Beholden (The Beguiling Bachelors Book 2)

by Madison Michael

  “Thanks, I appreciate the vote of confidence.” Sloane flashed Keeli a sincere smile and gave her hand a quick squeeze.

  “Regan believes in you, and so does Randall, right? They are business geniuses. They read people and opportunities for a living. If they are willing to invest in getting you back on your feet, then I know you have a bright future.”

  “Okay, Pollyanna. Enough, Tell me about Keeli Larsen Designs for a while. I want to know everything. I am so impressed with how you have built this huge enterprise in just a year. Wyatt must have invested a lot to grow things so fast.”

  “Actually, I never took a penny of Wyatt’s money, although he offered.” Keeli laughed at Sloane’s astonished face. “Really, a girl has to have her pride, right? I did take an investment from Linda but I have paid her back everything now. She was instrumental in getting me the push I needed. I owe her a great deal.”

  “You owe me nothing,” Linda Stuart corrected, joining the tail end of the conversation. “It was a pleasure to help launch my talented friend here,” she explained to Sloane. I just held a trunk show and threw a few bucks her way. She did the rest.”

  “That’s an understatement if ever I heard one. I have no business sense. You were instrumental in helping me see possibilities. Now I am counting on you to help me grow and expand intelligently. I am in so far over my head.”

  “Wyatt? Isn’t he helping you there?” Linda asked.

  “A girl has to have her pride,” Keeli and Sloane responded in unison before falling into a fit of laughter.

  The three women spent the next hour sharing stories of business successes and failures. Keeli explained that she was now heading a business that had grown from non-existent less than two years ago to grossing more than $8 million last year. It was expected to double again this year. She was running two manufacturing sites, had five interns in addition to her regular assistant. Her designs were available in every major department store, from Nordstrom to Neiman and they expected her to deliver four distinct collections each year. Moreover, she was still creating an exclusive collection for one of Chicago’s most exclusive boutiques.

  “Thank heaven Linda has such a good head for business or I would have sunk under the pressure. It helped that Lyon Tech Solutions was growing even faster. If Wyatt could handle it then I could, or so I kept telling myself. He’s been so supportive. I just feel so fortunate. Who could have imagined this would be my life. I was lonely and living on Ramen noodles two years ago.”

  “I am so happy for you. I think if anyone deserves all this joy, it’s you. When you talk to Wyatt, please tell him thank you for suggesting I join you this week. It was an inspired idea. I cannot remember being so relaxed and happy. Not in a very long time.”

  Keeli seemed sincerely pleased by Sloane’s admission. The late afternoon sun still warmed them, but Keeli rubbed her arms with a bit of a chill and suggested they move inside. With the sun moving lower in the sky, an evening chill had really set in, unusual for August.

  Missy was napping and Linda went to unpack, so Sloane and Keeli slipped into the hot tub to warm up. Sloane had been wise enough to grab a bottle of Rombauer Chardonnay from the fridge and the women sipped the buttery wine, laughed at their luxurious life and talked about nothing until almost 6:00 p.m.

  Missy came to find them, jealous to have missed the hot tub and whining about how she was hungry. They had not taken the difference in the time zones into account when they had made their 7:30 dinner reservations. By mutual agreement, they rushed to get cleaned up and decided to head to Soule Domain on the chance they could get seated earlier at the popular location.

  Missy offered to drive when they were ready to head out since she had missed the afternoon wine tasting. Moving toward the garage, chatting away, all four stopped in mid-sentence when they opened the garage doors. Sitting in the two-car garage were a very practical Jeep Cherokee and a far less practical but elegantly sleek, midnight blue Jaguar.

  “Jag?” Missy asked with a conspiratorial grin.

  “Do you think we should?” Keeli asked, swinging her view from Missy to Sloane to Linda and back again.

  “I definitely think we should,” Linda replied, moving toward the passenger door without hesitation.

