Four
Heir
I’d calledJay three more times on my way to his job. There shouldn’t have been a reason for him to not answer my calls, so I was worried more than anything. Jay was usually great with communicating while he was at work. If he had to work later, he’d tell me. My texts and calls were going unanswered, and that was driving my steps inside of Hildon Enterprises.
Camille hopped up from her seat at the sight of me, quickly asking if Jay was expecting me. I told her that he wasn’t because he wasn’t answering my phone calls. Before I could make my way up to his office on the second floor, she offered to call him down to meet me. He must have told her to bring me to him because Camille said she’d take me to where he and Iman were.
I followed behind her absently, looking over the papers yet again, refusing to believe what I was seeing.
“Oh shit,” I heard a man mumble.
“Sorry,” I muttered, stepping to the side to avoid running into him.
As Camille unlocked the tinted door, my steps halted. Chills covered my arms and my nipples hardened. Head tilted to the side, I inhaled a deep breath, refusing to look back. I felt like I’d passed a part of me, and that made no sense at all. Shaking my head, I stormed into Iman’s office in search of my man. Bypassing the metal detectors, I groaned at the sight of Jay. He was huddled over Iman’s desk talking to another man as if he had not one care in the world. The closer I got, the more irritated I became. He’d better have a damn good excuse for ignoring me.
“Jay,” I called with a firm yet soft voice, gaining his attention. “I need to talk to you. Now.”
“We’re kind of in the middle of someth?—”
“Now!” I yelled quietly through gritted teeth, stomping my foot. My nostrils flared as my gaze shifted over to Iman. This was my first time being in his office, and it gave me the ick. What the hell was he doing back here that required metal detectors? Being in his presence further confirmed he was doing some illegal shit, and I wanted no parts of it.
“Alright, relax,” Jay said with a smile, walking toward me. “What’s wrong?”
I looked around him toward Iman before grabbing his wrist and using it to pull him away from the desk. It felt like men were literally scattered all over the room, making it difficult to have privacy. With a lowered voice, I told him, “I wanted to warn you. Both of you.”
“Warn us about what?”
I handed him the file that had the papers with copies of discrepancies. “I don’t know what your boss is into, but I have to escalate his account. Well, I know what he’s into. I just… can’t believe it.”
“What are you talking about?” Jay asked, opening the file and scanning the papers.
“He’s cleaning money. In very large quantities. He’s operating through several fake businesses, and he’s hiding millions from the IRS. I can’t touch his account, Jay.”
“Damn. Didn’t take you long to catch that at all,” he said quietly, using my hand to pull me back toward Iman’s desk. As he helped me sit down, he told Iman, “She knows.”
Iman released a whistled laugh before sitting back in his seat as he shook his head. “You said she was good, but I wasn’t expecting her to figure it out this fast. Wow.”
“Figure out what? Don’t tell me this was some kind of test,” I replied, refusing to believe I’d stressed myself out over this for nothing.
“It was a test,” Iman started, “and you passed. I told Jay that I was looking for someone I could trust to handle my taxes and he recommended you. I gave you my real statements, which I would never give an accountant, to see how long it would take you to find the discrepancies and how you’d respond. It was risky, but Jay assured me that you wouldn’t report this without at least warning him first, and he was right.”
One thought after another rattled around in my head. What I was getting hung up on most was the fact that Jay knew Iman was doing illegal shit and pulled me into it. Did he think I’d be okay with this? Sitting back in my seat, I inhaled a deep breath as I looked over at Jay.
“So let me get this straight.” I chuckled before licking my lips. “Your boss launders money and you thought it would be a good idea to test me and see if I’d figure that out and how I’d respond? For what? To bring me in so I can help him commit fraud and tax evasion?”
“Well when you say it like that, it sounds worse than it actually is,” Jay said, trying to hold my hand, but I quickly pulled it away.
“Are you even a real estate agent? Or is that a front?” I asked, sitting up in my seat. “Because the more I think about it, the more things are starting to make sense. We’ve been together for almost two years, and I can count on one hand how many closings you’ve had, yet you’re never without money. What the fuck do you do for him, Jay? Are you a drug dealer?”
Jay’s relaxed expression dropped as he looked over at Iman briefly. “We can discuss that later. For now, we need to discuss next steps.”
“I’ll take it from here,” Iman said, opening the top drawer of his desk. When he pulled out a thick manila envelope and tossed it in my direction, I had an idea of what was inside. “That’s your first bonus for passing the test and proving that you’re loyal.”
“I’m not loyal to you,” I countered. “I came here to warn you as a courtesy, but I’m still going to escalate this and make my boss aware of what’s going on.”
“You can’t do that,” Jay said, squeezing my hand.
“Look.” Iman cleared his throat. “I need an accountant who’s going to help me look as legit as possible while paying the IRS as little as possible. Jay recommended you, so I’m relying on you to do that.”