He looked at me long and hard and then he asked, “What is it?”
“It is a baby, Jason. It is a child. It is a little boy and I’m his mother and I love him. I’m tired and I don’t want to do this lawsuit any longer. I don’t want to fight any more for things that I don’t even really want or need.”
He sighed like he was growing weary of indulging me and then he said, “You don’t want or need millions of dollars? Wow, you’re a bigger person than most of us,” he said, sarcastically. I didn’t care for his tone and again, it made me angrier. “Listen to me, Vicki. I am thinking of you and the baby even if you don’t believe me. How are you going to support it?”
“Him Jason! Him! Stop calling my baby an it!”
“Okay,” he said with his palms up. “Jeez, calm down. You’re missing the point…”
“No, I get it, I do. You are worried I might ask you to support “it” if I don’t have millions that I won in some stupid lawsuit that I don’t want to be a part of. I get it.”
“I wasn’t worried about you asking me to support… him, Vic. But you and he deserve more than to just be ignored by the man who started all of this, don’t you think? Especially when a few hundred thousand a month wouldn’t even faze the man”
“You know what, Jason? I do believe that he and I deserve more. I just don’t believe that a lawsuit is the way to get what we deserve. I also believe that in time, Alex will come around and understand that I was never trying to trap him.”
“You’re going to drop this suit, aren’t you?” He wasn’t annoyed any longer. He was pissed. It suddenly set in that he didn’t care if I got any money or not. It was about what he might get out of all of this. The slime ball.
“Yes, I think I am,” I told him. I wanted to smile. He looked deflated and then the anger kicked back in.
He stood up and put his large frame in front of me. It was an imposing stance and I actually think it was meant to intimidate. All it did was make me angrier. Who did he think he was trying to push me into continuing a lawsuit I wanted no part of? A lawsuit that he had pushed me into in the first place for his own personal gain while he tried to act like he was being supportive of me.
“You’re a fool,” he yelled at me. “How many times in your life will you be handed this kind of opportunity?”
I actually laughed when he said that. He’s right. I have been a fool, but what made me one had been trusting him, not dropping this lawsuit. “You call this an opportunity as if it’s a job or winning the lottery. It’s taking money away from a man who worked for it. I don’t need millions to raise my baby. All I need is a good job, desire and love. I’ve got all of that.”
“I can’t believe what an idiot you are and I can’t believe that I’ve wasted all of this time on you.”
In spite of the fact that I realized he was the one in the wrong here and what he thought of me really didn’t matter, the realization that he was only with me because of what he thought he would gain in the end, hurt. “I agree with you. Again, I’m a fool and maybe an idiot as well for trusting you. I’m finished with that. I’m dropping this lawsuit.”
“Good luck supporting yourself and that brat you’re carrying!”
I smiled at him. “Thanks. I’ll do fine and we’ll be fine. I’ll have my things out of here tomorrow and I’ll leave the key,” I said, taking my purse and heading for the door.
“Good riddance!” he yelled, as I went out and closed the door behind me. Good riddance is right. Good riddance to fake relationships and silly lawsuits. Hello to my new life. I rubbed my swollen belly. Our new life.
VICTORIA
I knocked on Liz’s door for the second time that day. When she pulled open the door and saw my face she hugged me and then she invited me in. “Is it okay if I sleep on your couch tonight? I have to figure some things out tomorrow about money but then I’ll rent a hotel room.”
“No, you will not. You’ll stay here like I told you earlier. I’ll clean that room out tomorrow and we’ll set up the day bed. You can sleep on the couch tonight.”
“But what about Gloria?”
“She’s not going to mind,” she said, “And as much as I like her if she did, I’d still pick you. You’re my best friend.”
I had tears in my eyes as I said, “I’m not sure how long it will take me to get back on my feet.”
“But you will. You’re going to have your baby and finish school and become a P.A. who makes a lot of money and makes everyone feel better. Until then, if a best friend can’t help you, who can?”
“I’m not sure what I did to deserve you in my life. Thank you so much. I will pay you back for all of this.”
“Friendship is not about keeping score or keeping a tally sheet.”
I knew she meant that. I might be striking out big time in the boyfriend department, but I did hit the lottery when it came to friends. I hugged her tight and said, “If I didn’t have you, I don’t think I’d have gotten through any of this.”
“You won’t ever have to worry about it,” she said. “I’ll make some decaf tea and you can tell me what’s going on.”
She made the tea and we took it out on the terrace. The rain had stopped and the sky was clearer now and the stars were able to take their stage. Once we sat down she said, “What did Jason do?”
I laughed. Taking a breath in and letting it out slowly I said, “It’s a little more than that, I guess. For one thing, I’m dropping the lawsuit. I talked to Alex today.”
