Chapter 26

Conrad's POV

"You came at the right time." I say to Ward as he walks closely behind me.

"I do all the time. I have a feeling I'm about to save your ass again like I always do." He responds.

I sit on the sofa in the living room. I had a long day at work and I know I ought to go straight to my room for a shower, but there's something important I want to share with Ward.

He sits next to me, his eyes fixed on the television screen. My team and his are playing today, which must be the main reason he came, but I'm not in the mood for banter tonight.

"You kept me waiting at your door. I thought you'd close from work by 5pm. Did you go somewhere after work today?"

"Yes." I coo.

"I told you to give me one of your spare keys, but you refused. If you had, I wouldn't have had to wait at the door for hours." He mutters.

He's my best friend, but I'm not willing to give him unrestricted access to my space for no personal reason. I take off my suit and take a deep breath. It feels like the right thing to do.

"Where did you go after work, by the way?"

"I dropped Miss Hall off." I say under my breath.

"You mean Diane?"

"Yes." I hesitate before giving him a response.

Our eyes meet, and he looks at me in a way I can comprehend. It's written all over his face that he wants to know why I chose to drop her off when I could have had anyone do it.

"Do not ask me questions." I speak to him in a deep, husky tone. I can see that he's about to.

"This will be one of the few occasions I disobey you. Are you in love with her?"

"I won't judge you if that's the case. This is a safe space." He adds before I can respond to the question.

I don't have a response for him. I wanted to say some words earlier that would serve as an answer, but I swallowed them on second thought. I don't owe him an explanation.

He's been my friend for the longest time, and I've never mentioned to him that I was in love. Why would he ever think that? Is there something about me that now screams love?

"There's something I need to tell you." I say, deciding to go straight to the point.

One of my female domestic workers shows up with a bottle of champagne and two wine glasses. Without being told, she places them on the table and acknowledges our presence.

Ward responds to her greeting, but I don't. Speaking to him about what Diane and I found out seems like a pretty good idea. One thing about him is that he always has a solution to every one of my problems.

He doesn't take his eyes off the domestic worker as she walks away. I let him do his thing and don't interrupt. It isn't his first time seeing her, yet his eyes are glued to her.

"I'm with you." He says after he manages to get a hold of himself. It's a struggle for him. I can see it.

"Someone is trying to get to me, and I think the person is using Diane."

He lays his hands on the bottle of champagne and opens it. He pours himself some and doesn't think to do the same for me. I watch him sip slowly. He gulps right after, which is typical of him.

"If I get you correctly, someone wants to get to you through Diane." He says.

"Exactly."

I'm glad I don't have to do too much talking for him to understand me. He sips from the wine glass again. My mistake is not asking the domestic worker to take it back where she got it.

"Why do you say that?" He inquires.

"The person has been making moves, and I have to act fast." I reply. If he were paying more attention to me, he'd sense the urgency in my tone.

"What moves?"

"Stalking Diane." I'm quick to reply. That's the height of it for me. Why would anyone want to stalk her?

"That sounds like her problem and not yours."

"She's my responsibility." I lecture him. He clearly doesn't know.

"Technically, she's only your employee."

I'm not ready to exchange words with him. I'll tell him what I need him to do, and I trust him to swing into action immediately.

"I need you to find out who it is. The culprit has pictures of Diane standing outside my gate at an ungodly hour, and I think whoever it is has more pictures and information than we know of." I tell him.

"Why should I help you?" That's him teasing me.

"I pay you." I blurt.

"I think it's high time you start paying me double what you pay me currently."

I listen to that statement with deaf ears. I'm not ready to grant his request now or anytime soon. I dip my hand into my pocket and bring out my phone. It's ringing.

"The chief security officer is calling me. I guess he has some information for me already."

"Pick it." He urges me. I'm about to do just that before he speaks.

Before I left the office about two hours ago, I instructed him to check the CCTV footage. It's the only way for me to find out who dropped the envelope on Diane's table during work hours.