The Millionaire's Intriguing Offer

Adelaide

Jonathon leaned back in the visitor's chair in Tito's office, and stared at him across the desk.

"What do you mean you can't discuss it with me?"

"I mean I can't discuss it with you." Tito frowned. "I realize you are a member of the Board, Jonathon, but one of our policies is to keep personnel matters confidential. You ought to know that - you helped draft the policy."

"I'm not asking you as a Board member, dammit. I'm asking you where my girlfriend is."

"Your girlfriend," Tito said, "also happens to be my employee. An excellent employee who I didn't mind giving some time off, under the circumstances."

"What circumstances!" Jonathon realized he was practically shouting. He made an effort to calm down, reminding himself that Tito had spent eight years in prison and wasn't likely to be intimidated by a lawyer raising his voice. Especially not one who was his friend. He decided maybe humble was a better approach to take.

"Listen," Jonathon said in a much more reasonable tone. "You know Bailey went with me to Sag Harbor. We had an argument, and she left later without telling me. But she's not at her apartment, and Mitsy and Trip haven't seen her. I'm worried."

Tito clasped his hands together and rested them on the desk. "Look, all I can tell you is she had a family emergency. She's very close to her adoptive parents, so even though we're about to launch the new summer program I gave her the time off she requested."

Jonathon was focused on one thing. "Wait, you knew she was adopted?"

Tito looked puzzled. "It's not a secret."

"Apparently it was only a secret from me," Jonathon muttered under his breath.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Listen, she's not picking up her phone." Jonathon ran a hand through his hair. "Do you have any contact information for her parents?"

"You know I can't give you that," Tito said, his voice showing his irritation. Then his expression softened. "Look, she'll probably be calling in soon. She promised to let me know how long she'd need to be out. When she calls I'll tell you're worried about her."

* * *

Jonathon wasn't sure what to believe. Had there really been some emergency with Bailey's parents? Probably not. That had to be just an excuse she gave Tito to avoid coming back to Miami right away.

The real reason was that Bailey was avoiding him. On the one hand, he really couldn't blame her after the way he'd reacted. But on the other hand, the whole mess was her fault in the first place for not being honest with him about who she was.

Although he was annoyed that Tito refused to give him even a phone number for her parents so he could confirm that she was okay, he really couldn't fault him for keeping personnel information confidential.

Still, Jonathon was convinced that Bailey was either with her parents or they knew where she was.

He had plenty of resources he used when he had to track down witnesses for a case. How hard could it be to locate a middle-aged couple living on a farm in Iowa?

He and Bailey had a lot to discuss. And her running away wasn't going to solve anything. The conversation with Mitsy and Trip had taken him aback. Was it possible that Mitsy was right about the whole meeting at the bachelor auction being a coincidence? If Bailey really hadn't known Jonathon was in Miami when she applied to the job at OFC, that potentially changed everything. But it still didn't explain why in all the time they'd spent together she'd never told him who she was.