“Wait! How ‘bout half a mil?” Wayne rushed after him, struggling to keep up with Sam’s long stride.
“Fuck. You.” Sam entered the waiting elevator and pushed the button, staring at Wayne in disgust while the doors closed. He heard Wayne mutter something about how Sam would be sorry as he stalked away. Guess that hadn’t gone as planned for him.
Once the doors shut, Sam let out the breath he’d been holding. He’d put up a tough front, but the conversation with Wayne had unnerved him.
He wasn’t worried about the blackmail. There was no way he was giving Wayne one red cent. What troubled him was what Wayne had said about Annie wanting to break up. Was that the reason she’d been avoiding him? Sam thought it had been about the baby, but maybe he’d misread the whole thing, and it was because she planned to reunite with Wayne.
Why would she go back to Wayne though? Not to seem conceited, but he felt like he was a much better option. On paper anyway. At least he had a job and wasn’t an ex-con.
Plus, his and Annie’s relationship had been going so well. That is, until a week ago it had been. Was that when Wayne had been released? What if Wayne was blackmailing her in some way? And that’s why she’d pulled away from him. This just kept getting more and more confusing.
He was still mad and still hashing it out when he arrived at Annie’s office. Their meeting wasn’t scheduled until the afternoon, but fuck that. He wasn’t waiting any longer for answers.
***
Annie’s phone buzzed again for the hundredth time that morning. The day before, she’d finally finished setting up the security cameras and had hooked into them through the app she’d downloaded on her phone. She hadn’t tested them though, and apparently, every time the flag she’d put up blew into the camera’s view an alert notification was sent via text and email. After the millionth alert, she’d finally turned off the notifications. She’d have to move the flag or narrow the camera’s view before turning them back on or be driven crazy with all the interruptions.
She’d just set her phone down and was booting up her computer when Sam entered her office.
“Hey, Sam. I thought we weren’t meeting until later,” she stammered as she stood.
“Didn’t want to give you a chance to bail and skip out on it,” he said bluntly.
Damn it, that was exactly what she’d planned to do. Conflict was her least favorite thing. He seemed pissed about something, but she’d just play it cool until he came out and said what. Turned out, he didn’t take long to bring up what was bothering him.
“Are you or are you not still married to Wayne?” He stood still and waited, arms folded across his broad chest. Even mad, he was a damn good-looking man. Shit. How had he found out about that?
“I mean, technically—”
“You lied to me,” he interrupted. “I don’t tolerate liars. I’m leaving for New York tomorrow. Pick another branch office, and we’ll have you transferred there within the month.”
“What? I’m not going anywhere!” She began to heat up. First, he wouldn’t let her explain about the divorce, and now he wanted to ship her off. How dare he?
“Well, I’m certainly not leaving, and we can’t work together. I don’t trust you.”
“If you’d let me explain—” She tried again.
“Explain what?” he interrupted. “That you’re done with me and don’t even have the decency to tell me yourself?”
“What are you talking about?” Now she was just confused.
“I ran into your husband, Annie. He told me everything.” The bitterness rolled off in waves.
No! She sat down hard. “He’s here? When? Where? What did he say?”
Her stomach roiled as complete dread took over. Wayne had found her, but rather than talk to her, he’d confronted Sam. This was exactly what she’d been trying to avoid. How had Wayne found out she and Sam had any sort of relationship?
“That you were getting back together, and that you didn’t want me to contact you anymore.”
It took her a minute to process what he was saying. First, not understanding why Wayne would say such a thing. And second, why Sam would believe him so easily. “And you believed him? Without talking to me first?”
“Isn’t that why you’ve been avoiding me?”
“No! I haven’t talked to Wayne in almost three years.”
“He knew we were sleeping together, Annie. How would he know that unless you told him?”
That stopped her in her tracks. “I have no idea. But I swear I didn’t tell him and haven’t talked to him. Why would you believe anything he says? Do you really think I’d get back together with him and not say a word to you?”
His silence spoke volumes and told her everything she needed to know. He did believe it. Her heart cracked right up the middle.
She hung her head and whispered, “Get out.”
He turned to go but stopped for one more question. “Are you pregnant?”
She was confused by the question but answered honestly. “No,” she responded, wishing he would just go already.
“Then who’s Avery?”
There was a long pause before she went from dejected to livid in seconds. She advanced on him, furious. “How do you know about Avery? Did Wayne tell you about her?”
“No. I found that out after wondering why you had a locked door at your place when I’m the only one who visits.” He had the decency to seem a bit chagrined.
“You broke into my spare bedroom?”
“I used the key,” he said defensively.
“You think I’m pregnant and hiding it from you? I suppose you think I want to cash in on it somehow too?”
He stared straight ahead, and her heart broke completely. He didn’t trust her at all. He believed she purposely lied about her husband and that she was pregnant with his baby and planning a lawsuit as they spoke. She couldn’t take it.
“Avery is my baby. My dead baby,” she screamed. She ripped off her watch to show him the tattoo. “My precious, sweet angel who died four years ago.” She choked back a sob, and her eyes flooded. “No one is having your baby, Sam. And no one’s going to sue you. Are you happy now, you asshole?”
