Changing the bad boy

Chapter 15

VALERIE POV:

There's a huge smile on my face the entire way home. The now familiar scenery of apartment buildings, restaurants, and bars dotting downtown flash by as I navigate through the rush hour traffic. But I'm too caught up in my head to pay it any attention.

With the radio cranked up and the air conditioning on -not that it works that great, but its loud drowns out the outside noise and leaves me in my happy bubble. I can't stop smiling. My face almost hurts, I'm so happy.

It feels like for the first time in a very long time, there's real hope. The possibility that I might get the break I've needed and wanted for so long...

I'm fully aware that there's a lot more to figure out because I'm convinced something seriously shady is going on at the Paramount, but I'm not discouraged. Instead, it feels like this is my shot. The one I've been waiting for. The possibility of helping solve something huge.

I just need to keep pulling at the threads, and eventually, the plot should unravel." Should" is the keyword but despite that and all the things that could go wrong, I'm not deterred. Rather, I feel more determined than ever to figure it out.

"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah," I sing along at the top of my lungs to some catchy old pop music on the radio. Some old boy band I don't

remember the name of. It draws the attention of the middle-aged man in the car next to me, and he laughs. But I don't care. I just grin back, too hyped from today's praise. Because Preston was seriously impressed with me today, and I liked having his positive attention.

Preston has never given me compliments like that before or touched me like he appreciated what he saw. And yes, I know it was just his hand on my arm and a half hug, but that's more action than I've had in months. My entire body tingles at the memory of his body so close to mine. His enticing smell, and the way his deeply blue eyes held some heat as they stared into mine.

I feel a need to fan myself, which draws the amused attention of another fellow commuter. Being inside a car in rush hour traffic is like being in an aquarium. Still, it doesn't deter my spirit.

I'm still grinning like a lunatic as I sprint up the ratty staircase to my apartment, but it drops off my face as soon as I step inside. Rory is on the living room floor with his fish and a stack of blocks. He wastes no time knocking them over. Bella is bouncing up and down on the couch, something I've told her not to do about a million times. But it's neither of them that's shocking me. It's the unmistakable sound of the neighbors getting it on that has me horrified.

The neighbor's bedroom is next to my living room, and the acoustics in this place are seriously lacking. Their bed is thumping against the wall in a steady rhythm. The man - who I secretly call Batman, and not because he's like a superhero, but because he reminds me of a bat with beady eyes and floppy arms- moans loudly which are followed by his woman shouting, "Yes, yes, f**k me harder."

My brother's terrified expression meets mine from where he's standing in the doorway to the kitchen, wringing his hands in front of him.

"Why is she screaming, mommy?" Bella asks in her small, innocent voice.

And just like that, I'm out of my happy bubble and smacked in the face by my reality.

"Oh, for f**k's sake," I grumble, not bothering to even attempt to respond to my daughter because it's not like I can explain this one.

My bag drops to the floor as I throw myself towards the TV remote on the coffee table, desperate for anything that will drown out the noise next door.

But I miscalculate in my pitiful attempt to get the remote and step right on top of Rory's stuffed fish.

"Mommy," Rory cries as my legs fly out from underneath me and I land so hard on the floor it takes my

breath away.

Bella's eyes widen, and she seems to temporarily forget about the neighbors. But that only lasts a few seconds until Batman grunts along to the thumps.

I put my hand up as I try my hardest to get some air into my lungs. "I'm okay," I tell them as soon as I can.

"Ish!" Rory yells as he stumbled my way with a scrunched-up, angry expression on his little face.

The sound effects next door continue. "f**k babe, just like that," Batman shouts."Ride that cock."

Oh, hell no.

These f*****g neighbors need to show some respect.

I've done everything short of banging on the wall and telling them to knock it off, and that's about to happen. I grab a hold of one of Rory's blocks and am about to hurl it against the wall when Bella's scared expression stops me.

"Mommy," she begs.

"What the hell is going on in this place?" Paul demands. He's suddenly next to me and reaches for my hand to help me up. I don't know what's more mortifying, having to listen to the neighbors having s*x next to my brother, or with my children.