  The car was quiet and smooth on the roads, handling the curves and twists as if it was made for them. Too soon, they were out of the car and entering the restaurant.

  “I feel like a princess,” Keeli whispered as they were seated early, just as they had hoped.

  “You are a princess,” Sloane replied.

  “Yeah, but you know what I mean. We don’t live like this at home, you know?”

  “You could if you wanted to, Kee. Wyatt would give you the world if you wanted it.” Missy was right, of course, but the wonderful thing about Keeli was that she would never ask for much.

  “Besides,” Sloane surprised them all by saying, “if you had this everyday, it wouldn’t be special now.” Perhaps the spoiled and demanding Sloane was learning a few lessons. Her hard edges seemed to be softening after all.

  They dined on shrimp, scallops and duck all prepared perfectly, then they were too full to do justice to the one decadent chocolate dessert they ordered to share. Besides, they were all so tired. By the end of the meal, the four were dead on their feet.

  Missy drove very carefully back to the house, joking that she should have put out breadcrumbs to find her way back. The roads were dark, as the note had promised, and winding, but after only one wrong turn the women were safely inside for the night, gas fireplaces blazing to keep their toes toasty as they fell asleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Randall had been see-sawing between Huyler Industries clients and lawyers the entire week. He felt like his head would explode. In addition to managing Sloane’s life, he was still trying to keep his own afloat, so here he was at 1:00 in the morning trying to get through portfolio evaluations for his own clients.

  He knew he looked like hell and why wouldn’t he? He had been averaging about five hours sleep each night, eating crap if he was eating at all and the stress of not knowing what was going to happen was driving him crazy. Not to mention his fear that Sloane might find out how involved he was with everything. Perhaps that was making him craziest of all.

  When he overheard the original conversation about Sloane at that lawyer’s cocktail party, he knew he should stay out of it. It was casually mentioned. It was not his fault that the incompetent, indiscreet legal team was not guarding their conversation more carefully. After that, it had been easy to alert Addison’s firm and get them involved again.

  He was not thrilled with Sandra Berenson’s involvement either. He never imagined that Addison, Fine and Stark would engage her for Sloane’s case. When the original case had been tried, she’d needed a Chinese firewall since Sandra’s father was the prosecutor. He knew she was the best on legal espionage issues, and, with her father retired, there were no longer any conflicts. Still, Randall had just assumed Sandra would recuse herself. No such luck. He couldn’t explain why, but he just didn’t trust Sandra. She liked to talk too much. He had discussed it with Addison directly, and now he was trying to trust the man’s decisions.

  Randall was sure he had his bases covered when he had Amy ask Sloane to pull documents for due diligence, but then Sandra, the blabbermouth, had almost ruined everything by calling Sloane directly. What the hell had happened to discretion? Of course, lack of discretion was why they had a jump on all of this in the first place.

  Rubbing his massive hands over his tired eyes, Randall decided he had done everything he could for today. Or for yesterday, to be more exact. He had used his influence and called in all his favors to make the customers who had threatened to leave HI sign on with Steel Frank and each had a signed renewal option now as well. It was his promise that had sealed the deal with Steel Frank and he now closed that book at last.

  Sloane and her mother would be comfortable too. The negotiations had gone well. Maria had be
en a force to be reckoned with, leading the investment banker team in getting a more than fair price for the company. Her mother could stay in the Glencoe house if she hadn’t moved already, but the important thing was that now she would have the ability to choose. Once he was completely certain of all the details, he had called to let her know the good news and they had held an interesting conversation once they strayed off topic.

  “Did Sloane get in touch with you?” Marianne had asked him out of nowhere.

  “No, I have not spoken to her since the benefit. Maria Canovalli was working on this deal though, so she would not have needed to contact me.”

  “I wasn’t talking about work, Randall. I thought from my last conversation with her that she wanted to talk to you about the night of the benefit. I thought she planned to accept your apology for something or other.”

