Taking on the Billionaire

by Robin Covington

  Mia clapped. “And get the guy back?”

  Tess rolled her eyes. “One thing at a time, Mia. One thing at a time.”

  * * *

  She wasn’t here to get the guy back.

  That’s what she kept telling herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to get Adam back, to erase all the lies that she’d let keep them apart and get back to the place where he looked at her like she was the beginning and the end of his world. What she wouldn’t give to once again hear the awe in his voice and the tenderness in his touch when he realized he was going to be a father. Her favorite pair of heels to whoever got her the chance to taste his kiss, to have his hands on her again.

  But one look at his face and she knew that wasn’t how it was going to go down today.

  She’d taken advantage of the night guards and breezed past them with a wave and a determined stride to the elevators. Once she’d arrived on his floor, Tess marched past his secretary, ignoring the gobsmacked expression on Estelle’s face and giving her no chance to call security or warn Adam. The only advantage she had was surprise and she used it to get into his office and shut the door behind her. The stupid glass walls ensured that everyone could see the show but Tess was beyond caring and she knew she was on borrowed time.

  “Tess, what are you doing here?” Adam rose from his chair, his posture rigid, hands fisted at his sides. Dark shadows under his eyes testified that he hadn’t slept last night and that gave her courage.

  “You hired me to do a job and I finish what I start.”

  He was already shaking his head. “No. I’m pretty sure I fired you last night when I learned that you’ve been lying to me for months. We have nothing to say to each other.”

  That pissed her off. “Considering that we’re going to have a baby together, I’d say we have a hell of lot to talk about in the future but that isn’t what I’m here about.” Tess moved toward him, ignoring the couch where not so long ago Adam had made love to her. She’d help save his company and then she’d save their future. “You hired me to find the mole and I did it.”

  That got his attention. He moved from behind the shield of his desk and met her in the middle. He kept her at more than arm’s length but he was listening and that was good. “You did? When?”

  “It all came together right before the fundraiser but I didn’t want to tell you in front of Franklin,” she answered, reaching into her bag to pull out the file with everything she’d found. Tess shifted toward the table, spreading out the papers, notes and screenshots. “The guy who tried to do all of the damage is a software engineer named Mitchell Weiss. He was an easy mark with school debt and a sick mom. Couldn’t have been a more textbook case as far as finding your weak link. He needed the money, end of story.”

  “Well, it’s certainly the end of his story here at Redhawk/Ling. He’s gone,” Adam said, his voice low and tense as he moved closer, taking a good look at her file. She tried not to notice how careful he was not to touch her. Tess wasn’t going to debate whether Adam should give this guy another chance with him, that wasn’t the most important fact on the table.

  “The part you don’t know is who was paying him.” Tess pulled out a series of unencrypted emails, pointing to the highlighted email address. “I think you’ll recognize the name. It’s Franklin.”

  Adam stilled, his focus zeroed in on the paper and Tess waited for the explosion. He had every right to lose his shit and if she knew him at all he’d be pissed at himself for not realizing who it was from the beginning.

  But the detonation didn’t happen. Adam was silent as he bowed his head, hands braced against the surface of the table, everything about his posture signaling defeat instead of defiance. She dipped her head, trying to catch his eye and get some clue as to what was going on in his head.

  “Adam?”

  “Am I going to have to fight him for everything for the rest of my goddam life?” When he lifted his head, his dark eyes were blazing with pain and anger and a million unanswered questions. “I don’t understand his determination to destroy everything that is mine. Franklin never wanted me so I don’t know why he fights so fucking hard to keep me under his control.”

  “He wants to keep you under his thumb, there’s a difference. A huge difference,” she said, reaching out to touch his shoulder before she could stop herself. His body was rigid, hot with his anger, but he leaned into her touch and she let the sensation sink in, saving it for later when he remembered that she’d been his enemy as much as Franklin and never wanted to see her again. “And he only fights so hard because he knows that you don’t need him. That you are already more of a success than he can ever be. You’re already so much more of a man than he will ever be. A really good man.”

