Page 37 of The Arrangement (Executive Suite Secrets #3)

ROME ASHbrIDGE

To say I was pissed was an understatement.

I was pissed at Liam’s boss for putting him in such an awkward position.

But I was even more pissed at myself for not realizing how my stupid stunt was going to blow up in my face.

Liam didn’t seem to hold a grudge about the stunt and, in a way, appeared to even view it as a good thing.

Maybe it had brought us together. I still held on to hope that we were gonna resume dating and possibly have that fairy-tale happily ever after my friends had already found, but Liam needed time and space.

There was nothing I could do about that.

However, there was one mistake I could fix.

“Rome, you know I love playing the heavy for you,” Shonna said as she walked beside me, her heels clacking loudly across the pavement. “But you have to tell me now, if I am to consider this request for a donation seriously.”

I reached for the door, but stopped before my fingers brushed the handle, allowing my hand to drop to my side. It was a fair question. One I’d gone back and forth over for the past couple of days since Liam had told me what happened at work.

“Honestly, yes. It’s pretty much a rubber-stamp approval right now unless you see some major red flags.”

She lifted one slender, perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me and quirked his lips. “This isn’t some fly-by-night charity. We both know we’re not going to find that.”

“True. But I am pissed about how Liam’s boss handled things. She had every opportunity to ask Liam for an introduction or even my contact information. As penance, I want you to make her jump through every fucking hoop you’ve got.”

Shonna tipped her chin up, and the most wicked smile crossed her face. “That woman doesn’t know the hoops I’ve got lined up for her.”

And this was why I adored Shonna.

We entered the Cincinnati Museum Center together.

My gait took on an extra stomp of determination.

Shonna McCoy was an African goddess wrapped in Valentino.

She’d served as the head of my charitable foundation for almost ten years, and she was my greatest protector in life.

From a business point of view, she was my voice of reason, sanity, and conscience.

More than once, she had to remind me that setting annual limits on donations meant that I would have money every year to give to the people who needed it.

It wasn’t just about judging who was most worthy to get a few million dollars.

She reviewed business plans and prospectuses.

She consulted with dozens of groups each year, providing them with valuable business advice.

She had an entire team who ran inspections all around the world.

It wasn’t only about writing checks and watching that money evaporate into the ether.

She made sure every dime went to help the people who needed it the most.

Usually, Shonna worked out of Providence, but after Liam left on Saturday, I’d jumped on a call with Shonna and begged her to fly out to Cincinnati first thing on Monday so we could have a chat with Dr. Case together. It was time to fix this broken path.

At ten in the morning, the museum center was starting to get busy.

It appeared as if the first couple of school buses had arrived for field trips, but all the kids had yet to pour into the grand rotunda.

In the center of the entrance, just past the ticket counter, stood an older woman dressed in a pale lilac suit that looked nice against her ochre skin.

She smiled brightly, but I didn’t miss the wariness in her dark brown eyes.

“Mr. Ashbridge, it is so wonderful to meet you in person,” she greeted.

“Dr. Case, a pleasure.” I politely took her hand and then motioned to my right. “May I introduce Shonna McCoy, CEO of Ashbridge Charitable Foundation?”

“Oh, yes! How wonderful to meet you!” Fresh enthusiasm gushed from Dr. Case as she shook Shonna’s hand, who remained polite but frosty.

God, I wished I could be as cool and reserved as she was, but nope, my mouth always ran away from me.

Zero self-control. But Liam knew that firsthand and still chose to be my friend.

From there, Dr. Case led us to her office while happily keeping up the entire conversation.

She thanked me for donating my time and money to bring so many children to the museum and how happy her department had been to provide lectures for all the kids.

She talked about all the big plans that her department had in the works and lightly touched on some plans the museum center was pursuing.

But she stayed firmly away from the topic of Liam.

Not a whisper of his name. Not a mention when she knew we were dating. Sort of.

I held my tongue until we were seated at a pleasant sofa-and-chair combo in the corner of her office, making everything feel friendly and cozy.

“It would be best if we laid all our cards on the table,” I started, dropping my polite and friendly facade completely. Dr. Case stiffened, and her smile grew brittle. “You and I have made mistakes, painful ones, but I’m not interested in burning bridges, for Dr. Rose’s sake.”

“Well, I don’t know…” she said, but I was already shaking my head.

“You discovered that Liam and I had a past friendship, and you pressured him into winning a donation for your department, while hinting that his job would be on the line if he didn’t come through by a set deadline.”

“I thought you told me that Dr. Rose had been hired on at the museum less than a year ago?” Shonna chimed in, and my admiration for her only soared.