  Marianne was laying it on a bit too thick. Randall knew that Sloane had told her mother exactly why he owed Sloane an apology. He blushed to realize that her mother knew now too. Good thing it was a phone call and not Facetime.

  “No, we didn’t speak.”

  “Well, she is out of town now, in Lake Tahoe with friends, so I expect you will hear from her when she returns,” Marianne offered hopefully before returning to the business at hand and ending the call with her gratitude.

  Of course, Sloane had just placated her mother by saying she would call him. It had been weeks and she never called. He knew her well. She would never forgive him for the insult. She was too proud, too easy to anger, too slow to forgive. Besides, now that she was a woman eligible men wanted to date, he would have competition for her. He knew he was a catch, but not to her. She would believe she outclassed him and aim higher. She had before and she would again. He had missed his chance.

  Yet here he was, working with Addison’s entire firm to prevent the Feds from indicting her. He had done everything he could to get the price of her company pumped up. Damn, he had even assured she was invited for that damn girls’ week in Tahoe. Wyatt had not been easy to convince.

  That too had been an interesting conversation. After speaking with Alex over coffee, Randall had done some serious soul searching, and had a brief conversation with his Dad about that science test long ago. His father hadn’t even remembered it until Randall reminded him.

  “How can you not remember, Dad? You helped me study. We went for nature walks. I told everyone I would come in first but of course, Wyatt did. After that, you stopped helping me. You gave up on me.”

  “Gave up on you? Son, I have never once in my life given up on you. You have made me the proudest of fathers every single day since the day you were born. Why on earth would you think I gave up on you?”

  “Well, you stopped helping me with my homework, or playing catch or anything. It was as if I wasn’t worth the effort or something.” Randall felt all the hurt again that he had felt as a fifth grader.

  “Oh, Randall. You should have said something sooner. It was actually your mother’s doing, as I recall. She told me how disappointed you were after that exam and made me promise not to put so much pressure on you. That was why I backed off. Not because I didn’t believe in you. But you know how your mother was, Son. She would have had my hide if I had disobeyed her.”

  The two men laughed at the truth behind that statement and Randall was relieved to learn he had misunderstood all those years ago. Having cleared the air with his father, Randall felt stronger about discussing things with Wyatt. He knew he was better prepared for the emotions that he would experience around the incident too.

  So after convincing Wyatt to have Keeli or Missy invite Sloane to Lake Tahoe, he suggested they meet for a drink, just the two of them. Wyatt accepted and they met after work the next day.

  Randall began by falling on his sword again about his mistreatment of Debra at the benefit.

  “You just had one too many, my friend. Not sure Deb will ever forgive you, of course,” he joked. Randall explained that he sent flowers the day after the benefit and apologized profusely.

  “Unlike Sloane, Deb forgave me immediately. It was better than I deserved.”

  “These things happen, Randall. If Deb forgave you, move on.”

  “Yes, they do happen. That is my whole point, the reason I wanted to get together tonight. My bad behavior happens every time I drink too much, and it happens to your date – or your ex-girlfriend, or your fiancé. I only get drunk around you, Wyatt.”

  “Is that really true, Rand? I do know you seem to be drunk a lot when I am with you.” Wyatt gave the flippant response, unaware of how important this was to Randall.

  “Yeah, it is true. Alex helped me see it.”

  “Well, Alex never lies, so it must be true. Are you saying I drive you to drink? I thought we were friends,” Wyatt continued to keep things light.

  “We are friends, Wyatt. Of course, we are friends. But since fifth grade we have also been adversaries, and that is why I drink.”

  “No, bro. I have never considered you an adversary. Only a friend. Always. You have been a good and true friend, Randall. I always knew you had my back. Why would you think differently?” Wyatt finally took things seriously, leaning forward on his elbows and looking Randall in the eye.

