He frowned when a name he didn’t expect appeared. Geri Blaine. She was flying from Hobart to Melbourne tomorrow night. When had Geri flown to Hobart? She hadn’t told him she planned to visit her sister and niece.
He went back to yesterday’s list to double-check that Geri had flown with Ingrid to Melbourne instead of to Hobart. His heart hammered hard. Justin Lawrence had flown with Ingrid and Geri yesterday.
Simon sat back on his seat, scowling. Justin himself had said that he was flying out of Australia after his meeting in the city. Obviously, he’d changed his mind so suddenly. Why?
The thought that something unexpected might have happened to Ingrid had him rummaging for his Simon James phone in his drawer. Hopefully, it wasn’t a medical emergency.
He rang Ingrid’s number.
“Hello,” a male voice answered.
“Justin?”
“Who’s this?”
“It’s Simon.”
There was a pause. “Simon. What’s up?”
“Just wanted to make sure everything’s okay with Mrs. Lawrence.”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. She’s having a massage, so I picked up her phone.”
“What about Geri?”
“Geri? Nothing. She’s fine.”
Simon narrowed his eyes. He’d caught the hitch in Justin’s voice. “How would you know that for sure when she’s not there with you?”
“How do you she’s not here?” Justin asked sharply.
Simon cocked his head. Something was going on, and he didn’t like the sound of it.
“Are her sister and niece okay?”
“Yes. She said she just needed to help her sister with something. Did you talk to her?”
“No.”
“So how do you know she’s not here with us?”
“I have my sources,” he said simply. Why should he tell the truth to the asshole? Geri had to know first before anyone else.
“What sources?” Justin prodded.
“Look, never mind,” he said with exasperation. “I’ll call Geri again tomorrow when she re-joins you. I’m assuming she’s flying to Melbourne to re-join you, right?”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. “How did you know that?” Justin asked suspiciously.
Simon chuckled. Messing with Justin’s head was fun.
“Is this a threat?” Justin said, his voice… nervous?
Simon scowled. What the hell was this guy on about? Was he on drugs? Was Mrs. Lawrence really okay?
“Why do you think that, Justin?” he asked in a neutral tone.
“Do you know Eric Baron?”
“Yes,” he answered. He’d met the investment banker once a few years ago when he’d flown with Alexander Jets on an Australian trip—if that was the same Eric Baron Justin was referring to.
Justin let out a long, shaky sigh. “Look, whatever he offered you, I’d like to make a counter-offer.”
Simon’s gut twisted. Justin was scared. “I’m listening,” he said, keen to find out more about this.
“What do they want from you?”
“What do you think?”
Justin groaned in frustration. “What have you told them?”
“I haven’t told them anything yet,” he said, instinct telling him to go with that.
“Ah, good,” Justin said with relief. “So what do you want, Simon? If you haven’t told Eric’s men anything yet, then this could only mean you want to work with me and not them, right?”
“Well… you are Mrs. Lawrence’s grandson…”
Justin laughed. “Right. Grandma did say she’d grown fond of you too.”
“So what now?” Simon asked. Damn, it was hard having a conversation when he didn’t know what the hell they were talking about.
“What figure do you have in mind? We can start from there.”
“Will you keep Geri out of this?” he asked in a low voice, taking a chance with this direct question.
“You know that’s the one thing I can’t do, Simon. I’ve already told relevant people that Geri’s my girlfriend. I can’t change my tune now.”
Heat rose to Simon’s face? What the fuck?
“Besides,” Justin continued, “Geri herself wouldn’t want that. She already took my deposit of three hundred thousand dollars.”
Simon’s jaw dropped to the floor, staggered.
“Look,” Justin said, oblivious to his shock, “I know you have feelings for Geri, and we’re sorry we couldn’t tell you about this before. And to be fair to her, she did ask me to keep this from you because she didn’t want to hurt you. But don’t worry. When Maya gets her prenup money, you and Geri can get back together.”
Simon filled his lungs. This mystery was starting to take shape. “What do you expect me to do in exchange for… money?”
“Well, you get the easy part, don’t you? Just tell Eric’s people that you know that Geri and I have been in love for a long time, and that she’s the reason I go back to Australia every so often.” Gone was the panic in Justin’s tone. He was back to being his arrogant self.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. Oh, and of course, never ever be seen with Geri until Maya gets her divorce settlement. Everyone has to believe I’m with Geri, and no one else. If Eric finds out Maya’s been cheating on him because you and Geri couldn’t keep your end of the bargain, you both won’t get paid and Geri will have to give me back the three hundred grand deposit.”
Aha. Now Simon had a clear picture. “No one ever told me how much Maya was supposed to get.”
“Only fifty million dollars,” Justin said with bitterness. “She deserves much more than that.”
Simon shook his head. Geri had gotten herself involved in this crap? “How much are you paying Geri?”
“You can’t have the same amount. Geri’s deserves to get paid more.”
“I just want to know how much you offered her that she was willing to dump me for it.”
Justin laughed. “You’ll be pleased to know that she dumped you for a cool one million dollars. I guess that’s why Geri went home to Hobart for three days—to celebrate with her sister and niece. Her remaining seven hundred grand will be coming after Maya gets her prenup money.”
