by Lexy Timms
“Angrier?” A bitter laugh escaped her throat.
“Maybe. But I was going to say more determined,” he replied. “I’ve never known a parent like you, Heather. I don’t think there’s a mother alive who could possibly fight harder for their child than you fight for Finn.”
“I just worry that one day I won’t be able to hide it from Finn anymore,” she said. “I try so hard to look strong and brave in front of him, while inside I’m losing it. Losing it because Gary just won’t let up.”
“How about some coffee?” he suggested. Right now she looked so worn down that he was beginning to worry. The hearing had been just another stressful event on top of all of Gary’s delusional attempts to make Heather pay for supposedly ruining his life by getting pregnant.
She nodded. “Yes, please.”
He set his own cup aside to pour her a cup. After adding some cream and sugar he handed the cup over to her and waited while she took a sip.
“It’s got to be tough to keep your fears from Finn,” he said, picking up the conversation. “I’m not a parent, so I don’t have the right to tell you what to do, but maybe it’s okay to show Finn how you feel. Show him that you’re scared.”
“I wish I could, but I can’t,” she murmured. “If I show Finn how scared and upset I am, that will just make him scared and upset.”
“It sounds like being a parent means you have to hide part of yourself from your kids,” he said sadly.
“Sometimes.” She sighed and gave him a faltering smile. “Luckily I’ve got support. I have my parents and you. I couldn’t have gotten through today without you, Simon.”
Heather reached out to him and he took a seat beside her, taking her small hand in his. “Whatever you need, I’m here,” he said.
“All I need is you,” she said gently before leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.
Her soft lips brushing against him was enough to send a strange combination of tenderness and desire running through him. As she pulled her lips away, the feeling inside him gave way to dread. Because he knew just by looking at the pain etched on her face that if the stress of the custody battle really took its toll, he was liable to lose Heather. There was no way their relationship could survive her losing Finn, even if it the loss ended up being a temporary setback. If she lost her son, Simon was certain he would lose her in the process. Lose both of them. And as the icy claw of fear gripped his heart, he realized that he didn’t know how he could possibly survive losing the two people he was already starting to think of as his family.
BY THE TIME HER LAWYER returned, she’d gone over the court schedule he had handed over to her. Simon was in the corner of the conference room, taking a business call.
“How did it go with the investigator?” she asked as Aaron resumed his seat beside her.
“Good. He’s ready to start going over Gary’s life with a fine-toothed comb,” Aaron said. “However, the investigator just gone into a meeting, so he won’t be able to meet with you at the moment. In the meantime, he wants any details you might have on Gary.”
She bit her lip, wracking her brain. “I haven’t lived with Gary since the divorce, so I haven’t exactly been keeping up with his life. If he has any secrets, he’s keeping them well hidden from me.”
“At this point, no detail is too small,” Aaron said. “You don’t have to know any secrets. Even a minor detail could get the ball rolling. He works at a construction company, right?”
“Yes. He’s been there for several years, and seems to be a pretty good employee.” She paused. “But if he was so willing to pressure Simon for millions of dollars, maybe things aren’t going so well for him at work.”
“Good point.” Aaron grabbed a pen and started scribbling in the corner of one of the files. “Do you know how he spends his money?”
“He’s kept up his child support payments,” she responded. “That seems to be the one thing he doesn’t complain about.”
Aaron frowned. “That sounds unusual.”
“Well, maybe that’s why he wanted to squeeze money out of Simon,” she said. “Maybe the child support payments have been getting to him.”
“That’s possible, but like you said, Gary complains about everything,” Aaron said. “Why is this the one area that doesn’t seem to bother him? Seems contrary to his character, don’t you think?”
“It could mean that there’s still hope,” she said. “Hope that deep down he wants to be a good dad.”
Her lawyer gave her an incredulous look and scratched his bushy beard. “I wish I could be as convinced as you, but something doesn’t add up here, Heather. Absent parents often complain about child support payments. It’s actually quite common in family law.”
“Well, what would account for Gary not complaining?” She hated asking because she knew this line of inquiry could lead somewhere even worse than she had ever imagined. But her son needed her to fight. Needed her to ruthlessly protect him like never before. She had to let go of the history they had shared together as Finn’s parents. Gary was more than likely counting on her to be softhearted, and that hadn’t done her son a bit of good. It was time to get tough, no matter how difficult it was.
“He might have tapped into another source of income,” Aaron offered. “Or maybe he got a raise that we don’t know about.”
“Gary was required to give financial information when we first worked out custody details, but maybe he’s gotten a raise. Or maybe he has a source of income that he’s never disclosed. But he’s still paying the child support. Could another source of income really be that shady, if he’s so willing to pay?”
Aaron shrugged. “There’s no way of knowing that without an investigation, but I think this detail could prove to be extremely useful to us. From what I can tell, he seems to be having some kind of issues with money. That’s the first place we can start digging.”
“Is there anything I can do to help your firm’s investigator?” she asked.