He was speechless, frozen in place, hand on the doorknob.
She turned away from him to hide the tears. “I said, get out.”
Thankfully, he left without a word. She crumpled into her chair, letting the tears fall freely. Beckie came running in, closing the door behind her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Annie rested her elbows on the desk and put her head in her hands. There were several alarming things to rehash about what had just happened, but the most important was that Wayne was here. Like, apparently, in the building, here. Damn it.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Beckie handed her a tissue that she used to blow her nose and wipe her eyes.
“Thanks, Beckie. I’m sorry you had to hear all that. It was very unprofessional.”
“I didn’t hear much,” she lied.
“Right.” Annie chuckled. “People in the next building over probably heard.”
“I’m sorry about your baby,” Beckie whispered.
“Thank you,” Annie said as a few more tears found their way down her cheeks.
“And I’m sorry you had a fight with Mr. MacDonald.”
Annie let that go without comment. She’d deal with the fallout of people finding out she’d been dating the boss later.
“I get how Wayne could find me. Someone from the San Fran office probably passed the info along like it was no big deal. What I don’t understand is why he would confront Sam and not me. How did he even find out about Sam and me? No one knows about that.” There was a long pause.
“I sort of knew,” Beckie confessed. “But I haven’t told anyone from the office. I swear,” she added quickly.
Annie had a bad feeling about the clarification. “What about outside the office?”
Beckie lowered her head and admitted in a timid voice, �
��I may have hinted to John that it was possible, that you might have a relationship beyond work with Mr. MacDonald. I don’t know why I said it. He was asking about you because I mentioned you, and it just came out.”
“That’s all right, Beckie.” A sick feeling took root in her stomach. “What does John look like?”
Beckie’s head snapped up as she realized what Annie was implying. “You don’t think? Oh my God. What if?” She panicked. “You think John is your ex-husband? Or husband? Or whatever.”
Annie woke her computer and searched “Wayne O’Neill California manslaughter.” She clicked on the first news article that popped up, which showed a mug shot of Wayne alongside the story. A man with mussed hair, dark, heavy eyes, and a look of disgust stared directly at them from the computer.
Beckie jumped up, eyes popping out of her head. “He’s a murderer?” she exclaimed in a panic. “Oh, my God!”
The look of horror on her face might have been comical if the whole situation wasn’t so not funny. So Beckie had spilled the beans about Sam. That explained Wayne confronting him, but not why he told him they were getting back together. He didn’t actually think there was any hope of that, did he? Wayne was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. Then it dawned on her.
Sam hadn’t mentioned Wayne asking for money, but Annie would bet her left arm that it had come up. Wayne confronting Sam about their relationship to blackmail him into a payoff sounded exactly like something he would do. He had no shame and was most likely broke.
She knew Sam wouldn’t give in to any demands, so maybe Wayne had gotten pissed about that and made up the getting back together story. Or maybe the story was just to spite Annie. Wayne was a very bitter person, and she wouldn’t put that past him.
It wasn’t that he actually wanted to get back together, or even that he thought they would. He just wanted to make sure she wasn’t happy. Yeah, that made sense.
“Annie, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” Now Beckie was in tears too. “I had no idea. I thought he liked me. Oh, I’m so stupid!”
“No, you are not stupid. Don’t say that or even think it. Wayne is a master at manipulation. He probably saw us having lunch together or getting coffee or something and figured that was his way to get to me.”
“Why didn’t he just talk to you then? Why’d he have to involve me?”
“That’s an excellent question. Maybe he was trying to get information to use against me. I don’t know. That reminds me, you didn’t tell him anything else about me, did you?”
Beckie gasped and started crying in earnest. “Oh, Annie,” she choked out between sobs. “He knows what kind of car you drive. I told him that too. Shit, I’m like a sieve. Is he going to kill you?”
“No, no. Beckie, don’t worry about that. He’s a jerk, but he’s harmless.”
“He was in prison for murder!”
“I know, but it was an accident. He’s not really a violent person. Just greedy and narcissistic and well, never mind all that. He isn’t going to hurt me. Or you.”
“God, it’s a good thing I don’t know where you live, or I’d have probably driven him right to you freakin’ doorstep! Annie, I’m so sorry.”
“I know, honey. It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure everything out. Does he know where our office is?”
“No. I mean, he knows we work in this building, but I’ve never mentioned what floor or a specific office number or anything.”
“Okay, well, that’s good. You don’t have any plans to see him again, do you?”
“No. I have a feeling he got what he wanted from me. The last time he said goodbye, he was very abrupt, and we didn’t set up another date.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t recommend seeing him again. Just to be safe.”
“Of course not. If he ever tries to talk to me again, I’ll…I’ll…well, I don’t know what I’ll do. But I promise he won’t get any more information from me.” She swiped at the tears on her cheek. “Oh, Annie. I feel like such a fool.”
