The Player's Club: Finn (19 page)

“She stole from me. Stole from us,” he corrected, and he actually bared his teeth. He seemed ready to lunge at Diana. “After I trusted you, Diana. Hell, after all Macalister Enterprises has done for you. How could you do this to us?”

“I…I didn’t…” She could hardly speak; she was floored. “I didn’t embezzle!”

“Of course she didn’t!” Finn retorted. “Dad, have you gone crazy?”

“There’s a paper trail, Diana. You’re the one who was supposed to investigate this, and conveniently, it gets buried.” A vein throbbed in his father’s forehead—Finn was familiar with it, since it often showed up when his father chewed him out. It was weird not to be on the receiving end of that anger…and in this case, it was somehow worse. “I’ve got our comptroller tracing the accounts that are in your name. There’s at least one dummy corporation siphoning large funds.”

Diana stared at him. She felt shattered. “Do you really believe I’m capable of this, Thorn?”

“I’ve seen the evidence!”

Now she took a step toward him. “
Do you believe
I’m capable of this? Of betraying you and Macalister this way?”

“You have, damn it!” his father roared. “I thought taking you out of that awful family of yours would make a difference, but I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, huh?”

Diana reeled back as if he’d belted her.

Finn started to speak, but his father interrupted.

“Don’t you defend her, Finn. Don’t you
dare
defend her.”

“Will the police be charging me?” Diana said, her voice subdued. She could not look Thorn in the face.

“Once we gather the rest of the evidence, you bet your ass,” Thorn growled. “In the meantime, you’re out of here. Security will escort you out of the building.”

“Are you serious?” Finn asked, incredulously.

“Fine.” Diana walked to the door where a twenty-something security guard with a pimpled face was waiting. Finn followed her.

“Di…”

“You. Stay here,” his father barked.

“Stay,” Diana echoed weakly. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I will be.” Her voice sounded hollow and raw. She left, and the door shut softly behind her.

Finn spun to confront his father. “If you actually believe this, you are out of your mind. She would rip off her own arm before she stole money from here, and you ought to know that.”

“Shut up, Finn.”

“You don’t listen to me!”

“When a man thinks with his dick, then he doesn’t really have a lot to offer the conversation, now, does he?” his father said. “And how do I know you’re not in on this?”

Finn shook his head, starting to laugh. “Really? Are you serious?
Really?
”

His father’s eyes burned like phosphorous. “Finn, you’ve been upset with me for trying to stop you from doing all your ‘fun stuff.’ What’s to stop you from getting a little payback on your old man?”

Just as he was about to make a comment about his father’s paranoia and insanity, some other part of him stopped him from reacting and forced him to truly look at his dad. “I’ve never seen you like this, with someone else.”

“What?” His father slammed his hand on the desktop. “You’ve never seen me pissed? Never…”

“No,” Finn countered quietly. “Hurting.”

His father stopped abruptly, then scowled. “I’m not hurt, son, she’s not worth it. Hell, I’m not even disappointed. I should’ve known this would happen.”

“Why?”

“Because she was too damned perfect. You’ve seen how easily I go through employees. For her to last this long she had to have been planning this for years.” He shook his head, and Finn saw from his body language that he was practically shaking. He sat down in his office chair. “I should’ve been more prepared.”

“Did it ever occur to you that because you expect the worst, the worst tends to happen?” Finn was surprised that he could be this controlled. “I don’t agree with what you did to Diana. I know for a fact that she didn’t steal a dime from you. And I’m more than a little surprised that you’re buying it.”

“There’s evidence, Finn,” his father repeated. “You’re too naive. You don’t understand business. Or even things like evidence, apparently.”

“I understand that you don’t have enough for the police to be waiting here, instead of our own security,” Finn said, and his father glared at him. “That means you don’t have an ironclad case. Did it ever occur to you that she might have been set up?”

“Who would set her up?”

“I don’t know. She’s the one you call the Hammer, isn’t she? I’m sure she’s annoyed or ticked off lots of people. And maybe someone just wants to take your head lawyer and adviser away from you,” Finn said.

His father was still scowling, but there was an added grudging acknowledgment, as well…and a touch of respect. “You sound awfully logical. That her doing?”

Finn couldn’t but grin, albeit without the humor. “You know, I think it is.”

“Too bad.” His father shook his head, ran his hands over his face. “It’s done. Unless she can prove that she’s innocent, she’s out of a job and she’s got a criminal investigation heading her way. Period.”

“She’ll beat it. I know it.”

Finn started to turn and leave, to look for her, when his father stopped him. “Finn, I’ve still got the details that Diana dug up, that leverage she had to get you out of the Club,” he added. “And I will use it, Finn. Make no mistake, I’ll use it.”

Lincoln’s financials.
Shit.

“If you do, Dad, then you’re not going to see me again. Period.” Finn glanced over his shoulder. “I’m not bluffing here.”

With that, he walked out. He would be with Diana as soon as he could, but first he had to take care of her—and the Club. As he sprinted down the hallway, he hit a speed-dial number on his cell phone.

“Hey, Finn,” Lincoln said easily. “How was Paris?”