Her timing was impeccable. “You would think if you didn’t have the money lined up to pay his salary comfortably, you wouldn’t have hired him.

Or at the very least, you would have warned him that this was a short-term position. ”

Dr. Case swallowed hard, her expression changing to more of a deer in the headlights.

“No, I suspect that Liam’s job was never really in jeopardy.

You wanted him to do your job,” I continued sharply.

“And when Liam could no longer take these attacks on his integrity, he quit.” My gaze dropped to where my hands were folded in my lap.

As angry as I wanted to be at her, I was angrier at myself.

“But, like I said, we both made mistakes in how things were handled. At Liam’s first mention of the request for a donation, I should have immediately given him Shonna’s business card, which would have been handed off to you.

That would have been the end for me and Liam on this front.

Yet, since my encounters with Liam led to happier events, I’m feeling generous. ”

“Oh?” The head of paleontology brightened after looking like I was leading her to the gallows.

“Yes. I believe in the wonderful work your department is doing, and I see how you’ve done amazing things to educate the area’s children. That should never stop. I believe my foundation should make a donation. However, from this point on, Shonna will handle that.”

I shoved to my feet and stuck out my hand. Dr. Case stared at it for a second as if she couldn’t understand quite what was happening. She jumped to her feet and shook my hand.

“Thank you. Yes, thank you for this consideration,” Dr. Case stated.

“No, that consideration is in Shonna’s hands now.”

I started for the door but paused and turned back.

“One last thing, though—this will have no bearing on what Shonna’s decision.

I believe you should move heaven and earth to rehire Dr. Rose.

I may not understand all the behind-the-scenes work that goes on here, but he was brilliant with the children.

They hung on his every word when he was teaching them about fossils and extinctions.

He’s a brilliant man, and any university or research facility would be lucky to have him. ”

“No! No! I agree with you completely. I never wanted to lose him. Since he left, I’ve called and emailed him every day, but he won’t take my calls or return my messages. I’m at my wit’s end trying to get in touch with him.”

Well, that was interesting. At least Dr. Case wasn’t a total lost cause. She knew a good thing when she found it. My fingers were crossed that Liam would rejoin the museum, and she would learn a good lesson from this.

With a final nod to Shonna that she was now in control, I left the office and casually strolled to the elevator that would take me to the main entrance of the museum.

“ Psst…psst… ”

I jerked around, trying to locate the source of the sound. Had someone let a snake loose in the museum because I did not do snakes?

After two turns, I spotted a short Asian woman in a white lab coat peeking out from a corner down the hall.

“Are you Rome?” she asked in a loud whisper.

One corner of my mouth quirked higher. “Are you Emily?” This had to be the coworker that Liam spoke of so fondly.

She squeaked and hurried closer on tiptoes. As she reached my side, the elevator doors opened, and she pushed me inside. She frantically punched the Close button and only relaxed against the wall when we were alone.

“I didn’t want Dr. Case to see me and ask if I’m meddling,” she groaned.

“Are you meddling?” I teased.

She held up one hand with bright pink fingernail polish and showed her thumb and forefinger only a centimeter apart. “Do you know if she’s going to hire Liam back? Have you talked to Liam? Is he planning to return? Is he okay? Wait. Answer that last one first.”

“I saw Liam on Saturday, and he was okay. He said that he had a lot to think about. I’m trying to respect his need for space, even though all I really want to do is put him on a plane and take him somewhere for a relaxing vacation. Maybe the Maldives. Do you think he’d like the Maldives?”

“Yes, I do, and I think he’d like it even better if you brought along his coworker bestie and her girlfriend. For moral support. Totally for moral support.”

And now I understood why Liam liked her so much. She was a wonderful friend, plus the kind of fun Liam needed in his life.

“Dr. Case says she’s trying to rehire him, but he’s not taking her calls.”

Emily’s smile melted away, and she glared at the doors as they slid open. “Yeah, I’m hoping he’s just letting her sweat for a while, but he plans to return. We talked briefly Friday night, and he said he needed time to think. Should I try calling again?”

“Give him another day or two. But if you talk to him ahead of me, can you tell him that Rome misses him a lot?”

She stared at me for a couple of seconds, her expression very serious, before thrusting her fist between us with her pinky extended. “Only if you tell him that I miss him and wish he’d come back to work.”

“Deal!” I agreed as I wrapped my pinky around hers. We shook on it, sealing the deal.

“I should head to the lab.” She walked away but didn’t get more than a few steps. She spun and continued to walk backward away from me while calling out, “But you should consider that Maldives idea. My girlfriend and I would be happy to adjust our schedule for you and Liam.”

Yep, I liked her.

She needed to be included in the next friends’ Christmas. Friendmas?

And maybe the Maldives too.