The Bastard

by Lisa Renee Jones

  His eyes meet mine, and there is this swell of intimacy between us. There is no divide between us anymore. There is just us against them. The past is history. The future before us.

  A few minutes later, we sit inside an Italian restaurant that specializes in pizzas, and once we place our orders, Eric updates me on the recent developments. “Gigi left the office with my father right after he and Isaac had this exchange.” He offers me his phone and headset and I watch a short video that shows his father storming into Isaac’s office, slamming the door shut and then going off on Isaac.

  “Clean up your mess and do it now,” he bites out. “Your brother is not an idiot, nor is he without resources.”

  “Our mess,” Isaac snaps. “You sent me down this path.”

  “I sent you down a dirt road. You turned it into a fucking highway.”

  “Eric owns stock now. Gigi—”

  “I’ll deal with my mother. You clean it all up. Now.”

  The video ends and I slide the phone back to Eric. “I was right. It’s something illegal.”

  “Yes,” Eric confirms. “You were right.”

  “Any luck finding any clues to what this is all about?” I ask.

  “Not yet, but I have a contact at the union in New York City. He owes me in a big way and he wanted inside the NFL deal. I called him. I told him he might have an in. We’re meeting Monday.”

  “It’s Wednesday,” I remind him. “That’s a long way off.”

  “I have to clear a path to get him into the NFL deal and that gives us more time to find out what the hell that message was about last night.”

  “I tried all morning with no luck. I think I need to go see my mother. I can search the house.”

  “Don’t do that,” he says. “Not while my father’s in town. It’s too dangerous.” He leans in and cups my face. “Promise me.”

  I cover his hand on my face. “I promise.”

  “Let’s go to New York tomorrow.”

  “So soon?”

  “I need you out of here.” His eyes meet mine, a storm of emotions in their depths, his voice low, gravelly, affected. “I cannot want you this damn badly, Harper, and have something happen to you.”

  Want me this damn badly.

  Those words expand between us, wrap us in a warm awareness that says want is so much more than its obvious meaning. He’s afraid of wanting me and losing me like he did his mother, like he did this family when they were his future. I understand him and in this moment, I feel him in every part of me. Something is happening between me and this man. He needs me and I need him and I don’t know if that’s forever but it’s good, it’s really good and right.

  “I’m not going anywhere but with you to New York.”

  He kisses me, and it’s a long, seductive kiss that ends when our pizza arrives, and we leave the Kingstons out of the rest of lunch. We talk about New York City and all the places he wants me to see and experience with him. It’s perfect. It’s just me and him, and it feels like coming home in a way I have never been home before.

  ***

  Eric

  I spend the afternoon in the conference room with the taste of Harper on my lips, the smell of her perfume on my clothes, and a mission on my mind: Get her the fuck out of here. The bulk of the time that consumes our hours apart I’ve got my Rubik’s cube in my hand, and the bank accounts for the company on my computer. Patterns emerge that I track back two years, movement of money that exposes wires to a bank account that I don’t have a name to identify, but right now I focus on the numbers, just the numbers. Once I come out of my zone, I have a list of ten wires that I suspect were sent to Gigi, as the wires match those to the account I know to be hers. It’s nearly six when I text Blake the number and ask for the owner of the account. His reply is instant: Give me five minutes.

  I start reviewing more data and five minutes later exactly, Blake sends me a message: Go outside and call me.

  I don’t like the way that sounds and unease rolls through me, the idea that this could be related to Harper grinding a hole in my heart. This isn’t about Harper. I need to fucking know what the hell is going on and I’m up the stairs in about thirty seconds, exiting the lobby in another thirty to step outside into what is becoming a bitter cold.

  I dial Blake. He answers on the first ring. “The account is closed.”

  “Who owned it and please don’t say Harper.”

  “The account had Harper and her mother on it.”

  Those words punch me in the fucking chest. “Who closed the account?”

  “Harper.”

  “She knew about the wires then?”

  “I don’t know the answer to that question, but yes, I would assume she did.”

  My jaw tics. “I’ll call you back.”

  I disconnect the line, walk back inside and head to the conference room where I pick up my Rubik’s cube and I try like hell to calm my mind. I start turning it and turning it, casing every moment with Harper in numbers, in a way no one but me would understand. The numbers just keep fucking coming. Exactly an hour and thirty seconds have passed when I come back to reality and to three text messages from Harper that I don’t answer. I need out of this office. I grab my things and head upstairs where the offices are closed up.

  I exit to the parking lot into the darkness when it hits me that I rode with Harper. I’m about to turn back to the building and do what I should have already done; talk to her. I need to talk to her. Why the hell am I leaving? I’m two steps from the front door of the offices when Isaac joins me outside. “There he is, my brother.” Isaac greets with a sneer that tells me he’s up for games and nastiness and I’m not in the mood. “Coming back to get your woman?”

  I ignore him and reach for the door when he says, “She needs you until she doesn’t. She helps you until it doesn’t work for her anymore. That’s how she works.”

