Fallen

by Natasha Grace

  Yes, lunch would be a good way to soften the news and ease her guilty conscience.

  Chapter Nine

  Luke had just stepped onto the trading floor the next morning when he saw Hank coming towards him. His COO’s expression was grim. Instinctively, Luke knew what the problem was.

  “We lost another client,” he said, preemptively, as Hank stopped in front of him. He knew that the recent reprieve had been too good to be true. They hadn’t lost any customers since last week and he’d been hoping that they’d seen the last of the withdrawals.

  “We actually lost two today.”

  Fuck. How much more business were they going to lose? It was hard enough to work with what little capital they had left, not to mention demoralizing for the managers. He could already see some of the guys close to breaking.

  “Which ones?” he asked.

  “One of the pension funds in New Jersey and NorCal.”

  “Please don’t tell me it’s the teachers’ pension.” The New Jersey Teachers’ pension fund was worth around eighty million.

  “No. It’s Dayner.”

  Luke’s chest eased a little. Dayner’s pension was probably around twenty million at the most, but NorCal was a lot bigger—three times as much. They couldn’t afford to lose any more customers or there would be cutbacks. When he’d run the numbers last night, he’d seen that the company would barely break even if they had similar returns as they had last year. With the loss of these two clients, Harkin would firmly be in negative territory unless they cut down on their expenses, which was mostly payroll. And he did not want to fire anyone over something that was his fault. It was one thing to fire an employee because they weren’t performing, but to do so because of something that was out of their control? It was unthinkable.

  “Open the funds to new clients,” he instructed his COO. Not wanting to take riskier investments just because they had more money to manage, they’d closed Harkin to new investors two years ago. Hoping that things would turn around, Luke had held back on opening the funds after Jason had died. He hadn’t wanted word of people pulling out to spread and have the customers who’d stayed with them begin to worry as well. But it was a risk they had to take if he didn’t want the company to go through massive layoffs.

  A shiver ran down his back at the thought of no one wanting to invest with them before he quickly cursed himself. He was overreacting. Of course, there would still be people who wanted to invest with Harkin. Who wouldn’t after all those years of solid returns? He just needed a few months for people to see that they’d overreacted and then everything would be okay. It had to.

  “Do it as quietly as you can,” he told Hank.

  “Of course.”

  And this was just the tip of the iceberg. There would soon be more to worry about when NorCal signed with another fund. Since it would be a huge feat to get one of Harkin Capital Management’s customers, the new fund would undoubtedly shout it from the rooftops the way Jason had gone a little crazy with the press releases when they’d gotten NorCal from Tyco Enterprises.

  Hank hesitated before he spoke. “Have you thought about locking the funds?”

  Luke blinked in surprise. Though he had thought about it, he couldn’t believe that Hank had really just asked that. Preventing their customers from withdrawing their money—even if it was only temporary—would make his job, not to mention everyone else’s, that much harder by having to deal with angry clients on top of everything.

  Hank must really be worried about Harkin to have recommended that.

  “I did, but decided against it,” Luke answered. “Even if we hit record returns for our clients, they’ll leave the second they’re allowed to.” Though it wasn’t as if their clients actually needed the money, no one wanted to be denied access to their funds.

  Hoping to ease Hank’s worries, Luke forced a smile as he started for his office. “Thanks for keeping me posted. I expect we’ll be getting more foreign investments than pensions this time around.” He would rather build up the retirement accounts of hard–working Americans than the already rich abroad, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  Hank scoffed as he followed him. “Only you would think about that at a time like this.”

  His response reminded Luke of how different their backgrounds were. While Hank hadn’t come from old money like Jason had, he hadn’t come from a poor one, either. Hank didn’t know what it was like to work for more than forty years and have only a company pension to rely on for his retirement. He didn’t understand how the higher returns they earned for pension funds made a world of difference for those pensioners. They could retire a year or two early, help pay for their children’s education, or even pay their medical bills.

  “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to help people.” Luke thought about how his dad wouldn’t have had to work so hard for so long if the hedge fund managers in charge of his pension hadn’t screwed up so badly. If it weren’t for hedge funds always trying to outdo each other with big returns, his father would’ve been able to retire at the age of sixty–four instead of working to the bone at the factory.

  “And this is how they repay us,” Hank said as he gestured towards the trading floor.

  Like Jason, Hank had always been more in favor of catering to rich clients. There were a lot less paperwork and requirements and they got to rub shoulders with the rich and the powerful. But what was the use of making the rich even richer? At the end of the day, they were just filling already full coffers.

  “Come on,” Luke said. “It’s not like the pension funds are the only ones who’ve pulled out.” Some of their wealthy clients had left as well. It was just because of the larger size of some of these pension funds that made it seem like they were the biggest offenders.

