another, we’re closing this chapter. Let’s just hope the next one is less stressful. “I hope so.”

  I’ve been up thinking about Annabelle’s involvement all night. “After what we learned, do you think Annabelle was truthful?”

  “I do, but I’m positive she knows who Eve Ambrosia is, and I’m not sure she’s as innocent as she projects.”

  “Eve could be short for Evelyn,” Mason suggests.

  “It can, but I’m not sure Evelyn would know HTML from Java. I know I wouldn’t.”

  “Jim will be here shortly, and then he can drive you in to meet with Becca. I’ve already told him that I want someone with you at arm’s length all day.”

  While I do feel that’s overkill, I won’t argue. Not today.

  Walking into the kitchen, I see it’s a beautiful day outside. Jim has already arrived. He looks well rested, and yet I know when we called him last night, he had a lot of work to get done.

  I page through his deep dive on Evelyn. Her birth certificate is there, showing she was born in Utah. There are police reports of domestic abuse by her father, and it looks like her mother ran to Southern California to be with a sister.

  She was twelve years old when she was moved into a foster home with her sister Anna due to neglect. There are notations about keeping the girls together because Anna was extremely vulnerable. Their father was an alcoholic drunk who couldn’t be found. The mother died, and the aunt wasn’t sending the girls to school, leaving them to fend for themselves when she went to work. They were always kept together, and they lived in the final home for six years. Adam lived with them for the last five.

  Various pictures from her childhood are included in the file. They confirm that she and Annabelle are sisters, and that they lived with Adam. “How did you get these pictures?” It’s not a real question, more astonishment that he has them at all.

  “You’d be amazed at what people share on social media. Throwback Thursdays are a treasure trove of information.”

  “There are pictures of me from some of my most awkward ages in newspaper and magazine archives, and they show up now and again, I don’t understand why people share so much online.”

  In an interview, the foster mother didn’t have a lot of great things to say about Evelyn, mostly that she was trouble, and she was promiscuous with other foster kids they had. “It sounds like the foster home was full of kids.”

  “It would seem so. I think it was relatively clean, but there were a lot of kids.” Jim looks at his watch. “If we’re going to get you to your office for your eight o’clock meeting, then we need to leave pretty quick.”

  “Okay.” I take a deep breath to steady myself. “Let’s get today over with.”

  I sit in the back of the Suburban and watch the people heading into work and enjoying their day. Like Evelyn, they have a very different idea of how their day is going to unfold than it actually will. They may think they know, but life always throws us curveballs. In Evelyn’s case, she’s going to be going where the fashion is a gray-and-white-striped uniform and live with at least one other person in a five-by-five cell.

  Becca is waiting for me in my office when I arrive. My cell phone pings before I can enter.

  Jim: She’s just left her house and is taking a route that would lead us to believe she doesn’t suspect anything and is heading to your offices.

  Now I’m getting really nervous.

  As I shrug out of my coat, Christy asks, “Is everything okay?”

  “Why don’t you join me in my office for just a moment.”

  She nods, and Becca stands and smiles at me when we enter. “Here’s your Snowy Plover and an apple pastry.”

  I take a nice gulp of the drink. “Mmmm, it tastes divine. Thank you.” />
  In a low voice, I lay it all out to them. “You two are the only ones who know this in advance. If it gets out, you’ll be in serious trouble. With the theft of our fall line, the FBI has been investigating our company. Against my better judgment, they loaded ghost software and keyword trackers on five employees’ work and personal phones and computers. While I was convinced that there was no way we’d have anyone in our midst who would trade our secrets for anything, the FBI proved me wrong. In less than two hours, they’ll be here to arrest one of our colleagues for selling our secrets to the Chinese competitors.”

  “Did this person also orchestrate the shooting at your home?” Christy asks.

