Riley couldn’t help herself from calling out. “I didn’t do it,” she said.
“It’s Claudia’s newest ruse. We’re dealing with it,” Josh said.
“Dealing with it? Not from what I can see. Have you seen the headlines? Airing the Dirty Laundry of the Designing World. This can’t be good for your career, or Riley’s. It’s not exactly what I meant when I said to turn the media on to her design skills.”
“Treat,” Josh said. “Please, this is stressful enough. No jokes, all right?”
“I’m sorry. What can I do? Want me to make a statement? Say she showed us the dress two months earlier? I assume she’s innocent in this mess,” Treat said.
“I am, but I don’t want you to lie.” Riley was astounded by Treat’s offer, but she wanted to prove herself honestly.
“We’ll handle it,” Josh said. “I’m sending her home so she’s out of reach of the media. I’m hiring a PI to figure it out.”
“Sounds smart,” Treat said. “Let me know what I can do. If you want me to come back to New York, I can be there in a few hours. By the way, Riley, where’d they get that picture of you? You definitely looked like a kid with her hand in the candy jar.”
“Picture? What picture?” Riley asked.
“Front of Page Six,” Treat said.
“Shit. We gotta go, Treat. Thanks for calling.” Josh pulled out his iPad and pulled up the New York Post’s website. Riley’s startled face stared back at them above the article beside a photograph of Claudia holding up the drawing of Max’s dress.
“Oh my God. They took that at the trade show yesterday. That’s crazy. I look guilty.” This was ten times worse than she’d imagined. How could she ever show her face on the streets of New York again? What would this do to Josh and his reputation? As she stewed over those questions, a concern rose to the forefront of her mind. “Josh, they caught us leaving your apartment together.”
“No, they caught us both leaving the apartment building,” he corrected her.
“With you carrying my bags and then running to my side to shield me from the cameras. Come on. There’s no covering this up. Pictures of us together will be on all the websites in an hour, if they’re not already.”
“I’m not trying to cover it up. I told you: I’m with you, scandal or no scandal.” Josh Googled his name. With a piercing pain in her stomach, Riley read through the first three listings.
Designer Josh Braden’s new girlfriend. Is she a thief?
The Braden Scandal: Is he dating a fraud?
UPDATE: Fashion Designer Josh Braden leaves home with accused design thief/lover.
“What are we gonna do now?” Riley could barely get the words from her lungs. She’d come to New York looking for a career, and not only had she lost hers, but she’d ruined Josh’s in the process.
Josh’s phone rang again. He pushed the speakerphone button again. “I’ve already seen it,” he said to his sister.
“You’re sleeping with Riley and I’m the last to know?” Savannah asked. “Do you have me on speaker? I hate that.”
“Yes, and Riley’s right here,” he said.
Wishing she could grow wings and fly away, Riley said, “Hi, Savannah.”
“Hey, Ri.”
“Sorry we didn’t tell you we’re dating. We were trying to keep it quiet,” Riley explained.
“Maybe you should have thought about that before leaving Josh’s apartment together. What’s this bullshit about you stealing Cruella’s designs?” she asked.
“Even you call her that?” Riley asked.
“Everyone does,” Josh answered. “She didn’t steal them. This is one of Claudia’s tricks. We just have to find a way to prove it.”
“I told you to fire her years ago. I never liked her,” Savannah said.
If only he’d listened to her.
“Shoulda woulda coulda, I know. I’m over my loyalty to Peter, okay? It took me forever and it sucks, but it is what it is. Listen, Savannah, my attorney is hiring a PI, but do you know anyone who might be good?”
“Know anyone? Hell, I’ve got the best one in New York. Call Reggie Steele. I’ll text you his number. And, Josh, are you all right with all this?” she asked.
“I’m fine, but I’m sending Riley home. Where are you?” he asked.
“Heading back home to Colorado. Riley, we’ll get together after you’re home, okay?” Savannah offered.
“Thanks, Savannah. I’d like that, and I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed your family,” Riley said.
