There was nothing Shaun could say that would ever make her feel his actions were justified. Not telling me what you were doing is no different than lying to me. No way was she going to open herself up to him so he could hurt her a second time. Once is more than I can bear.
“I have already told him I never want to see him again, and I meant it.”
“I can’t do that,” Shaun’s voice chimed in from behind Bennett.
“I’ll be on the porch if you need me,” Bennett said as he excused himself from the room.
“You can go with him now, Shaun. I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” Morgan didn’t care that she was about to air her dirty laundry in front of her parents. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Falling in love with someone under false pretense makes me the victim. Letting you back into my life would make me a fool. And I’m no fool, Shaun Henderson.
“Morgan, I want you to sit and listen. After you hear what he has to say, then you decide what you want to do,” Loras said.
Has everyone gone crazy? Why does everyone think I need to hear anything he has to say? What if he lies to me? What if I believe the lies and he only hurts me again later? I can’t risk it. It’ll hurt too much. I already cut it off. Better to keep it that way.
“Dad, you’re supposed to be on my side. Why are you standing by Shaun?”
“Maybe because what he has to say is something I wanted to do for a long time. Not the way he did it, but trust me, Morgan, I’ve felt the same damn way ever since that bastard decided he didn’t wa—”
“Loras. Don’t forget we have little ears listening, and we don’t want that ever said in this house,” Elisabeth reminded Loras, and everyone else as well.
Tyler was very attuned to what was said and picked up on everyone’s emotions. Morgan should’ve remembered that earlier as she spoke to Bennett. Since it seemed all was quiet in the kitchen, she hoped he had his headphones on listening to one of his DVDs instead of their arguing.
The last thing she wanted was her son to be hurt. Right now he hadn’t been affected. She wanted to keep it that way. “Shaun, this is just another reason why we shouldn’t talk.”
“No. That’s a reason why we should speak quietly.”
Don’t play games. You know I don’t want to see you, so why force it? There are a million women who would love to be with you. Go find one of them and leave me alone. “I don’t need to come up with any reason, because I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Your father even knows we need to talk. So stop being stubborn and sit and listen.”
She looked at him then her father. I hope you’re happy, Dad. This is not what I want, but I don’t seem to have a choice now, do I?
“Fine. Say what you want to say, then you can go and leave Tyler and me alone.” Just like we were before we met you.
Shaun knew she was pissed off. He was the one to tell her, but how it came about was wrong. How was she ever going to trust him again? He’d kept something huge from her, and no amount of apologizing was going to change that.
“Morgan, what I did was not to hurt you, but to help you and Tyler.”
“Bull,” Morgan said plainly, meeting his gaze. Her normally sweet honey brown eyes were dark and filled with anger.
“When I found out what Walter did, how he . . . walked away from his responsibilities, I wanted to teach him a lesson. One he’d never forget.” Crush him, make him wish he’d never been born. Not going to tell you that.
Morgan looked at him long and hard. He wished he could read her thoughts, but from her expression he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“I don’t remember telling you about that. How did you know? Did you have me investigated?”
And this is getting worse. Why didn’t I listen to Bennett? Oh, because I don’t listen to anyone. And look at me now. I’m kicking myself in the ass and hoping she’ll understand why I did it.
“Standard procedure with a new hire.”
“I might be new in HR, but that type of information isn’t included in a background check. Want to try again or is lying what you do best?”
No one had ever called him a liar. What he did wasn’t lying as far as he was concerned. It was withholding information which was totally different. “We had some concerns with our contract division. Someone was altering them without Dean’s or my recommendations.”
“What I did was an improvement. Not something to cause concern,” she said, trying to defend herself.
“Any form of tampering is a concern to us. You have no idea what this family went through last year. Tessa was kidnapped, and Dean was shot because of an employee tampering with the business. So don’t tell me when it’s appropriate to protect people you care about and when it’s not.”
Morgan nodded. “Sorry. I forgot about that. I can see why you might need to go to extreme levels of security now. But did you honestly think I was going to do any harm then? Or now for that matter?”
“At first, I honestly had no idea what to think. You walk off the street and into a job with more access than I ever would’ve granted you. But it hadn’t been my decision. If it had been, you wouldn’t have gotten the job.”
“Thanks for the honesty.”
“Tell me you’d have done things differently.” Shaun challenged her, knowing full well how she’d answer. He knew Morgan was responsible, and she never would’ve turned over such information without checking out the person fully. Of course, some questions had been unprofessional; that was only because of the roadblocks they’d encountered.
“You’re right. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t have hired me either. But that doesn’t explain what this has to do with Walter.”
“We found out that he was blackballing you, so you would never be able to get a job in contracts again. That’s not the only thing he didn’t want. Well, you know. But he wanted you to suffer. For what reason I wasn’t able to find out, but to me, it didn’t matter. I only needed to know he wanted to hurt you. And from there, I was going to hurt him more than he ever thought possible.”
“You should’ve told me and let me tell you how I felt, let me decide what action to take. But instead, you pulled all control away from me. You made this about you and not about Tyler and me.”
“You’re too damn nice and never would’ve retaliated.”
“So your explanation is you did this behind my back because you think I wouldn’t have wanted it. Am I correct?”
