Nathan shook his head, his brow scrunched, disbelief in his voice as he spoke. “You were playing matchmaker?”
I was too stunned to even say anything. He brought us together. The initiator of the non-fraternization policy in our company.
“Nate, I love you as if you were my son by blood; you will always be my son. I couldn’t stand to see you like that anymore. Watching you push us all away. You were never going to heal that way.”
“But, Sadie and Will… You were going to fire one or both of them,” I said, still slow on the uptake.
Jack sighed. “I really hated to see Sadie go. We were already thinking about altering the policy when we found out. By then it was too late. The good thing is they already decided she was going to stay home with the baby. I wrote a letter of recommendation for her to use in the future.”
My head was spinning. Jack planned it? Put us together on purpose? “Why me? How did you know I was…dead inside?”
An apologetic look flashed on his face; he felt guilty. “It was little things I noticed about you, and one was that you wore the same expression Nathan did when you thought no one was looking. Also, when I received your background check…I was quite disturbed by what I read. Filed for emancipation at sixteen. I needed to know more, so I looked into it.”
I tensed, and my eyes widened. He knew. Mr. Holloway knew.
“Yes, Delilah, I know about the abuse you suffered at the hands of your family. You were broken. I studied you in the office for weeks. It was the little things. You kept to yourself, besides Caroline. You avoided eye contact and shied away from men who bared any resemblance to your father or stepbrother.”
I froze, staring at him in horror. “But, why? Why would you look me up? Dig into my past?”
Jack’s head bowed. “I apologize. I know it was wrong.”
“I don’t get why?”
“I’m sorry. I never intended for you to know I had gone so low, that I ever doubted your loyalty to the company.”
My loyalty to the company? My chest tightened, and I found it difficult to force out the words. “When did you…”
“Four years ago.”
I heard a gasp to my right and looked at Nathan. Four years ago, Jack lost his daughter; Nathan’s wife.
“Why then?” I asked.
“Antonio,” Jack said, and I stared at him confused. “When the relationship with Antonio and Karen blew up, shortly after… It was maddening, what I found out, and I became obsessed. I had to know everything about all of my employees. I was not going to allow anyone else to get hurt. Any background check that came back questionable, I dug into. Yours was the one of greatest concern to me at that time, Delilah.”
“Why me? What happened that would make you do all that?”
“Antonio was using Karen to gather information for him. It was when Antonio was caught with another woman that Karen went off and spilled everything. None of us knew… I trusted Antonio.”
“You aren’t making sense. What is the deal with Antonio?” Nathan was just as confused as I was.
I was there when things blew up, but it was becoming apparent I didn’t know anything about the sordid details. “You put the non-fraternization policy up because of them. I don’t see the connection.”
Jack swallowed hard and looked straight at Nathan. “Antonio has a cousin he’s very close with. I didn’t know. No one but Karen did. Antonio is Vincent Marconi’s cousin.”
Nathan’s eyes widened and his hands began to shake, evidence of the panic boiling inside him. I slipped my hand into his, and he squeezed it. He brought my hand up to his lips, placing a light kiss there and he took a calming breath.
“They killed my daughter. It made me sick to know someone close to me fed them information to end the lives of my family,” Jack said. His composure faltered, tears brimming in his eyes. “Excuse me.”
“The rumors said Antonio was fired because he attacked Karen.” I wondered now what the truth was.
“He did. He became angry when she said she was ending their relationship, and she wasn’t going to help him any longer. She said she was going to go to the police and expose him,” Jack explained. “Antonio didn’t take to kindly to that. We found him with his hands around her neck, Karen pinned to the floor. I’m thankful we made it in time. It was a combination of that and the lawsuit by her that followed. Those were the reasons we put the policy in place—to protect our employees and the company.”
“What happened to Antonio?” Nathan asked.
“Antonio was put in jail for assault and battery. Karen pressed charges, and I’ve been working with the Feds ever since to make sure he stays in jail for a very long time.”
“What about Karen?” I asked, afraid I already knew the answer.
Jack’s eyes saddened, his voice dropping. “Karen disappeared before she could testify.” Nathan tensed beside me. “She’s probably fine. More than likely, the Feds put her in witness protection. Don’t worry.”
Nathan was going to have a full-blown panic attack if he kept on the current train of thought that was circling in his head. I knew it would lead him to me and thinking about if they made me disappear. He would pull away, and I wasn’t going to allow that again. I was going to be with Nathan, Marconi be damned.
“When did you put this massive plan into motion?” I turned to Jack, trying to draw the conversation away from Karen’s disappearance.
Jack smiled at that, still happy with his plan and the outcome. “When I decided to move you and Vivian into the same space, I did so with purpose, more so than simply you two sharing duties. I had already contacted Nate and offered him the position.”
“But, that was four months before Vivian left,” I said in shock. He’d planned it, planned the whole thing.
That caught Nathan’s attention, and he was back in the conversation.
“I had to give Nathan time to take a few classes and get caught back up after being away for a few years, before I fired Vivian.”
Nathan snorted and shook his head. “The combined office was a set up.”
“Yes,” Jack revealed. “I really hoped you two could help one another. I want you both to be happy. She wouldn’t want this for you. She would want you to move on, not trapped in this purgatory you’ve created.”
