“Yes, in fact I got a call yesterday. It seems she deposited the check in an account in Florida. They are working with that bank to stop payment. What’s in your favor is that you acted right away. Most businesses that are the victims of embezzlement don’t find out about the thefts until months later, and then it’s too late to recover the funds. Niecee gave herself away when she left that note apologizing the next day. Had she been bright she would have called in sick a few days, waited for the check to clear and then confessed her sins. Now it looks like she’ll be getting arrested.”
Gemma let out a deep sigh. A part of her felt bad, but then what Niecee had done was wrong. The woman probably figured that because Gemma was a Westmoreland she had the money to spare. Well, she was wrong. Dillon and Ramsey had pretty much drilled into each of them to make their own way. Yes, they’d each been given one hundred acres and a nice trust fund when they’d turned twenty-one, but making sure they used that money responsibly was up to them. So far all of them had. Luckily, Bane had turned his affairs over to Dillon to handle. Otherwise, he would probably be penniless by now.
“Well, I regret that, but I can’t get over what she did. Twenty thousand dollars is not small change.”
A sound made Gemma turn around and she drew in a deep breath when she saw Callum standing there, leaning in the doorway. And from the expression on his face, she knew he’d been listening to her and Megan’s conversation. How dare he! She wondered if he would mention it to Ramsey.
“Megan, I’ll call you back later,” she said, placing her phone off speaker. “Tell everyone I said hello and give them my love.”
She ended the call and placed the phone back on her desk. “You’re early.”
“Yes, you might say that,” he said, crossing his arms across his chest. “What’s this about your administrative assistant embezzling money from you?”
Gemma threw her head back, sending hair flying over her shoulders. “You were deliberately eavesdropping on my conversation.”
“You placed the call on speaker and I just happened to arrive while the conversation was going on.”
“Well, you could have let me know you were here.”
“Yes, I could have. Now answer the question about Niecee.”
“No. It’s none of your business,” she snapped.
He strolled into the room toward her. “That’s where you’re wrong. It is my business, on both a business and a personal level.”
A frown deepened her brow. “And how do you figure that?”
He came to a stop in front of her. “First of all, on a business level, before I do business with anyone I expect the company to be financially sound. In other words, Gemma, I figured that you had enough funds in your bank account to cover the initial outlay for this decorating job.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “I didn’t have to worry about that since you gave me such a huge advance.”
“And what if I hadn’t done that? Would you have been able to take the job here?”
Gemma didn’t have to think about the answer to that. “No, but—”
“No, buts, Gemma.” He didn’t say anything for a minute and it seemed as if he was struggling not to smile. That only fueled her anger. What did he find so amusing?
Before she could ask, he spoke. “And it’s personal, Gemma, because it’s you. I don’t like the idea of anyone taking advantage of you. Does Ramsey know?”
Boy, that did it! “I own Designs by Gems—not Ramsey. It’s my business and whatever problems crop up are my problems. I know I made a mistake in hiring Niecee. I see that now and I should have listened to Ramsey and Dillon and done a background check on her, as they suggested. I didn’t and I regret it. But at least I’m—”
“Handling your business.” He glanced at his watch. “Ready to go?” he asked, walking away and heading for the door, turning off the light switch in the process. “There’s a nice restaurant not far from here that I think you’ll like.”
Gemma spun around to face him. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m mad.”
Callum flashed her a smile. “Then get over it.”
Gemma was too undone…and totally confused. “I won’t be getting over it.”
He nodded. “Okay, let’s talk about it then.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to talk about it, because it’s none of your business.”
Callum threw his head back and laughed. “We’re back to that again?”