by Lexy Timms
With a scowl his father said, “I know what this is about. You don’t want me around your fancy friends. You’re ashamed of me and you’re too chicken to say it to my face.”
Heather reached across the table and gently squeezed his father’s hand. “Of course that isn’t the reason. Simon wants you there. We all do.”
Deep down, he knew that wasn’t true. His father had practically invited himself, which Heather had definitely not approved of. If she could choose she’d rather his father didn’t come to the dinner at all, so he knew that she was trying to calm things for his benefit. She was doing this to help Simon, to take the heat off him, and knowing that made his chest tighten.
Despite her disapproval of his father, she was still trying to smooth things over.
As he watched her squeeze his father’s hand again, Simon marveled at how anyone could be so selfless. So focused on making his father comfortable. Maybe the death threats had started to put things in perspective for her.
There was still a chance that someone out there wanted to hurt his father, and that knowledge made an icy claw of fear slash across his heart. That was why he worried about his father coming to the dinner. The Dover building itself was well-secured, but the dinner was going to be held away from headquarters. Security was always tricky when Dover security moved off-site.
“You do?” his father finally asked, his eyes shining.
“We do,” Simon forced out. If he outright banned his father from coming, there was liable to be a major argument on his hands. “We’re just worried about your safety, that’s all.”
“So, I can come to the dinner?” his father asked.
Simon nodded, fighting back a grimace as anxiety knotted his gut. “Yes. I’ll get you a tux and everything. But we all have to do exactly what Dover security asks during the dinner. Is that clear?”
“Crystal clear. I promise I’ll be on my best behavior,” his father said enthusiastically. “You’ll see, Simon. You won’t regret it.”
Chapter 12
As she applied the finishing touches to her red lipstick, Heather sized herself up in the bathroom mirror. She had decided to wear her hair down for tonight’s dinner, allowing her long locks to cascade down one shoulder. Her long yellow dress billowed around her. The dress was a designer gown, but its simple, flirty elegance made her feel comfortable. Though the bright color wasn’t her usual style, she had loved how soft and feminine the butter-yellow had made her feel. Simon couldn’t get enough of it, which was an added bonus.
Satisfied with her makeup, she put the tube of lipstick in her glittery red clutch purse and stepped out of the bathroom and headed for the living room.
Finn was sitting on the sofa beside Simon, the two of them watching a nature show on TV.
“Well, what do you think?” she asked.
Simon tore his eyes away from the television, fire burning in their depths when he spotted her. “You look stunning.” He stood up and walked over to her to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
Her stomach fluttered as his lips brushed across her skin. It was hard to keep her body from heating at the sight of his dark hair slicked back, and the tailored tux that fit him so perfectly.
“You look pretty, Mom!” Finn exclaimed from the sofa.
She walked over to him and ruffled his hair affectionately. “Thank you, sweetie.”
A knock on the door grabbed her attention and she headed over to open it. Her parents rushed inside, both of them excitedly complimenting her dress.
“Gorgeous. Just gorgeous,” her mother proclaimed.
“Are you sure you guys don’t mind babysitting?” Heather asked, lowering her voice. Since Simon’s father was attending, she had felt guilty over the fact that her parents were going to be staying behind to babysit. She had assured them that she could make sure there was space for them at the dinner, but so far they had stuck to their guns.
“Of course we don’t mind spending time with our grandson.” Her mother walked into the living room to give Finn a big hug.
“Besides, this is a nice apartment,” her father said as he glanced around.
“It is a nice apartment,” she agreed with a smile.
She and Finn had been staying in Simon’s building for almost a week, and so far she had to admit it had been great. She didn’t have to see Simon’s father all that much, and she had gotten the chance to spend some quality time with Simon.
It was work that had been the real challenge over the past few days. Dover’s security had been working overtime keeping their offices secure and working to track down the people responsible for the threats. So far they had only been able to trace the threatening phone call to a disposable cell phone, making it basically impossible to trace the call.
With the security problems still looming, tonight’s dinner was going to have extra security just in case.
Simon greeted her parents, and they said goodbye before heading out. They stopped at Simon’s apartment to meet with his father, who was dressed in the expensive tux Simon had bought for him. Heather had to admit that Onslow cleaned up pretty nicely with the stylist that Simon had also paid for. She was still uneasy about how easily Onslow managed to wrangle money out of his son, but the truth was there was only so much she could do in her effort to look out for Simon. How he spent his wealth was his decision to make. Besides, Simon had happily bought her a new dress and designer shoes. It would be hypocritical for her to begrudge Onslow for getting a new outfit.
Not to mention, with the security issues Onslow had to deal with a nice night out might do him some good. Dover security was trustworthy, and even if she was anxious about more threats she knew they could count on the security team.
“You look lovely, Heather,” Onslow said with a smile.
She returned his smile. “Thanks. You look great as well.”
Together, they made their way downstairs and got into Simon’s car.
