“Mike,” I say when I answer.
“Archer,” I can hear the tone of his voice, which tells me that he has something major to tell me. That usual jovial tone is gone. “We have hit on something major here.”
“And?”
“You should probably come to my office—now.”
I feel my muscles tense. “Just tell me Mike.”
“No,” he says firmly. “Just cancel everything and head this way.”
I pause only for a second. “I’ll be there in twenty.”
I hang up the phone and stare at it, feeling my unease set in. I had his people looking into that ridiculous sex video. What the hell could be so major that he’s calling me away from my own office, insisting that I meet him on his territory instead?
Whatever it is, it can’t be good news.
“So what’s this all about?” I ask, making sure he notes the irritated tone of my voice.
If he has noticed, he sure as hell isn’t reacting to it.
Neither are the two other men in the office with him, neither of whom I recognize. If it wasn’t for the casual, but definitely high-grade, clothing, I’d swear they were both FBI agents.
“Archer, this is Raymond and Anthony. We had to bring them in, considering their expertise in certain areas. They are…well, maybe I’ll just let them introduce themselves.”
The one closest to Mike, nods at him, then turns to me with a grim expression. “Good afternoon, Mr. Bennett. As Mr. Plumbar mentioned, we are specialists.”
He gives me a direct look before continuing. “Mostly we deal with corporate espionage.”
That has me sitting up so rigidly that I can practically feel my spine snap. “What the hell—?”
“Just let them finish, Archer,” Mike scolds.
“This is why we had your attorney ask you to come to this office instead of meeting you in yours. One can’t be too safe, and based on what we’ve learned, caution here is important.”
The man continues, “Through various means, we were able to trace the video’s origin back to Glory Michaels.”
That doesn’t surprise me. Eventually, I’m sure I would have come to that conclusion as well. “It seems I need a new head of IT.”
The two men look at each other, then at Mike. My attorney shifts in his seat. “Well…as I said, Archer. These men are specialists.”
That’s when it hits me, their methods may not have been one hundred percent legal. I don’t care.
“So it was this girl who he cheated on with. Why would she send it to me?”
“Well, that’s where things got interesting. We obviously did some digging on her and discovered that she just happens to be the niece of one Larry Michaels, who I believe is—”
“One of my own Vice Presidents,” I finish for him, feeling the rage roll through me.
They both nod in confirmation.
“From there we did some serious digging, obviously shifting our focus to him as he seemed to be a higher priority from that point on. For the most part both of them covered their tracks, but all it took was one little slip up to lead us down the right path. Since your brother’s disappearance Larry has been sloppy. We noted several calls to an executive at Excelsior, calls from his personal cell phone to that individual’s personal cell phone, which indicates something more than a strictly professional conversation.”
“We don’t know what was said during those calls. However, we determined that this information, combined with substantial amounts deposited into his bank account, along with one substantial amount withdrawn, then immediately deposited in Glory Michaels’ bank account, were certainly enough to warrant a meeting with you.”
I’m still letting everything sink in. Questions run through my head faster than I can process them.
Larry Michaels? The employee I trusted the most?
Did Kevin know? Is that why he was on that plane?
How the heck does Glory Michaels fit into all of this and why would she send the video to me and my mother?
Then there is most daunting one of all: How the hell am I going to tell Simone?
Chapter Forty-Four
3 Beekman Place.
I’m standing outside Simone’s apartment building in time for dinner as usual. Tonight I just stare at the intercom button wondering how she’ll react to everything I’m about to tell her.
Why does it always seem like just when I’m two steps forward with her, there’s something to push me one step back? But this news is going to be a hell of a lot bigger than one step; this might just push her over the edge.
I suck it the hell up and push my thumb into the button.
“Hey,” she says almost instantly. I can hear the warmth in her voice that has been gradually built up over this week of dinners and bath times and bedtime stories.
Before I can say a word she goes on. “Hold on, we’re coming down.”
“No! Simone—”
She’s already signed off, probably heading out the door with Stuart. I can’t let him be a party to this, it’ll be bad enough telling her.
I feel my body tense as the seconds go by, feeling like hours as I wait for them to approach the front door.
She looks gorgeous as ever in a white sundress and light blue sweater, perfect for a spring evening out. Stuart seems especially happy, greeting me proudly with his newly gapped-tooth smile.
“Someone was getting sick of eating veggies,” she says, smiling down at Stuart. “So we thought we’d—”
She finally takes note of my expression. “What is it?”
“Can we talk?”
I immediately see the guarded look come over her face. “What? Tell me.”
I glance down at Stuart, who is no longer smiling as he looks back and forth between the two of us.
“I need to talk to you…alone.”
She stares at me for a moment, trying to read my face, then breathes out. Her hand goes through Stuart’s hair and she plants a smile on her face when she looks down at him.
“Stuart, sweetie. Do you want to spend a little time with Beau while your Uncle Archer and I talk?”