  Perhaps he shouldn’t have fought Jason so hard about closing Harkin to new clients two years ago. They might not be in such a hard position right now if he hadn’t. But then again, they could’ve ended up with even more employees to worry about and the damage Jason could’ve done with his overleveraging could’ve easily been worse. Luke’s head throbbed. They were lucky they were in a bull market right now or it would’ve been hell.

  “Yeah. But it’s the pension funds and the unions that are giving us the most trouble right now.” Hank shook his head. “I’ll go and talk with Betty about opening up the funds.”

  Luke sighed as he opened his door. At least he knew that he could trust Hank to do as he was told. Hank might not agree with everything Luke did, but he wouldn’t defy him the way Jason had.

  As it often did, Luke found his mind drifting towards Sam as he got settled in his office. She hadn’t even left yet, and he already missed her smile and the sound of her voice. He could just imagine how he’d be months down the line when she was gone.

  They’d never really been friends or kept in touch except through work, so Luke knew he’d be lucky to get the occasional text from her. He briefly wondered if he could use the clients’ withdrawal as an excuse to make her stay longer than the two weeks he’d requested before shame filled him. She was doing her best to deal with the hand she’d been given and here he was trying to make it worse for his own selfish needs.

  Frightened at how tempted he was to delay buying her out, he got his phone. He wouldn’t risk waiting for her to come to the office to tell her that he’d buy her half immediately. He might change his mind by then. Though it might not be best thing to do for the company, a clean break was the best thing he could do for himself and for her. She made him desperate, and it was too easy to see him doing just about anything he could to keep her close to him when the time came to buy her out. With her gone, Harkin would finally have his full attention. He wouldn’t be thinking about her constantly and he certainly wouldn’t be taking coffee breaks every couple of hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

  He frowned as the phone rang. Perhaps it was a good thing Sam had refused him. He didn’t exactly have time for a relationship, but he just hadn’t been able to st
op himself from asking for one. After only one night with Sam, he’d wanted more.

  “Luke?”

  Pleasure coursed through him at the sound of his name on Sam’s lips and he knew that he was making the right decision. With the company the way that it was, he couldn’t afford to have any distractions. Blocking out the voice that told him he was making a mistake, he said bluntly, “I’ll buy you out. I’ll have the paperwork settled before you leave today.”

  “Wait—are you serious? Thank you, Luke.”

  “Thank you, too,” he said and tried not to think about the relief in her voice. She really wanted out. “I know you could’ve asked for more.”

  “You deserve it. I know how much work you’ve put into the company.”

  “Jason did as well,” he felt compelled to say. Though he was still mad at Jason for overleveraging their clients’ money, he knew that there wouldn’t have even been a company to worry about if it weren’t for Jason. Luke himself would’ve never had the courage or the resources to start a fund right after college nor would he have had the patience or the connections to court clients.

  “If I’d given the stake to Jason’s parents, they would’ve just given it back to me.”

  She was probably right. Jason’s parents loved Sam and it wasn’t like they needed the money. With Jason’s dad coming from one of the oldest—and richest—families in America and his mom being a trust fund baby, they had more than enough money to last them ten lifetimes.

  “Will you send me the list of charities you want to donate to, as well as a preliminary schedule as soon as possible?”

  “I—of course. I really wasn’t expecting this to be so soon, but thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  “It’s nothing,” Luke lied. “I’ll have John draft the contract.”

  His head cleared as he hung up. Sure, he’d just made his job harder by agreeing to pull even more money from the company, but he knew he could handle the situation. He’d allow a few more investors in, start courting another pension fund or two, and focus on growing the assets they had. It would be challenging, but he’d done it before.

  But while his head was clear, his emotions were a mess. And for that, he had no solution, so he shoved those worries aside and focused on work.

  * * *

  Sam’s last day at the company.

  Luke’s chest tightened he watched Sam put a framed photo into a cardboard box. He couldn’t believe she was actually leaving. He guessed some part of him had been hoping for a miracle—that she’d realize she loved her job and decide to stay or that something (anything, really) would come up to make her change her mind, but it had all just been wishful thinking.

  Since he didn’t know when he would see her again, he took his time to drink in the sight of her. Everything from her soft, dark hair, to those arresting curves her black dress highlighted so well. And it wasn’t just the outside he liked. She was even more beautiful on the inside.

  Done in true Samantha style, not only was she donating half of the proceeds from the sale of her share in the company, but she’d also started a program using the money she had still invested in Harkin to start a scholarship in Jason’s name. Even if Harkin only managed to match the market’s return, the money she’d earmarked for the scholarship would be enough to cover the full tuition of five new students every year for a very long time.

  Though she would probably say that she was doing the scholarship for Jason’s parents, he knew better. She might not be as public about it as Jason had, but she loved to help people.

  Realizing he’d stood staring long enough, he rapped softly on her open door. She quickly turned towards him and he forced a smile as he put his hand in his back pocket. “Thank you for walking the guys through on everything.”

  “It was nothing.”

