I would have canceled all my meetings just to stay with her, but I did have a legacy to continue for my son or daughter. That was, if they chose to participate in the family business. The idea that I was going to be a father still prattled around in my head.
There was no helping my smile. I felt myself grinning at the prospect. It wasn’t like this was a part of my plan. Hell, falling for the redhead wasn’t. When I spied her New Years, I’d wanted her with a desperation I’d never known. Still, I hadn’t put her and forever together in my mind.
An ache formed in my slacks at the thought of her. Before I’d run across her at the Palm Restaurant I’d been wavering over making an appointment with the doctor because of my loyal dick. It hadn’t been my idea to stay faithful to my love for Bailey. I’d tried to be with other women. But my cock was having nothing of it. It would harden when thinking of sex, but when the woman came into view, I would quickly lose my erection. It was part of the reason why I’d fucked Bailey that day. I had to know if the damn thing still worked.
The next night at the club, I’d lost it. Seeing her grind up to another guy boiled my blood in ways I didn’t know were possible. It didn’t matter that she’d been with Turner. Technically, we hadn’t been together either time. So it wasn’t like she cheated then. My rage only confirmed that she was it for me and no other could have her. I still felt like a shite. There had been nothing sweet about the way I took her. It was a punishment for us both. Me for wanting her with a desperation I couldn’t control and her for being the temptress. I’d expected her fury right back. Instead, she passed out from carrying my child.
“You okay over there?” Griff asked from across the aisle.
“I’m good,” I replied back in Gaelic. It was the language we favored when talking amongst ourselves.
“You’ve been smiling to yourself and suddenly it disappeared. Is it that redhead lassie?”
The smile slipped from my face. I hadn’t yet told him the news. The doctor informed us that most liked to wait until the second trimester to share the news, but it was up to us. I hadn’t corrected her then that it wasn’t mine. Good thing, I would have been dead wrong.
“She’s pregnant,” I blurted. I had to tell someone and he was like my brother.
“Mac na galla,” he cursed.
If my mood was different and he wasn’t my best mate, I might have kicked his arse for saying son of a bitch. But I knew he wasn’t using it like the Americans and it wasn’t directed at me or my mother.
“Whi isi’ yer gau’ae dae ‘e noo?”
What was I was going to do now? Be a father, marry her, and protect her.
Before I could answer he asked another question, switching back to Gaelic. “Are you sure it’s yours? What about Turner?”
It was a legitimate question, considering the facts he knew of. “She’s eight weeks along. She was with Turner six weeks ago.”
He nodded. “I guess I’m a bit surprised neither of us has had a wee one yet. I knew you listened to Ennis about keeping yourself protected from that happening. So I’m surprised it happened to you before me.”
“Aye.” I had been too. I’d only ever not used protection with her. Funny how it always came back to her and how weak I was when she was around.
His using Turner’s name brought an unexpected feeling in me. I trusted her. So why did I wondered if Turner came back, could he guilt her into leaving me for him? Would he even want her when he found out it was my wee ken in her belly?
The doubt had to stem from my unexpected trip back home. When the information came in, I’d thrown the mug of coffee I’d held across my office. I knew Keely was giving me the fuck you by letting Sandy have her in every way. But this… Finding out she may have participated in stealing from me when I would have given her money if she’d asked blew my mind.
She wasn’t just anyone. And if she could do this to me, what made me think any female could be loyal? On the other hand, Bailey wasn’t Keely. To question her loyalty because of someone else wasn’t right.
“You could have given the information to the authorities and let them handle it.” I got the sense from Griff’s comment that he was far less interested in going with me than I’d suspected.
He was also right, it might have been easier that way. “I need to see her eyes when she answers the question why?”
Later, as I stood on the precipice of gaining answers, I second-guessed myself for coming. Too late, a disheveled Keely opened the door with a can of Irn-Bru in her hand.
She rolled her eyes seeing us and I wondered if she was expecting someone else, Sandy perhaps. Or maybe he was already here.
We spoke in Gaelic. “Are you alone?” I asked.
“Do you care?” she asked again with the eye rolling.
I stepped into her flat, pressing passed her. Griff strolled in after me. I stood in the tiny living room and glanced over all the disarray. It wasn’t as if her place was dirty. It was more that she had a lot of stuff crammed in a small space. I guessed it was her way of having all the things we couldn’t growing up.
“What is it you want?” she asked, bringing my attention back to her.
“He wants to know why you did it,” Griff interjected, stealing my thunder.
Keely’s posture was defensive. Her hip was jutted out with one hand on it. The whole picture reminded me of a teapot with all her rounded curves. “Why I did what?”
Her utter confusion sent me over the tipping point. The fury I’d pent up since getting the call caused me to shake. I pulled a folded piece of paper out of my pocket and watched as my hand vibrated with anger while I handed it to her.
“What’s this?” she asked absently while unfolding the document.
As damning as it was, somewhere I held deep that there was an explanation for this. I couldn’t believe she’d betray me like this.
“An e-mail.” She dismissively held out the paper without bothering to examine it more.
