He returned to his desk chair and Emma lowered slowly into the guest seat where she’d first met the infamous Jonah Flynn a week ago. So much had changed and yet she was just as anxious talking to him now as she was then. “Am I missing something?” she asked. “Is this some kind of third world charity outreach in the Caribbean?”
Jonah shook his head. “I’m pretty sure we document our charity funds appropriately. You haven’t missed anything, and I didn’t think you would. The truth of the matter is that my younger brother Noah is a vice president here, as I mentioned earlier. He transferred the money out to one of his private accounts—an unauthorized loan of sorts. A member of the finance department brought it to my attention the day you arrived to conduct the audit. Had I known about it earlier, I would’ve disclosed the issue, but instead, I hoped that perhaps I could resolve it. I spoke with Noah last week and confirmed my suspicions.”
Emma’s stomach felt like the baby was flittering around with butterflies. Unauthorized loan? That was a nice way to say stealing. She’d never even met Jonah’s brothers and now she was learning that one of them was a thief. Her baby’s uncle was a thief. As though her parents weren’t already going to have a meltdown over this.
“And?” she pressed.
“And, he’s returning it all. I can’t tell you what he needed the money for—I didn’t ask—but he swore he would return it when he got back into the States. At the moment, he’s in Southeast Asia. In the meantime, I have deposited enough money to cover the withdrawal. The accounts should register it as of this morning. Since this is a privately owned company with no board of directors to answer to, I’ve covered the loss and opted not to publicize the theft outside of the company.”
“You still have the president of Game Town to answer to,” Emma pointed out. “When I disclose this, I’m pretty sure Carl Bailey is going to back out of the partnership deal with FlynnSoft. He was suspicious enough of your company and its unorthodox methods going into it. I don’t see him as the kind of man that would want to do business with a company that could potentially lose money it’s handling on his behalf.”
“We won’t lose Game Town’s money. I guarantee it.”
“How can you do that?” she asked. Was he willing to use his own money to replace every dime his brother or anyone else decided they could take?
“I can guarantee it because I intend to make my brother’s life so miserable he’d sooner stab himself in the eye with a butter knife than touch a pen
ny of this company’s funds again. When I’m done making an example of him, neither he, nor anyone else in this company, would even consider it.”
“Well, hopefully when you meet with Game Town, you can convince Carl of that. I’m not the one you need to sell it to.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I need you to understand that this is really a private matter between my brother and I, and I would like to keep it that way. I covered the loss and would do so again if necessary.”
The unease returned. It all sounded very nice and good, but Emma couldn’t shake the feeling that this was bad news. She believed Jonah and what he said about the money, but the implication was clear. “Are you asking me to leave the stolen money out of the report?”
Jonah looked her in the eye for a moment, as though he were silently pleading with her. But he didn’t say the words. “I can show you the records of the deposits, Emma. Would that make you feel better?”
It would. To a point. “I would like to see those records. Then I can and will include in my report that the funds have been reinstated. But I won’t be a party to covering this up. If someone were to find out, I would lose all credibility. I would be fired. I wouldn’t be able to get a job anywhere in my field.” Emma placed a hand protectively over her stomach, which seemed to grow a tiny bit every day now. “As it is, my impartiality will be questioned when the truth about the baby comes out. If anyone were to uncover that I knew about the theft and hid it...”
“You know you don’t need to work, Emma. I can take care of you and our baby.”
Emma shook her head adamantly. “Support your child because you want to and it’s the right thing to do. I don’t want it to feel like a kickback. Please don’t ask me to do something that compromises my integrity, Jonah.”
With a sigh, Jonah set aside the financial paperwork and walked over to her. She reluctantly let him wrap his arms around her and pull her into his protective embrace. “I won’t. Report what you need to report, butterfly. FlynnSoft will recover, no matter what happens with the Game Town deal.”
Emma eased back to look him in the eye and see that he really meant what he said. “You’re okay with this?”
He nodded with a soft, reassuring smile. “I’m okay with this. In the end, it is what it is, right? You have to tell the truth and I have to be willing to stand in front of Carl and explain to him why he can still trust us to do a good job, despite it.”
A sense of relief washed over her. She didn’t like what she’d found, and she didn’t like that Jonah and his employees might be punished for someone else’s actions, but thankfully it would be out of her hands. “Thank you.”
“When you get done typing that report up, I insist you let me take you out to dinner tonight. Anyplace on the island you want.”
“I’m still not comfortable with us being seen together. It’s not over until my report is filed, I’m back at my old office and the deal is done, Jonah.”
“Okay, fine,” he relented. “How about some very privately consumed takeout at your place, then?”
“Perfect,” she agreed, letting him pull her tight against him again. Even now, when it felt like things were unraveling, she was okay as long as she was in his arms. Hopefully she’d be able to stay there and weather the upcoming storms.
Ten
Jonah wasn’t sure what to expect from Emma’s apartment, but it wasn’t what he got. Her work persona was so straitlaced and uptight, he anticipated her home would be boring, neat, with a place for everything and everything in its place. But the large and spacious apartment was flooded with daylight through large picture windows and the decor was relaxed, comfortable and filled with personality.
He followed her inside clutching a bag of Thai food from the restaurant up the block. Once he made it in far enough, he closed the door behind him and just stopped to take it all in. The fabrics on the curtains and the furniture were soft and romantic with florals and lace. The furniture itself looked comfortable like you would want to settle in and read for hours. It was soft, feminine with a touch of rustic country charm, telling him more about the real Emma than he expected to uncover.
“What’s the matter?” Emma asked.
“Your apartment. It just wasn’t what I was expecting.” He followed her into the kitchen with its white Shaker cabinetry and gray-washed wood floors. A vase of multicolored zinnias sat in the middle of the kitchen table, likely from the flower shop on the corner.