Chances (Mystic Nights #1)(37)

“Well, he is very pleased with you, Aliya. He knows you will do good things with this, and of course, he also asked to just keep this between us. He can be a very helpful man.”

“This is good news,” she reiterated as they walked towards the elevators. Jonathan stepped further back behind the overly large potted wisteria. His heart hammered in his chest. What in hell was going on? What did Simon and Peter have going on? And how was Aliya involved? He suspected Simon was behind the embezzlement, but Peter too. And now, Aliya? Had she deceived him? His mind began to wonder if all this had been a sham. Was she working for them? What was in that envelope? Money? A payoff to keep him distracted. He needed to find out the truth. His stomach rolled.

As the elevator doors slid shut, Jonathan let out the pent up rage that had been building since seeing Aliya in the hall with Simon. His fist slammed into the drywall of the corridor, pushing it in a good two inches and denting the wall. The pain in his hand was ignored while anguish tore at his heart. Of all the damn luck, he’d fall for a girl who was duping him for money, was here to destroy him, and destroy the casino he and his family poured their heart into for their people. Her people.

Waiting just a moment longer before making his decision, he stalked down the hall like a man being chased by demons. When he got to his room, he swiped his card in the electric eye viciously. He saw his phone right away, and picked it up. He glanced at it. He saw he had a message. It was from Aliya. “<3, love you.” His heart twisted in his gut. Lies.

Did she, he pondered as he shoved the cell phone deep inside his pocket. He just didn’t know. He was having doubts because of all the times he had run into Aliya and Peter together. All the times he’d warned her about him, but she kept trusting the man. Was it all lies?

Jonathan launched himself out of his room, ignoring the scent of the roses as he went, hoping to hell he wasn’t the fool he expected he was. Was it all lies?

As the elevator descended to the fourth floor where Mr. Risolli was staying, Jonathan did his best to shake it off. He needed to set the accountant up with everything he needed, but then he was going to confront Simon and Aliya. This couldn’t wait. It was too important. He needed to get to the bottom of this. And he was doing that today.





Chapter 15




?


“Are you sure, Jonathan?” Joseph asked. He was pacing the length of his brother’s office while Jonathan sat desolate, his hands fisted in his hair. He hated to see his brother like this. He couldn’t imagine what the man was feeling now. This was a true shit storm if he ever saw one.

“That’s what I heard.” Jonathan sat back at his desk, and then explosively stood up. He turned abruptly and faced the bank of windows behind him that overlooked the Mystic, and their competitors across the river. What the hell was he going to do now? He had finished setting up Marco in the conference room, all the papers and access codes to the files given to him. An associate of Marco’s would be arriving in less than an hour, and his team of six would all be here by the early hours of the evening. They had promised to find all the discrepancies, and begin working the computer electronic trails to find out where the money had gone. And it was. Two million dollars and counting.

Marco was good. He’d promised to figure it out. It’s what he did, crunch numbers, and follow the leads.

“Yes, but it may have been something else. It is still very vague.” Joseph was trying to give Aliya the benefit of the doubt, but even his legal mind knew it didn’t look good for her. His brother looked like hell, like he had been hit by a Mac truck. He knew his brother had lost his heart to her and was feeling betrayed. He knew from his own experience, that wasn’t a good feeling. It was the worst.

“I told her I loved her last night. Can you f*cking believe it?” He fumed while staring blankly out at the world before him.

“We don’t know for sure.” Again, he wanted to give his brother a little glimmer of hope.

“Yes, I do. I went to Simon before I called you. I saw his light was on when I came up. He didn’t hear me come in. He was on the phone with someone. I heard him say, ‘Aliya’s got her package.’”

“Still. . .” Joseph’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know what was in that package.”

Jonathan turned towards his brother, facing him, and facing reality. “Joseph, I know you are trying to play devil’s advocate here. But it’s just not the time. We have millions of dollars missing, and the more and more I see and hear, it looks like Aliya is involved. And don’t worry about me.” He put his hands up as Joseph approached. “I will get my shit together. We have a whole reservation to look out for, and nearly one thousand employees whose livelihoods depend on us figuring this out. And right now, that is the most important thing.”

Joseph examined his brother shrewdly. He was waiting for some feedback. “Good. I’m glad to hear that. But still, let’s not jump to conclusions about Aliya.” He saw his brother was about to protest once again. He interrupted. “What do you need me to do today?” Joseph was ready to pitch in and lend a hand. It was crunch time. There was definitely a serious case of embezzlement going on, and it wasn’t just about the money. The gaming commission could shut them down for less than what Jonathan suspected was missing. The whole casino was at stake, and the reservation’s future prosperity could be destroyed.