“It’s an e-mail you sent to an auditor over three years ago,” I fumed.
“So what?” Still she showed no signs of deception. “I get copied on e-mails because my boss likes me to make her to-do list and schedule appointments. I probably had to contact them to schedule one. What’s the deal? Did she complain about me? She always thought I just got the job because I was screwing you. What she needs is a good fucking.”
“Look at the e-mail,” I gritted out in frustration. “You asked him to contact you on a private e-mail address.”
Her face contorted as she read the e-mail.
“Check the time,” Griff said with false patience. “Eighty thirty on a Friday night. What brought you to the office at that time?”
Finished with the last line, her face finally held alarm. Her eyes jackhammered between us. “I—,” she started.
Griff continued his verbal assault and I let him. He was head of my security after all. “Think back. I doubt you’re ever in the office late. It should stand out in your mind.”
Keely was never able to hide her facial expressions. Griff and I both eyed each other when we saw her put it together. She turned and sat defeatedly. Not yet saying a word, she drank what was left of her Irn-Bru before setting it on top of a book on a cluttered side table.
“There was one time,” she began. I folded my arms across my chest in defense of the forgive me look she gave me. Keely wasn’t one to cry. No matter, I wasn’t ready to feel sorry for her in any way, not yet at least. “Sandy came by.”
“You were fucking him back then?” Griff shouted.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. This wasn’t what we were here for. Still, this had to happen. Griff needed to get this off his chest if he was ever going to move forward.
The damn in her eyes disappeared, replaced with a steely resolve. “Who else would have me? You both scared every other male in a hundred mile radius away from me.”
“I would have had you, and I told so,” Griff’s eyes were filled with his own malice.
“
Was that what your game of running every other guy away was about? And really, could you forgive that I professed my love for your best mate? Don’t fucking lie to yourself. And all your women.” She waved her hand, dismissing Griff’s comments.
“All the other Lasses could only get a shag from me.”
“And I could get none. You turned me down.”
My brows rose. I didn’t know this. When had that happened?
“You were fifteen and nowhere near ready. I told you to wait.”
Keely stepped up to Griff and met him eye to eye, the wee thing that she was. Short, but she cocked her head up as if she were his height. “Wait for what? Wait while you fucked every other lass in town? You both treated me like a little girl. I’m not a little girl, and Sandy showed me what a woman I am.”
Griff looked like he wanted to ring her throat. She looked like she wanted to cut off his balls. I didn’t relish coming between them, but this had to end.
“What happened with Sandy that day?” I asked in a rational tone the other two lacked.
Her head snapped in my direction and I had the odd déjà vu feeling that I’d seen that look somewhere else. I nearly snapped my finger when I remembered the vision from something out of a horror movie.
After a few breaths, she calmed. She sat back down and said, “Sandy came by that night for our date. While I was getting ready...” She paused and glanced over at Griff as if she expected him to say something. Thankfully, he didn’t. “For a while he’d been talking about his dream to start a company of his own.”
I couldn’t help but wonder when she first hooked up with Sandy. Guilt filled me. We had run guys off like protective brothers. We had treated her like a wee thing. She was a few years younger than we were. I never imagined our actions affected her as much as she said they did. Had we paved the way for Sandy to come in?
“He was so excited and told me investors had come through. Construction was starting.” She paused. “He knew about my new job.” She turned in my direction and shame filled her features. “He wanted to know what the inside of your company looked like so that he could make his office better.”
“Didn’t he know that back then it was my father’s and not mine?” My father only died several months ago. I didn’t let her answer. I just went on. “Did you tell him that I offered you money when you called in need? Did you two work up this scheme for you to get a job to steal from me from the beginning? Your words of not wanting my money but earning it on your own, was that all a lie?” I accused.
“JK,” she begged.
I held up a hand. “Save it. Just finish your story.”
She appeared hesitant. “I didn’t see harm in him seeing inside the office. Like you said, it was your father’s company and you hated your da.”
On so many levels I wanted to correct her and tell her Thomas was not my da. I held my tongue. It wasn’t the time and I didn’t know that I could trust her with my personal thoughts and secrets anymore.
“I showed him around. I didn’t leave him alone.”
Griff stepped over and picked up the paper she’d left on the cushion next to her. “What about this?”
She hung her head. “He wanted to get directions to the restaurant he was taking me to.”
“Sandy needed directions. Since when did he need the Internet to find something around town?” Griff admonished.
Keely chose to ignore it, probably because he was right. “He asked for some water. I couldn’t have been gone that long.”
“Long enough for him to access your e-mail after you logged him into your computer and walked away.” Griff stepped back and shook his head.
I took over. “What was the name of his company, and did you see his office?”
“Aye,” she said. “He drove me by on the way to the restaurant. The company’s name is SandyHill Investments.” She rattled off the address. Even I could tell after she said it that it was catchy enough for her to remember it after all this time. I thought it might stick in my mind too long after.
“Clever,” Griff muttered laced with sarcasm, most likely referring to his company name and not the address. He pulled out his smart phone and I knew he was doing a search.
