by Holly Rayner
That evening when we were both satiated and too worn out to do anything but stay contented in each other’s arms Seth said, “You never told me what it is I can do to help. Where do I start?”
“The night of your father’s party… when you found me in the study, I had been looking in his filing cabinet.” I had forgotten to tell him that, and for a second I was afraid it would make him angry with me all over again.
Instead, he said, “I wish you would have told me then. Maybe I could have helped you.”
I propped myself up on my elbow so that I could see his face. “I don’t think either of us was ready for that yet.”
“Probably,” he said. “Did you find anything?”
“I think maybe I did. I put it back when you came in and I didn’t get a chance to finish reading it. It was a legal document. Your father and my father were in some kind of legal dispute already before my father died. He was suing your father for a breach of confidentiality.”
“Wow, that would probably be a document we need to see,” he said. “Where was it, exactly?”
“In the bottom drawer in the file marked “Summer 1994.”
“Okay. I can get us a copy of that. What else?”
“Really? You’ll make a copy of it?”
He grinned and said, “Do you not believe that I’m going to help you?”
“I believe you,” I said, kissing him softly. “It’s just so nice to finally have help. It will take a little bit of getting used to.”
“Well get used to it because I’m not going anywhere.”
I thanked him again and said, “You know Phillip Granger?”
“Of course. He’s one of the shareholders of Hunter Corp.”
“He was at the ball that night too. He recognized me.”
“You? The real you? Adele Morgan?”
“Yeah. He apparently knew me when I was a little girl and he knew my parents well.” I smiled as I remembered what he’d said, “He said I look just like my mother.”
“She must have been a knock-out,” Seth said with a smile.
“She was,” I told him with a wink. “But anyways, he hounded me until I admitted it was me. He offered to help too.”
Seth chuckled and said, “Phillip can’t stand my father.”
“I picked up on that,” I said.
“His vibe?”
“No, the fact that he said, ‘I can’t stand James Hunter.’” Seth laughed but his eyes looked sad. I suddenly reminded myself this man we were talking about was still his father. “I’m sorry. It must be hard to hear these things about your dad.”
He shrugged and said, “It is, but he just brings it all on himself. He’s so callous about people and life. He will die with billions in the bank and no one by his side. That’s sad, but it’s a fact of a life that he created.”
I laid my head back against his chest and closed my eyes. This amazing man had been dealt a crappy hand when it came to his father. I intended to do all I could to help him overcome that when all of this was over and done with.
***
SETH