I keep my body in the same position as I figure out where to start. I've never told this story before; the only people who really know the whole story like I'm about to tell her were the other people involved in it. I've never had to repeat it before to anyone else.
"So Dante and I are cousins, but we really grew up together. I'm only a year older than him, so we spent a lot of time together as kids. It was great; he was like the brother I never had and always wanted. And we even remained close as we went through our teenage stages—me, the bad boy babe magnet era, and him, going through the grunge rock emo phase," Amelia giggles, possibly trying to imagine the smartly dressed guy she met earlier with a black bowl cut and a lip ring.
"He went to university and got a degree in finance, so when I was slowly building up my first hotel, I thought that it would be amazing to give him a job running the books for the place. And he did a great job; he found great ways to save money, paid people on time, and he was very trustworthy. Then after about four years, things started going a little downhill.
"He liked to party often, which I didn’t have a problem with because he never let it affect work. But soon enough, it did; he would show up late, hungover, be rude to people. I confronted him about it, and he confided in me that he was struggling; he had been abusing drugs and alcohol since we were both in high school." Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Amelia's hand raise to cover her mouth that has dropped open. It's probably quite similar to the same reaction I had when I confronted him nearly ten years ago.
"I promised that I would help him; we went together and talked to his mum and dad, I booked him into the best rehab money could buy, and he seemed really committed to doing better. And it would work for a while; he would do the treatment, get out, go to the meetings, work part-time for me. He must have completed around five different rehab programs, and they all ended up with him back with a needle in his arm.
"Finally, I thought this last program had done the trick; he had his head screwed on straight, and he seemed determined to get healthy again. Then I got a call from someone on my team, telling me that there was a significant amount of money missing from our accounts."
"Oh no," Amelia whispers under her breath; it seems she can already sense where this story is headed.
"Yup. We were about to close a deal on a second hotel; we had some investors lined up, contractors ready to start work, and there was a million pounds missing from the accounts." An audible gasp escapes her lips as I tell her the number.