“JK, I—,” but Griff cut her off.
“I found SandyHill. It’s a shell company. Its address is listed at—” He rattled it off.
Keely frowned. “That’s the address to his apartment.”
Griff didn’t even respond to her. “The other address belongs to a headquarters of a food processor company. According to this, they’ve been in the building over five years and did major renovation in the last three.”
“I—,” she tried to say, but Griff was having nothing of it.
“In other words, he played you. He used you and fucked you. And what do you have to show for it?”
That did it. Keely exploded off her sofa and into Griff’s face. I half expected them to kiss with all the sexual tension between the two. She pointed to two suitcases near the door. “He got me a plane ticket leaving tomorrow morning to the Cayman Islands for a vacation. He said he finally came into some real money…” Her words drifted off after she’d heard what she’d said.
“JK, I’m sorry. I promise you, I didn’t know.”
I nodded. “I want to believe you.”
“Fuck that,” Griff said. “From now on, lose my number. Don’t come crying to me when this fannie bawbag pulls you down with him. I bother dropping by. The next time I see you should be never.” He stormed out.
The gravity of the situation pulled the arm she’d held out in vain from reaching what was gone. Griff didn’t give second chances. She turned tearful eyes on me.
“Where is Sandy now?” My face was blank. I just needed straightforward answers so I could get out too.
“He’s out of town. He’s supposed to meet me on the island in a couple days.”
“Why isn’t he meeting you tomorrow?” I asked.
“He said he had something to do. He wanted me to go ahead and take advantage of the spa and shopping to be ready for him. He made arrangements to cover everything until he showed up.”
I sighed, hating what I had to say next.
“You know I would have taken care of anything you needed. Despite it all, if you ever need anything, let me know. But if I find out you were involved more than you’re telling me in any way, then you’re dead to me. And don’t call my mother. I need distance from you. If you decide to take that ticket, then I’ll know what side you stand on.”
The indecision in her face hurt me to my core. I gave her my back and left.
Sandy, who by all rights should have been a pussy because of his name, and my childhood nemesis, was most likely the mastermind of the theft of millions from my company.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Kalen and I had decided that I would come up to New York for our first weekend as a reunited couple. I’d never been to his place, and if we were going to try and do this for real it was an important task on my list. Excited and nervous, I’d packed my bag full of wicked things to tempt him. If there was one aspect of our relationship that was effortless, it was us in the bedroom. He knew how to take me hard and fast and slow and steady. And I planned to capitalize on that this weekend.
It was a shock when I got the text on my train ride up that he had to change plans. He had to make an unexpected trip out of town but promised to make it up to me. He’d talked to Lizzy and thought it would be good for me to hang out with her. Apparently, I’d been in the metro when he called and I’d missed it. He’d taken it upon himself to make sure I wouldn’t be alone. In fact, he offered for me to stay at his place if I wanted to. I hadn’t decided yet what I was going to do about that. The idea of exploring his place on my own had its advantages.
I’d refused him the offer of his plane earlier, preferring the train. I did, however, accept a ride to Lizzy’s by his personal driver.
Although I didn’t have to, I knocked on Lizzy’s door. When it opened, I was
enveloped by a mass of blonde and a tiny brunette. We stood there squealing with tears in our eyes for the longest time.
“God, I missed you guys,” I admitted.
“We missed you too,” Lizzy said stepping back. “You look way too thin. Aren’t you supposed to be pregnant?”
“She’s pregnant,” Violet called out as if she didn’t already know. I was taken into another group bear hug.
“Maybe I should come in,” I said, trying to stop from crying.
Lizzy took my bag, Violet my shoulder to steer me over to the very white couch. We sat side by side.
“How do you feel carrying a billionaire’s baby? Talk about golden ticket,” Violet said.
I shook my head. “You know I don’t want Kalen for his money.”
“Of course not,” Lizzy said. “He’s gorgeous with a great cock.”
A frown formed on my face. “What do you know about his cock?”
“All that fucking and moaning that came from your room when he visited says his cock is fucking great.”
Violet patted my hand. “Ignore her, she has cock envy. And eww, I’m sleeping in the bed where you and he had fantastic sex.”
“Violet, you’ve been there for months. Too late to worry about it now. And yes, I have cock envy.” Lizzy grinned, not caring in the least.
“I’m sorry.” I gave Lizzy a mournful expression. Violet concurred before we burst out laughing.
“Not funny, guys. My guy has a dick the size of my thumb.”
“Don’t they have implants for that?” I teased.
Lizzy gave me a look worthy of causing death. Then something sparkled on her finger.
“Hey, what is that?” I asked, forgetting that I was hungry because I’d skipped lunch and tired from working most of the day.
“What’s what?” Violet asked.
Lizzy covered her hand. I pounced. We began a tug of war of her hand, which she tried to keep hidden behind her back. With Violet’s help, we pulled her hand free and gasped.
“Is that?” Violet said.
“An engagement ring?” I finished.
My best friend hung her head. “Yes and no.”
Equity (Balance Sheet #3) Page 17