  Adam’s sharp intake of breath racked his frame and Tess moved in closer, their chests brushing, warm breaths mingling, bodies giving in to the pull of gravity and emotions strung tight between them. His dark gaze dropped down to her mouth and she held her breath, praying that he gave in to what was still between them. One kiss and she’d know that she had a chance.

  Adam raised his hand, fingertips poised to caress her cheek, to draw her in closer. Tess waited, every part of her screaming for him to shatter this wall between them that she’d built with every lie she’d told to him over the last few months. But he just dropped his hand, eyes losing any tender edge and voice as caustic as acid.

  “Being a good man has gotten me nowhere, Tess. What did you call that guy? An easy mark?” He laughed, bitterness stripping it of any joy. “I know what that feels like. It’s like I have a target on my back.” He motioned toward the door, turning his back on her with a harsh finality. “Thanks for the info. I’ve got a lot to do to save this launch and my entire company.”

  “Wait, I’ve got more,” Tess stammered, seeing her window of opportunity closing. “I’ve got everything you need to end this once and for all. To get the target off your back.” Her hand hovered over her bag for the briefest moment but she wasn’t sure where the hesitation was coming from. She had what Adam needed to finally break free from his toxic situation with Franklin; what was stopping her? She finally reached in and pulled out the thumb drive and held it out to him. “This is everything I have on Franklin. Every dirty deal, every screw job. There isn’t a rule, law or regulation that he didn’t feel it was his mission to break. I’ve got enough to make an investigation by the SEC a foregone conclusion and the downfall of his empire a given.”

  Adam leveled a look of suspicion at her that would make a nun confess. “If it’s so good why didn’t you use it?”

  This was the hard question that had plagued her for years and it wasn’t until last night that she’d gotten her answer. “Because this vendetta was all I had. My dad died and I was an eighteen-year-old suddenly tasked with raising a younger sister and my hatred and obsession kept the terror away. I think that I thought I had to completely step into my dad’s shoes to honor his memory—including his failures and his obsession.” Tess scrubbed her fingers through her hair, trying to put into words the early morning epiphany that had almost brought her to her knees. “I grew up with a man who loved his desire for revenge and self-loathing more than he loved me. And it hurt me, so much that I couldn’t see any other way to survive except to live his life and hope that it made everything worth it. I got so used to living that way that I was terrified to pull the trigger. If I took down Franklin, I would have had nothing. And I couldn’t face it.”

  “So, if you give this to me—what do you have now?”

  Oh, that answer was easy. “I have my business, and Mia and this baby.” She laid her hand on her stomach and thought of how his hand had been there only a few hours ago. “And I have a life that I want to build with the man I love. It will be more than enough.”

  “Tess...”

  “Adam, let me say this: I’m so sorry. I got close to you for all the wrong reasons and I didn’t care if
I was going to hurt you in the process of getting the revenge I thought I needed to be happy. But I got to know you and I started to care about the man who was stuck in the middle of this mess and I fell in love. I fell for the guy who plays drums incognito, and the guy who gives Estelle a gift card to the spa and the afternoon off just because she’s had a rough week. I fell for the guy who moved heaven, earth and a crap ton of bureaucrats to find the brother and sister he’d lost. And I fell in love with the man who is trying so hard to make a family with them even though he never got a chance to see what one looks like. I fell in love with you, Adam Redhawk. I love you and I’m happy about the baby and I want a future together but more than anything, I want you to be happy and safe and free from Franklin ever having the power to hurt you again. And I want that for you even if you can never forgive me. That will always be more than enough for me.”

  “Tess, I don’t...” Adam was shaking his head, the resolute sadness on his face worse than the anger she’d witnessed last night.

