We passed the rest of the night like that, only moving to get another fifth. We drank in silence, both lost in our own thoughts, until the sun rose over the lake.

I would be pulling a funeral dress out of the closet yet again. My emotions were all over the map. I was still trying to reconcile the facts that Lucas had uncovered with the Archer I had known until yesterday.

Not to mention trying to process what Con had—and hadn’t—done. And the aftermath.

If I’d wanted to run away and hide from the world before, I desperately wanted to do it today.

But I couldn’t. I had to sit in my office, white knuckling the arms of my chair while the board of directors held an emergency meeting. In that meeting, Lucas would lay out all of the information he’d discovered. We’d discussed it, and I’d agreed. It would be up to the board to decide what to do with the foundation. Even though it was my heritage, I was just an employee without a say. Hell, I didn’t even get to attend—not unless the new chairman invited me. Which he hadn’t.

So instead, I sat and wondered what Con was doing. If he’d washed his hands of me. If I should be washing my hands of him.

I was having a difficult time holding what he’d done against him.

The need for vengeance had been driving him for so long, I wasn’t sure he knew how to operate without it. And the fact that his vengeance intersected with my relative’s nefarious activities… that was something I couldn’t see him ever getting over.

I honestly didn’t know what to do.

One thing I was certain of: I needed to hear what the board decided before I’d be able to face him. I needed to be able to tell him that steps would be taken to make things right. Or if not right—because things could never really be right again—at least… better. Somehow.

I stacked all of my project folders and notes about the new headquarters and nonprofit incubator in a box. It would never happen now. I thought of the deed in one of those folders. How Con had given it to me because he didn’t want to wonder if that was the reason I was with him. How pissed he’d been when he’d thought I’d taken it and walked away.

What should I do with it now? Tear it up? Give it back? I was supposed to go to the parish clerk to have the deed recorded and made part of the legal chain of title for the property, but I’d kept forgetting to take it there.

Maybe that was fate.

Because now it seemed abhorrently wrong that Con had donated it when he’d already lost so much because of the foundation.

Regardless of what the board decided today, I would give it back. It would at least give me a flimsy excuse to go see him.

And God, did I ever want to see him.

The wildcard was whether he could look at me and not think about what had happened to his parents.

At least Con no longer had to carry the guilt of thinking he was responsible for their deaths. It was a tarnished silver lining.

A knock sounded on my office door.

I tensed, glancing at the clock on my wall. It had only been an hour and a half since the meeting started. How could they be done already?

“Come in,” I called.

Elle poked her head in, and I relaxed in my seat.

“Hey, babe. How are you holding up?”

I waved her in, and she shut the door behind her before sliding into one of my guest chairs.

“Okay, I guess. Don’t have much of a choice. Are rumors flying yet?” Lucas had given me the go ahead to tell Elle, surmising accurately that I’d be unable to keep it from her.

She shook her head. “No. None that I’ve heard anyway. Everyone is just shocked by Archer’s death and very sad. That bastard.” She looked up at me. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t say that around you.”

“It’s fine. It’s nothing worse than what I’ve already called him in my own head. And you didn’t even hear him. There was absolutely no remorse. He was so confident that he’d done the right thing. He was… sick. But that doesn’t excuse his actions. I mean, I want to believe that he’d just gotten old and senile, but he’d been doing this for at least a decade, Elle. That’s insane.” I met her eyes as she slouched in her seat.

“I know. And now we’re all going to be out of a job. Which sucks, because I like being underemployed. Now I’m going to have to go back to being a trust fund kid while I look for another job I’m overqualified for.”

I was shocked her words could pull a halfhearted smile from me.

“So,” she continued. “Enough about Archer. What are you going to do about your man?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. I’m waiting for the board’s decision. I need all the facts before I can go to him.”

She narrowed her gaze on me. “You sure you’re not just procrastinating?”

I’d considered that already. “I’m sure.” I leaned over and pulled a folder from the box at my feet. “And I’m going to give him back this.” I flipped it open to reveal the deed.

Elle chewed on her bottom lip before saying, “Yeah. I can see why you’d want to do that. It’s not like we need it now. So then what?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Are you going to try to get him back? Or are you going to let him walk away?”

“You make it sound like I have a real choice.”

“You always have a choice, Vanessa.” The words were so similar to some Con had once spoken to me.

We sat in silence while I considered them. “I don’t know what to do,” I admitted.

Elle opened her mouth to say something more, but another knock stopped her.

“Come in,” I called.

This time it was Lucas.

“Vanessa. Ms. Snyder.”

“What did they decide?” I asked without preamble.

Elle rose. “I’ll leave you two alone then.” To me, she added, “Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.” Elle closed the door as she left my office.

I couldn’t stand the anticipation. “So? What’s the verdict?”

Lucas didn’t sit. He just crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “We’ve decided to turn the entire matter over to the Attorney General.”

It was what I expected. It was the right way to handle it. Anything less would be highly unethical and illegal. After all, the charity division of the Attorney General’s Office was the ultimate authority the foundation was accountable to as a nonprofit in the State of Louisiana. I considered what that meant. Likely a very public exposure of the scandal and a complete dismantling of the entire organization. All of the funds would probably be doled out to other charities in the state, and maybe some even given back to the families of the victims. Which would also make sense.