“The police?” It felt as if the ground beneath her had cracked open and she was plummeting through space. “Whatever it is that you’re about to ask me, I will of course tell you everything I know. I would never hide anything from either of you.”
“I told you, Sawyer. Lily would never do what you’re about to accuse her of.” The desperation in Noah’s voice only made Lily feel worse.
“Will you let me get through this?” Sawyer asked. “Lily, we need you to tell us everything about your involvement with our father.”
“I don’t understand. I don’t even know him.”
A dismissive breath left Noah’s lips. “Sawyer. This is absurd.” Noah turned to her and the look in his eyes was full of remorse. Lily had never seen that expression. He was too laid-back to get worked up about much, which was part of why the entire morning had been so hard to deal with. “Your computer is the source of the leak.”
“What? No. How is that possible?”
“Every night, the contents of your email folders are uploaded to a server owned by one of our dad’s businesses. That’s how he’s been one step ahead of us this whole time, going all the way back to the renovation of the Grand Legacy.”
Lily didn’t know what to say. She was in shock. “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. I would never do that. You have to believe me.”
Sawyer crossed his arms over his chest and sat back in his chair. “Well, I don’t know what to say. Until we straighten this out, you’re on leave. I can’t even allow you to look at your computer or touch anything before you leave the office. Noah will walk you out.”
Lily stood and did as she was told, but she was on autopilot. As soon as they were out of Sawyer’s office, she grabbed Noah’s arm. “Please. You have to believe me. Do you honestly think I could do such a thing?”
“I do believe you, but this is an impossible situation right now. All evidence points to you. Sawyer seems convinced.”
All she could think about was everything that had happened in the office for the last two years. She’d feared that things would end badly if she got involved with Noah, and that had come to fruition, but not in the way she’d thought it would. “Doesn’t everything I’ve done for Locke and Locke count for anything?”
“Of course it does. But it also incriminates you. The transmissions started the week you began working here. And you made yourself indispensable, which put you right in the thick of some very high-level meetings.”
Lily’s brain was working double time to find some bit of information that could exonerate her. “If I was working for your dad, why would I have agreed to move in with you to save the deal? I could’ve let the Hannafort deal fall apart right then and there.”
“But that’s not his true motive. He doesn’t want the story to come out. He wants the Grand Legacy. He always has. He tried to make our lives miserable through that project in the hopes that we would abandon it.”
Lily looked up at the ceiling, in utter despair. She loved her job more than anything. Except Noah. She loved him. She knew it. And she definitely loved him more than her job. But what if she ended up losing both of the things she loved? And her nest egg? She couldn’t bear the thought. The tears started to come and they weren’t about to stop anytime soon.
“Mr. Locke.” The security guy with the beard was standing right next to Noah. “Ms. Foster should not be in the office right now. We need to ask her to collect her things and leave.”
Of the many things Lily had worried about, leaving this office she loved so much in utter disgrace was not one of them. “Okay. I’ll go.”
“I’ll help you. And I’ll call my driver and get him to bring the car around to take you back to the Grand Legacy.”
Lily watched as Noah retrieved her bag and coat. She wasn’t even allowed to touch her desk. Sawyer didn’t even say goodbye. He was still holed up in his office. Noah walked her down to the street. It was starting to rain and she had no idea where her umbrella was. Somewhere in a box, back at Noah’s.
He pulled her into a hug while the driver stood, waiting, the car idling. “We’ll figure this out. There has to be some other explanation. I’ll convince Sawyer somehow that he’s wrong.”
“Okay.” She looked up into Noah’s face, making a point of remembering every perfect angle, his amazing lips, his unforgettable eyes. She’d suspected all along that he wasn’t meant for her and right now, it felt like every circumstance in the world was pointing to that very fact. If she wasn’t proven innocent, Sawyer would fire her. He would bring criminal charges. If anything was going to make Christmas morning awkward, it would be spending time with your former boss and boyfriend’s brother, the guy who’d tried to send you to jail.