  But she wasn’t ready to hear that he didn’t want her anymore so she moved quickly, pressing the USB into his hand and a kiss to his mouth. She turned on her heel and left his office before he could end it. The fight for them, for their future, would wait for another day.

  Eighteen

  “I didn’t have enough caffeine for this.”

  Adam tried to ignore Justin pacing in front of his desk drinking both of their coffees. Answering Estelle’s SOS, Justin had arrived just as Tess was leaving. Adam had laid out the truth of his fucked-up life: the baby, Tess’s betrayal, the information about the mole, and the key to ending Franklin once and for all.

  And she’d been right. It was all here, more than enough to take the man down. Tess had done her job and so much more.

  “I was here all night. I think I need the caffeine more than you do,” Adam murmured, hitting the print command for several selected documents. The machine behind him whirred to life and shot out a treasure trove of career-ending data.

  “You act like you’re the only one who didn’t get any sleep last night.” Justin shook his head and took another gulp of coffee.

  “Spare me the details of the girl you screwed all night and look at this.” Adam grabbed the printouts and thrust them at Justin. “Tess has all the goods on Franklin. It goes back years and years, before I was even adopted.”

  His partner scanned the sheets, eyes getting wider with each one that he read. He whistled, long and loud. “Daddy Franklin has been very, very busy being a very, very bad boy.” Justin looked at Adam. “So, what are you going to do with this? Go to the authorities?”

  Adam was already putting on his jacket, gathering documents and shoving them into his briefcase. “No. Some of it is so old they wouldn’t touch it and he’s got too many people in high places in his pocket to guarantee that it would have the desired result.”

  “Okay, so what are you going to do with this? The last time I checked, Franklin was still gunning for us and we are two weeks away from release or ruin. We haven’t even fired that Mitch asshole!”

  “Justin, this is insurance. Leverage.” Adam fished his cellphone out of his pocket and swiped the screen. “And we’re not going to fire Mitch and tip off Franklin. I’m going to see Franklin now. You get security and IT ready to shut down everything associated with Mitch the minute I send word.”

  “Wait. Wait.” Justin moved with the speed of a man fueled by two large coffees and plucked the phone out of his hand. “Franklin isn’t going anywhere. What are you going to do about Tess?”

  Adam didn’t want to have this conversation. Not right now and preferably not ever. “She lied to me, Justin. Got close to me to get back at Franklin. There is nothing to do about Tess. We’re done.”

  “What about the baby?”

  “We’ll work out arrangements for the baby but the white picket fence and happy family dream you’re always talking about isn’t going to happen.” Adam grabbed his phone back and headed for the door.

  “My dream is a week on a yacht with two or three supermodels in my bed and a high-stakes poker game on the offer. I didn’t say anything about happy families and fences. You were the one dreaming about those things, man.” Justin’s words hit him in the gut, no they hit higher, right behind his ribcage. “And I heard what she said—”

  “You heard? What? How?”

  “I picked up Estelle’s line and hit the intercom/listen code.” Justin shrugged like it was something he did all the time and Adam made a mental note to have that function disabled on Estelle’s phone as soon as possible. “So, I heard everything and all I know is that she’s got a lot of guts and she must really love you to give up everything for you.”

  He scoffed, clearly not having heard the same conversation that Justin did. “She didn’t give up anything. Franklin will get what he deserves and she’ll get exactly what she wants.”

  Justin was shaking his head. “You are the dumbest genius I know, so I’m going to say this slow and in as few words as possible.” Adam flipped him the bird but he ignored him and kept moving on. “Tess doesn’t get anything she wants. She doesn’t get her father the recognition for his invention. She doesn’t get you, the man she loves. She doesn’t get to move on and have a little happiness after the crap life she’s been dealt.” He held up a finger to pause the response hovering on Adam’s lips. “Wait, I was wrong, she gets lots of things. She gets you being a stubborn asshole and refusing to acknowledge that you love her. She gets you making her pay over and over again for trying to survive and make a life of the crap her father put her through. And, this is the best part, she gets to raise your kid and hope to God that he or she isn’t as stubborn as you are.” He made an elaborate play out of counting on his fingers and ended the show with an empty hand, just like a magician. “So, in the end, she really does end up with a whole lot of nothing because she gave you everything—her information, her only chance at vindication and her heart. And I didn’t hear her ask you for anything.”

