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He’d never gone that far in his thinking about a woman. With Lucy, the thoughts were starting to come pretty easy. And frequently.
He dragged his fingers through his hair and shook his head. God, he really was pathetic, wasn’t he? But hey, he was happy. Nothing wrong with that.
He straightened when Bob pulled open the door and stepped inside, a grim expression on his face.
“You aren’t going to like this,” Bob said, filling the trailer doorway with his bulky form.
“What am I not going to like?”
Bob tossed a stack of papers on Jake’s desk. “Our permits have been pulled. The project is halted as of right now.”
Jake’s heart slammed against his ribs. “What?”
“OSHA is demanding an immediate inspection, claiming anonymous complaints about potentially dangerous safety hazards. The architect’s plans are being called into
question—something about measurements being off spec, and our building materials
have somehow suddenly come up subpar and will need to be reinspected.” Jake stood and snatched the papers off his desk, scanning them all one by one.
Safety, engineering and materials. All at one time. His gaze shot to Bob’s. “This stinks of
sabotage.”
“No shit.”
“But who? There’s plenty of work to go around. Every single contractor in the city is
scrambling to find enough workers to fill their jobs. It’s not like any one of our competitors would want to shut us down. People in our business just don’t do that.”
Bob pulled off his hat and scratched his head. “Beats me. It’s not like the folks in our
business resort to this level. I’ve never seen anything like it. You’d have to know people
in all the right places to do a shutdown of this magnitude.” People in all the right places. Jake didn’t make enemies in his business. He was a fair
contractor who always handled his business above board. He treated his employees fairly
and always brought in his jobs on time and on budget. He got along well with the other
contractors, too. So who would want to ruin him, to shut his business down, to make him
look like a fool?
There was only one person he could think of who hated him enough, and who had the power and muscle to do all that had been done to him.
Raymond Fairchild.
“I’ll be back.” He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.
“Where are you going?” Bob asked.
“To put an end to this.”
“You know who’s behind this?”
He slipped his jacket on. “Oh yeah. I definitely know who’s behind this. I’ll have it fixed by this afternoon. Send the guys home with a full day’s pay. They’ll be back on the
jobsite by tomorrow morning.”
He threw open the door to the trailer and stormed down the steps. He could take the
truck over to the Fairchild law firm, but he figured he should walk, let the cool air calm
him down.
Because right now he didn’t want to talk to Raymond Fairchild.
He wanted to kill him. And if he killed the old man, he’d never get his business back
up and running again.
Lucy tried her best to concentrate on strategy with her father, when all she really wanted to do was blurt out that she was in love with Jake, and her father had better get
used to the idea of having Jake in her life because the two of them were going to be
together.
But over the past couple weeks things between Lucy and her father had been strangely…silent. Nice, almost. Her father had to know where she’d been spending her
nights, and he hadn’t complained, hadn’t tried to insinuate his opinion on the matter,
hadn’t said or done anything, as a matter of fact. Maybe he was finally resolved to the
situation. Lucy was calmed by the peace between them, so she was afraid to rock the
boat.
Yes, she was a coward. Besides, she really didn’t know what her situation was with
Jake. It was too new, too…private. They were enjoying their time together. It was blissful
and perfect and she wasn’t ready to share that with anyone. Not even if it meant telling
her father that from now on he’d have to butt out of her personal life.
Besides, she figured he’d probably already gotten the idea that her relationship with
Jake was off limits, so why beat a dead horse? If things continued on as they had been
between her and Jake, and maybe in the future, if they decided to move in together…
The idea gave her chills of excitement. Living with Jake. She’d really like that. A lot.
It was a step toward her future, a future that included Jake in her life. She couldn’t
imagine one without him now. The past couple weeks had been so incredible. Just being
with him calmed her and thrilled her at the same time.
She loved him so much her heart ached.
“Lucille. Are you paying attention?”
No, she hadn’t been. Not at all. She’d been thinking about Jake. The thought made
her smile. “Sorry, Father. What were you saying?”
“I said on the Macarthur versus Langton Industries case, I think we should bring in a
couple of the new associates. Let them get their feet wet.” She nodded. “Good idea. I suggest Keller and Chen. They’re both extremely bright and would handle the details well.”
