Free Utterly Yours (Book Three) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Alexa Brookes Page A

allowed for them to joke around from time to time, but today he was not in the mood.
                  “Sorry,” Tony said.
                  “I was up all night walking through that damn park trying to find Lillian,” Nathaniel huffed as he took a bite of his toast.
                  “Seriously?” Tony questioned.  He rolled his eyes.  “Man, I told you not to play around with her like that. Women, or at least decent women, don’t think that shit is funny.”
                  “All right, I get it.  You told me so.  Let’s move on past my fuck up, all right?” Nathaniel was seething in his anger and frustration.  “Did you figure out what was going on with that missing 10K?”
                  “Well, not yet-” Tony began, and Nathaniel banged his fists hard and so suddenly on the table that Tony jumped.
                  “What the fuck, Tony?” Nathaniel shouted.  “I told you about that shit five days ago, and you’re telling me you still don’t know where my fucking money went?”
                  “Well, I, uh-” Tony stammered.
                  “Fuck!” Nathaniel pointed a finger across the bar at Tony.  “Figure it out, damn it!  This is the second time this month that my money has gone missing.  First it was thirty thousand, and now another ten thousand?  Less than ten fucking people have access to those accounts.  It shouldn’t be that hard for you to figure out who transferred it out.”
                  Tony became pale.  He certainly was not used to his boss speaking to him so harshly.  “Of course,” Tony said.  “I’ve been trying to figure out what happened, but everyone I’ve talked to doesn’t seem to-”
                  “I don’t give a shit, Tony!” Nathaniel snapped.  “Don’t give me excuses, just figure it out!  It’s probably someone in accounting fucking things up.  Find out why my accounts aren’t balancing and what dipshit is messing with my money, or I’ll fire your ass.  You’re not the one doing it, are you?”
                  “What?” Tony shrieked.  “No!  Of course not!  I wouldn’t steal from you.”
                  “Who said anything about stealing, Tony?” Nathaniel hissed.  “I just thought maybe you were forgetting to report company spending’s.  You have a guilty conscience or something?”
                  “No!” Tony yelped.  “I would never steal from the company!”
                  Nathaniel gritted his teeth.  He wanted to keep screaming at the kid if only to take out his frustration on something, but he bit his tongue.  He took a breath and let his shoulders relax.  Nathaniel looked at Tony sympathetically and said, “I’m sorry.  It’s been a rough few days, and I’m taking it out on you.  I still need you to figure out what’s going on for me, but I don’t need to flip out like that.”
                  Tony nodded, but he did not say anything.  Nathaniel had scared him to silence.  Nathaniel always worked hard to maintain a friendly demeanor towards his employees –especially Tony who was perhaps the single most dedicated employee he had ever had as well as one he spent a considerable amount of time with.  He didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable around him.  “Really, Tony,” Nathaniel said, hoping to drive his point home, “I’m sorry.  You didn’t deserve that.”
                  “It’s fine, really,” Tony said, although he still seemed a bit pale after the verbal lashing.
                  “Let’s just get going,” Nathaniel said as he stood up from his seat.  “We have a busy day today.”
                  “Let’s get you some coffee before we head to the shelter,” Tony said.  “I wasn’t joking when I said you looked like