I grab a hold of his hand and let him help me up. There's shooting pain down my

back. It feels like I broke my ass, but there's no time to worry about that.

Rory pushes me to get to step off his fish. As soon as I do, he pulls it into his chubby little arms and sighs happily, "Ish."

My mouth falls open. It doesn't exactly feel great to know that your son is more concerned about his stuffed fish than you, but then I have bigger problems to worry about.

"Remote," I hiss.

My brother's questioning look changes the second Batman's woman screams. I, unfortunately, know from experience that they are nearing their crescendo.

Paul moves faster than I've ever seen him snaps the remote off the coffee table behind him and pushes it into my hands.

With Bella's wide-eyed expression in my peripheral vision, I stab at the remote. As soon as the TV turns on, I increase the volume until it's so loud Bella covers her ears. The good thing is that the TV program drowns out the s*x act next door. However, the bad thing is that the TV program is not much better. I have it set on a nature channel, which is supposed to be educational for children, but it's currently showing two hippos going at it.

And I don't mean fighting.

"Oh. mv god!" Paul exclaims.

"What the hell?" I groan under my breath. My happy, carefree mood turned into a s**t show in a matter of seconds.

It's not like I need my kids to have this kind of education right now. All I'm doing is trying to prevent them from getting traumatized by the sounds next door, only to land on hippo s*x.

"What they doin'?" Bella asks. Her little head is tilted to the side as she stares curiously at the action on the TV. Paul's face drops and he starts laughing like a lunatic.

"Mommy?" Rory questions.

"Don't you have some f*****g cartoons like normal parents?" my brother questions breathlessly between his laughing fits.

"I'm trying," I hiss and press random buttons on the remote, hoping for the best. It lands on a rock concert and I settle for that. At least it's loud enough to drown out other sounds, including my brother's laugh.

"Please tell me there's wine left," I say as I slump down onto the couch next to Bella.

"Oh, Val," my brother sighs, but he is a good brother, so he walks into the kitchen just to return a couple of minutes later with a large glass of wine for me.

I slurp down half of it in one go, to the amused and somewhat shocked expression on my brother's face.

"Momma juice?" Rory asks and forgets all about his favorite fish as he waddles on stubby legs my way.

"Yes," I tell him and raise the glass out of his reach, "this is mommy's."

"Me, me, me."

"Come here, buddy," my brother says, and I take a sigh of relief when Rory turns his attention to my brother. He is Rory's favorite person, so he can get him a cup of juice without me needing to feel guilty.

***

PRESTON POV:

By the time I arrive at Andrew's penthouse, Easton is already there. It's getting

late and I'm starving and desperate for a big f*****g drink.

Hayes shows up a few minutes later with a scowl on his face and I sigh.

It's not like I want to ruin his night. Or any of my brothers,b but I need to make them aware of what's going on. I'm just questioning how the hell I break the news...So I'm glad when Andrew takes charge as usual. After a long look at me, he leads us straight into his large office. It's bigger than his office at work, but also more intimate. And that might be because Andrew took an active part in the redesign. The building is older, which gives the space that perfect character and is the main reason Andrew purchased the apartment.

He had the office redone to resemble an old gentleman's space, complete with a fireplace, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in a dark wood, and a large impressive desk.

Andrew likes to read. And while some books show signs of use, a few are so old they are falling apart, but most of them look brand new.

Andrew walks over to his filled bar cart, which is round and designed like the earth.

He pulls out an expensive bottle of whiskey and pours drinks for all of us. It's not my drink of choice, but I'll take anything at this point.

Hayes eyes me wearily as I take my first sip, but doesn't say anything. After a large swig of the drink, he sits down on the massive brown leather couch. His leg keeps on bouncing while he's waiting for me to spill the news.

Easton drops half the whiskey in his glass before he takes a seat next to Hayes. I'd expected Hayes to be the demanding one, but it's Easton who glares at me while he inquires what the meaning is of the urgent meeting. He was out, about to have dinner, and had to leave before he got a chance to. From his grumpy attitude, I gather he was on a dinner date, which he was hoping would end up at his place, horizontally in his bd

"Preston called it," Andrew says as he sits down in the large wingback chair in front of the picture window which has views of downtown and crosses one leg over the other, looking like some kind of prince.

