“Dad?” Laurent calls a moment later.
He’s turned to me, his face unreadable. Nodding my head once, I give him silent permission to go ahead with whatever he has to say.
“I’m still with you. Just know that.”
“You’ll be staying?” I ask, keeping my voice low.
He clears his throat. “Yeah. I want to be here in case anyone else stays. I want to make sure the company doesn’t disintegrate.”
Pride fills me. This is the man that I raised and I couldn’t be prouder of him if I tried in this moment. Reaching behind Tennessee, I clap him on the shoulder.
“Proud of you,” I say.
I can think the words all day long, but that doesn’t mean shit if I don’t tell him. He grins, looking so much like the little boy I remember in that moment. Giving his shoulder another squeeze, I wink then turn toward the door and slip my hand beneath the table, gripping Tennessee’s thigh in a quick squeeze.
Inhaling a deep breath, I close my eyes for a moment when I hear a commotion. I know without a doubt that Susan has arrived. It’s not that I’m not looking forward to this, because I truly am, I just don’t know if one is ever really ready to give up the company that they started from scratch. The company that they worked their whole lives for, even if it is only in name.
Tennessee places her palm on the back of my hand and her fingers curl around me, squeezing gently as Susan waltzes into the room as if the paperwork is recorded and she solely owns the building already.
TENNESSEE
One word can describe the meeting today. One word and one word only: ugly. The look on Susan’s face when Landry announced his new company, LoneSTAR Investment Bank—if looks could kill, he’d have died right next to me in an instant.
I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not, but the look of hope on everyone’s faces when Landry announced his new company made me proud. They want to work for him, not just because his company is amazing, but because he is amazing too.
Landry asks everyone who would like to go with him to submit their desire in writing and informs them that he will send a company-wide announcement out in just a few hours. Everyone leaves, except Susan, Bash, Landry, me, and Laurent.
Susan is sitting at the end of the table, a place that Landry no doubt purposely left open for her. I watch as she slams her palms down on the table, she narrows her eyes on him, then shifts her anger over to me.
“You little bitch,” she sneers. “This was all your idea, wasn’t it?”
“Susan,” Landry warns.
“Fuck off, Dry,” she snaps. “You just had to do this, didn’t you? Was it your young pussy that talked him into this? Maybe you gave him your ass? I’m just so fucking curious.”
“Susan,” Landry growls as he jumps to his feet. “That’s quite enough of that. You got what you wanted, now get the fuck out. This building isn’t yours for a couple more days.”
Her narrowed gaze turns to Landry, and I hold my breath. Her words should have offended me, but they didn’t. She has already decided what kind of woman I am, which is fine. I know that I’m not what she thinks, but she is exactly how I think of her.
“You fucking asshole. You’ll hear from my lawyer and if you think that I won’t sue your ass, I most definitely will.”
Bash chuckles. “You can try, Susan. But trust me when I say that the agreement you so hastily signed, its ironclad. You will lose. All you wanted was the building and the name, and that is exactly what you’re getting.”
Susan presses her lips together and I think if a person’s head could explode, hers would do just that right about now. Inhaling a deep breath, I close my eyes and wait for whatever is about to come, because I have a feeling Susan is about to say some really nasty shit.
“Mom, I’ll stay on here with you, get this place up and running. Not everyone is going to leave, we can build this company up together,” Laurent states.
Turning my head, I look over to Landry and see him beaming with pride. He’s so happy that Laurent is offering to do this for Susan, especially when he can work for Landry and have a much easier job.
“Fuck you,” she spits. “I don’t need your pity. I can run this on my own. You think I’ve lived this many years without knowing how to run shit?” she snaps.
I watch as she turns around and stomps off. We’re left in the room alone with Bash and Laurent. I reach out and turn the phone recorder off so that the rest of the conversation we have isn’t recorded.
Nobody says anything right away, then Laurent stands and I watch as he walks around the table to the other side. He reaches out, wrapping his fingers around the back of a chair and leans forward.
“What the fuck are we going to do? She’s going to run this company into the ground.”
I don’t say anything, knowing that this conversation isn’t my place to stick my two cents in. Instead, I stay seated and look down at the tabletop. This is hard. So hard. I never wanted any of this and to hear the anguish in Laurent’s voice. I know this is killing him.
“When it comes to your mother, there is nothing you can do. She may come to you when she’s calmed down a bit, but if she doesn’t, you can’t do anything.”
“I hope everyone moves to LoneSTAR,” he barks. “They’ll lose their asses here if they stay.”
Nodding, Landry stands and swiftly walks over to his son. I watch as he embraces Laurent. He whispers something to him that I can’t hear. Laurent nods his head, then releases his grip on Landry and takes a step backward.
He jerks his chin up, his gaze focused on him and they’re both silent for a long moment. Then Laurent clears his throat.
“I’m with you, Dad. She’s unstable and I was willing to stay and help, but she doesn’t want me here. So, I’ll be with you and guide the transition.”
Landry reaches out, wrapping his hand around Laurent’s bicep, giving him a squeeze. “I know you will. Proud of the man you are, Laurent. So fucking proud.”