  The way he says that, like he knows her intimately, claws at me, and I take the bait I would never take if it wasn’t Harper. I stop and turn around, numbers exploding in my mind in random bursts. “She won’t help you now,” I say. “No one will.”

  “She needed me once. Gigi told me you fucked her not long before that. She saw her go to your cottage. Then she came to me. Harper had a miscarriage, and fuck, it was a disaster. She is a disaster that started rumors. She bled out right here in the office. I took care of her the way you want to take care of her now. I wonder if the brothers thing gets her off.” He smirks. “But I’m sure you don’t care. You’re just fucking her to fuck me, right?” He turns and starts walking toward his car.

  Numbers pound at my mind again. I want them to replace the emotions that want to consume me. I try to open the lobby door, but I don’t have an after-hours card. I dial Harper. “Come outside,” I order when she answers. I disconnect before she can reply.

  I lean on the wall, watching as Isaac drives away in his two-hundred-thousand-dollar special edition Kingston convertible. Harper exits, pulling her coat on as she does. “What’s wrong?”

  I grab her and pull her in front of me. “Did you fuck Isaac?”

  “God no. No. No. We had this conversation. Where is this even coming from?”

  “Did you have a miscarriage?”

  She pales, her hand settling on her belly and I know even before she whispers. “I was going to tell you. I was—”

  “What happened to no, you didn’t fuck Isaac?” I challenge, those fucking numbers beating at my mind.

  “It wasn’t Isaac’s. It was—I was going to call you but I—”

  “Call me? We didn’t even finish fucking, sweetheart. Why would you call me?” I don’t give her time to reply. “Don’t answer. I don’t care. I’m gone. I’m done. Save yourself.” I start walking and she screams after me. “Eric! Eric, wait.”

  I don’t wait. I climb into my car, and she pounds on the window but I don’t care. I meant what I said. I’m gone. I dial the airport, book a private jet, and
head that direction. I can’t get out of this city fast enough. I can’t get away from Harper fast enough.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Harper

  I stop outside the lobby door and try to pull myself together. There are cameras inside. There are people watching me but I can’t stay outside in the cold and I don’t have a car. I swipe my card and head inside, my knees wobbling as I walk. I enter my office and shut the door, as if that offers privacy, but it’s all I have. The tears explode from me the second I draw another breath. The tears that I cried six years ago. The tears that I have cried randomly since my miscarriage, and I wanted to call Eric every one of those teary nights. I don’t know how long I cry now, but I can’t stop. It guts me, it cuts me, it tears me into pieces. He’s gone. Isaac told him and he’s gone. My phone rings and I reach into my pocket, praying it’s Eric but it’s my mother. I disconnect the line and try to call Eric. He doesn’t answer. I try again. And again. I cry some more.

  I’m on the floor crying when I finally come back to reality. I’m on my back, staring at the ceiling. I’m hurting in every possible way. I should have told him last night. I should have told him six years ago. I force myself to my feet and I do what I have done every time I’ve tried to survive this. I go to my desk and try to work. I’ll find out what that damn sequence is. I’ll find answers and somehow that will make this better, somehow that will make Eric forgive me. No, he won’t forgive me. He believes Isaac. He thinks I fucked his brother.

  I dial him again and when he doesn’t answer, I burst into my confession on his voicemail. “I wanted to tell you. I just didn’t want you to think I was playing you and then you got rich and I was afraid you’d think it was about money. I can’t make you believe me, but you know—I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you so I just have to tell you.” The phone beeps and disconnects. I let out a sound of utter frustration. God. No. I need to say this.

  I dial the phone again and when the machine answers I pick up where I left off. “I got pregnant the night we were together six years ago. I know you pulled out, but you were inside me and it happened. I wasn’t with anyone else. I didn’t think you’d believe me and what would forcing you to believe me, achieve? It was too late to change what happened. I lost the baby.” The machine beeps again and I redial, my hand shaking as I do. The machine beeps again and I launch into the rest of the story. “When I missed my period, I thought it was stress, but then one night I was working late and suddenly I was bleeding. Lots of blood and Isaac was here and I was bad. I was hemorrhaging and—I had to let him help me. I didn’t even know what was happening. I was scared and when I found out there was a baby—” The machine beeps. I sob with the pain of doing it like this, with reliving this. I dial again. “Bottom line,” I say when I can speak again. “I hated so much that Isaac was the one who helped me. And I really wanted that baby, our baby, but now I’m damaged goods anyway. I don’t even know now if I can have kids. They said—”

  The machine beeps and tears stream down my cheeks. I can barely take this but I started it. I have to finish. I dial again and this time the call goes straight to voicemail. Eric turned off his phone. Obviously, he’s tired of me calling. I force the words out. I start talking again. “Eric,” I whisper. “I didn’t betray you like everyone else in this family. Have Blake hack my medical records. If I was with Isaac and he was the father, why would I fight the ER staff and insist that I couldn’t be pregnant? Why wouldn’t I put him down on the medical records? I just—I need you to know that I didn’t betray you. You matter to me. You’ve always mattered to me and I regret that I didn’t call you. I regret—”

  The line beeps and I add, “So much,” even though he can’t hear me. My emotions overflow and I throw my phone, pain behind the force that smashes it against my door. My emotions are suffocating me. I can’t take it.