I take a deep breath and sit down in the other chair near Hayes.

"We have a problem," I announce. I put a folder down on the table. I didn't have a chance to go through all the documents, for obvious reasons. There are thousands of pages, but I brought the fraudulent estimates Valerie found and left the rest on my desk. And when I left my office, I did something I never usually do; I locked my door.

"Kind of figured that," Hayes

responds worriedly.

"Yeah," Easton sighs, "the urgent calls to drop everything and show up ASAP are usually not a good thing."

"Just tell us already," Andrew demands impatiently.

I take a deep breath and let it out. "Someone, and I think it's Demers, has been stealing money."

"What?" the three of them say at once.

I nod. "Yeah, it seems like he's been skimming money off the Paramount for years."

"Are you f*****g kidding me?" Haves exclaims while

Andrew correctly concludes, "That's why we're so much over budget."

"Yeah."

"What the hell?" Easton groans and reaches for the folder. He flops it open and takes out the change orders, which I have highlighted.

"How the hell did you figure this out?" Hayes asks curiously, with none of the accusations I expected would be there. I'd figured they would all blame me as the CFO for not figuring it out earlier. Our dad would.

"I didn't," I admit."Valerie did."

"Valerie?" Andrew repeats, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead. "Secretary

Valerie?"

"Yeah." I lean back in the chair, feeling a sense of pride over her. "She's been going through the records whenever she's had time."

"Damn," Andrew says and there's a small appreciative smile on his face and I don't like it. I don't want him to be all smiley and s**t when he thinks about her. I don't want him thinking about her at all.

And wow.... slow down.

Where do all those thoughts come from?

"That's a pretty significant accusation," Easton says, "even if Valerie is right," and that gets my thoughts back on track.

"Are you sure she's right?"

Hayes questions.

I nod. "She is, I know it. But we still need to go through the rest of the records to see the full extent of it."

"How did this happen?"

Andrew asks.

"How long has it been going on?" Easton adds.

"I don't know, but we will need to do an internal investigation because I suspect that someone, possibly Peter, is in on it."

"What the f**k?" Easton groans again.

"Shit." Andrew gets to his feet and starts moving around the room like he does when he's nervous.

Hayes takes a big gulp of whiskey and leans back against the couch. "Do we involve Dad now or after we know more?" he asks.

"After," the rest of us respond.

Hayes nods with what looks like relief.

"So, what's our plan?" Easton asks. "What's the next step?"

Andrew stays quiet and defers to me.

I clear my throat. "We need to go through all the records and there are thousands of pages."

Easton grunts something about missing another dinner date, which I know is code for hook-up

Hayes nods as he agrees.

"I want to offer Valerie overtime and ask her to help us go through these records over the weekend," I tell them.

Andrew looks over at me and there's a small smile on his lips as he nods.

"Is she qualified to do this?"Hayes asks.

"She found the mistakes, "Easton deadpans and I chuckle.

Andrew opens up his round-world bar cart again and refills his glass. Hayes holds his glass out for more and Andre tons him off and

looks questioning at me and Easton. We both nod and raise our glasses.

"I looked up her resume after she left today, "I explain once we've all refilled our glasses and taken a needed drink. "I didn't realize, but she has an accounting degree, and she used to run an auto body shop, including the bookkeeping."

"What?" Hayes looks as surprised as I first felt when I found it.

"Yeah."

"Damn, what's she doing as an admin?" Easton asks.

"I don't know." But I suspect she was in desperate need of money and took whatever

she could get to support herself and her family. And that was a good thing for us.

"Get it set up," Andrew decides and looks at me. "It will be a long weekend, but we'll need to keep this under wraps until we know the full extent of this. Valerie is already involved, but I don't want any others knowing at this point."

"Agree," Hayes responds while I nod.

"Until we figure out who we can trust," Easton says somberly.

Until we can figure out who the traitor is.