Laurent jerks his chin, then turns and walks out of the room. Julie left with the crowd to get started on sending out the mass emails. Now, it’s just me, Landry, and Bash in the room. Landry tugs out the chair from where he’s sitting and sinks down with a heavy sigh.
“We’re solid, right?” he asks, looking up at Bash.
Bash smirks. “As a fucking rock, Landry. Everything is a go for the new place. The divorce papers should be delivered this afternoon. It’s all good to go.”
“So much fucking bullshit.” Landry chuckles. Then he turns his head, his eyes shifting over to meet mine and he smiles. “But worth every second of it.”
My cheeks heat from his words and I touch them, knowing that they’ve turned pink. He chuckles and Bash snorts.
“When you hear anything about Helen, you’ll let me know?”
“We will,” Landry promises.
Bash stands, gathering his things, then I watch as he leaves the room. Now it’s only me and Landry alone in the conference room. He lifts his head, his eyes finding mine and he raises a brow as a naughty grin appears on his lips.
“We’ve never… not in here,” he says, lifting his index finger and swirling it around.
“You didn’t get enough this morning, twice?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Honey, I never get enough of you. Now on your knees, crawl to me, I want your mouth on me under this table.”
“Then what?” I breathe.
His voice dips deep and husky, his amber-colored eyes turn almost deep rich brown with his next words. “Then I’m going to fuck you against this table. Later today, after lunch, I’m fucking you against the glass in my office. We have a full day, Miss Bradley, come over here and get started.”
A thrill runs down my spine as I slip beneath the table and crawl toward him, doing exactly what he described. Then later, he does what he promised and all in all, I lose count of how many orgasms Mr. Landry Astor gave his personal assistant that day.
Chapter Forty-Two
LANDRY
> Hansen hasn’t called, except to ask when we will be arriving. That has me worried. Extremely worried. I would have liked to leave Holden with Bethie, or maybe Lucinda, but Tennessee wouldn’t hear anything of it. I don’t blame her, but I’m also worried about what has happened with Helen at the same time.
Holden is sitting quietly next to Tennessee, his attention solely focused out the window of the plane as he watches the clouds and the land beneath us. Reaching out across the extremely narrow aisle, I take Tennessee’s hand in mine and give her a squeeze.
“Hansen didn’t tell you something that you’re keeping from me, did he?” she asks, again.
I shake my head, my eyes finding hers, and I hold her gaze with my own. “He didn’t. He’s been working with the local law enforcement, I know that much, but that’s all.”
“I’m really scared,” she breathes.
Using my thumb, I run the pad along the length of her engagement ring, then move it from side to side on her finger feeling the cool diamond as I think about her fears, because I share them with her, but I don’t want to say that aloud.
“Everything will be okay,” I lie.
She doesn’t say anything and luckily, it’s almost time to land, so even if we were to talk, it’s too loud to hear one another without yelling. Closing my eyes for a moment, I lean my head back against the headrest of my seat.
Keeping hold of Tennessee’s hand, I take a moment to just breathe. Pretty soon we’ll be on the ground in Oklahoma, and then we’re going to find out the truth of what is going on with Helen. At least I hope that we do, because honestly, this seems truly bizarre.
It’s one thing after another and all those things have been tied to Susan and our now final divorce. I don’t want to believe that Susan would hurt Helen, but that’s the only thing going through my mind right now.
When the plane lands, I stand and help Holden and Tennessee off of the plane. Hansen is waiting for us on the tarmac, a rented black SUV behind him. Lifting my hand, I give him a small wave as I gather the bags.
Tennessee doesn’t give me a second glance as she runs toward him. It should bother me that she’s literally running toward another man, but in this instance, it doesn’t, not at all.
Once I have everything gathered, I thank the pilot and let him know that I’ll call him when we’re ready to go home. He dips his chin, then turns from me as I make my way toward Tennessee and Hansen.
“Tell me everything,” I hear Tennessee urge as I approach.
Hansen’s gaze flicks up to meet mine, then he shifts it back to hers. “Let’s get you settled in the hotel, then we’ll go over everything over lunch?” he suggests.
Tennessee looks back over her shoulder at me, her eyes are watery and I can tell it’s taking everything inside of her to hold back her tears. She shifts back to look at Hansen and nods her head at his suggestion.
Once we’re loaded in the SUV, I’m impressed to see that Hansen even has a car seat for Holden. I climb in the front seat and Hansen drives us to the hotel. I can’t help but wonder what exactly he’s discovered on this trip. It has to be something, otherwise he wouldn’t have been so secretive.
He knows something.
Once we’re in the hotel, the bags have been dropped off in our room and I grab a water from the fridge. I decide to order room service for lunch. There’s a six-person dining room table in here, so we’re going to go over all of this in private.
“Holden passed out,” Tennessee says as she closes one of the bedroom doors behind her.
I open my arms, setting the phone on the hook after talking to the front desk. Hansen is going through his briefcase at the table and gathering whatever he’s going to talk to us about, but I only have eyes for Tennessee.
“You okay, honey?” I ask.
She wraps her arms around my shoulders and touches her lips to my neck. “No, I’m not,” she whispers.