Twenty minutes later, Simon parked his car in the parking lot of the Windemere Hotel. He opened the back door for his father and then opened Heather’s passenger door. Gently, he reached his hand down to her and she took it, letting him help her out of the car.
“You look so beautiful,” he told her. “I can’t take my eyes off you.”
Warmth laced around her heart. “And you look very handsome yourself.”
Simon offered her his arm in a gentlemanly fashion.
With an apologetic smile she shook her head. The board pretty much knew that she and Simon were dating, but with the documentary crew coming to this dinner they didn’t want to risk even a hint of impropriety. “The cameras will be rolling tonight, remember? We all have to look professional.”
Simon sighed. “I can’t wait for the day when we can just say screw it, and do what we want.”
“That’s what we’re working towards,” she reminded him. “Once the board trusts us I’m sure we can be as public as we like, with their approval.”
“Fine,” he muttered. “As long as you do me one courtesy.”
“What’s that?” she asked, curious.
“Walk by my side as we go in.” He turned to his father. “Dad, can you walk on my other side?”
Onslow grinned broadly. “Absolutely. Let’s get this show on the road.”
They walked together into the hotel, through the lobby, and made it to the hotel ballroom. The ballroom was already full of board members, investors, and senior staff. The security detail was milling around, men and women dressed head to toe in black, speaking discreetly into walkie talkies as they made the rounds around the room. Dover’s most important staff members were here, yet somehow she had ended up being a guest of honor.
The sound of loud applause filled the room as the crowd spotted them stepping in. Her stomach tightened as anxiety flooded her. Crowds sometimes set her on edge, and that was only made worse by the fact that the everyone in the room was looking directly at her.
Agnes Morton pushed her way through the crowd and approach
ed them, her elegant shawl trailing behind her as she walked. “You all look smashing.”
Heather forced herself to smile through the nausea. This was a celebration, she reminded herself. Nerves were normal, and once they got into the swing of things she’d get her bearings. “Thank you. You look lovely, Agnes.” Agnes waved at someone in the crowd and suddenly Theo Nowak, the documentary producer appeared, a cameraman behind him.
She felt the cameraman focus the camera on her, and she forced herself to look as expressionless as possible. This documentary was about Simon, and she wasn’t going to ruin it by being anxious on camera.
Taking a deep breath, she greeted Theo and listened as he went over plans for tonight’s shoot.
“We won’t be asking you or Simon too many questions since tonight is your night,” Theo said. “We’ll just get some candid shots of you guys enjoying the dinner, and also do interviews with some senior staff members to get their thoughts on the work you guys do.”
“That sounds pretty standard,” Simon said. “It’s a far cry from the drama you seem to want.”
Theo flashed a grin. “Oh, don’t worry. There’s always drama when you get rich people in a room together.” With that, Theo nodded at the cameraman and they disappeared into the crowd to do their interviews.
“Is that cameraman going to be here all night?” Simon demanded through gritted teeth.
“Do try to be nice to them, Simon.” Agnes paused. “And try to have fun, for once.” She swept away before Simon could retort.
Heather caught Jake Perry, Dover’s security head, approaching them, so she gestured to an elderly gentleman in the crowd. “That’s one of our new investors. Why don’t you go over and say hello to him and the group he’s talking to, Simon? I can speak to the security head in the meantime.”
He exhaled a loud sigh but walked across the room to mingle with their guests, leaving her behind with his father.
Jake walked up to them and she introduced him to Onslow.
“Anything new to report?” she asked the security head.
“I’ve got your cell phone.” Jake reached into his jacket pocket and handed over her cell phone. “We tried tracing the phone call, but nothing helpful came up. The trace just led us to a disposable phone, which won’t be of much use to us.”
“Is the hotel secure?” she asked as she put her cell phone into her clutch.
Jake nodded. “This place is locked up like a fortress. Nobody is going to be getting in tonight. Plus, we’ve got some of our team monitoring social media for any chatter.”
His confidence was starting to put her at ease. The anxious weight began to lift from her shoulders. “Thanks so much, Jake.”
“No problem,” Jake said. “It’s my job and I’m glad to do it. Will you excuse me? I need to have a discussion with some of the hotel’s staff.”
“Of course. We can talk more later.” She waved goodbye to Jake and then turned to Onslow. “So, how are you doing? We can go find a seat and wait for Simon.”
Onslow narrowed his eyes. “You can cut the act now.”
She gasped in surprise, her heart starting to race at his unexpected accusation. “What are you talking about?”
“You don’t like me,” Onslow muttered. “You weren’t very nice to me in the beginning, but when that backfired you decided to be nice to me.”
“Onslow, we’re at a dinner to honor your son,” she said. “We can be civil for the evening.”
“I’d believe that if you hadn’t been playing nice all week.” He narrowed his eyes. “When you jumped to my defense after Simon didn’t want me to come to the dinner, I knew what you were up to. You couldn’t fight me in the open because Simon didn’t like it, so now you’re pretending. Well, it isn’t going to work. You don’t fool me.”
“Lower your voice,” she hissed. “Tonight isn’t about our hurt feelings or misunderstandings. We’re here to celebrate Simon.”