  “Well, if they didn’t, they know who did.” They don’t need to know that we already know it was Adam who was behind that debacle, but Evelyn could’ve been involved. That will eventually come out in the news, most likely. “I’m telling you both because Accurate Communications will be sending out a press release once this person is apprehended, and you’ll both be fielding a lot of calls.”

  Becca looks at me, clearly puzzled. “Someone we know did this to us?”

  “It would appear so, yes.”

  “Caroline, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I’m not sure I can be objective. They’ve made my life and yours a living hell for the last three and a half months. I know I’m pissed, but I can’t even imagine that you’re less so.”

  I really hope Becca sticks around. She’s just the kind of person I want on my team, but if she thinks she needs to move on to something bigger and better, I’ll help her get there. “I’m pretty upset myself.”

  “Is this why you decided to reverse your decision about launching a fall line?”

  She’s a smart girl. I nod. “I’m sorry I put you through everything, but we needed to watch to find out who was involved.”

  A look of terror crosses her face.

  “Don’t worry,” I tell her. “My plan is not to launch any fall line. We’ll take the six-million-dollar loss, and I’ll personally cover that so no one loses their job with Metro or can’t pay their bills.”

  “That’s incredibly generous,” Christy says.

  “Yes, it’s very kind of you to do that. I’m just grateful you’re not launching a fall line. I just knew our animal rights activists would come out in full force and make my life positively miserable,” Becca laments.

  “You can’t say anything,” I warn. “The FBI is watching, and while you might like someone or have a juicy bit of gossip to share, it isn’t worth getting caught up in the middle of this mess.”

  Becca shakes her head vigorously. “No way. This person’s ruined my life. My boyfriend broke up with me because I was too busy to go out with him. I want to see this person rot in jail.”

  “Not an issue in the slightest,” Christy assures me. “I’m very sorry you have to deal with this, but I’m Italian, and I think an eye for an eye, thank you very much!”

  I chuckle. Once she hears the whole story, I’m sure she’s going to want more than an eye. “Christy, you’re amazing. And you, Becca. Thank you both.”

  “I need to talk to Jeremy’s team. Where would you suggest I do that?” Becca asks.

  “You can do it here on my phone.” I turn the landline around to face her, and she jumps on a call.

  Christy stands to leave, and I walk with her to the door of my office. “I’m disappointed someone we trusted did this to us,” she says.

  “Me, too.”

  “We’ll see better days after this.” Christy pats my arm in a motherly way.

  “I agree.”

  She gives me a warm embrace and heads for the door. “Let me know if there’s anyone you want to talk to; otherwise, I’ll deflect them to Accurate Communications.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  She walks out, closing the door behind her.

  Now I need to wait. I can’t sit, but I can’t just stand either, so I pace around my office. Back and forth, back and forth. I’m sure I’m wearing a permanent path in the carpet. I must check my cell phone every three seconds. I know they mentioned it would be about ten, but I’m still anxious.

  Christy buzzes me. “There’s a Miss Cora Perry here to see you.”

  I jump. “Let her in.”

  In my head, I keep repeating, Please don’t let this have gone sideways, over and over again.

  Cora walks in wearing her black pantsuit and a stunning pastel green silk top.

  “Is something wrong?” I ask her.

  “Nope, I just thought I’d give you an update. We followed her here this morning, and she’s just arrived in her office across the hall. We’re ready. Are you?”

  I take a deep breath and blow it out. “I guess so.”

  “Let’s do it.” She pulls on a windbreaker jacket that clearly says FBI and speaks into her earpiece. Then we walk across the hall to Evelyn’s office.

  Cora knocks on the door. Scarlett begins to object, but I shake my head and she sits down, watching as a half-dozen men with FBI-labeled attire spill into the admin area.

  “Evelyn Stevens, I’m with the FBI, and I have a warrant for your arrest,” Cora announces.

  Evelyn looks at me and gives me the evil eye. She doesn’t protest her innocence, nor does she yell or scream any profanities. She’s handcuffed and led out of her office. I hit Send on a text to Jeremy letting him know she was arrested. Less than a minute later, there’s an email delivered to my entire company telling them about the arrest of one of our own for selling us out.