  Justin wasn’t wrong. He could be reckless at the poker table, terrible with women and he drove Adam crazy but he was a man who noticed the details. It didn’t matter if it was a million numbers on a spreadsheet or a single puzzle piece out of place, nothing got past Justin. And he’d listened to every word that Tess had said, really heard her.

  “She said she loves me.”

  “Clearly, she’s crazy. I should get her help.”

  “I’m in love with her,” Adam said, knowing that he sounded like an idiot. He didn’t care.

  “Again, you are the dumbest genius I know,” Justin teased, making himself comfortable on the couch. “But you get there eventually.”

  “She’s going to have my baby.” Adam couldn’t stop the grin from tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I’m going to be a father.”

  “Yeah, you are.” Justin’s wide grin was contagious. “And I’m going to be an uncle.”

  Adam slipped off his jacket and headed back to his desk. “Well, Uncle Justin, I have a plan to save Redhawk/Ling, get Franklin out of our lives forever and to get Tess what she never asked for. You in?”

  Nineteen

  “Mia, why are we here?”

  Tess paused at the double doors leading to the largest conference room at Redhawk/Ling and squinted at the couple dozen people milling about the room. She recognized a number of them, all reporters from local and national news outlets. A small stage and podium were set up on one end of the room, framed by the view of the gorgeous campus through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Adam had the same view in his office and she’d often caught him staring out the window, his mind a million miles away.

  She’d heard nothing from Adam since last week when he’d let her walk out of his office. Tess had scoured the news for any word on the mole but all the news that was fit to print was about the launch of the app. Full steam ahead. No complications. No espionage.

&nb
sp; And no invitations to meet up and talk about the baby. About them.

  She snagged the back of her sister’s jeans and hissed into her ear, “I don’t think we’re in the right place.”

  Mia pulled out the printed email invite and took another look. “Nope. This is the place.”

  “This can’t be right.” Tess couldn’t imagine why Justin would have asked them to come to the office and have all these people here at the same time.

  When they’d received the email, Tess had presumed that Adam was using Justin as a go-between to discuss the baby, and while that was never going to fly in the long-term, she was willing to take the meeting to get the conversation started. Adam had been radio silent for almost a week and Tess had resolved to give him some space. While the clock was obviously ticking where the baby was concerned, they had time and she didn’t want to push. She hoped that Adam would come around and they could have a life together but with each day that passed, it was harder and harder to believe that she would get what she dreamed about. And now, seeing this large gathering made her doubt if Adam even knew she’d been invited today.

  “Tess, Justin said that we both needed to be here. He said it was important.” Mia wriggled free from her grasp and sauntered into the room with the carefree nonchalance that Tess had possessed just a few short weeks ago. “And it’s not like we have somewhere else to be.”

  That was the truth. Tess had wrapped up a couple of small cases and she’d referred another one to a colleague. Because of the payment for services rendered to Redhawk/Ling, she could afford to turn down a couple of jobs and nurse her broken heart. It was crazy how much she could miss a man who’d been a stranger a couple of months ago.

  Tess moved to slide into a seat toward the back, nodding at several reporters she knew from prior jobs just as Estelle approached the small podium and asked everyone to take their seats. The room was at that point where the A/C wasn’t keeping up with the mass of body heat and the flush across her skin added to the anxious itch that kept her on the edge of her seat. The rustle and noise of everyone settling into position masked the sound of Adam’s entrance but her body went on high alert the second he crossed the threshold.