  I stand up, not sure where I’m going, but I need to occupy my mind. I need to escape this feeling. I need to escape the pain. The sequence, I tell myself. Think about it. Think about the message. Figure out what it means. I start walking, exiting my office and walking toward the human resources office. I enter the dark office and search through files, looking for a clue. An hour later, I have nothing. I stand up again and walk toward the warehouse. That sequence has to relate to production in some way. I enter the warehouse that is now empty, as we don’t run winter night shifts.

  I start walking the assembly lines, looking for that fourteen-digit sequence, checking every possible place: on the parts, on the vehicles, in the paperwork at each station. I’m at this for a good half hour when I decide the foreman’s office is where I need to be. I hurry that direction and I’m about to enter his office when the lights go out. I freeze in the utter, complete darkness, sucking in a breath, and willing myself to remain calm. It’s a power outage. Nothing more. I reach for my purse that’s in my office with my destroyed phone.

  A sound, a tiny sound, jolts me. Someone is here. There is a whisper in the air. Someone is right beside me. I launch myself forward to run, but it’s too late. Someone grabs me from behind.

  THE END FOR NOW...

  ***

  Readers,

  Thank you so much for picking up THE BASTARD! Harper and Eric’s story continues very soon in THE PRINCESS! You’ll get all your answers and so much more in THE PRINCESS and THE EMPIRE - both available for pre-order on all platforms now!

  PRE-ORDER AND LEARN MORE HERE:

  http://filthytrilogy.lisareneejones.com/

  ***

  Don’t forget, if you want to be the first to know about upcoming books, giveaways, sales and any other exciting news I have to share please be sure you’re signed up for my newsletter! As an added bonus everyone receives a free ebook when they sign-up!

  http://lisareneejones.com/newsletter-sign-up/

  MORE CAT AND REESE!

  Cat and Reese from DIRTY RICH ONE NIGHT STAND are back in their second book and life is about to get a lot crazier in their world! Learn more here:

  https://dirtyrich.weebly.com/dirty-rich-one-night-stand.html

  ***

  WANT MORE LISA RENEE JONES ROMANCE?

  Have you read my Dirty Rich series? A series of super sexy lawyers filled with passion and mystery! Check it out here:

  http://dirtyrich.lisareneejones.com

  ***

  NEW STANDALONE COMING IN MY LILAH LOVE SERIES!

  This series is a suspense series with a steamy side of romance! The first two books are available now, but the third book can be read as a standalone as well!

  https://www.lilahlove.com/

  ***

  A BRAND-NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER COMING SOON!

  A PERFECT LIE is definitely far and away from what I usually write, but I am so excited about it! I hope you’ll check it out!

  https://aperfectliebook.weebly.com

  ALSO BY LISA RENEE JONES

  THE INSIDE OUT SERIES

  If I Were You

  Being Me

  Revealing Us

  His Secrets*

  Rebecca’s Lost Journals

  The Master Undone*

  My Hunger*

  No In Between

  My Control*

  I Belong to You

  All of Me*

  THE SECRET LIFE OF AMY BENSEN

  Escaping Reality

  Infinite Possibilities

  Forsaken

  Unbroken*

  CARELESS WHISPERS

  Denial

  Demand

  Surrender

  WHITE LIES

  Provocative

  Shameless

  TALL, DARK & DEADLY

  Hot Secrets

  Dangerous Secrets

  Beneath the Secrets

  WALKER SECURITY

  Deep Under

  Pulled Under

  Falling Under

  LILAH LOVE

  Murder Notes

  Murder Girl

  Love
Me Dead (March 2019)

  DIRTY RICH

  Dirty Rich One Night Stand

  Dirty Rich Cinderella Story

  Dirty Rich Obsession

  Dirty Rich Betrayal

  Dirty Rich Cinderella Story: Ever After

  Dirty Rich One Night Stand: Two Years Later (Dec. 2018)

  Dirty Rich Obsession: All Mine (Jan. 2019)

  THE FILTHY DUET

  The Bastard

  The Princess

  *eBook only

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT series.

  In addition to the success of Lisa’s INSIDE OUT series, she has published many successful titles. The TALL, DARK AND DEADLY series and THE SECRET LIFE OF AMY BENSEN series, both spent several months on a combination of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling lists. Lisa is also the author of the bestselling LILAH LOVE and WHITE LIES series.

  Prior to publishing, Lisa owned a multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by the Dallas Women’s Magazine. In 1998 Lisa was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.

  Lisa loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her on Twitter and Facebook daily.