I take a breath and let it out. Maybe I’m stupid, but he’s right.
I really, really want to go with him.
“Let me get myself cleaned up,” I say, and he nods.
“Take your time.”
I head upstairs. I’m a mess, but I do my best to get myself together. When I’m done, I’m in some semblance of shape, and I don’t think I’ll be embarrassed for Mason to see me right now.
At least I don’t look like a crying mess like I did ten minutes ago.
Roger sits waiting patiently on the couch for me to return. “Ready?” he asks.
“Ready.”
He smiles. “You look great. He’s looking forward to seeing you.”
“Lead the way.”
We leave my house and step out onto the street. Rogers ushers me into a town car, closes the door behind me, and gets behind the wheel.
It takes him just a few minutes to drive to the tower. He parks in the underground garage in a spot right next to the executive elevator.
“We’ll be skipping that for now, unfortunately,” he says as I glance at the call button. “Declan will be watching.”
“What’s happening with that?”
Rogers sighs. “Oh, just the usual. Declan is trying to push Mason out and Mason is busily destroying him.”
I gape as Rogers grins and leads the way over to the stairs. We start walking in silence as my head buzzes with this new information.
I knew Mason was looking into what Declan’s been up to, but the idea of Declan trying to push Mason out seems so absurd. I mean, it’s Mason’s company, it has his own name. He’s the man behind it all.
Then again, Mason has been holed up in his office and his apartment for years. I bet nobody sees that man ever. I’m probably one of two other people to have a face-to-face meeting with Mason in a long, long time.
Slowly things click into place. If Mason and Declan are actually enemies, then that would explain why Declan fired me and why he did it the way he did. Declan couldn’t come up to Mason’s inner sanctum, but he could force me into public and push me out there.
I’m such a fool. I should’ve seen this, but I was so blinded by embarrassment. I didn’t even know Mason was going through something.
We trudge up the steps. We get up twenty flights before Rogers finally groans and opens a door. “Come on, we’ll get on here,” he says. “I don’t think I’ll make it much further.”
I’m not in any better shape, so I don’t argue. We call the elevator and ride it up to the top floor where Rogers uses his card to get us through security. One more flight of stairs and we’re in the old familiar room outside of Mason’s office.
“Let me buzz him,” Rogers says, going over to his desk. He picks up his phone. “She’s here,” he says, and looks at me with a smile. “Go in,” he mouths to me.
I nod and walk over to the big double doors. My heart’s beating so fast as I push them open.
Mason’s sitting at his desk, looking gorgeous as usual. I shut the door behind me and face him, head bowed.
He stands and comes around the desk.
“Hazel,” he says in a stern voice.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” I say softly. “I didn’t know…”
I can’t explain anymore, because Mason comes up to me and wraps his arms around my body, pulling me tight against him.
I’m so stupid. I don’t know why I ever questioned this, even for a second. Being here again, feeling him hug me tight, I know what’s true and what isn’t.
It’s real, all of this is real. I thought it might be some kind of lie, but I was just being stupid.
I was just afraid of losing something important to me.
“I’m sorry,” he says softly. “I promise, nothing like that will ever happen again.”
“It isn’t your fault,” I say softly.
“Yes, it is. You should have my number, you should know how to contact me.” His voice is tight, his eyes harsh. He pulls back and looks at me. “I’m just… I can be stupid sometimes.”
“You’re not being stupid. You’re being careful.”
“Sometimes they’re the same thing.” He sighs and kisses me softly. “Declan should never have fired you. He’s going to be taken care of.”
“What’s going on?” I ask him.
He leads me back to his desk and sits me down in a chair. He sits next to me, stretching with a slight groan.
“Declan didn’t like me snooping around,” he says softly. “I’ve been noticing things, money missing, bad things. I’ve been following the leads and it’s all been pointing right back at him. I think he finally realized that the game was over.”
“So he’s trying to take over the company?”
Mason shrugs. “More or less.”
“How? You own it.”
“Not entirely. I own a large portion of the shares, but not all of them. I’m a member of the board, but I haven’t actually been at a meeting in years. I suspect the board listens to Declan.” He grins a little bit. “Or at least he thinks they do.”