How to Resist Prince Charming(74)

His words had Lenna jerking back. But he gripped her hands. “Ben had been hacking into his computer. And I covered for him.”

“Ben?” she said. “What? Why?”

Tom shook his head. “He didn’t trust the kid. Hell, we were all wary of him. As far as we knew, he was some wet-behind-the-ears punk, coming in off the street to run our company into the ground. We were all scared for our jobs. Ben was just curious about Farris’s plans. So, he did a little snooping.”

Lenna tugged her fingers from his grip and lifted them to her mouth.

“He wasn’t hurting anything,” Tom defended. “He just wanted to look around. And that’s when he found the pictures.”

She shook her head, baffled. “Pictures? What pictures?”

“Pictures of you,” Tom admitted. “Pictures of you in France. Pictures of you...everywhere. Farris even took pictures of you while you were sleeping... in your apartment. He stored them on his office computer.”

Lenna’s eyes glazed, but she said nothing.

“Ben made copies of them and brought them straight to me. That’s how I found out about the two of you. And that’s when I lied to you about him. I, ah, I was pretty desperate to break you two apart.”

She shook her head again. “I don’t understand. That doesn’t explain why he suspended you. Why not Ben?”

Tom nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I’m getting there.” He took a deep breath and continued.

“About the same time Ben was snooping, someone else was also getting onto Braxton’s computer and looking around his files. But they were downloading confidential information and planning to sell to a competitor. They stole some money from company accounts while they were at it.”

Lenna’s mouth dropped. “No,” she whispered. “He had to deal with a thief at the same time as our breakup?”

Choosing to ignore that comment because it could only add to his guilt, Tom nodded. “He discovered he had hackers and called a meeting for everyone who had access to his office. He announced someone had been on his terminal and wanted to know who. I didn’t want Ben to get into trouble. I mean, he was doing me a favor by keeping those pictures of you quiet. So I...” He glanced away guiltily. “I knew Farris wouldn’t punish me as severely as he would Ben because of your involvement with him.”

He lifted his face, letting her see the regret in his eyes. “I used his feelings for you to my advantage and said I’d been in his computer.”

Lenna closed her eyes. “Oh, Dad.”

“Lenna,” he whispered achingly, not sure how to explain.

She shook her head. “No. Don’t even try.”

Tom knew shame. It wasn’t often one of his children saw his flaws. Only one thing could make it up to her.

Lowering his eyes to his hands, he admitted, “I honestly think the only reason he didn’t fire me on the spot was because he’s in love with you. That’s pretty much what he told me, anyway.”

Lenna said nothing. Tom finally lifted his face to gauge her reaction. She stared at him until one of the tears clinging to her lashes fell. Sucking in a deep breath, her body shuddered when she released it. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I’m not proud of myself. I know I shouldn’t have done what I did to him. And I shouldn’t have kept the truth from you. I see that now.”

Reaching the grueling part of his speech, Tom cleared his throat. “And honestly, in the past few days, I’ve come to actually respect him. I’m sorry I’m responsible for keeping the two of you apart. I never should’ve interfered in your life. I think he would’ve been good for you. Good to you. Hell, if the ring he bought was any indication of how he would’ve treated you, you’d be living like a queen right now.”

“Ring?”

Tom nodded. “He gave his secretary a box to return to the jewelry store. It was an engagement ring. He wanted to marry you.”

She pressed a hand to her chest. “He bought me a ring?”

When Tom nodded, her lips curved. She sent her father a wet, sloppy smile and then covered her mouth with her fingers before bursting into more tears.

“Now, don’t go starting that again,” Tom told her grumpily, reaching out to try for one more hug.

This time, she let him. He clung tight and buried his face in her hair. “You know I’m awful with girly things.”

Lenna wrapped her arms around him. She squeezed briefly before pulling away and boring a hole through him. “You’re my father,” she finally said. “You always will be, and I do love you.”

His shoulders relaxed a split second before she added, “Someday, I’ll even forgive you for what you did. But...it won’t be today.”

His mouth opened and closed. “Lenna—”

“I love him too, Dad, and you broke us apart. You lied, and I believed you over him. I shouldn’t have done that. And now he doesn’t want me.”

“Yes, he does. He—”

“No,” Lenna stated firmly. “He doesn’t. He returned my ring, and I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t take me back either. I was so horrible. I accused him of—”

“Lenna,” Tom tried. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d fallen—”