“You did?” she said, excitedly. It was what she’d been telling me to do from day one. She didn’t know Alex and she was angry at what he was doing, but she could see that I genuinely cared for him.
“Yeah. I ran into him on the pier.” I told her about our conversation.
“You know you have feelings for him, right?”
With a smile I said, “Yes, I figured that out. But thanks.”
“Well,” she said. “Sometimes you’re a little hard headed. He must be a good guy if you feel so strongly about him.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But look at Jason. My track record is not so good.”
“You never really thought you loved that guy, did you?”
I shrugged. “I suppose not love… but feelings nonetheless.”
“Oh well, we’re all entitled a mistake or three,” she grinned. “We live and learn, honey. All of us. I personally think that you’re doing the right thing. Even if nothing ever happens with Alex, I believe what I said earlier, you’re strong enough to do this on your own and I’ll help you in any way I can. Jason is an opportunistic creep and you’ll be much better off without him.”
I nodded. She was right about Jason. I didn’t doubt that. I did hope that she was right about me being strong. Sometimes I felt it and sometimes I felt like I was just faking my way through it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ALEXANDER
I was sitting at my desk, trying to get some real work done. The problem was I couldn’t stop thinking about Vicki. “Mr. Reigns, Mr. Bronte is on line one,” my assistant told me. Bronte is the lead attorney on the civil case against Victoria. I had left a message for him this morning, telling him I wanted to drop the suit. Maybe after I talked to him, my frame of mind would be better.
“Herb! Thanks for getting back to me.”
“Alex, I got your message about dropping the lawsuit. I have some concerns…”
“Listen Herb, there’s no need to argue with me. My mind is made up. I want to drop this suit. It’s ridiculous and should not have ever been started in the first place. I let other people do my thinking for me. I don’t want to do that any longer.”
“Well, as much as I disagree with you and fear for your assets in this case, I won’t argue with you. You’re the boss. I also received word from Miss Hart’s attorney this morning. She’s dropped her suit as well.”
“Really? Did he say why?” I wondered if it had to do with our talk. That was what drove me to it. Not so much her words, but the feelings s
he expressed to me in her eyes. She didn’t want this or anything material of mine. That much I firmly believed.
“Pretty much the same silly reasons that you’re giving me. She told him it never should have been filed in the first place and that she didn’t want a dime. Maybe we could still get her to sign an agreement that states she doesn’t want anything and doesn’t feel entitled to anything and won’t sue in the future for anything…” I hung up on him. I didn’t want to hear her called a gold-digger anymore, even if it was in a roundabout way. For some reason, the news that Victoria had dropped her suit made me feel ecstatic, like the stressors of the past several months had suddenly been lifted. It’s not about the money; it’s about the fact that it proves I was right about her. I knew that she wasn’t a gold-digger and I suspected she had feelings for me. I think this proved both of those things. Where to go from here was still a question I’d have to give a lot of thought to but at least I had a starting point.
I dialed the staff number for my home and waited for Karen to pick up. “Reigns’ residence, Karen speaking. How can I help you?”
“Hi Karen, it’s Alexander.” I’d known Karen my whole life. I felt comfortable with her knowing my personal business. She never shared it. She was one of the most loyal and faithful people I’d ever known.
“Well hello Mr. Reigns, what can I do for you?”
“I need you to get in touch with Victoria Hart and offer her job back.”
“Excuse me sir? Isn’t there a restraining order or something like that in place?” I knew that Karen liked Vicki and all of this had been hard on her as well.
“Yes, there is Karen, it was all a mistake. Please notify the other staff of that before Vicki gets back. I don’t want this to be unnecessarily hard on her. She’s pregnant, so I’m sure there will be some other restrictions, but I trust you to handle all of that. When you talk to her, tell her that if she’d like to come back, she can start the first of July. That will give me a few weeks to take care of the legal nonsense.”
“Yes sir.” She sounded pleased.
“Karen, be nice to her please. She’s been through a lot.”
“I like Victoria sir. I was very sad to see her go. I’ll be kind; you can be assured of it.”
“Thank you.” After I hung up with Karen, I called back the attorneys and we worked out what steps I would need to take to get rid of the legal restrictions on her being at the mansion. They would actually have to take the steps; I would just need to sign the paperwork. I told them to get on it at once and I wanted something on my desk by tomorrow. Then I made the second to last call on my list, to my wife.
“Alex,” Cassandra answered. She sounded like I was interrupting her.
“Are you busy?”
“In the middle of my massage,” she said. I wondered why she needed a massage every week when she never really did anything. “Why are you calling in the middle of the day? Is there a problem?” She could be such a witch.