“I’ll let you decide on that one. Now on Sanderson versus Idea Technologies—” The sound of shouting outside the boardroom interrupted her father. Lucy quirked a
brow. “What’s that?”
“I don’t know.” Her father stood and turned just as the door to the board room was
thrown open. Jake stalked in, his hands curled into fists, a murderous expression on his
face. He pointed to her father.
“You!”
Lucy stood and hurried to insinuate herself between Jake and her father. “Jake, what’s wrong?”
He spared her only a brief glance before skirting around her and heading toward her
father. “Get out of my way, Lucy. I need to have a conversation with your dad.” Lucy’s secretary, Maggie, and several of the employees craned their heads through
the doorway. Mortified, Lucy shooed them out and shut the door, whispering for them to
get back to work. It was embarrassing enough that they’d seen this much. She turned
back toward the room. “Jake, what’s going on?”
He whirled on her. “Your father is what’s going on. He pulled the permits on my project.”
“What?” Lucy turned to her father.
Her father held his hands in the air. “I have no idea what he’s talking about. You are
out of line, Mr. Dalton.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.” Jake advanced and her father backed up until he hit the wall. “You are the only one I know who has the muscle
to plant fake safety violations, faulty building materials and shoddy engineering specs.”
Could it be true? Her gaze shifted from Jake to her father. “Did you do this?” Her father went pale. “Of course not. I’d never—”
“Bullshit!” Jake slammed his fist against the wall right next to her father.
“Now see here.” Her father made a move toward Jake.
“No, you see here.” Jake’s voice was filled with fury as he grabbed a handful of her
father’s shirt and pushed him back against the wall. “Quit lying to cover your ass, Fairchild. I want my permits restored by the end of the day, and I want you to stop
interfering in my business. It’s bad enough you stick your nose into my personal life, but
if you try to ruin me I will lay you flat.”
Sweat poured down her
father’s face, and his paleness turned pure white.
Not good.
“Jake, stop. My father’s not well…”
Jake, still pinning her father with a forearm across his chest, shot her a glare. “And you’re even worse than he is, automatically taking his side. You’re so blind to your daddy’s every fault you can’t see him for what he really is—a lying, manipulative bastard
who’d do anything to keep you shackled to his side.”
“Lucille,” her father croaked, reaching for his chest.
Oh, no. Couldn’t Jake see what was happening? “Jake. Stop this now.” Lucy moved
toward them. “Father.”
“Oh, that’s just great,” Jake said. “I knew when it came down to it you’d take his side.”
Panic filled her as her father began to slump. “Jake, let him go. I mean it. He’s hurting.”
Jake pushed away from her father and, with disgust, turned around. “I don’t know why I even bothered.”
Lucy reached her father just as he fell to the floor.
“Lucille, please. The pain. Oh, God…it’s my…heart. It’s…really…my heart…this time. Get…help.”
He could barely speak as he sucked in great big gulps of air in between words. She heard the panic in his voice and it ratcheted up her own. Her father was breathing fast.
Too damn fast. Lucy dropped to the floor and grabbed her father’s wrist. His pulse was so
fast, so erratic. Oh, God.
“Maggie!” she screamed.
Her secretary flew through the door.
“Call 9-1-1 now!” she ordered.
Maggie’s stricken look said everything. She nodded and grabbed the phone.
Lucy cradled her father’s head in her lap, loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. It didn’t slow down his rapid breathing at all. “Relax, Father.
Take
slow, even breaths. We’ll have an ambulance here shortly.” She shot a look to Jake. “You. Get out of here. Now.” Jake looked down at her with a frown. “He’s faking it, Lucy.” Dear God, the man was certifiable. Anger mixed with panic, making her feel lightheaded and dizzy and nearly ready to lose it. She tried to keep her voice even, for her
father’s sake. “Get out or I’ll have security escort you out. My father is having a heart
attack, can’t you see? Even I would know if he was faking.” But Jake just stood there, looking down at her, then at her father. His frown changed
then.
“Lucy, I…I need you to understand what happened here.” She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer, even though she wanted to appear strong
for her father. “I mean it, Jake. I don’t want you around my father. Or me. Get out of
here.”
“Let me help.”
“Get out now!”
He turned and left the room without another word. Her heart broken, she sucked in a
shaky breath and turned back to her father, stroking his sweat soaked brow.