  Randall went on to relate the story of the science exam, of the misunderstanding he had about his father’s change in behavior. “And that made me want to beat you at anything, hell, at everything, from that moment on. I just had to come in ahead of you on something.”

  “I had no clue, Randall. You beat me a million times over the years. You are smart, and strong. You are a force to be reckoned with on the ice, on the tennis court.”

  “Actually, Wyatt, I have never beaten you. Not once. Not in all these years.”

  Wyatt was stunned and Randall watched the play of emotions revealed on his friend’s face as Wyatt remembered game after game, test after test, and girl after girl.

  “I never meant to do that to you, Randall. I would never purposely beat you. You know that, right? I just did my thing.”

  “You just did your thing, better than me, hell better than anyone. It’s cool now, Wyatt. Really. But I needed to clear the air with you. I needed to stop competing with you so I can move forward.”

  “Consider it very clear, Randall. I am here for you, always. Jeez, I even agreed to send Sloane away with my wife for you. I hope they don’t kill each other.”

  Laughing, Randall replied, “Oh I think they will come home the greatest of friends, Wyatt. I really do.”

  “Well in that case, you must know something I don’t.”

  “I do, Wyatt, I know the real Sloane.”

  They talked about work and sports for a while longer but eventually Randall excused himself to return to the office.

  Now, finally, he believed everything was paying off. He had cleared the air with Wyatt. He would know before the end of the week if they had avoided a judgment against Sloane and today he had fulfilled his final obligations to Steel Frank. He had not heard fireworks from Tahoe, although he wished he had heard from Sloane. He missed her.

  However, that was another problem. Now was the time for some much deserved sleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Sloane was just leaving for a long walk with the girls, then some time at the casino, when her cell phone rang. She intended to ignore it and reached to turn it off when she recognized the number of Addison, Fine and Stark.

  “Go ahead without me and I will catch up in a few minutes,” she told the women, waving them off, turning back to the privacy of her room. She shut the door behind her, although she knew the women would be on their way down the mountain already.

  “This is Sloane,” she answered crisply.

  “Sloane, it’s Sandra Berensen from Addison, Fine. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

  “Actually I only have a very few, Sandy, I am supposed to be on my way to an appointment.” This time the excuse was actually true, but Sloane would have made one up to get rid of this viper.<
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  “Well then, I won’t keep you long. I wanted to keep you apprised on activities here at the law firm. I thought you would want an update.”

  ”Yes, I would like to know what progress you have made,” Sloane was very cold and formal. She wanted the update, but hated that her legal issues were intruding on the beauty of Tahoe. Sandy knew she was unwelcome and sounded less assured when she continued.

  “After working closely with outside sources, the Justice Department is looking at releasing your father, and dropping all charges against him.”

  “That would be fantastic Sandra.”

  “With these sources, and the documents provided to our firm by you and PPHP of course, the government believes they have the additional evidence to indict you instead. They believe you masterminded this operation, identified and attracted the client through your connections. Finally, you assisted in the money laundering by providing a relationship with Wyatt Howe that would assure everyone at LHRE cooperated in your clever scheme. I, of course, must recuse myself from the case again now that it is linked to the case my father prosecuted. Mr. Addison will be following up with you directly.

  “I confess, I always thought you were involved, Sloane. I will watch the trial from the sidelines, wishing I had listened to my father and become a prosecutor instead. It’s a shame really, I would have really enjoyed taking you down. Good luck to you Sloane. You’re going to need it.”

  Sloane was sitting with her cellphone still held to her ear, dumbfounded. The line was dead, but she was paralyzed with shock, both at the accusations and the nasty wishes of her supposed counsel. Sandra hated her, wished her serious harm.

  Think, Sloane, think. You know you are not guilty, but it looks like even your lawyers think you are. I had forgotten for a brief moment how much people hate me. They want me to be guilty. And you can save Father. How can I not take the fall for him after all he has done for me? It would be so much better for Mom too. Oh God, what do I do now?