“Nonsense,” Josh whispered to her.
“You can’t embarrass a Braden.” Savannah laughed. “We’ve got thicker skin than alligators.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
JOSH SENT RILEY a text as Jay drove away from the airport. Don’t worry. We’ll get through this. Love you. J.
He waited for Riley to respond, and when he hadn’t received a response ten minutes later, he ignored the unsettled feeling in his stomach and assumed she was going through airport security. He called his attorney, who advised him that he had not yet reached his private investigator, he assumed because of the impending holiday. Josh mentioned Reggie to him, and when his attorney agreed that Reggie was qualified and one of the best, Josh called him. An hour later, he was sitting in Reggie’s office.
Reggie Steele’s voice was deep and gravelly. He was a burly, dark-haired man in his late thirties, Josh guessed, with slate-blue eyes and an affable personality.
“Savannah called me this morning after speaking to you. I’m sorry to hear about what you’re going through. The media can be a bear—but I suppose you already know that,” Reggie said. “If the claim is false, this kind of nonsense should be easy to crack.”
“I hope so, because I can’t find one piece of evidence to discount Claudia’s allegations, but my gut tells me she’s lied her way onto the front page.” Josh’s nerves wrenched just thinking of Claudia’s smug face—and Riley’s sad one.
“I take it that you and the accused are an item?” Reggie leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers before him.
“We’re seeing each other, yes. We were trying to keep it out of our professional lives.” Josh now wished that they’d exposed themselves as a couple from the start. It would have been one less issue to deal with. His phone vibrated. Mia. He clicked the Ignore button.
“Anything else I should know that could impact this discovery process?” Reggie asked.
“Only that Claudia has come onto me several times, and a few weeks ago, I shut her down pretty harshly. But I can’t see how that would affect your investigation one way or another.” Damn it. At least he’d remembered to document those instances in her personnel file, alongside all the rest of the complaints, which he’d never filed formally. Out of loyalty to Peter, he’d wanted to keep her indiscretions under wraps. Now he wished he had canned her the first time she’d come onto him and had just faced Peter with the truth.
“You’d be surprised at what comes up with these types of investigations. You might find out things about other staff members that you don’t want to know. And, I hate to say it, but you might find out that you’re wrong about your girlfriend, too.” Reggie said.
“I appreciate your candor, but I doubt that’s going to happen. She’s been under Claudia’s thumb the past few weeks, and when she hasn’t been at work, she’s been with me. She didn’t have time to steal anything. If anything, we might find out more about Claudia than I’m prepared for.” Josh realized the truth of his words and was even more determined to get to the bottom of this crap.
“Fair enough. Tell me more about Claudia’s habits. Does she work later, come in early? Does she work odd days, weekends, through lunch? What kind of access did she have to Riley’s work files? And I’ll need to know the same about Riley, of course.”
Finally, a break. He’d been with Riley every morning and evening. She’d never been in the office alone. “Riley has no access to personal files. She works earlier than some, later than others, but there’s always someone here before she arrives and after she leaves. She works from home when she needs to on the weekends, whereas Claudia has been with us for five years. She’s often in before anyone else, and on the weekends she’s often alone in the office. As the head design assistant, she’s the password keeper for the entire design area. She has full access to Riley’s files.” It all sounded so easy to decipher. Riley had no access. Claudia had full access. Why was it so difficult to find proof of what seemed so obvious?
“Have you gone through security tapes?” Reggie asked.
Josh shook his head. “Not yet, but…”
“Don’t sweat it. That’s what I’m here for. Do you have separate security files for each area of the office?”
Thank God, yes. He felt warmth run up his chest, remembering the things he and Riley had done in his office. “Yes, I’ll give you full access to the design room tapes.”
Reggie nodded. He lowered his chin and looked down the bridge of his angular nose. “This is just one woman against the other, right? You don’t think any other employees are involved? It’s not a case of one trying to get a promotion so she can bring another up riding her tail feathers? Tag team?”