Merger to Marriage (Boardrooms and Billi - By Addison Fox Page 0,55
bound at the wrist by handcuffs. “This is entrapment. Nothing’s going to stick.”
“It will when I testify to what you’ve done.”
“Things you took part in.”
“Well, then, it’s lucky for me I’ve spent the last decade working on cleaning up your messes and maintaining some rather detailed files of my own.”
It was Nathan who’d finally convinced him that he had nothing to hide from. His business practices were honest and above board, and he had made clearly concerted efforts to make reparation to those she’d stolen from.
The detective who helped arrange the sting knocked before opening the door, and raised Eloisa to her feet. Whatever façade she’d hidden behind in the past vanished, and her words were as dark as they were self-recriminating. “You’ve always thought you were above me. That your books and your education made you better than me.”
“I wanted something else. Something I earned.”
The detective led his mother from the room and Nathan walked in after they’d departed, slapping him on the back. “Time heals all wounds, buddy. You’re well rid of her.”
“You can gloat later.” Holt nudged his friend away from the door. “I’ve still got some groveling to do.”
“Go get her.”
…
Mayson stared down at the layout and tried to focus on the words that underpinned the various images in the piece. She stood over her light box with a series of alternative images and couldn’t seem to focus on any of them. She’d already read the accompanying text a half dozen times, but the words refused to sink in.
The art department had outdone themselves—one photo was more vibrant and vivid than the next—and she wanted to give the work the proper attention, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get her head in the game.
And she couldn’t get Holt out of her mind.
With a soft sigh, she thought of the small photo she kept tucked in her top desk drawer. The image on the ultrasound was so tiny, but it was there all the same. Her baby. A warm flutter at the photographic evidence of her pregnancy filled her and she smiled. No matter how bad she’d bungled things with Holt, she had this. Their child. And she was determined to make the very best choices she could for this baby she loved more than she’d ever thought possible.
A hard knock echoed from her doorway and the breath caught in her throat as Holt filled the jamb.
“Hi.” He smiled, and she saw the tired lines that framed his eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve got a lot to tell you.” He glanced around the office. “Mind if I come in?”
“Sure.”
“Mind if I close the door?”
“Should I mind?” Her fingers itched to touch him, to smooth out those lines she saw on his face and kiss his lips, but she stayed where she was, in front of her light box, her hands full of layouts.
“I had a big day.”
“What happened?”
“Well, in no particular order, I cut a deal with Teddy Craddick, scammed my mother, then had her arrested, and finally came to my senses.”
She knew there was something else in his words, but she couldn’t pull her attention off the news of his mother’s arrest. “What happened?”
“The short version is your brother-in-law is a genius who helped me figure out how to set her up and make it stick. A slightly longer version is that it was a long time coming and I should have done something a hell of a lot sooner. I’ll give you the Lifetime Movie of the Week version over dinner, if you’ll share it with me.”
“There’s nothing to share, Holt. I thought we both understood that clearly when you left my apartment the other night.”
“I’m a stupid asshole. That’s all that happened in your apartment the other night.”
“A stupid asshole who has stayed away for nearly a week.”
“I thought the term ‘stupid asshole’ was sort of self-evident?”
She didn’t want to laugh, but damn it if he couldn’t make her smile. “What else did you do today? Rule the boardroom? Manage a little world domination while you were at it?”
“I closed a deal with Teddy Craddick.” He took a few steps closer.
“Very nice.”
“And I came to my senses.” He took another few steps closer, enough so that he could reach out and touch her hand with his index finger.
She fought the shiver incited by that simple touch. “What did that involve?”
“Knowing that I love you. That I want to make a life with you and have babies with you.”
The ever-present tears that