“The ambulance is out front and the paramedics are on their way up in the elevators,
Lucy,” Maggie said.
She nodded, focusing all her attention on her father. “It’s okay, Daddy.” She kept her
voice low and soothing. “I’m here. I’ll take care of you now.” Jake stood outside the entrance to the building and watched them cart Raymond Fairchild out on a stretcher. An IV tube was hooked up and an oxygen mask covered his
face. He saw EKG leads on his chest, and the concerned looks on the faces of the paramedics as they hurried him into the ambulance.
He also couldn’t miss the stricken look on Lucy’s face as she followed them out the
door.
Jake stepped back into the shadows, letting the gathering crowd swallow him up so
Lucy couldn’t see him.
What had he done? Had he let his anger send the old man into a heart attack?
Jake
didn’t like Fairchild, hated what he’d done to his company, but he’d never forgive himself for causing harm to the guy.
He walked back to the construction trailer and closed the door, laying his head in his
hands.
He wasn’t a violent man. But he’d completely lost it in the boardroom with Lucy’s father. He’d let his anger overrule his common sense. He could have gone about this a
completely different way, but instead he’d busted in and attacked a defenseless old man.
Now he’d have to answer for that.
And the look on Lucy’s face…
He’d lost her. And probably his company, too.
He couldn’t think about that right now.
First thing he had to do was pray that Raymond Fairchild survived the heart attack.
Chapter Twelve
Lucy sat at her father’s beside, holding his hand while he slept.
His hair was mussed. Her father was always impeccably groomed, and his hair was a
mess, sticking up everywhere. She reached up and smoothed it.
At least he had some color in his cheeks now. The doctor had no results yet, said they’d need to run more tests. But her father was resting, and that was good.
They didn’t
even have him in the cardiac unit, since the tests they’d run in the ER indicated he was in
no imminent danger. So they’d brought him to the general floor in a private room, which
made her stress level reduce considerably. Now all they had to do was await the test
results.
He was still alive, and for that she was incredibly grateful. They might butt heads every day, but she loved her father. The thought of losing him…
He was all she had. Her only family. The only one who loved her.
Besides Jake.
Jake. She let her chin drop to her chest.
She wouldn’t think about him. Not now. Not yet.
“Are you sleeping?”
Her head snapped up at the sound of her father’s voice. “No, not at all.” She smiled.
“How are you feeling?”
“A little tired, but much better.” He squeezed her hand.
“I’m so glad.”
“Thank you for being here, and for…defending me. I didn’t want you to think I’d ever do something so heinous.”
She patted his hand. “I believe you.”
“I don’t want to lose you, Lucille. I need you.”
Were those tears in her father’s eyes? He was blinking so rapidly she couldn’t tell.
Overcome by guilt at how she’d treated her father the past couple months, she knew she
was going to stand by his side no matter what. “I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thank you. It’s just you and me, you know, just like it always has been.” She managed a grin. “Yes. The fearsome twosome. But you have to rest and get well
so we can spread fear into the hearts of other law firms again.” He laughed. “I’ll do my best.”
They chatted for a bit, then Lucy said she was going to the cafeteria for something to
eat, demanding her father get some rest. “The doctor said he’d be in with test results in a
little while. I’ll be back before then.”
“I’m going to be just fine, Lucille.”
She nodded and gave him a bright smile. “I know you will, Daddy.” She headed down to the cafeteria, but when she got in line realized she’d left her purse in the closet in her father’s room. Rolling her eyes at her stupidity, she took the
elevator back up to the floor, then hoping not to awaken her father, tiptoed toward his
room. She stopped just short of the doorway when she heard laughter and low voices.
“You’re a much better actor than anyone gives you credit for, Ray.” Lucy frowned. That was Alex’s voice. She pressed her back against the outside wall
and listened.
“Believe me, it’s no easy feat feigning a
heart attack. And being poked and prodded
and stuck with needles was no picnic, either. But all worth it in the long run.”
“Having Lucy’s boyfriend storm in and throw you against the wall was perfect,” Alex said.
“Yes. And all I had to do was breathe in and out rapidly. Made me hyperventilate until I almost passed out. Lucille fell for it.”
“Will you press charges against Jake for assault?”
“Oh I don’t know. I think putting a halt to his construction project was more than enough. And with Lucille bound to my side for the foreseeable future, I think we’ve