“And you,” Onslow said, his lip curling into a cruel snarl. “They’re celebrating you, too. I guess your plan to seduce my son is complete, now that you’re getting accolades from the company he started.”
“The company you never believed he could start in the first place,” she snapped.
“There it is,” Onslow accused. “Your mask is slipping. Now your true colors are showing.”
Whatever hope she had of getting along with Onslow was rapidly slipping away. They were never going to see eye to eye on anything. “Let’s not do this here. We can talk when we get home.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He glared at her, dark anger swirling in his blue eyes. Eyes as blue as Simon’s, but possessing none of the warmth that Simon reserved for her. “You like us to hash this out in front of my son so that you can manipulate him to your side.”
“Manipulate?” She nearly choked. “Onslow, where is this coming from?”
“Don’t act dumb,” he spat out. “You managed to get into the bed of the CEO of one of the most important companies on earth. Simon might be taken by your saintly act, but I see through you. The same way I saw through you when he was a boy.”
“What are you talking about?” She forced herself to take a deep breath. “You know what? This is ridiculous. We’re not having this discussion here. Tonight we’re going to act like civilized adults.”
“You think you have him wrapped around your finger,” Onslow shot back. “Well, not for long you won’t. One of these days, Simon is going to have to choose between us. He’ll come around and see that I’m all he’s got in this world. And, just like last time, he won’t be choosing you.”
Before she could respond Onslow stormed off, leaving her in a state of shock. Her entire body was trembling, her mind buzzing with anger. If Onslow was going to insist on being selfish, she wasn’t going to stop him.
Legs still shaking, she walked over their reserved table and sank down onto one of the chairs. This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go. She had expected some amount of tension, but not this. Not Simon’s father bullying and intimidating her like this.
A wave of nausea hit and she opened her red clutch with shaking hands. She reached for a mint and popped it into her mouth, hoping the minty flavor would settle her stomach.
It took about ten minutes for her stomach to stop lurching, while she sent texts to Finn and her parents to check in on them.
“There you are.” Simon appeared by her side and took a seat beside her. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”
She waved off his concern. “I’m fine. Just a little carsick from the ride over.”
“You let me know if you need to go outside for some fresh air.” He paused to look around. “Where’s Dad?”
How could she ruin his night by telling him about their argument? Some of the things Onslow had said were downright mean, and it wouldn’t be right to turn Simon against his own father on a night like this.
“He...he went to the bathroom.” The lie tasted bitter on her tongue, but she didn’t know what else to say.
The lights in the ballroom started to dim and Agnes walked onto the elevated platform in front of their table. She then grabbed a microphone and asked the guests to take their seats.
Simon craned his neck to look around the ballroom. “You sure he’s in the bathroom? Maybe I should call him to tell him we’re starting.”
“Simon, wait—”
Suddenly the room was plunged into total darkness, the lights flickering off all at once. A gasp sounded around them, followed by panicked chattering.
A ripple of fear went through her as she reached out, searching for Simon’s hand. “What’s going on?”
The screen on the stage in front of them turned on, banishing the darkness. For a moment she felt relieved, but that relief disappeared almost instantly. One the screen was a masked face, a hideous wide grin taking up half of the cartoonish mask.
“Hello, Simon,” the man in the mask said with a rough laugh. “I know you tried to stop this from happening. T
oo bad your money can’t control everything.”
She felt Simon’s strong hand envelop hers as the man’s twisted voice filled her ears.
“For so long you’ve lived in your little bubble,” the masked man said. “Never seeing the suffering of the people around you. But that’s going to change now. We’re going to make you see. Starting with your father. The pain has finally come home to your door. We have taken your father, and now you will see the suffering.”
Chapter 13
Few things frightened him. Least of all some clown in a mask. But it wasn’t the masked man on the screen that wrenched his insides until all he felt was sharp, ceaseless pain. It was the threat against his father that was destroying him.
His grip on Heather’s hand tightened as he realized that in the semi-darkness of the ballroom, she might not be safe either.
“Your suffering has arrived, Simon,” the masked man went on before laughing bitterly. “If you ever want to see your father alive again, you won’t do anything stupid. You can try going to the police, but they can’t save your father. Now, wait until you receive further instruction from us.”
The screen went black, and the room was again swallowed by darkness. Gasps and screams erupted as the lights suddenly flickered back on.
He blinked rapidly, his eyes trying to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room. “Heather, we have to get you out of here.”
Simon didn’t care if she argued or put up a fight. He was determined to get her to safety. Nothing was going to get in the way of that.
He held on to Heather’s hand and started to guide her away from the table. The ballroom was already in chaos as guests started racing towards the exits. How the hell was he going to get Heather out of here before the crowd prevented them from leaving?
Cursing under his breath, he scanned the room and spotted Jake, Dover’s security head, barreling towards them.
“We need to get you two out of here!” Jake barked.
“How?” Heather’s voice was shaking, and Simon detected the hint of panic in her tone.
