Lag (The boys of RDA #2)(69)

What am I thinking? There’s no way Trey’s a drug user or an embezzler or even cheater — even if I’m a little less confident on the last one. The rest of it though is definitely not Trey. Even in his overbearing and demanding moments, that isn’t Trey. RDA is his life and Finn a brother, he wouldn’t take money from either one.

“She really stuck it all in there, huh?” Marissa leans back on the couch matching my position.

My head nods up and down in agreement. Mari wasn’t bluffing when she threatened Trey Wednesday night. My head falls into my hands and I rub my temples to help stop the sudden headache as I work through everything in the article.

“That is such bullshit.” Aspen’s apparently finished reading. When I don’t respond because I don’t know how, she keeps going.

“I hope you don’t believe any of that crap, Simone. Trey and I may have had a rough introduction, but he’s none of this." She stabs the paper with a finger causing the pages to rustle.

Aspen sticking up for Trey makes me smile. “I know,” I say behind partially open fingers. “This is Mari’s well-crafted revenge.” Trey did comment on her cunning business ability to me once.

I snatch up my black leather purse and dig around to find my phone. Trey was the last person I called, so I’m quick to pull his number up and call him. Seven rings later his voice mail picks up.

Across the space Aspen has the same idea as she pulls her phone to her ear. Her scowl grows with each passing second until she stabs her phone and throws it on the couch beside her.

“Finn’s not answering and he always answers.”

We both know it isn’t a good sign, but neither of us confirm it with words. Trey and Finn have definitely read the article if they’re both unavailable.

Marissa suddenly stands. “Come on, ladies. Let’s go.”

“You’ll drive us?” Aspen asks.

Marissa gives her the “please, you have to ask?” look. “Of course, but get a move on it.”

I jump up behind her as Aspen and Amanda hurry to put on their coats. Trey wanted to protect Finn’s privacy so his friend doesn’t get swept up in crap like this, but now it seems he’s pulled the entire company into the gossip nets with him.

**

Marissa drops us off at the curb of the building and Aspen and I turn back to wave as she and Amanda pull off with a, “Good luck.”

“Marissa sure can drive like a mad woman when time is of the essence, huh?” I ask.

Against the hurried reason for our crazy car ride, Aspen laughs. “She’s got nothing on Jake when he’s running late. Trust me. He'd have jumped a few curbs.”

Aspen opens the door to the back employee entrance and we stand in front of the elevator. “You think he’s in the apartments?”

“You check Finn’s place. I’ll check mine. If he’s not in the building, we’ll walk to his house.”

Aspen enters the special elevator for the penthouse and I take the stairs to the second floor. I exit the stairwell on my floor, but it’s easy to see Trey isn’t waiting outside in the hallway. I decide to take the extra minute to check inside even though he doesn't have a key. He isn’t here. As I relock the door, my phone chimes with a message from Aspen that they’re not upstairs. I take the stairs back down and meet her in the stairwell.

“Any sign at all?” Aspen asks as I open the stairwell door.

“Nope.” We both turn toward the inner door that leads to the large open workspace to search Trey’s office.

Aspen gets there first and she holds the large metal door open for me. We can hear the yelling before I’m past the threshold. The door to Trey’s office is open, but I still stop to knock twice.

“What?” An irritated Trey yells from his spot behind his desk without looking up.

“Um, Trey…” my sentence tails off as I realize I have no idea what to say in this situation.

His head pops up at the sound of my voice, and he’s out of his chair before Aspen makes it in the room. “Simone, you read the article?”

“Yeah, we were at Cosmo’s,” I answer and finch as his face hardens.

He walks the few feet to me with hurried steps. “I hoped you wouldn’t see it.” His hands go to the tops of my arms. “None of it’s true. I swear to God, Simone. Finn paid for the vacation, but I didn’t cheat on Mari and I haven’t done a single drug since this one night in college. It was……”

“It’s okay, Trey. I believe you.” I cut off his words, not needing any more explanation from him. Who didn’t do something they regret in college?

His shoulders slump at my words, in relief or defeat I don’t know. He pulls me back to his desk, and with a light touch pushes me into his chair while he sits on the thick wooden desk. Our positions remind me of all the times he’s stopped at my place in the lobby except those were happy occasions. This one is fraught with despair.

“I’m glad you believe me, but no one else will. If it’s in the paper, it has to be true. Right?” Trey asks from his spot looking at the wall. “She mixed in just enough truth with all her lies that there’s no way to discredit the article.”

Aspen takes a spot in the large leather chair next to Finn, and they’re both silent until Finn’s fist lands on the arm of the chair. It’s soft and doesn't create much sound, but it’s more than I’ve ever seen Finn lose his temper. It must be the same for Aspen and Trey because both of them raise their eyes to him in shock.