“If she took the money, she had a good reason.”
“She could have all the reasons in the world, sweetheart, doesn’t mean she’s not a thief,” he told her gently.
Fuck. Shit. He was right. And that pissed her off. Because, in the eyes of the law, Sophie would be in the wrong, no matter the reasons. Stealing was stealing.
But Ria didn’t see the world in black and white. And she wasn’t above bending a few laws for a good cause. Her moral code was slightly off. People would say it was because of her upbringing. And she’d guess they’d be right. But even outside of that life, she knew that sometimes the law had to be skirted for a greater good. Not that she’d ever stolen anything. But maybe if she were starving or had a family to feed or . . . she was aware Sophie had none of those excuses.
She glanced back at Sophie. Ajax had her feet up on a few stacked-up pillows. Her hair lay sprawled around her head, and she stared up at the big Dom with a look of such sorrow and longing that Ria felt her stomach tighten painfully.
Shit. If Ajax turned away from Sophie in disgust, it would kill her. It was more than obvious in that moment how she felt for their boss. And that could be messy. Real messy.
“Soph, is it true?” She couldn’t wait any longer to ask her.
Ajax threw her a quelling look over his shoulder. “She just fainted. Can’t this wait?”
She flinched at the reprimand in his voice, feeling like a complete bitch. And the worst sort of friend. How had she not known that Sophie had been so desperate for money?
Sophie looked at Ajax again then swallowed heavily and closed her eyes. Her guilt was written all over her face, and Ria took in a sharp breath. Then she turned to Connor.
“Whatever she took, I’ll pay back.” She didn’t know how; she wasn’t exactly rolling in money. But she’d find a way.
“What? Ria, no.” Sophie attempted to sit but Ajax placed his large hand gently on the middle of her chest.
“Don’t move. You just fainted.”
“I’m fine,” Sophie protested. “Let me sit up. I can’t have this conversation lying down.”
“Stay down until I give you permission to rise.”
Sophie gaped up at Ajax, clearly unused to the strict tone of his voice. Ria had more experience with that tone. But Soph always followed the rules. She didn’t rock the boat.
“Are you in pain anywhere? Do you feel ill? Any dots in front of your eyes?” Ajax fired the questions at her. He sat facing her on the bed, his shoulders tense.
“Ajax, I’m fine.”
He snorted. “Honey, you are anything but fine. You’ve got a huge bruise covering one side of your face, you can’t even see out of that eye, your arm is in a sling, and, apparently, you’ve been stealing from the club for weeks.”
“Weeks?” Ria asked, feeling ill. “It wasn’t a one-time thing?” How much had Sophie stolen? And how the fuck was she going to pay it back?
“I wouldn’t have been called in for just a one-off thing,” Connor told her.
Called in?
“Who are you?”
“He’s a private investigator and security expert,” Ajax answered. “Roarke hired him when he realized money was going missing.”
“There weren’t enough cameras, and what the club did have, weren’t in the right places,” Connor said. “That’s something I rectified as soon as I got here. Needless to say, Roarke’s having all his clubs security updated by Black-Gray.”
“That’s who you work for?” she asked.
Connor nodded.
“So, you were planted here. Roarke brought in an investigator just because of some missing money?”
“My boss also owes Roarke a favor,” he replied.
Much be a pretty big favor. But his job was now over, right? Which meant he would leave soon. Good. That was for the best. Then her life could get back to normal. No more worrying each night that the weird new guy would be sitting in her area.