multi-billion-dollar companies before he’d hit fifty.
He’d been in his late fifties when he’d met Nora Murphy, Aubrey’s mother. Nora had been nineteen and a stewardess on one of Harold’s private jets at the time. However, he’d sold the entire fleet off less than ten years later, shortly after a near fatal crash one winter.
Now, it was rumored that the man hadn’t left New York after that day and stuck close to his twenty-thousand-square-foot home just off of Central Park. He was either there or at his main office building less than three blocks away.
He was a shrewd businessman and had made many enemies and friends in high places, and it was whispered about some of his low friends as well.
It was common knowledge in certain circles that he had a daughter, his only living heir. The man had never been married and tended to not have any affairs. None in the public eye at least.
Pulling on the suit, he glanced at his own reflection and winced. It would be apparent to anyone looking at him that he didn’t belong in such fine clothes. He was built for faded jeans with a tool belt hanging off his hips. He was meant to walk in the woods and live off the land, not deal with city dwellers.
Still, he had to admit, the suit he’d purchased with the help of Owen’s tailor looked better on him than the old suit he’d had.
“Ready?” Aubrey asked from the doorway. He turned, the silver tie he’d been about to attempt to put on himself held in his hands. Aubrey stood in the doorway dressed in an off-the-shoulder black dress that had a pencil skirt. She looked just as uncomfortable as he felt in her heels and the dress. “Here.” She glided across the floor and took the tie from his hands. “Let me help you.”
He ran his eyes over her face as she worked on his tie. Her skin was porcelain perfect. Not a blemish on her. She wore only a light dusting of makeup that accented her eyes and lips.
Her long red hair was twisted into an intricate knot at the nape of her neck. She not only looked professional, but she looked like she could be in mourning. Which fit the bill for their first encounter with her father.
“Ready?” she asked when she’d finished with his tie.
“Are you?” he asked, his hands moving up and down her arms. He realized she was chilled and tried to warm her arms by rubbing them.
“I am,” she said after a deep breath.
He took her hand as they walked down the stairs together. “Do you have a jacket?” he asked her.
She glanced over at him. “It’s not really cold…” He opened the front door and a gust of wind rushed in, making her shiver visibly.
“I’ll head up the stairs and get it,” she said with a sigh.
“Tell me where it is—”
“No.” She shook her head. “You hail a cab. I don’t want to show up at his place in Isaac’s car. I’ll get the coat.” She started up the stairs as he glanced out the front door.
He stepped onto the curb, but instead of trying to find a taxi, he pulled out his phone and had an Uber heading their way.
A dark sedan rolled by him slowly, and Aiden felt his spine tense as he watched a man roll down the passenger window and point a camera at him. He took a step closer just as Aubrey stepped out of the front door. The man snapped a picture of her before speeding off.
“Did you get us a car?” she asked easily as she stopped beside him on the sidewalk.
“I did.” He frowned as the sedan turned the corner. “It should be here…” He stopped when their ride pulled up in front of them.
“There’s a restaurant a few blocks from my father’s place. We’ll grab some food before we head over.”
“How far are we from your father’s place?” he asked as they settled in the back seat.
She glanced around and narrowed her eyes at the street signs. “About twenty blocks.” She sat back. “Which could mean a five-minute drive or a two-hour drive.” She chuckled. “One of the reasons I don’t miss the city.”
He thought about the dark sedan as they slowly made their way across town. He took in little of the city and instead focused on how someone would have known that they were in town. As far as he knew, their plans had only been shared