“Hey,” Annie said as she stroked Beckie’s hair. “Don’t say that. Wayne can be a real charmer when he wants to be. He charmed me too, a long time ago. Why do you think I married him? Don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault.”
Beckie nodded. “Yeah, okay. Is there anything I can do to help now?”
“Please don’t say anything to anyone about Wayne or about Sam and me. It’s probably all over the office by now that I had a baby who died. I pretty much screamed that for the entire world to hear, but the rest of the conversation was quiet, and I think we can still keep the fact that I’m married to an ex-con and that I had a relationship with Sam a secret. Especially now that Sam and I won’t be seeing each other any longer.”
“Why are you still married to Wayne?” Beckie asked timidly. “I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.”
Annie sighed. “Long story short, Wayne wouldn’t sign the papers, so we had to do it the hard way, which took much longer. Even waiting, I should have been divorced months ago, but someone in my attorney’s office effed up and didn’t file the proper paperwork on time. So, because of some clerical error, I’m technically still hitched. I only found out about it a couple of weeks ago. I thought the divorce had been finalized months ago.”
“That’s terrible. Are you going to sue the attorney?”
“No, but I’m not leaving a five-star review either. He knows he screwed up and has been working on getting it done as soon as possible. I should actually be single by next week. It won’t do any good to sue anybody.”
“That’s awfully nice of you. Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I swear to you that I won’t tell anyone about anything I overheard. I promise.”
“I still trust you, Beckie. I’m going to go home for the day, though. I don’t want to risk running into Sam again. How about we have coffee on Saturday morning? Grinder’s Café at nine?”
“Sure. That sounds great. Be careful, Annie.”
“I always am,” Annie quipped.
Leaving early was also, hopefully, a way to avoid Wayne. Since he didn’t get what he wanted from Sam, she was most likely the next target. It would be hard to confront her if he couldn’t find her. She knew she couldn’t hide forever, but this would give her a minute to catch her breath and recoup from her argument with Sam before she had another one with Wayne.
She still had to come to terms with the fact that Sam had believed Wayne over her. But that was for another time and perhaps a bottle of wine. She packed up her laptop and grabbed everything she would need if she decided to work from home the next day. From what he’d told her weeks ago, Sam was leaving town for his brother’s bachelor party the next day, so she just had to avoid the office until then.
She would take the weekend to work through it, mend her broken heart, and be ready to handle herself on Monday. She didn’t want to admit it, but she’d fallen a little in love with him. Or maybe a lot in love. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was her heart ached.
If she were being honest, from the moment she met him, she’d been falling. He’d proven to be more down to earth than she ever imagined. The way he handled the situation with Beckie and Cooper was amazing, and he was that way with everyone—always trying to help when possible. He liked hard workers but wanted his employees to have a life outside of the office and made it clear that he supported a family-first mentality.
While he was kind to most everyone, she also admired the way he stood his ground against people who tried to take advantage of him. He could be tough when needed. He was smart and a good listener. So many admirable qualities, and all that goodness tied up into one delicious looking package.
His big problem was trusting people. Or, in this case, not trusting people. She’d known that since the beginning and had tried to continually reassure him that she could be trusted but apparently hadn’t gotten through to him. Any progress she’d made went out the window when he found out she’d lied to him about being married.
Sh
e really couldn’t blame him. If the situation were reversed, she’d be mad as hell too. Coming clean about it had seemed like a risky move so early in their relationship, but keeping quiet hadn’t kept her out of trouble either. After finding out about that lie, all the rest probably seemed easier to believe.
Why on earth would he think she’d rather be with Wayne than with him, though? Certainly, he wasn’t that modest. When comparing the two, there was no competition. He had everything. Wayne wasn’t even in the same league. It was just good old common sense that she wouldn’t go back to Wayne if Sam were an option. He was good-looking, rich, kind, and apparently so humble, he thought she’d choose an ex-con over him.
Rather than go straight home, she drove along Lake Washington Boulevard until she found a place near the water to pull over. It wasn’t the ocean, but it would do in a pinch. Sitting on a park bench, she stared at the water and hoped that listening to the soft waves lap at the shore would calm her down and help her figure out what to do next.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Now he’d gone and done it. What an idiot. He knew better than to storm into Annie’s office before thinking things through. If he’d just taken two seconds to calm down and think about it, he might have avoided that entire mess. Of course he didn’t believe Wayne over Annie. He didn’t even know Wayne! And what he did know was not impressive. He was an asshole, just like Annie had said.
Now what? Annie was good and pissed, that was for sure. But how pissed? Would she give him a chance to explain? Let him tell her he was an idiot for going off half-cocked and that, of course, he didn’t mean the things he’d said or implied? He still didn’t know how Wayne knew about their relationship or why Annie had been ignoring him, but those things could probably be explained.
He’d more or less accused her of being pregnant with his child, when in reality she’d lost her baby. That was something he never would have guessed in a million years. The raw pain he’d seen in her eyes nearly broke his heart. She probably set up that room in honor of her baby’s memory or something.
Catching Sam: Book 2 of 5: The MacDonald Brothers Page 17