And to think of Lana with another man …
He felt as if he’d been stabbed in the gut thinking about her marrying another man, making love to someone else, carrying that other man’s child. Just the thought of it had him wanting to rip any man’s throat out who came near her.
Yet she’d said it so calmly, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. He hadn’t needed to know she was already thinking of being with another man before she’d even left him.
“Matt?”
He spun his leather chair away from the window. The million-dollar view of Sydney Harbour was worth nothing to him right now.
“I’m leaving now for my three o’clock dental appointment,” Irene reminded him. “I’ll see you tomorrow. If you need anything just ask Evan.”
“Fine. See you tomorrow.” He doubted he’d get much work done this afternoon now. All he could think about was going home and seeing Megan and Lana, who was at home on her day off.
He missed them, dammit.
Maybe he should go home early?
He sighed and straightened in his chair. No, he’d better stay here and finish up this lot of accounts. They needed reviewing by tomorrow.
Half an hour later, Matt was sitting up much straighter in his chair. “Christ!”
He didn’t believe it.
He couldn’t believe it.
He hadn’t been looking for any anomalies, but fifty thousand dollars was missing from one of the accounts. It was a brilliant piece of cover-up, but even more brilliant was that the money had been stolen at a time Lana wasn’t working for them.
He knew who the thief was now.
Irene.
His PA.
He fell back against his chair stunned but greatly relieved. It proved to him that Lana was innocent—what he’d put her through with his accusations. She’d be relieved to know he’d found the culprit.
He knew his longtime PA was the thief just by something in the way she had fiddled the books. It had her stamp all over it. He just hadn’t been looking beyond Lana before.
But what if Irene denied it? She was a personal assistant, not an accountant. She could make a fairly believable case that she couldn’t possibly know how to fix the books.
Would the authorities believe her?
He dared not risk it. He had to set up a trap. An after-hours one because that’s the only time Irene could have accessed the accounts without anyone getting suspicious.
But first he had to go and confess everything to Alex and Nick. They weren’t going to be pleased that he’d kept the missing money from them, nor that he’d blamed Lana. They’d understand that he’d been trying to keep it quiet for their father’s sake after his heart attack, but now it really was time for them to call in the police.
As for Lana, he’d sort all this out before telling her. It was the right thing to do.
After all his accusations, he owed her that much.
Lana’s heart plummeted when Matt called to say he would be working late. He’d been aloof ever since Saturday night. Why had she mentioned having more children? She must have scared him off.
Sure, he was good with Megan but clearly he didn’t want more children or a longer marriage to her. And clearly he wasn’t about to fall in love with her. She should have kept quiet and been thankful he was a good father to Megan and a good, if temporary, husband to her.
He didn’t come home until after ten that night. She’d given up and gone to bed, pretending to be asleep when he entered the bedroom and took a shower, then slid naked between the sheets, where he rolled over and went to sleep.
She wanted to say, “Hold me. Don’t push me away like this,” but what would be the use? She didn’t want any man holding her against his will.
Somehow Lana managed to get through the next day at work without giving away her feelings. And then Matt took her home before saying he was going back to work. He kissed Megan goodbye, even gave her a quick kiss, but avoided looking at her and left.
Lana wanted to cry. It was obvious now what was going on. Her suggestion of more children had definitely driven him away—right into the arms of another woman.
Oh God. How could she continue to live with a man who was cheating on her? Would the next step be that he didn’t come home one night at all? How long before it became a regular occurrence?
Like her father.
The thought panicked her, but somehow she held herself together. At least she knew she was prepared for the worst, and that gave her an inner strength.
He didn’t make love to her that night either, not that she expected he would try. And if he had tried she certainly would have told him what she thought of him.
After the third night of his dropping her at home and saying he had to go back to work, Lana’s heartache was overtaken by an escalating anger. So, he was working, was he? Perhaps she’d just go down there after Megan was in bed and check if that was true.