No Stranger to Scandal - By Rachel Bailey Page 0,55
Lucy.”
Graham turned to Lucy, his jaw slack. “You brought him here?”
She looked up at Hayden, unsure how much she was allowed to divulge. He gave her a resigned shrug, followed by a nod. She opened her mouth, but now that she had permission, she didn’t know what to say. Couldn’t think of how to explain. Hayden nodded again, encouraging her.
She turned back to her stepfather. “Hayden suspected you and Angelica were involved in the illegal hackings. I assured him you weren’t and I was helping him so I could clear your name.”
“By eavesdropping on me?” Graham asked, looking from one to the other, outraged.
Unused to being the target of her stepfather’s displeasure, Lucy flinched. Then she collected herself. He might have dug his own grave—she had no illusions now about that—but this would still be hard on him. And it was only going to get worse. She could be tolerant of his emotional reactions under stress—he’d certainly cut her some slack during her attempts at rebellion as a teenager.
“Graham,” she said gently, “we had no idea you’d be in Angelica’s office.”
Understanding dawned in his eyes. “You were after her.”
Hayden nodded. “This time, yes.”
“I guess you heard the conversation, too?” It was a question, but Graham already seemed resigned to the inevitability of the answer.
“I did,” Hayden said, his face neutral.
Graham narrowed his eyes. “Did you get enough on us?”
“On you, yes. Angelica didn’t actually admit to anything.” Hayden picked up a glass paperweight from Angelica’s desk, looked it over and replaced it, timing the pause it created like the pro he was. “You know, it would help your case if you cooperated about her role in the hacking.”
Graham groaned, then covered his eyes with a thick hand. “I can’t do that. She was right—I’ve failed her in almost every way a father could.” He dropped his hand and met Hayden’s gaze steadily. “The only thing I can do for her now is protect her in this.”
“It won’t be enough to save her,” Hayden warned.
“We’ll see.” Graham let out a slow lungful of air. “So what happens now?”
“You, Marnie and Angelica will be called to testify before the congressional committee. They’ll have my notes, so they’ll be able to ask the right questions.”
“I’ll make you a deal, Black,” he said gruffly. “I’ll confess to everything I’ve done if you’ll keep Angelica’s—and Madeline’s—name out of it.”
Hayden rocked back on his heels as he considered, then nodded and thrust his hands back into his pockets. “I don’t have the authority to make that deal, but I’ll take it to the people who do, and see what they say.”
“I appreciate it.” Graham scrubbed the pads of his fingers over his face and Lucy could almost see him growing smaller. “What’s next after I testify?”
Hayden didn’t blink. “There will likely be a jail term, and you’ll have to sell ANS. The regulators won’t allow you to keep ownership of a broadcast network once you plead guilty to the crimes you’ve committed.”
“No,” Lucy said, refusing to consider jail as an option.
“Lucy.” Graham sounded heartbreakingly weary. “Sweetheart, it might be unavoidable once I testify.”
“No,” she said again and turned to Hayden. “If a deal can be made to protect Angelica, then a deal can be made to protect Graham.”
“It’s not the same thing,” Hayden said. “There’s nothing to bargain with for Graham’s freedom. What would you have me do?”
“I don’t know—as you’ve said several times, this is your area of specialty.” She reached for Hayden’s hands and interlaced their fingers, bringing them to rest over her heart. “You can save him. He’s the only family I have. Please don’t take him.”
“Lucy, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice strained. “There’s nothing I can do.”
Damn him, he even had the gall to look torn, despite this being the outcome he’d wanted from the beginning—he’d always wanted Graham’s conviction more than any other. Of course he wouldn’t help simply because the woman he’d been having a fling with asked him to.
She dropped his hands, straightened her spine and focused on the most important thing. “Can he at least go home?”
Hayden cleared his throat. “Yes, but he’ll be called to appear before the congressional-committee hearing, probably in a couple of days.” He turned to Graham, expression stern. “You won’t leave town, will you?”
“Of course he won’t,” Lucy snapped, moving beside her stepfather as he sat on the desk, providing a united front. “Come on, Graham. I’m taking you home.”
Graham’s shoulders were rounded with defeat and when he looked up at her,