35

Jonathan

The surreal moment surrounds me as I sit in the plush lounge area of Dominic Fowler’s penthouse, surrounded by people who are legendary and powerful business figures. Yet here I am, the center of their intense focus as Dominic—Cathy’s father—regards me with an evaluating stare. Beside him, Tophy Booker lounges with an air of casual elegance, swirling a crystal tumbler containing neat whiskey in a long-fingered grip. I’m not naive enough to miss the razor-sharp intelligence clear in his eyes as he weighs me up.

These are two of the most powerful, influential men in the New York business world. Titans of industry who have reshaped the global landscape through talent and unwavering determination.

And I’m just...me.

A simple business analytics professor who has brought nothing but problems to their door.

My gaze drifts sideways to the woman tucked against me on the plush corner sofa that bends around the entire lounge area. Just drinking in Cathy’s profile—the delicate sweep of her lashes, the gentle swell of her lips—sparks an ache in my chest.

“You’re doing it again.”

Cathy’s murmur breaks me from my spiral, accompanied by the reassuring squeeze of her hand in mine. I blink, finding her studying me with those perceptive coffee eyes that see right through me.

I attempt a half-smile to deflect, squeezing her fingers in return. Let her think I’m just woolgathering rather than doubting myself. But the shift in the room’s atmosphere prickles the hairs on my nape. I glance up to find Dominic and Tophy observing our silent interaction with sharp attentiveness.

Dominic’s laser-focus bores into me while Tophy regards us both with an inscrutable half-smirk, like he’s somehow amused. He’s as amused as the brunette sporting the sharp bun who I now know is Lily Williams, the woman who gave me Cathy’s address in the foyer of Blue Sky. I can’t help but think of how the universe has conspired for and against me.

When it’s been good, it’s been absolutely amazing, but when it’s been bad, I want to stab it.

I resist fidgeting beneath the weight of their combined gazes. Whatever they’re silently assessing about Cathy and me is irrelevant compared to the battles ahead.

“All right, enough thinking,” Dominic suddenly rumbles, the commanding baritone slicing through the tension. “We’ve got snakes to decapitate.”

Cathy inhales sharply beside me, back going ramrod straight as the intensity blazes to life in her body language. She’s made of steel now, every line thrumming with the promise of forward momentum at any cost. She must have gotten that steel from her father.

It’s intoxicating to witness, enough to kick my pulse into overdrive. She’s in her element like this. I can see her shrewd brain working. I cross my legs when my cock swells.

I power up the secure laptop Dominic has given me to use and take a deep breath. “So, this is how I’ve been laundering the university’s money for Marty. It started small at first,” I begin, fingers unconsciously clenching into white-knuckled fists against my thighs. “Petty cash skimmed here and there, altered invoices, that sort of thing. Enough to keep me off-balance and worried, but nothing that really set off major alarms.”

Dominic grunts in acknowledgment, jaw tensing as he processes the details. Cathy’s hand finds my knee, squeezing in silent support.

“But it escalated pretty rapidly after that. Once Marty had those first tastes of power over me, he got bolder. Greedier.”

Tophy and Dominic lean in as I show them everything. The private networks. The plethora of off-shore accounts. The bank details. Passwords. Logins. Everything is bared. They ask intelligent questions and I answer honestly. I tell them every unethical breach and extortion I’ve been complicit in over the years. I leave nothing out.

It takes a while, but when I’ve finished, I meet each of their intense stares in turn. Dominic’s fury is barely leashed, Tophy’s considering gaze missing nothing, and finally Cathy’s blazing look keeps me grounded. She holds my gaze, the connection between us thrumming with palpable force. A small smile curves her lips, reassuring and emboldening.

Tophy places his now-empty glass on the table and leans back. “Where did this all start? He had a hold over you, I gather. Or you wouldn’t have done any of this.”

I pause, mouth dry as I force myself to meet Tophy’s obsidian stare. Cathy’s fingers tighten fractionally on my kneecap. I glance sidelong to find her lips pressed into a tight line, but no judgment or censure. Just her usual unshakable support, steadying me to keep pushing forward no matter how excruciating.

“It was in my first month working as a professor. An old girlfriend came to finish her degree and, while consensual, still violated some pretty strict ethical codes between faculty and students. It only took a couple of weeks for us both to know we’d outgrown each other and we ended things on agreeable terms, but not before Marty stumbled on us together. And he’s used that as leverage ever since to ensure my compliance and discretion. Sotheby would name her in this scandal if I didn’t do what he wanted and I couldn’t do that to her.”

“Jesus,” Tophy mutters, more to himself than anyone as he drags a hand down his sculptured jawline. Even he seems momentarily taken aback by the nature of my confession.

But it’s Dominic’s reaction I’m focused on, watching carefully as the muscle feathers in his stubbled jaw while he processes the truth. Finally, he lets out a low, humorless bark of what might be wry laughter. “I see. You know, I’m sick of people using other people based on genuine relationships that everyone is entitled to experience.”

His dark gaze roams to his young wife. She smiles under his heated gaze. If anyone can understand complex relationships and unjust opinions, I guess it’s them. Not everything is as it seems on the surface. If people dug deeper, or had the inclination to understand better, they’d soon realize that relationships are personal, and no one else’s business.