“No, Cassie. I just wanted to tell you that I’ve re-hired Victoria Hart as the upstairs maid. She’ll be starting back on the first of July.” I didn’t have confirmation that she would say yes… but I was hoping and trying to stay confident.
“The blonde?” she said.
“Yes.”
“Why was she let go again?”
“There was a misunderstanding,” I said. I was hoping she’d leave it at that for now. I had yet to tell her that Vicki was carrying my child. I hadn’t wanted to let her get involved in the lawsuit. She would have been ruthless. Now that it would be dropped, I would tell her about it in good time. At least before the baby came. I fully intended at this point to be a part of my son’s life. “It’s been cleared up and we have had temps in and out of the house. I don’t like that. I prefer a stable crew.”
“Makes sense,” she said. “The one we have now is terrible anyways. I told Karen to tell the agency not to send her back. She made the bed with no top sheet yesterday!” I rolled my eyes.
“Good then, it’s settled. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Looking forward to it,” she said. She didn’t sound like she really was, but she said things like that so if I accused her of not being affectionate, she could throw it back in my face.
“Okay then, have a good day, Cassie.” I hung up with a smile on my face that my wife had nothing to do with. I was going to get to see Vicki again every day. I hoped.
Lastly, I called the payroll department.
“Payroll, this is Lydia.”
“Lydia, this is Mr. Reigns.” Lydia is another loyal employee that had been with me from the beginning.
“Good morning sir.”
“Good morning, Lydia. I need you to do something for me and I need it done quickly.”
“Okay sir.”
“Will you please figure up how many hours Miss Hart who was let go from my house staff in March, has missed if she worked full time from the day she was let go until the end of June?”
“Of course sir.”
“Wait, there’s more. After you do that, cut her a check for those hours and have it sent to her address by courier. I’d like it done today, and the sooner, the better.”
“Okay sir, I’m on it.”
I hung up with her feeling satisfied that I was at least taking steps to rectify the damage I had allowed to be done to Vicki’s life. I didn’t take precautions when we had sex… I was more responsible for this than she was. I was in a place of power and some might say I abused it. I had no intentions of doing that, but I had done it nonetheless. All I wanted now was to fix it.
VICTORIA
I had to spend an hour at my attorney’s office signing forms to drop the lawsuits. They were not happy with me. They kept repeating the same things to me about how he could blackball me in the community and how I might not be able to get another job. They said I could sue him for harassment. I had the proof in my belly. I didn’t want to hear any of it. I knew money was what they were most concerned about and it was theirs, not mine. I still owed them close to a thousand dollars. They hadn’t been all that worried about it because they assumed they would get their money from the billionaire when this was all over and done with. I apologized profusely, but the bottom line was that they couldn’t proceed without me. I assured them that as soon as I got a job, they would be first on my list of creditors to pay. They didn’t seem impressed with that, but it was the best that I could do.
I went by Jason’s apartment after that. He was at work, but I had text to ask him if I could pick up my things. He was curt, but he said that I could. I only really had clothes there. I had left my things in storage when I moved in with him. I could get them out now and the storage bill would be one less payment I had to worry about. God bless Liz.
I got back home around noon with my two suitcases and overnight bag. My dear Liz had the craft room all cleaned out already before she left for work at ten a.m. She’s amazing. I was about to call and find out how much it would cost to have a moving service pick up my things in storage and deliver them with no idea how I’d pay it no matter what it cost when the doorbell rang. I went to answer it and a young man in a blue polo shirt that said, “Anderson Couriers” on it was standing there with an envelope in his hand.
“Can I help you?”
“Hi, are you Victoria Hart?”
“Yes I am.”
“I have a delivery for you.” I suddenly felt sick to my stomach remembering the service of the court papers that day from Alex’s attorneys. I told myself if these were more of that, they wouldn’t have come by courier.
“What is it?” I asked him.
“Just an envelope,” he said. He held up an envelope that looked like the one my paychecks used to come in. Exactly like it. It was even marked with the Reigns logo and it said, “Payroll Department” in the corner. “Can you sign here for it?” he asked me, holding out a clipboard. I didn’t want to. It was either a mistake or a cruel joke. I was paid up to the day I was fired and even paid for my sick
leave and vacation time. What could this be? “Miss?” The guy was looking at me strangely. I must have zoned out for a second.
Finally, telling myself to stop being a coward I took the clipboard and signed my name. He handed me the envelope and I thanked him and went back inside. I stared at it for a long time. If it had been a snake, it would have bitten me several times before I finally turned it over and began to rip it open. My phone began ringing at the same time. I almost ignored it, but I worried that the lawyers may need something else from me. I went over and picked it up. I felt like I was caught in an alternate universe. The number on the phone was Karen’s office number at the mansion.
Maid To The Billionaire: The Tycoon's Baby (Contemporary Romance Novel) Page 9