His face crumbles and it kills me as much as what I have to say to Simone.
“No,” he mutters, hugging himself.
“It’ll only be for a while,” she says.
“No,” he says, pushing his bottom lip out. “You and Uncle Archer are going to be mad at each other again.”
I frown and immediately squat down to look him in the face. “Stuart.”
He won’t look at me, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground.
“Stuart, look at me,” I say, softly but firmly.
He grudgingly rolls his eyes up to meet me.
“Your Aunt Simone and I aren’t mad at each other. We’re not going to fight, and when I’m done talking with her, we’ll go out anywhere you want. All of us. Okay?”
He looks at me for a moment as though trying to determine whether or not I’m lying. I put on a good show just for him. I honestly have no idea how Simone will react.
I have a feeling that the last thing she’ll want to do is eat when we’re done talking.
“Okay,” he mumbles.
I give him a quick smile then stand back up to follow Simone back inside.
“So what is it?” she asks as soon as the door is closed in her apartment.
I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’ve thought of every way of sugar coating this or easing into it. But I’m done lying to her. No more half truths. No more secrets. No more holding back. She deserves everything.
“It’s about the video that was sent to me. We’ve figured out who sent it.”
She’s frozen for a moment, staring at me, then breathes out a relieved laugh, relaxing her body against the door.
“Is that what all this is about?” she says, smiling at me as though I was being ridiculous. “You had me scared for a moment. I mean, I get not wanting Stuart to hear about it, but did you have to be so dramatic?”
I do
n’t say anything, letting her realize from my expression that there’s far more to it than that.
“What?” she asks when she finally looks at me again.
“I think we should sit down.” I head over to the couch before she can press me any further.
Once we’re settled she gives me a hard look. “Enough stalling, Archer. What’s going on here?”
I get straight to the point. “It was sent by Glory Michaels.”
I give her a chance to process that before I drop the bomb.
Her jaw hardens in anger. “That bitch! I should have figured.” She pops up off the couch and paces across the floor. “She steals my boyfriend and then—”
She stops suddenly and turns to look at me. “Wait, why would she send it to you and Miranda? How does she even know you two?”
“Sit down,” I say, gesturing to the couch.
The tone in my voice has her seated once again, looking at me with trepidation.
“She also happens to be the niece of one of my employees, Larry Michaels.”
Now she just looks confused. “I don’t understand. What does he have to do with anything?”
This is where it gets tricky. I sigh before I continue.
“It’s a long story, but the long and short of it is, a while back another financial services firm made an offer to partner with Bennett Financial.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” she asks, her voice getting frantic.
“Simone please,” I say softly. “This whole mess…it’s complex and messy and…well, you need to know the entire backstory in order to understand how it all fits together. You deserve to know everything.”
She stares at me as though she wants to shake the simple truth out of me, but eventually settles back on the couch, eyeing me warily as she waits for the truth to come out.
“Excelsior. They were the firm that made the offer, but Kevin and I always knew that Bennett Financial would be a family run firm. Period. I thought that was the end of it, but…it wasn’t.
“Instead, they tried to sabotage us, by lowering the value of our company. That’s where Larry came in to play. That’s another complicated story and not important, but suffice it to say, it seems he helped expose us to some problematic investments that would have seriously undermined the firm’s reputation, making us ripe for the picking. If all had gone according to plan, we would have been begging Excelsior to buy in with us—at a much lower price.”
I pause before continuing. Up to this point, everything I’ve said has probably gone right over her head as irrelevant information.
This next bit is going to sting.
“I think Kevin found out what was going on,” I look her in the eye. “He somehow knew it was an inside job and didn’t trust email, phones or anything else that could be tapped. That’s why he was on that plane, to come and talk to me in person.”
I don’t have to add the rest. It’s also why Bette was on that plane.
Her reaction is immediate.
She breathes out a long, heavy sigh that almost sounds like a sob. “Wh-what?” she sighs, her face crinkling into a look of disbelief.
“I’m so sorry, Simone.”
Her hand comes to her mouth, but I can see the tears come to her eyes. She mutters something behind her hand and that, combined with the crying makes it completely unintelligible.
My brow wrinkles in confusion and she pulls her hand away.
“It’s my fault,” she sobs.
“No!” I say with alarm. “Bette wouldn’t have been on that plane if—”
“No, no, no,” she repeats, furiously shaking her head. “I just got news that a company was thinking about signing a contract to create my own clothing line and she was coming out to celebrate with me. That’s the reason she was joining him on that flight. We had it all planned from the moment she knew Kevin was flying out here. Her death…It’s all my fault.”
She pulls her knees up to her chin and buries her face into them, crying harder now.
I immediately reach out to wrap my arms around her. Her body is so limp that she falls right into my chest. I rest my chin on her head and squeeze tight.
“Shhh. It’s not your fault.”