Her lawyer nodded.. “Just keep your eyes and ears open. If Gary does something questionable or unusual, feel free to report it to me the way you did when he showed up to your dinner party. Every detail helps.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Simon approach the table. He shoved his phone back into his pocket. “That was work.”
His tone sent her stress levels through the roof. She had managed to get time off for the court hearing pretty easily because she was working for Simon again, but now she was being reminded that she still had work obligations. “Is everything okay?”
“More issues with the board,” he replied. “I had originally told them about today’s court hearing, but they aren’t satisfied.”
She groaned. “They’re never satisfied. What do they want?”
He grimaced. “Agnes wants to see us tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow’s a weekend,” she said with a frown.
“Well, that should tell you how important this is,” Simon said. “Agnes has basically summoned us to her house. She wants to talk about your new position at the office. On top of all that, she wants to talk to you about Gary.”
“What? Why does she want to talk about him?”
“She didn’t want to tell me over the phone,” he said.
Aaron cleared his throat. “It sounds a bit ominous, don’t you think?”
“It does.” She glanced at her lawyer. “Do you think I should be talking about my ex-husband to one of the board members?”
“You can talk about Gary, but don’t go into specific details,” Aaron replied. “Whatever this is, you need to find a way to keep your professional life as separate from your personal life as possible. Because if my instincts are correct, Gary and his lawyer might already be conducting their own investigation on you.”
Chapter 14
The next day, while she stood in front of her open closet, it was hard for Heather to not feel like she was in big trouble. She had never just shown up to a superior’s house for no good reason and she was scanning her closet for the right
outfit to wear.
“Heather, you’ll look beautiful in anything,” Simon said, the exasperation in his voice evident.
He had shown up to her house half an hour ago to pick her up but she hadn’t been satisfied with what she was wearing, so she had taken off her outfit and tried on a bunch of other outfits.
“I don’t want to just look beautiful, I want to look appropriate,” she said. “Can’t you give me any more information about whatever this is?”
“Believe me, I tried to get more details out of Agnes, but she spent most of our conversation going over stock market details,” he explained. “Then she asked about how you were settling in to your new position, which led to her asking about Gary and the court hearing.”
“That’s it?” Heather demanded.
Simon crossed the room to stand behind her and slide his strong arms around her waist. She was wearing nothing but her underwear, while he was fully clothed. Something about that exited her. Made her shiver against his hard body. It would be so easy to melt into his arms right now and forget about everything. Forget about Gary, forget about the disastrous court hearing, forget about whatever was going on at work.
“That’s it,” he breathed into her ear, his warm breath caressing her.
She tilted her head back to look up at him and plant a quick kiss on his lips. “We’re going to be late.”
“I showed up here early, remember? You’re the one taking forever to get dressed,” he chided.
“Do you have a problem with how long I’m taking to get dressed?” she asked, turning around to face him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her lips to his again. The kiss was slow, almost lazy as he took his time prying her lips open with his tongue. As he slid his tongue over hers her entire body quivered, desperate for more.
When he pulled back to look at her, disappointment replaced her arousal. “I definitely don’t have a problem with it, trust me. But if we don’t leave within the next five minutes we’re going to be late. And I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep a board member waiting.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea to keep me waiting?” she asked.
His huge hands splayed across the small of her back and he pressed his forehead to hers, groaning in response. “You have no idea how difficult it is for me to say no to you. But what kind of boss would I be if I let you get in trouble with the board?”
She bit her lip and slipped out of his embrace. “Good point. I guess I’m just nervous about today. It’s weird to be invited to a board member’s house like this, right?”
“It doesn’t happen often, but Agnes has basically taken over from Everett. His arrest blindsided her and she’s had to adjust pretty fast,” he reminded her. “She has to solidify her new position and she’s probably making as many alliances as she can.”
“But I’m not important enough for her to need an alliance with me,” Heather said.
“You’re important to me,” he said. “Which means you’re important. And I suspect that Agnes knows this.” He paused. “Look, I know you’re worried, but I’ll be there with you. Agnes has a lot of power, but I’m the CEO. Even if Gary might have gotten to her somehow, I’m in charge—and believe me, Agnes knows that.”
His words calmed her down somewhat, and after finally settling on an elegantly casual skirt and blouse she got into Simon’s car.
They pulled up to Agnes’ house and Simon helped her out of the car. The house was a gorgeous two-story surrounded by well-tended trees and shrubbery. Agnes opened the door to greet them and led them to the tastefully decorated living room that was decorated out in cream, beige, and gold tones.
Agnes motioned for them to sit on the large sofa, while she reached for the teapot on the coffee table and started pouring the tea into three cups.
“My husband sends his regards, but he can’t be here with us this afternoon,” Agnes said, taking her seat in an empty armchair. “He was friends with Everett, and is just beside himself with guilt. I think many of us are still grappling with the fact that we couldn’t see Everett for what he really was. He fooled us all so well.”
“How are things going for Everett?” Simon asked.
“Oh, he’s been trying all sorts of schemes to get out of jail,” Agnes replied before taking a sip of her tea. “First he tried to get out of jail and into a house arrest-type situation. Since that hasn’t worked, he seems to be co-operating with the police. For now, anyway.”