“Later,” Finn interrupted. “We’ve got an emergency. You’re going to have to mobilize people, because…well, there’s something bad you need to know.”

DIANA SAT AT HOME in a daze. After Thorn’s shocking allegation, all she wanted to do was run from the Macalister building. She couldn’t bear to face her assistant Penny’s expression, couldn’t bear to have all her coworkers watching as she was frog-marched away with her paltry personal items in a cardboard box. She’d fled directly to her car, and driven home carefully, gripping the steering wheel tightly enough so that her hands stopped shaking.

She hadn’t cried. At least she’d saved herself that one shred of dignity.

Now, she just felt…lost. What was she supposed to do? Macalister was the only place she’d worked since she graduated law school. The only place she’d thought about working, honestly, and now, she’d ruined it. Not only would she not get a good reference, at this rate she was looking at jail time. Who hired a lawyer who had been to jail?

Other than my family, anyway.

Quickly, she tucked her head between her knees, breathing deeply because again she felt light-headed. God, what was she going to do?

There was a knock on her door.
Please, not the police,
she thought. She wasn’t ready. She didn’t know how to face this, who to turn to.

“Diana, it’s Finn.”

She opened the door cautiously.

“I tried calling you,” he said, his eyes full of sympathy. “But your phone was shut off.”

“Company phone,” she said. Her tongue felt thick. “They would have closed the account. Protocol.”

It was ironic. Stupid, but also ironic.

She glanced past Finn. He wasn’t alone. Just beyond him on the sidewalk were a few others: Lincoln she recognized, and the stunning brunette with him, Juliana Mayfield. And Amanda, the silvery-blond-haired pledge, and Scott, and…Tucker, she seemed to remember.

“What are they doing here?” Did he really think that a Player’s Club outing would solve
this
problem?

Finn’s chin took on that determined jut that she’d gotten so used to seeing. “They’re here because they want to help.”

She laughed in shock. “Oh, yeah. Sure they do.”

“I assure you,” Lincoln put in, his intense look at odds with his mild tone, “I’m all about helping you out right now.”

She winced. He knew, she thought. It was obvious Finn had told him she’d dug into his financial records. And he looked plenty pissed about it.

“I imagine you’d like to help me right into jail,” she murmured, staring at Finn. She wasn’t prepared for this, either, although it was better than the police showing up. Still, she wasn’t equipped to deal with the Player’s Club either.

Finn brought her inside, motioning to the others to stay back.

“True. It’s in Lincoln’s best interest that you get cleared,” Finn admitted. There was a grim note to his voice that suggested he’d done a lot of persuading to get this rescue crew together. “Cleared, you can make sure that the stuff you collected about him is destroyed. He’s going to need the name of that private investigator, too.”

Personal interest. Now that, she understood. In a weird way, she trusted it more than talk of any brotherly love altruism.

Still.... “How can Lincoln help, Finn? How can any of them help?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” he said, and he addressed the others. “Okay, let’s move this along, people.”

Diana watched, vaguely disconcerted, as they filed into her place. “You have a lovely home,” Amanda said, giving her hand a squeeze, her expression sympathetic.

“Um, thanks,” Diana said. “I…er, hired a decorator.” And wasn’t that a lame thing to say, especially in these circumstances?

Juliana hung back as the rest moved to the living room. She put a hand on Diana’s arm, too, holding her back. Her expression held no sympathy.

“If any of the information you dug up on Lincoln comes to light,” Juliana said forcefully, “I’ll bury you. Just thought you should know.”

Diana stared at Juliana. “I don’t blame you,” she said. “It’s no defense, but I was doing my job.”

Juliana’s smile was like a Cheshire cat’s…sly, with the potential for viciousness. “How’d that work out for you?”

“Juliana.” This from Finn, who had come back to see what was holding up Diana.

Juliana smiled brightly. “Only a little girl talk, Finn,” she purred, but her gaze was still lethal.

Finn sighed, then put a protective arm around Diana.

“I still don’t see how you guys think you can fix this,” Diana said, as he led her into the living room, sat down next to her on the couch.

“We’re a creative bunch of people,” Tucker said, then surprised her by blowing a large, purple gum bubble. “And we’ve got some experience in some weird areas.”

“Like what?”

The bubble popped, and he continued chewing contentedly. “I’m pretty good with computers.”

“Considering he made his first million by the time he was thirteen because of the computer programs and internet protocols he developed, I’d say that’s a bit of an understatement,” Finn explained.

Lincoln cleared his throat. “As you no doubt put together, I’ve had some experience with things that bent the law a bit.”

“We’re like a really fun criminal think tank,” Juliana interjected, leaning against Lincoln, who automatically wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Criminal.” The word rasped from her throat. Diana shot Finn an anxious look. “What exactly are we talking about here? What do you think you’re going to do?”

“We’re not really
breaking
the law, per se,” Finn said.

She covered her eyes with the heels of her palms. “Finn, I’m a lawyer, remember? Who comes from a criminally active family? I know the difference between bending and breaking.”

“All right. We’re probably more breaking than bending,” Finn conceded. “But…”