I was too stunned to even say anything. He brought us together. The initiator of the non-fraternization policy in our company.
“Nate, I love you as if you were my son by blood; you will always be my son. I couldn’t stand to see you like that anymore. Watching you push us all away. You were never going to heal that way.”
“But, Sadie and Will… You were going to fire one or both of them,” I said, still slow on the uptake.
Jack sighed. “I really hated to see Sadie go. We were already thinking about altering the policy when we found out. By then it was too late. The good thing is they already decided she was going to stay home with the baby. I wrote a letter of recommendation for her to use in the future.”
My head was spinning. Jack planned it? Put us together on purpose? “Why me? How did you know I was…dead inside?”
An apologetic look flashed on his face; he felt guilty. “It was little things I noticed about you, and one was that you wore the same expression Nathan did when you thought no one was looking. Also, when I received your background check…I was quite disturbed by what I read. Filed for emancipation at sixteen. I needed to know more, so I looked into it.”
I tensed, and my eyes widened. He knew. Mr. Holloway knew.
“Yes, Delilah, I know about the abuse you suffered at the hands of your family. You were broken. I studied you in the office for weeks. It was the little things. You kept to yourself, besides Caroline. You avoided eye contact and shied away from men who bared any resemblance to your father or stepbrother.”
I froze, staring at him in horror. “But, why? Why would you look me up? Dig into my past?”
Jack’s head bowed. “I apologize. I know it was wrong.”
“I don’t get why?”
“I’m sorry. I never intended for you to know I had gone so low, that I ever doubted your loyalty to the company.”
My loyalty to the company? My chest tightened, and I found it difficult to force out the words. “When did you…”
“Four years ago.”
I heard a gasp to my right and looked at Nathan. Four years ago, Jack lost his daughter; Nathan’s wife.
“Why then?” I asked.
“Antonio,” Jack said, and I stared at him confused. “When the relationship with Antonio and Karen blew up, shortly after… It was maddening, what I found out, and I became obsessed. I had to know everything about all of my employees. I was not going to allow anyone else to get hurt. Any background check that came back questionable, I dug into. Yours was the one of greatest concern to me at that time, Delilah.”
“Why me? What happened that would make you do all that?”
“Antonio was using Karen to gather information for him. It was when Antonio was caught with another woman that Karen went off and spilled everything. None of us knew… I trusted Antonio.”
“You aren’t making sense. What is the deal with Antonio?” Nathan was just as confused as I was.
I was there when things blew up, but it was becoming apparent I didn’t know anything about the sordid details. “You put the non-fraternization policy up because of them. I don’t see the connection.”
Jack swallowed hard and looked straight at Nathan. “Antonio has a cousin he’s very close with. I didn’t know. No one but Karen did. Antonio is Vincent Marconi’s cousin.”
Nathan’s eyes widened and his hands began to shake, evidence of the panic boiling inside him. I slipped my hand into his, and he squeezed it. He brought my hand up to his lips, placing a light kiss there and he took a calming breath.
“They killed my daughter. It made me sick to know someone close to me fed them information to end the lives of my family,” Jack said. His composure faltered, tears brimming in his eyes. “Excuse me.”
“The rumors said Antonio was fired because he attacked Karen.” I wondered now what the truth was.
“He did. He became angry when she said she was ending their relationship, and she wasn’t going to help him any longer. She said she was going to go to the police and expose him,” Jack explained. “Antonio didn’t take to kindly to that. We found him with his hands around her neck, Karen pinned to the floor. I’m thankful we made it in time. It was a combination of that and the lawsuit by her that followed. Those were the reasons we put the policy in place—to protect our employees and the company.”
“What happened to Antonio?” Nathan asked.
“Antonio was put in jail for assault and battery. Karen pressed charges, and I’ve been working with the Feds ever since to make sure he stays in jail for a very long time.”
“What about Karen?” I asked, afraid I already knew the answer.
Jack’s eyes saddened, his voice dropping. “Karen disappeared before she could testify.” Nathan tensed beside me. “She’s probably fine. More than likely, the Feds put her in witness protection. Don’t worry.”
Nathan was going to have a full-blown panic attack if he kept on the current train of thought that was circling in his head. I knew it would lead him to me and thinking about if they made me disappear. He would pull away, and I wasn’t going to allow that again. I was going to be with Nathan, Marconi be damned.
“When did you put this massive plan into motion?” I turned to Jack, trying to draw the conversation away from Karen’s disappearance.
Jack smiled at that, still happy with his plan and the outcome. “When I decided to move you and Vivian into the same space, I did so with purpose, more so than simply you two sharing duties. I had already contacted Nate and offered him the position.”
“But, that was four months before Vivian left,” I said in shock. He’d planned it, planned the whole thing.
That caught Nathan’s attention, and he was back in the conversation.
“I had to give Nathan time to take a few classes and get caught back up after being away for a few years, before I fired Vivian.”
Nathan snorted and shook his head. “The combined office was a set up.”
“Yes,” Jack revealed. “I really hoped you two could help one another. I want you both to be happy. She wouldn’t want this for you. She would want you to move on, not trapped in this purgatory you’ve created.”