As I say it, I finally come to terms with the fact that it isn’t my fault either. The guilt I felt eating me up from the moment I learned the truth in Mike’s office finally begins to disappear.
“There are people who are at fault and trust me, they are going to pay and pay dearly.” I feel my jaw harden as I stare at the wall, rocking Simone in my arms as she continues to cry. “Trust me.”
We sit like this, letting our mutual loss comfort one another and ease our guilt.
Eventually, Simone pulls away, wiping the wetness from her eyes. “Thank you for telling me, Archer.”
“Of course I would,” I say, then take her chin in my hands. “I’ll never keep the truth from you again, Simone.”
She gives me a weak smile, then her eyes dart to the side with some sudden thought. “You’re right, we can’t tell Stuart. He won’t understand. When he’s old enough to appreciate it, then we can let him know the truth.”
I nod in agreement.
She reaches out a hand to touch my face. “But we have to be there for him—together. We’re all he has right now. He deserves that after all he’s been through. Frankly, we all need each other. I think it’s time for us to move back in with you.”
My heart seizes. This is the last way I wanted the two of them to come back into my life, but somehow it makes sense. It kills me that it took Kevin and Bette dying to actually get my head out of my ass and give a damn about my family.
I look at her sitting here on my lap and other urges take over. She doesn’t resist when my lips crush against hers. Then I feel the same pent up need she’s been holding on to release as her body presses into mine, causing my dick to stand up and take notice. She moans against me, pressing harder.
“I don’t have…,” I mutter against her lips.
I feel the smile against my lips as she reads my mind. “I’m on the pill.”
I’ve never—ever—trusted a woman who uttered those words. Simone will be the first one to ever feel me without that oh so important latex barrier that has always seemed like a deal breaker before. Now it just feels right.
The next few moments are fierce and urgent. Simone straddling me. Me flipping her so she’s lying back on the couch. Her reaching underneath her skirt and tearing her underwear down her legs. Me quickly unbuttoning and unzipping my pants.
I’ve barely pulled my dick out before I’m on her once again, thrusting hard.
“Yes!” she screams, her fingers clawing into my back.
She’s so warm and wet and….perfect.
Her legs go around my waist and her hips buck up to meet me half way, encouraging me deeper and deeper.
“God, you feel so damn good,” I groan.
All she can do is mewl in response, holding on tighter.
“Oh God!” she cries out. I feel her fingernails dig into my hard shoulder as the first orgasm hits her.
“I’m right here, Simone,” I growl, feeling my own excitement building. “I’m not going fucking anywhere.”
Another orgasm begins to come over her. It’s enough to rock my body to the brink. I open my eyes and watch her face, wanting to capture every part of our simultaneous climax. She holds my gaze, her brow wrinkling as the building wave hits her.
“Archer.” My name is all she says before I empty myself himself inside of her.
I fall against her, recovering with heavy breaths. After a few moments, enjoying the feel of still being inside her warmth, I reluctantly slide out.
“Wow,” Simone says, chuckling nervously as she pulls herself off the couch. “I um…I have to…”
I watch her run toward the bathroom in confusion. Then I think about what we’ve just done and smile to myself. The thought of my seed inside her, dribbling down her thighs is almost enough to get me hard aga
in.
One day that act is going to mean something, something special, something life changing. I’m so certain of it, it practically rocks me to my core. The morbidly funny part is, I can almost feel Kevin giving me that easy-going smile as if this is exactly how he expected it to play out. God how I miss him.
Simone comes back out with an embarrassed look on her face. “We should probably go get Stuart before he thinks we’re fighting again.”
I nod, standing up and redoing my pants. I walk over and put my arms around her smiling as I take in her face.
“God you’re so beautiful.”
She smiles up at me, then reaches on her toes to give me a quick kiss.
As we walk toward the door, my arm around her shoulders, she stops suddenly and looks up at me.
“Wait a second,” she says. “I still don’t understand what Glory has to do with all of this? I get why Kevin and Bette were flying out here, but why would she send the video to you and your mother?”
My jaw hardens. That was the one thing Mike’s guys couldn’t figure out. Yes, the video had come from her. But why?
“That’s something I’m going to find out very soon, Simone.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Mike is in my office when Larry finally walks in. He claimed it was so that there would be a witness to any statements against interest that are made. We both know it’s so that I don’t do something that might land me in jail.
As far as I’m concerned, Larry should already be in handcuffs on his way to prison. But there’s the fickle lack of evidence, legally obtained evidence, tying him to everything.
Larry has no idea why I’ve called him up. Either it’s the air in the room or the fact that, for the first time in a long time, I’m unable to maintain a poker face, but I watch his guard go up as soon as he steps foot in the office.
“Archer,” he says, slowly looking back and forth between Mike and me as he takes a seat.
I take a breath before responding, then exhale as I stare hard at him. “You know, I keep asking myself, what was it? Did I not pay him enough? Did I somehow mistreat him? For the life of me, I can’t figure out what it is.”
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