Simon shut his eyes, speechless.
“So how about I pay you a hundred thousand for your very small part?” Justin asked. “You have to admit that Geri’s role is so much more critical. And mind you, I bet it would take you more than three years to make that kind of money as a chauffeur with no permanent employer.”
“Let me think about it,” he said in a clipped tone.
“Oh, come on, Simon. You’re not gonna jerk me around, are you? It’s not just about the money, you know. Maya also wants shared custody of her daughter. You have to help us.”
“I’ll call you back.” And he hung up on Justin.
Simon couldn’t believe it. Justin was such a crook. Simon was surprised that Ingrid hadn’t seen through her grandson.
And Geri…
His heart was wrung so tightly that he found it hard to breathe.
He could easily spend way more than a million dollars on her if they ended up together. But he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be with her anymore.
He snickered mirthlessly. He was still a gold-digger magnet, after all.
Chapter 14
Geri stared out the window of Tricia and Maddie’s apartment, her back straight as she anxiously waited for the knock on the door. She hated that she had to invite Damon to their place, but the man was insistent. Fortunately, Tricia had no idea of what was happening. Geri had given her one hundred dollars to take Maddie to the movies.
She glanced at her handbag sitting on a side table by the door. Her phone was in it, with its voice recorder already turned on. She didn’t want to have to fiddle with it when Damon arrived.
Ah, her palms were sweaty and she was a bundle of nerves. She hoped that Bill Redfern, the plumber from next door, would be on time for his appointme
nt in ten minutes to check the supposedly blocked toilet in their apartment. Tricia’s neighbour was her only safety net, if ever Damon started doing anything to her. She could only hope that Damon wouldn’t gag her, so she could scream when Bill came knocking.
She shook her head vigorously to clear it. No point scaring herself when she had to have her wits about her.
Someone banged on the door and she jumped. With a deep breath, she went to open it.
“Damon,” she said to the tall, heavyset man with close-cropped hair and arms covered in tattoos. She’d met Damon three times before, and he was still as intimidating as ever.
“Hello, Geri,” Damon drawled, walking inside without being invited. “Where’s Tricia?”
“She’s out with Maddie.”
Damon laughed. “Why? You don’t want her to see me for fear that she’d beg for us to elope?”
Geri smiled weakly at Damon’s joke—a joke that held some truth in it. She simply didn’t trust her sister not to go gaga over Damon.
“So where’s my money?”
She picked up a bag from the floor and placed it on top of the coffee table. “There’s three hundred thousand dollars cash in here, as you requested.”
Damon inspected the contents. “So what did you tell the bank? I’m sure they had to ask why you were withdrawing such a massive amount.”
“I said I’ll be using it to travel and donate to many big and small charities all over the world, and that I prefer handing cash to people because online banking is soulless.”
“Good girl.”
She glared at the man, who was greedily counting the cash in the bag. She had thought about alerting the authorities and telling them that Damon had forced her to withdraw the large sum of money. But, damn it, she was afraid of what Damon might do to Maddie.
“You’re paying me back, right?” she said. “Tricia only promised to lend you money, not give it to you.”
Damon chortled. “You’re funny, Geri.”
“Well, should I put our loan agreement in writing?”
“Do you want to put it in writing that you ran away with your sister’s half of the business proceeds?”
“No, but what you have there is equivalent to all of the proceeds plus some of my savings.”
Damon snickered. “Don’t lie, Geri. Be grateful that I’m only wanting three hundred grand. You sold the B&B for far more.”
“The B&B had massive debts.”
“Bullshit. I was there when your father told Tricia that the B&B was unencumbered.”
“It was, before he died. But Mum had to borrow money after…” She stopped. Damon didn’t have to know that their mother had been so heartbroken about their father’s death that she’d turned to gambling to forget about her grief. “Would you be sharing that money with Tricia, then?” she asked.
Damon’s smile was predatory. “She lent it to me, remember? With no interest. And I’m sure she’ll understand that I can only pay whenever I can afford to—which would be a long, long time from now.”
“I thought it’s your business partner who’s after it.”
“Well, it’s for my share of the business. He was gonna cut me loose, but now that I have the money, I’ll be back in his good books.”
“So it’s really you who wants to hurt Maddie, not anyone else,” she spat out.
“Because you were such a stubborn bitch, Geri. But make no mistake. Now that I’m partners with this guy, the more you shouldn’t cross me. He is very powerful.” Damon stuck his chest out proudly.
“Who is he?”
“Don’t ask stupid questions.”
Geri huffed. “Now that you have what my sister promised you, that’s it, right? You won’t ask her or me for any more? Not that there’s any more to give you.”
“Sure, Geri,” Damon said, winking at her as he zipped the bag containing the cash.
“I mean it, Damon,” she said in a strong voice. “Promise me you’ll leave us alone from now on. And don’t you ever, ever lay your hand on Maddie.”
Damon picked up the bag and went to the door. “I’m not responsible for your sister’s actions.”
“Stop lying to her! You never loved her. You’re just using her.”