Sliding my hand up the center of her back, I twist my fingers in her hair at the nape of her neck and gently tug her head backward. “You will be,” I rasp.
“Will I?”
I don’t smile. There is nothing happy about this moment, about living in this unknown. There won’t be any smiles until we know the truth. Until we know where Helen is. Until we find her. Until we know exactly what the fuck is going on.
“Yeah, honey. We’ll both be okay. Give me a kiss?”
Her lips twitch into a small smile and press together. Dipping my chin, I touch my mouth to hers in a gentle kiss.
“You guys ready?” Hansen calls out.
Lifting my head, I look toward him and jerk my chin. Dropping my hands from Tennessee, I wrap my fingers around hers and together we make our way over to the table. Room service should be here any minute, but I know that Tennessee and Hansen are both itching to start this.
Personally, I don’t know if I’m ready to know what the fuck is really going on. Because I know without a doubt that whatever this is, it has to do with me.
Being mine has almost ruined her entire fucking life, if Helen is hurt, there will be no going back from this. She’ll never forgive me, and I don’t know if we would even survive it. I love her and I know she loves me, but how can she love someone who brought this much pain into her life?
TENNESSEE
Hansen has a bunch of paperwork spread out at the end of the table, and I can’t help but feel nervous as we approach. I don’t know what I’m walking into with this, he hasn’t been forthcoming at all up to this point and I know that he’s been here for days and working, but he hasn’t updated us on anything, not a single thing other than she’s gone, but everything looks undisturbed in her house.
“Just tell me, please, tell me what you found,” I beg.
I stand at the end of the table, across from him and I wait. Slowly, he lifts his head, but the look on his face isn’t hopeful at all. In fact, it looks almost pitying and that’s when I know that this is bad, this is really, really bad.
Hansen clears his throat. “How much do you know about your biological father?”
I blink, then I swallow a lump that’s immediately formed in my throat. “Danny Bradley is just a name on my birth certificate. I don’t even remember what color hair he has,” I snap.
Hansen nods his head once and I feel Landry’s hand slide around my hip and grip me for support. Reaching out, I wrap my fingers around the back of the chair to brace myself for whatever is about to come.
“He’s given your mother money recently, back child support. She made an agreement with him for a lump sum after a few payments. It was much less than what he actually owed. But it was agreed upon and he paid, check cleared and everything seemed good.”
I’m about to scream. I’m seconds away from losing my shit completely and if Hansen doesn’t start talking faster, I’m going to do just that. He clears his throat, his eyes finding mine and he holds my gaze for a beat before he speaks again.
“I had a hunch. I tracked him down, thinking that maybe he could have had something to do with Helen’s disappearance.”
He pauses again and I can’t stand it. “And what?” I snap.
His mouth turns down into a frown, his brows furrow and he watches me for just a moment. “And he’s also missing. Nobody has seen him for almost two weeks.”
“Hansen, get on with it. We’re waiting and you’re dragging this shit out,” Landry states.
I almost thank him, but instead, I focus on Hansen and hope that he starts talking a hell of a lot faster.
Hansen clears his throat, then levels us with a gaze. “The bottom line is they’re both missing. The only contact that I have seen between them was when he gave her the final check almost a year ago. I think they’re together, but I don’t think he took her.”
“Susan?” Landry asks.
I’m glad he asked before me, because Susan is the only person I could think of that could have anything to do with this. I want that bitch in jail over this one. All she does is attempt to make my life miserable.
And for what? Status and money, nothing more. She disgusts me.
“Possibly.”
“But the police don’t think so?” Landry asks.
Hansen shakes his head once. “They didn’t even connect that they could be together. They are completely stumped. With no sightings, with no electronic trail, they have zero to go off of. Nobody has anything against Helen. Everyone at both of her jobs likes her, she isn’t dating and hasn’t dated anyone for a while. There is seemingly nobody that would want to do her any harm at all.”
“Nobody but Susan,” I mutter.
Hansen snorts just as there is a knock on the door. Landry turns, releasing my hip without a word and walks over to the door. He opens it and immediately my stomach growls as the food cart makes its way into the room.
I hadn’t realized it, but I honestly can’t remember the last time that I’ve eaten. A few minutes later, after the food is out on the table, I watch as a sleepy Holden opens the bedroom door and shuffles toward me.
I scoop him up into my arms and carry him over to the table. He rests his head against my chest as I sink down in my seat. Without a word, Landry starts to prepare two plates. One for me and one for Holden.
When he sets them in front of me, I reach out, wrapping my fingers around his wrist and squeeze. “Thank you, baby,” I whisper.
His lips turn up into a grin and he dips his chin as he makes his own, then sits down with a grunt. “What do we do now, Hansen? We’re here and we aren’t leaving until Helen is found.”
Hansen grunts, placing his plate in front of him, and lets out an exhaled breath. “I started looking into Susan last night. She’s a spider web, Landry,” he murmurs. “I haven’t been able to connect her…”
“Yet,” Landry grinds out.
“Yet,” Hansen agrees.
“Did Danny get any extra cash recently?” I ask.
Hypocritically Yours: A Standalone Age-Gap Romance Page 29