“Do you think he’ll take a plea deal?” he asked. “That might reduce his sentence.”
“It might,” Agnes said. “We’ve got to look to the future now, no matter what happens. Which is why I invited you both here.”
“Thank you for inviting us.” Heather shifted in her seat awkwardly, still unsure of herself. Simon was wealthy, but it had always been easy to be around him. He was down-to-earth, and his wealth hadn’t changed him all that much over years. Agnes, on the other hand, seemed like the type of wealthy person who inadvertently made guests uncomfortable simply with her brusque manner.
“Thank you for coming,” Agnes replied. “I invited you here because, as you might have guessed, I will be taking over Everett’s position.”
“Oh, I see,” Heather murmured though, truth be told, she still didn’t quite see at all.
“I’m trying to get to know the staff at Dover,” Agnes said. “Reintroduce myself, now that I’ll be steering the board.”
Heather bit her lip. “Do you often invite assistants to your home?”
Agnes exchanged a glance with Simon. “Watch out for this one. She seems naïve but she’s a quick study, isn’t she?” Agnes gave Heather a tiny smile and set her teacup down. “You’re right, Ms. Hall, it is unusual for me to reintroduce myself to the administrative side of the staff in this way, but I see a bright future ahead of you. After all, you managed to beat Everett at his own schemes and you hung on to your job. I want to get to know the woman who pulled that off.”
Heather didn’t know what to do with the unexpected praise. Mostly because she suspected that Agnes had ulterior motives. There was no way they had been summoned all this way just for Agnes to give her a pat on the back. “Is that the only reason we’re here? Because Simon said you brought up my ex-husband in your conversation yesterday.”
Agnes grimaced and cleared her throat. “I brought up your ex-husband because I’m worried that he might be difficult to control. I got a call from his lawyer yesterday.”
“What was the call about?” Heather’s stomach tightened in apprehension.
“His lawyer was trying to convince me to speak against you at your next court hearing.” Agnes started fidgeting in her chair. “He wants me to be a witness for your ex-husband. The lawyer practically begged me to speak against you in court.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me that over the phone?” Simon asked.
“Because I had to go over it with my lawyer first,” Agnes said. “So far, it doesn’t look like I have to legally testify, but I was so disturbed by it that I had to discuss things further with my own lawyer before speaking to you today.”
“Do you think Gary’s lawyer reached out to other people at Dover?” Simon asked.
“That’s what I was going to ask,” Heather said. “Should I be worried?”
Agnes sighed. “I haven’t heard anything like that, but it is a possibility. The staff at Dover still hasn’t quite come around to you, Heather.”
She sighed heavily, her entire body tightening with tension. After her affair with Simon made headlines in the local press, the staff at Dover started pulling away from her. They weren’t cruel or anything of the sort, but she had definitely felt their cold stares and seen them whispering to each other when she entered a room. If Gary’s lawyer reached out to some of the staff, there was a chance they might have already gotten witnesses to speak out against her.
“I can’t prevent people from talking to Gary or his lawyer,” she said.
Simon reached for her hand, squee
zing it gently. “There’s got to be something we can do.”
“There is,” Agnes said. “If Ms. Hall does her job as well as I think she will, that would do a lot to quell any remaining doubts. The staff has always been fair, and I think they’ll respond favorably to Heather’s professionalism.”
“What do you mean if?” Simon asked. “It’s obvious that Heather is a good employee.”
“I’m glad you know that, Simon, but why haven’t you spoken to the press yet?” Agnes fired back. “I seem to remember telling you how the board felt about your hostile relationship with the media.”
Simon scowled in response. “That isn’t Heather’s fault—”
“Which means it’s your fault,” Agnes said, cutting him off sharply. “We gave Ms. Hall this new position because she has a lot of media savvy. Ms. Hall, why hasn’t he reached out to the media yet?”
Heather crossed her arms, hesitant to throw him under the bus. “Well, Simon has been...”
“Difficult? Hardheaded? Obstinate?” Agnes asked frostily. “Yes, I’m well aware. That’s why you were given the job. You seem to be the only person who can get to him, and I suggest you work whatever magic you have. The board is counting on both of you to repair the company’s image in the wake of Everett’s arrest. I know you don’t like the media, Simon, but we were badly damaged by the arrest. Everyone has to pull their weight, including you.”
“Are you done?” Simon muttered.
“I haven’t even started,” Agnes said. “As far as I can tell, this is a mutually beneficial arrangement. Simon, if you repair your image with the media you’ll be protecting Dover, and the goodwill might extend to the staff. The staff that Ms. Hall needs to keep quiet if she has any hope of defeating her ex-husband. I might have told her ex-husband to take a hike, but there’s enough resentment at Dover for me to worry that someone might speak out against Ms. Hall in a courtroom.”
Simon didn’t respond. Instead he crossed his arms to glare at Agnes.
Everyone knew how much he despised the media, so clearly he must have felt like Agnes had just ambushed them.