  His lips quirked. He’d heard more than one person try to guilt her into staying. Knowing just how close she was to everyone, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard saying goodbye had been for her. The fact that she was still leaving regardless of how she felt about the people there drove in just how much she wanted to leave.

  “Oh. I almost forgot.” She turned to get a manila envelope from her desk. “Here are all my keys and credit cards,” she said as she handed it to him. “I already cancelled the cards, but I wanted to give them to you just in case you needed them. Most of the keys are labeled, but there are a couple I don’t have a clue about.” She shrugged. “They just sort of accumulated over the years.”

  “Thanks,” he murmured as he traced the edges of the envelope. He knew that he should be grateful that she was being so considerate to have thought of everything, but instead, all he could think about was how she was giving him even fewer excuses to contact her later.

  Shaking the thought off, he asked, “So what will you do now?” He couldn’t imagine her staying idly at home. She was just too much of a hard worker to sit still for too long.

  “Well, at first, I thought I’d go back to Anderson. My old manager is now the head of the department and I’m pretty sure he’d hire me.”

  His heart stopped at her statement and she quickly added, “Don’t worry. I realized I couldn’t do that when I came in last week.”

  “I’m sorry, Sam, but you know that you working somewhere else would look really bad for the company, don’t you?” The reason they’d given for her leaving was to focus on charity work, so it wasn’t as if she could just work at another company.

  “I know. But I actually don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t see myself joining a charity board. Even before all this stuff with Jason, that was never my scene.”

  Nor was it his, and he tried not to think about how similar the two of them were. He frowned as a sudden realization occurred.

  “Why haven’t you ever been given money to manage?” If she’d been anyone else, she would’ve at least been promoted to junior portfolio manager by now.

  “I—” She shrugged. “It just never happened. You know that I just dropped into this industry.” She paused as though considering the notion. “You really think I could be a manager?”

  He hated the hopefulness in her voice. Had Jason never told her how good she was? Though she didn’t have the background the other analysts had, she was just as good as the rest of them. Even better, he thought, though he was probably biased. He loved everything about her—including the reports she’d written. He loved seeing the way her mind worked and loved the fact that he could almost hear her voice when he read her reports.

  His fists tightened at the thought of Jason stunting her growth before he cursed himself. It didn’t matter what Jason may or may not have done, because Sam was leaving. She was turning her back on Harkin without a single glance back. So instead of saying any of the things he wanted to say, he nodded curtly. “Yeah. I do.”

  She beamed. “Thank you. Not that I will, but it means a lot that you think I could be one.” She shrugged as she put a hand on her box of things. “I just got an apartment on Forty–Ninth and Lex that I’ll be moving into this weekend,” she said after a moment and he tried not to think about how close she’d be to him. It wasn’t as if she were going to pay him any more late night visits.

  “You selling the house?”

  “Yeah. I figured it would be best. It’s a little big for one person.”

  Anger coursed through him at the knowledge that she was throwing away so many of the things she loved because of Jason—her job, her house… He wanted to tell her that Jason wasn’t worth it, but he knew this was just something she had to work out on on her own.

  “Do you want to go to dinner tonight?” he asked before he could stop himself. No matter how many times he’d told himself that it would be easier to get over her once she was gone, he was in no hurry to see her leave just yet. If he were being honest with himself, he didn’t want to get over her. Every time he thought about her or that night two weeks ago, he felt as if they belonged together.

  She smiled, and his chest suddenly
felt lighter. “You have a meeting with Clarence Myers at eight.”

  Crap. He’d forgotten about that. For a second, he considered blowing off the meeting before guilt crept in. With all the business that they’d lost, he couldn’t afford to offend any more clients. “Well, some other time then.”

  “Sure,” she answered without giving an alternative and he knew that she was just being polite. She didn’t actually intend on seeing him.

  Disappointment settled into his stomach before he cursed himself. What had he been expecting after she’d already turned him down? Instead of wasting time, hoping for the impossible, he should be preparing for his meeting.

  With that thought in mind, he took a step back towards the door. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you around.”

  Chapter Ten

  Relief coursed through Sam as she watched her chauffeur help the charity workers load the last of Jason’s cars into a truck a week later. The garage was finally empty.

  Jim, one of the charity workers, approached her when they were done. “Thanks again, Mrs. Collins. We really appreciate this.”

  “It’s no problem. I’m glad the cars can be of use.” She’d just wanted everything gone so that she could list the house already.

  What had once been her dream home now felt like a representation of all her failed dreams. The room that she’d planned on being the baby’s room had been torn down and was now part of a theater Jason had built. The space she’d intended to be the children’s playroom had been converted into Jason’s home office. Hell, even the area in the backyard where she’d wanted to put a slide and a jungle gym in had been cemented over to put in a gazebo for when they entertained.

  And though she’d gotten to pick the paint color and other decorative touches every time they remodeled, it had always been Jason’s idea to remodel in the first place. The only thing that she’d wanted and had gotten was the flagstone walkway that trailed along the green for when her parents visited.