“You and your father and a certain woman at work.”
“This is old news.” Derrick shook his head. “This is about Abby, right? I’m not sure where you’re getting your information but Abby dated my brother. Not me.”
Noah blinked a few times. “That’s not what Joe—”
Ellie wasn’t about to let Noah stop there. “Who?”
Noah shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Joe Cantor? Is he the one who’s been feeding you false intel, hoping you’d fall for it?” Derrick asked.
“Joe?” Ellie thought her head might explode.
The ramifications of what Noah admitted flowed through her brain. Joe had planted that story in the Insider about her work. He was trying to undermine Derrick and his relationship with Spence. And this poor Abby person was stuck in the middle. Sure, Derrick had made Joe look stupid, but the timing didn’t seem right. And what kind of man would take that bait and go to all this trouble?
“You’ve been working with my former boss?” It sounded awful when she said it out loud. “The one who kicked me out of the office and sent me home without a paycheck?”
“It’s not like that.” Noah shook his head. “Only in the last few weeks when you guys started dating.”
“Let’s run through this.” Derrick’s firm voice broke through the room. “The Insider is not running anything about me cheating, because I’m not and they don’t want to be sued.”
“How did you—”
“And…” Derrick talked right over Noah’s explanation or whatever else he was going to say. “If you put up that video, you’ll hurt Abby. Not me. She deserves better than that. Honestly, she’s been screwed over by my family enough without adding yours.”
Noah shook his head. “Don’t try—”
“Why did you move the money? Was Joe involved in that?”
Derrick’s question came out of nowhere. Ellie had no idea what he was talking about.
But Noah didn’t look even a little confused. “It’s about time you figured it out, but Joe’s not involved.”
Ellie rushed to keep up. “What are you two talking about?”
“Noah moved money out of a bunch of work accounts and moved it into a fake client account he designed. Hid it all but didn’t actually take it. I just figured that out.” Derrick’s gaze switched from her to Noah again. “So, did you run out of time to make a withdrawal?”
“I was never going to take it. I just wanted to prove I could do it.”
It was such a Noah thing to say that Ellie’s heart melted. He refused to see the results of his choices. He acted and let everyone else clean up his mess. Whatever his issues, he had to learn a new way. “Oh, Noah.”
“You brought me on at the office then put me in that room.” Noah ignored her and turned on Derrick. “I tried to talk with you about problems in your system, but you said I had to talk with my direct boss.”
Derrick’s eyes narrowed. “You were trying to get my attention.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Noah returned to staring at the table.
That was it. Ellie knew Derrick was right. Something in Noah’s reaction or Derrick’s tone. In the middle of their fight and Noah’s threats, Derrick had gotten to the bottom of the stealing question. He wasn’t blaming. He was laying out facts. Because he was a good man. A man worth loving. The man she’d fallen for.
This time the realization didn’t make her want to throw up. She wanted to tear up that ridiculous agreement so she’d never have to think about it again.
Derrick shifted in his chair, clearly trying to get Noah to look at him again. “I didn’t mean to ignore you in the office.”
Noah snorted. “Stop acting like I cared.”
But he did. No matter what Noah was saying, he did. It all made sense now. So many people ignored Noah and passed him over. They didn’t take the time to see what he could do. Derrick had taken an interest in him. Hired him without a load of experience or an advanced degree.
Derrick had taken a chance and Noah had taken that to mean something more than the usual employer/employee relationship. Derrick never could have seen this coming.
“I asked the prosecutor not to move ahead with the charges,” Derrick said in a low voice.
The sound shot through her. The words…he’d kept his promise. Of course he did.
Derrick looked at her then. “For you and for him.”
“You’re not doing me any favors.” But all of the anger had left Noah’s voice. His outburst died as soon as the words were out. “Ellie, listen to me. You can’t marry him.”