“Sokolov waved his wallet at me. Not the other way around,” she explained.

“You don’t have to get defensive, Grace. No one here is accusing you of anything,” Richard said.

“Except Sokolov. And you are all listening to him.” Fury swelled inside of her.

“We have to, Miss Hudson. He filed the complaint. Now, with your cooperation we can clear this up quickly and quietly.”

Grace looked the attorney in the eye. “I have nothing to hide.”

“Good.”

She sat back, knowing they wouldn’t find anything.

“In the meantime, we need to place you on paid leave.”

Grace felt like someone punched her in the stomach. “What?”

“It’s protocol. You’re not to contact any of your clients while this investigation is taking place.”

She immediately thought of Dameon. “Why?”

Instead of answering her direct question, the attorney kept talking. “Nothing can be removed from your office with the exception of your personal belongings. An audit needs to take place. When we have questions, we expect your cooperation.”

“This is unbelievable. Not only was Sokolov the one who offered the bribe, he took it further to scare the living hell out of me before I left.”

“And you didn’t report it.”

“I’ve dealt with bullies before, Mr. Simons. They thrive when they know they’ve gotten to you. Ignoring them is the only way to make them stop.”

She was physically shaking.

“I know this is hard, Grace. But I assure you that we’re on your side here.” Vivian’s soft voice tried to reason.

“So what, I don’t come to work tomorrow?”

“No. You need to fill out an incident report and tell us in your words exactly what happened the night Mr. Sokolov accused you of this. And any subsequent meetings with the man. Anything you can think of. We have investigators with risk management who are skilled in discovering the guilty party. If Mr. Sokolov’s accusations are found fraudulent—”

“They are,” Grace interrupted.

“Then you can return to your job without any disciplinary action.”

“And how long will that take?”

“It depends on many factors.” That was lawyer-speak if she ever heard it.

“I’ll accompany you to your office so you can get your things,” Vivian told her.

“Because you don’t trust me.”

“It’s to protect you, believe it or not. The day you are notified of this serious of a complaint you have no way of removing any files. We will be interviewing your colleagues as well. It’s best you don’t discuss this with any of them. Or they may be implicated.”

Even though she didn’t like it, the excuse sounded reasonable.

Richard finally spoke. “That’s a beautiful necklace, Grace. Is it real?”

Her hand reached for Dameon’s gift. “Excuse me?”

The smug look on his face made her want to scream.

“Richard.” Vivian said his name as if it were a warning.

“What are you suggesting, Richard?” Grace was finding it hard to breathe.

“Take the night and write down everything,” Vivian interrupted her. “Incident reports are brought up in court if it ever goes that far.”

The whole thing was making Grace nauseated. “Can I leave now?” She looked directly at Vivian, ignoring Richard and Mr. Simons.

“Of course.” Vivian stood and walked with her out of the meeting room. Her eyes started to well. The last thing she wanted to do was be seen leaving the office—no, being escorted out of the office—in tears.

Some of the staff had left for the day, and that was a blessing.

But Evan stood outside of his office when she and Vivian walked by. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

She shook her head and tried hard not to cry.

“There will be a staff meeting in the morning,” Grace heard Vivian tell Evan. “Grace has been asked not to talk to anyone right now.”

“What the hell?”

Grace sat behind her desk and looked around. She removed her purse from the bottom drawer and shoved in the few pictures of her family. There were other things, but since she knew she was guilty of nothing, she didn’t bother packing them up. Besides, if she left things behind, people would know she’d be back. She stood and grabbed her coat from a peg on her wall.

Vivian smiled.

“You need to leave the cell phone the city issued.”

Grace dropped her purse on her desk, dug the cell phone out, and placed it in Vivian’s hands. Without so much as a backward glance, Grace walked out of her office, past the gawking employees who stared, and out the door.

Vivian watched her leave.

Dameon had the music turned up and all the lights on while he painted the living room. Grace said she’d call him when she got off work, so he hadn’t bothered checking the time. The color on the walls did a great job of hiding the sins of the house. And the more he did, the more he wanted to.

His back yelled at him, told him he hadn’t worked with his arms over his head for a long time.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Dameon placed the roller in the pan and looked at his handiwork.

The satellite radio station called out the time as six thirty.

Dameon picked up his cell phone to check if he’d missed a call while he was working.

He sent a text to Grace. Are you working late?

When she didn’t respond, he assumed she was.

Even though it was cold outside once the sun set, he opened a few windows to air the place out.

He heard gravel kicking up in his driveway and saw lights flash into the house.

Grace. He could hardly wait to see her.

He set the paintbrush down and used a shop towel to wipe his hands.

He made it to the door before Grace had the time to knock.

Only when he opened the door, it wasn’t Grace standing there. A man he’d never seen before stood staring. Broad shoulders that looked as if he spent a fair amount of time either at a gym or in a field of heavy labor.

“Hello,” Dameon greeted him.

“Are you Dameon?”

“I am. Are you one of the neighbors?”

He shook his head. “I’m Matt, Grace’s brother.”

Dameon’s first thought was that Grace was right. She said Matt would find an excuse to come over and here he was, unannounced.

Only the expression on Matt’s face was concern and not curiosity.

Dameon reached out his hand for Matt to shake. “Is Grace okay?”

“Can I come in?”

Dameon stood aside. “Please.”

“Grace sent me over here.”

Dameon walked over to the speaker blasting music and turned it off. “What’s going on?”

Matt stopped looking at the space and turned to him. “Grace is fine. Well, physically. Someone accused her of taking a bribe, or offering a bribe, and she was told to leave work.”

What? “That’s ridiculous.”

“We know. She wasn’t fired, but she was told she can’t contact any of her clients. And since you’re a client—”

Bullshit on that. “Where is she?”

“Our parents’. Grace asked me to come over and tell you what’s going on so you wouldn’t worry or think she’s ignoring you.”