For the first time in forever, I don’t feel the usual shame and self-loathing lacerating me. Instead, the wound has been cauterized.

“Well, your rat bastard dean certainly didn’t lack for ambition, did he?” Tophy says, shaking his head in a mixture of disgust and incredulity. “Squeezing someone’s personal life to facilitate his own indiscretions...it’s almost impressive in a really fucked up way.”

“I wish I could say that’s the extent of it,” I say into the weighted pause. “But unfortunately, there’s one more particularly egregious violation that he’s asking for.”

Squaring my shoulders, I hold Dominic’s stare without flinching. If nothing else, he deserves to know this. “Since the photos from your wedding ended up on the socials, Cathy’s identity at the university has been revealed. Marty doesn’t know anything about us,” I hasten to add. “But he knows Cathy is my student. He’s ordered me to get to know her, to ultimately get you to donate more. More donations. More money for him.”

“I’d say that gives us more than enough impetus to go scorched-earth on the miserable bastard, wouldn’t you agree?” Tophy drawls in that signature smoky timbre, leaning back and steepling his fingers in a distinctly unruffled display.

Dominic lets out a chuckle, shaking his head as he meets Tophy’s resolute stare. “You’re goddamn right it does,” he growls, the words landing with blistering finality. “That smug piece of shit went too far when he even had the passing thought to use my little girl.”

We work late into the night, a whirlwind of intense strategizing and information sharing. I sit in awed silence for long stretches, simply trying to absorb the sheer intellect and capability arrayed around me.

Dominic is an unstoppable force, slicing through complexities with that same ruthless pragmatism that’s allowed him to build an empire. Beside him, Tophy matches his razor-sharp focus with an almost preternatural calm, like he’s several galaxies ahead and merely waiting for the rest of us to catch up.

Adeline, also clearly brightly intelligent, floats between offering insight and simply being a reassuring presence for Cathy, the two of them orbiting in a sisterly bond. Lily prowls the periphery, eyes blazing with the same protective ferocity I witnessed that first day in the lobby—utterly devoted to Cathy’s wellbeing.

We’re doing this for her.

I’m in this until the bitter end so she can finally emerge into the light she was always destined for.

“Okay, we’ve got the broad strokes for dealing with Marty handled,” Tophy states at one point, rubbing at his chiseled jaw as he leans back to survey the rest of us with that trademark unreadable expression.

I nod tightly, the first real seed of what might be cautious optimism blooming in my chest. Because utilizing my intimate knowledge of the dean’s finances to essentially turn his own greed back on him is diabolically elegant in its simplicity. He won’t say no to the ‘donation’ Dominic will be ‘giving’ to the university. From there, all I have to do is funnel the money into dummy accounts that I’ll have full control over. Then seed it with just enough fingerprints and digital breadcrumbs to connect Marty to the crime. The evidence we gather through this plan will add to recordings I’ve kept over the years of some of my discussions with Marty. Hopefully, it will add up to a solid case against him and faith in him as a dean. He might name me in a scandal with Emmerson, but after we’ve finished with him, whatever he says won’t be worth dirt.

That smug bastard has no idea what’s about to rain down on him. And I can’t wait to be a first-hand witness to the moment that perma-sneer finally gets wiped off his face once and for all.

“The real trick is to get those photos off Chris. Before he releases them online. He’s already followed through on his threat with the wedding photos. He’s proven he’s capable of that step. A man like that is vindictive enough to do the worst when he doesn’t get his way. He’s going to have to think he’s getting away with everything and will continue to do so,” Dominic says, obsidian gaze finding mine. “And that’s going to depend on you, Professor.”

My stomach churns with acidic dread. “If I knew of a way, I’d have already done it.”

“You’re probably the only way, but it’s going to rely on your acting skills,” Dominic says. “And it won’t be pleasant.”

I give a tight nod and push past the knot forming in my gut. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. “I’m ready. There’s no bridge I won’t burn to stop him.”

A flicker of something crosses Dominic’s face, but I’m not sure if its respect or the fact he doesn’t know me well enough yet to understand I will do anything to protect his daughter.

Beside me, Cathy stiffens almost imperceptibly. “You don’t have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable, Jonathan. We’ll think of another way.”

I brush a kiss against her cheek, letting the scent and warmth of her surround me. “We’re in this together. No more going it alone. I’ll do anything. Anything to fix this for you.”

Pulling back, I hold her stare, letting her see my conviction.

Her breath escapes in a shuddering rush, lips parting slightly as she drinks in whatever it is on my face.

Giving a slow nod, Cathy doesn’t look away. “I know, Jonathan. Whatever it is, however you have to do it. I know you will. For me.”

I lean in and kiss her. I don’t care who’s watching. Let them see how much she means to me. I won’t shy away from others’ opinions, just like none of the people in this room have.

When we break apart, I turn to face everyone. Adeline’s mouth twitches and her eyes are bright as they dance from me to Cathy. Lily looks smug as she sits back and crosses one leg over the other. Tophy’s mouth holds a smirk, as though he’s waiting to get Cathy alone to rib her, and Dominic’s expression reflects acceptance, with a hint of fatherly discomfort.

“Okay...tell me what I need to do in order to get that son of a bitch to take the bait. I’m fucking game if it means putting Chris down for good.”