“You know what’s the best thing about your sister? She’s so easily fooled.” Damon laughed out loud as he left the apartment.
Geri’s shoulders slumped. Was all that enough for Tricia to wake up to her senses?
“You’re feeling very generous today, aren’t you?” Tricia said sarcastically.
Geri smiled. “Since I’m leaving tomorrow, I thought I’d take you out to dinner. We haven’t been out, just the two of us.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever been out by ourselves, ever.”
“True,” Geri said, Tricia’s statement making her sad. Why had she never been on a sisters-only outing with Tricia? They’d always been with other people, like their parents and Maddie.
Well, tonight was the first time for that, and it couldn’t be for a more important reason. She’d even asked one of the neighbours to look after Maddie for a couple of hours.
They went to a seafood restaurant at Elizabeth Street Pier on Hobart’s waterfront, with Tricia continuing to look at her suspiciously.
“Come on,” Geri said dryly. “I’m not going to poison you.”
Tricia smirked. “I’m just wondering why you’re so nice to me all of a sudden. First, you give me a hundred dollars to take Maddie to the movies. Then we’re eating in this fancy restaurant. Did you win Lotto or something?”
“No,” she said with an eye roll. “Is it so shocking to treat my family every once in a while?”
“If only you’d be nice to Damon,” Tricia muttered, picking up the menu.
Geri didn’t take the bait. It wasn’t time for the big reveal yet. And frankly, she was nervous. Tricia was so infatuated with Damon that Geri was afraid of how her sister would react when she played the recording to her.
“Hey,” she said gently. “How about we call a truce tonight? No arguments, no fights. Just the two of us enjoying dinner together.”
Tricia snorted. “What’s happened to you? Did you get laid every day while in New South Wales?”
Geri blushed, taking a sip of water. She couldn’t help it, because Tricia was almost one hundred percent accurate.
“Oh my God,” Tricia said, her eyes round like saucers. “You have been having sex every night in the last month.”
“Shh!” Geri looked around to see if anyone had heard Tricia. Fortunately, it was still early enough in the evening that the place was still less than half full.
“So you met someone? Who?” Tricia whispered out loud.
“Um…” She shook her head.
“Tell me! You’ve never had a boyfriend before.”
“Hey, excuse me! I have so. Two of them.”
“Really? How come I never knew?”
“Well, they weren’t serious relationships.” And they’d been fighting so much over the years about Tricia’s choice of boyfriends that Geri hadn’t felt friendly enough to share those kinds of things with her.
“So is this one serious? Where does he live?”
“In Sydney.”
“Oh. So was that where you were in the last few months? You never told me where you worked, you know,” Tricia said in a hurt voice.
She sighed. “I’m a PA for a seventy-two-year-old lady and we were in New South Wales last month. That’s where I met Simon.”
“Simon, huh? Is he good-looking?”
Her lips curved up. “Very.”
Tricia laughed. “Wow. Do you have a picture?”
“Um… actually, yeah.” She pulled out her phone and searched for a photo of Simon without Ingrid Lawrence in it. While she wanted to repair their relationship, Geri still couldn’t fully trust Tricia until she knew that Tricia would never share anything with Damon ever again. She found a picture of her and Simon at Katoomba, which Ingrid had taken. “Here he is.”
Tricia took her phone and her jaw dropped. “Oh. My. God. How on earth did you find this hunk?”
“He was my employer’s driver.”
“Oh. So you’ll be seeing him again when you go back to work?”
She shook her head, warding off the ache that suddenly manifested in her chest. “He was only on a short-term contract.”
Tricia handed back her phone, looking at her warily. “Will you tell me where you work, Geri? I just need to know in case… I need you. And Maddie always misses you. It will mean a lot to her if she knows where you are, even if she can’t talk to you.”
“Sure. I meant to share a few things with you tonight, anyway. How about we enjoy dinner first, then we can talk about the more serious stuff after?”
Tricia pulled a face. “Telling me where you work is serious stuff? Why? Are you working for a spy agency or something?”
She chuckled. “You know what I mean, Tricia. But let’s not start right now. I promise you’ll know much more before we go back home.”
“Fine. But tell me more about this Simon guy.”
As they enjoyed their dinner, Geri did talk about Simon. To her surprise, she saw a different side to Tricia. Her sister was actually being supportive and nice. Not sarcastic at all. Did they just need to have some girl-talk to get along?
“He sounds great. Not like Damon, huh?” Tricia said with a wry smile.
Geri took a deep breath. She had an answer for that, but she didn’t want to verbalise it.
“Why won’t you give Damon a chance, Geri?” Tricia asked pleadingly. “Get to know him better. If you do, you might change your mind about him. He’s not the same guy from his criminal days. He’s learnt his lesson and he’d really like to get along with you.”
“Have you spoken to him lately?”
Tricia nodded as she ate the last morsel of food on her plate. “He rang just after Maddie and I got out of the cinema. He asked me to try to create a bridge between you and him.”
“Really, now?” she said dryly. The nerve of the guy. After she’d handed him three hundred thousand dollars, he had gone and called Tricia to manipulate her again? Unbelievable.
The Unmasked CEO (Captured by Love Book 7) Page 12
