Concealer beneath her eyes and a delicate blusher on her cheeks had taken care of her pallor this morning, and the clothes and the unsmiling expression on her face had taken care of the rest.
Whatever happened next, he had no doubts that Ellie was strong enough to withstand it.
Ellie was a bundle of nerves by the time she heard Benny and Sally talking in the reception as indication her PA had returned from the bakery.
None of them had spoken since they entered her office and Linus had closed the door behind him. Ellie, because she couldn’t speak without losing the protective shield she had drawn about herself since waking up this morning. She believed Knox and Linus were silent out of respect for the ordeal that she was gearing herself up to face.
If what Linus had told them was true…
Of course it was true. Linus had shown her the evidence he had on his laptop. It was totally…damning. Undeniable.
It was also heartbreaking to think that she had been so trusting of a friendship that, as it turned out, was nothing more than a mask hiding something far more sinister.
Her ability to find people she could trust truly was awful!
“Except for me,” Knox growled softly, indication that Ellie had spoken the thought out loud.
“And me,” Linus added brightly. “Don’t worry, Ellie, now that you’re one of us, I will definitely make sure to run a security check on anyone you might be thinking of taking as a friend.”
“One of us…?” she repeated.
“As I told you last night—” He broke off when there was a soft knock on the door.
“Come in,” Ellie invited briskly.
Benny entered the office first, followed by Sally carrying the bag of muffins.
Sally grimaced when she saw the other two men in the office with Ellie. “Sorry, I only bought three muffins.”
“That’s okay, Linus and I are happy to share the third one,” Knox answered her.
Sally frowned. “But that means someone else will have to share too.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Ellie took charge of the conversation. “Because in two minutes’ time, one of you is going to leave this building and never return. You will not receive a final paycheck, nor will I provide you with a reference. This level of disloyalty does not deserve either of them.”
“I— But— Ells?” Benny looked deeply hurt.
Ellie’s expression softened slightly as she looked at him before hardening again as she turned to Sally. “I trusted you. I confided in you. I believed you were my friend. But all the time I thought those things, you were having an affair with my private and professional partner. You have continued to have an affair with him since the partnership was dissolved six months ago. I can only assume that was because you were of more help to Andrew here than at his new offices.” She snorted. “I believe it allowed you to make copies of the keys to my apartment, which you no doubt ‘borrowed’ from my bag one day. You gave the copies to Andrew so he could defile my new apartment and attack me. You gave your security pass to him too, so his hired thugs could enter this building and wreck these offices.”
Ellie knew all these things because Linus had found the evidence on the recordings from the security cameras in her apartment and the log of who had entered Aragon Tower the previous week and caused such damage to her office.
Knox had also confirmed that on the morning Sally had worked for him, she had several times made suggestions that implied she was available if he was interested. He wasn’t, and he had considered her behavior to be less than professional. The only reason he hadn’t mentioned it to Ellie at the time was that he didn’t want to cause her any more stress than she was obviously already under.
Ellie, Linus, and Knox had surmised that Sally had obviously realized Knox was a much wealthier man than Andrew, and she had behaved accordingly. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Except Knox’s good will.
Knox had also told them he had noticed, on the day he visited Andrew’s new offices, that the other man’s current PA also had short red hair and pixie-like features, implying he might have a type.
A type that was completely unlike Ellie, with her height and blond hair.
She had cried all the pain of the betrayal out of her system as Knox held her in his arms last night. This morning, she was no longer a woman scorned and betrayed but one who had weathered that storm and now stood tall and proud.
As far as Ellie was concerned, both red-haired women were welcome to Andrew. To fight over him if they still felt inclined once Andrew had been charged with breaking and entering these offices and Ellie’s apartment and physically attacking her on three separate occasions.
It was going to be far from pleasant to face Andrew in a courtroom once he had been arrested and charged, but Ellie was determined to see that happen. Andrew had betrayed and hurt her for the last time.
No doubt Sally would be arrested as an accomplice to those crimes, but that was for her to deal with. Ellie was finished with both Sally and Andrew.