  I send a text out to my friends.

  Me: Evelyn Stevens, my VP of operations, was arrested a short time ago for corporate espionage and trafficking. It appears she may also be known as Eve Ambrosia. We’re unclear if she was involved in the assault on Angela, Mason, and me, but we’re confident that we'll have more answers shortly.

  Cameron: I’m really sorry it was someone you were close with, but I’m glad you’re putting this behind you.

  Dillon: Great news.

  Emerson: Feel free to come over and join me for a drink if you need one. Door’s always open.

  Greer: Love you!

  Mason calls a bit later, just after the dust settles. “How are you doing?”

  “Not too bad. Most people are pretty pissed at Evelyn around here.”

  “As they should be. If they didn’t have such a generous boss, they’d be unemployed.”

  “I don’t know, I think many business owners would’ve just secured a loan to cover it.”

  “Maybe, but I think even more would throw in the towel and walk away.”

  I still can’t concentrate enough to work. Christy’s been fielding calls all morning, keeping them away from me. Finally, she buzzes me to tell me Walker Clifton is on the line.

  “Hello, Walker,” I answer.

  “Hey. Evelyn spilled the beans rather quickly. We know where Adam is, and he’ll be in custody within the hour.”

  “Do we know what motivated them to do this?”

  “More will come out in the days ahead, but really it was Adam’s vendetta against SHN for not including him when they started the company. She said something about you trying to ruin Adam’s life, and he got her her job at Metro and then he pushed her to do things.”

  “That’s it? All of this because of her foster brother?”

  “They have a very weird relationship. He really has done a number on her. She vented about your ‘perfect family,’ your ‘perfect friends,’ and your wealth which was given but not earned but much of her hurt and anger seem to stem from a misplaced loyalty to him. Adam placed her at your company and told her how she could maneuver herself to get into your tight circle.”

  Looking back I remember she really wanted to do things with me outside of work, and I always rebuffed. “I don’t mix my personal life and my professional life.”

  “Caroline, she has some real issues that have nothing to do with you. He did a number on her and we believe did a real number on Annabelle. They got her a job a
t SHN and then pushed her into a relationship with Mason when they couldn’t get a relationship going with Dillon. This was a multipronged assault all started by Adam, and both Evelyn and Annabelle were manipulated into doing his bidding.

  “I see.”

  “Do you know what he’s talking about when she says you tried to ruin Adam’s life?”

  “I do. You can reach out to Marci for my sworn statement.”

  “I see. Was it consensual?”

  “No, and as a lawyer, she knew she’d be the one prosecuted and vilified, not him.” I will go down defending Emerson about what Adam did to her. No woman should ever feel bad when she trusts someone.

  “I wish I could say that wasn’t true, but we know better.”

  “When she poisoned him, she was hoping Mason was going to die and it would cripple you while she destroyed Metro.”

  “What would she gain from Mason’s death? That just doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “Sweetheart, her reasoning is incoherent. Just be grateful she’s going to jail.”

  “What else did she say?”

  “She had Annabelle’s cell phone and was the one leveling the threats at you via text. We’ll hold her on that initially while we confirm the rest of what she shared.”

  “Did she even admit to selling our fall line to the Chinese competitor?”

  “She ranted and raved once we got her into custody and inadvertently admitted it. Chances are she’ll roll on Adam and we’ll negotiate.”

  “May I tell Mason that Adam will soon be in custody?”

  “He’s going to be my next call.”

  “Then I’ll let you give him the good news.”

  Walker pauses a moment. “Are you and Mason serious?”

  “Yes, we are.”

  “He’s a very lucky man. I know you always thought I liked you for your money and fame, but the reality is I like you for your brains, poise, and the fact that you’re a stunningly beautiful woman.”

  I don’t know what to say to that, so instead I respond with “I know the perfect woman for you when you’re ready.”