His lip twitches.Damn him.
“I’ll do my best.”
The elevator opens to our floor, and I walk out ahead of him again. When we get to our doors, I feel Anderson’s eyes on me briefly, but I don’t bother looking back at him.
10
Natalia
Anderson and Lucadiscuss business strategy the entire ride to the warehouse, and I distract myself with my Kindle app. The romance is turning out to be much steamier than I anticipated, and more than once, I find my pulse speeding up, a flush creeping up my neck during certain scenes. I don’t realize we’ve arrived at the warehouse until the car stops, cutting the air conditioning. The muggy air filters through the car as we all climb out—me from the back row—and head into the aluminum building that overlooks the dark blue ocean.
Anderson takes a phone call as we walk up. Luca stops and checks his phone while we wait.
The whole world stops for Anderson Møllen, apparently.
“Who was that?” Luca asks as Anderson hangs up and we walk in.
Anderson shrugs. “Andi checking in.”
“How is she?”
“Fine,” Anderson answers bluntly.
Luca nods, appeased with the answer, but I keep my eyes on Anderson for a few seconds longer. His nostrils flare a bit, and I see his fists clench at his side. I don’t know who Andi is, but I sure as hell know that Anderson wasnottalking to her on the phone.
As CFO—someone who deals with finances—Anderson is oddly very distant during the entire tour of the facility. Luca and I speak to the local staff, ask questions, and talk about capacity, availability, and—financials. Anderson is too busy texting to chime in, which I find strange. He handles Gather’s money—Luca’smoney. While Luca is busy talking to the head of the warehouse, my curiosity gets the best of me, and I do a Google search of his name.
I nearly drop my phone as I read the first article.
CFO AND HEAD OF 360, THE ORGANIC FOOD CONGLOMERATE, FINED FOR TAX EVASION.
That’s not the only article, either. There areseveralthat summarize the same mishap from nine years ago. When I dig a little deeper, I also find out he’s been married, and he and his ex hadn’t signed a prenup, meaning she’s entitled to some of the money he makes.
Something isn’t adding up, and I don’t trust himat all.
Anderson excuses himself to use the restroom, and I stalk over to my brother.
“Luca, did you know Anderson got in trouble with the IRS?”
Luca shrugs. “What CFO hasn’t?”
I shake my head. “I don’t trust him.”
He sighs and turns to me. “I really appreciate you looking out for me. I really do. But I promise, I had him vetted. Twice, actually. He’s legit. He makes this company better, end of story.”
“By taking secretive calls and then lying to you about it?” I quip, my cheeks flaming.
“I trust him. If I had any reason not to, he would not be CFO.”
“Why does he own fifty-one percent of Gather’s shares?” I blurt.
Luca smirks. “It was the only way to convince him to work for me.”
I give my brother a disgusted look. “You were so desperate for his flawed—and apparently sometimes illegal—expertise that you were willing to give himmajority control of your company?” I hiss.
“Listen, Anderson and I have mutual friends. It’s not like I handed those shares over to a stranger. At the time, I wanted someone to help me bring Gather to the next level. He has done that and more. I owe Gather’s recent success all to him. He’s phenomenal at what he does. He’s the backbone of this company, Natalia.”
I pout as he gives my shoulder a quick pat and walks away, speaking to the warehouse manager again.