Shit, she’s good. There’s no answer I can give that won’t make me sound like the asshole I am. “Yes.”
He could see she was trying to process all the information he had thrown at her. When she finally spoke, the anger was gone, replaced with pain. And not just pain from learning what Walter had been doing, but more importantly what he’d done to her. Everything in him wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her until she forgave him. Truth was, he knew this was going to take more than that to get her to trust him again. I am a jerk. A straight up jerk. I could’ve handled this so many different ways, but I chose to do this my way. Ignoring how she was going to feel when she found out. Yep. Total jerk.
“I can’t stay here talking about this right now. I need to be alone.” Morgan got up and headed for the doorway leading to her apartment.
He heard her sob as she turned the corner. Damn it. I made her cry. I never wanted to hurt you. “Morgan,” he called out to her, but she didn’t respond.
He started to follow Morgan but Loras stopped him, giving him a pat on the back. “Give her time, Shaun. She’ll come to her senses. Right now she only sees one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The pain. You broke her heart, Shaun. Now if you love her, you’ll give her space to heal and then try talking to her again,” Elisabeth said. “I know how much she cares about you. Just give her time and it will be okay.”
Patience. Understanding. Neither is my strength. But for Morgan, I’ll do anything.
“I have someone I need to go and see right now
.”
“Walter?” Loras asked as Shaun headed for the door.
“Yes. No matter what Morgan thinks, I will not let that man hurt her or Tyler.” It was the only thing he knew to be true. Even, if she doesn’t believe me.
“Would you mind some company? I have a few things I would like to say myself,” Loras said as he grabbed his hat from the banister.
Shaun looked at him. The last thing he needed was something happening to her father. She’d never forgive him. Hell, I wouldn’t forgive myself. “Loras, we don’t know what we’re walking into. If he’s having her watched, we are going to need to make a point in a way you might not want your name associated with.”
“And you do?”
“Hendersons aren’t known for being or playing nice. I’ll only be upholding the family reputation.”
“Then I positively think you need me, because if I’m right, my daughter is going to come to her senses, and it’ll be nice if you’re not in jail when she does.”
Having him with them was going to change how they handled things, but maybe it was time for a change. If I plan on being any part of her and Tyler’s life, I can’t keep being an asshole one hundred percent of the time. Maybe only fifty percent.
“Okay, but stay close to Bennett. I want all of us walking out of there in one piece.”
“So you have a plan?”
Not exactly. But I’ll work on it on the way. “It’s coming together.”
Loras kissed Elisabeth goodbye. Before Shaun made it out the door, Elisabeth came up to him and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Don’t do anything foolish, Shaun. They need you. Just remember that.”
Is this what it feels like to have normal loving parents? They worry about your wellbeing and emotional state? He wasn’t sure how to process it, but he knew it felt good. “I won’t forget.”
Walking to the limo, Bennett and two of his men joined them. Bennett explained they had four men watching the house now, and no one was going to get close to them at all.
“Thank you,” Loras said. “They’re all that matters to me.”
Me too, Loras. Me too.
Chapter Seventeen
They were almost at WS & Son when Loras broke the tense silence.
“Shaun, I think I hate that man as much as you, but I think we need to step back and think about what the long-term solution is.”
“Putting him out of business so he has no funds to harass Morgan and Tyler ever again.”
“You think you need money to be a creep? If only that were true.”
Loras had a point. Broke or rich, that man was scum. Maybe even more so without cash. Something had to be done to stop him, but what?
“Loras is right. You are reacting to the situation. I’ll back you with whatever you decide to do, within reason, but I would suggest thinking this through first,” Bennett interjected as the limo veered off the highway and entered the exit ramp.
He knew he had their support, but what he needed right now was a good plan. Going into the company and beating the shit out of Walter sounded great at the moment, but Loras was right. The injury would heal, and Walter would be back with a vengeance. Fuck. I can’t let this keep going on, but I can’t risk making it any worse either.
Everything happening between him and Morgan was clouding his judgment right now. Even Loras was personally impacted by what was going down. He needed someone impartial to consult and advise him on the appropriate move. Someone who could look at the facts and devise a plan that wouldn’t cause the people he loved more pain.
Love. When did I start loving them? That’s not part of who I am. I don’t love; I protect. Maybe that’s all it is. I want to protect them. Yes. Protect them because I love them.
“Pull over,” Shaun said to the driver as they made their way through the streets of Boston.
Once stopped, he turned to Bennett. “You know everything I do. But tell me what I don’t know.”
Bennett looked at Loras then back to Shaun. “We don’t know if this guy Morgan saw is truly someone Walter has sent or not.”
“Who else could it be?”
“The world is filled with creeps, Shaun, not just Walter. I say let my guys pick him up and see what they can find out. If it’s one of Walter’s guys, then we need to know what he wants from them. Is he doing it because he cares about them? Does he want to keep track of his son? Does he love her and want her back?”
It took every ounce of control not to reach across and shut Bennett’s mouth with his fist. Shaun didn’t want to think about Walter in their lives at all, never mind moving forward as a family, as a father. There’s room for only one person in that role, and that spot is not Walter’s.
“Give your guys the go ahead.” He needed to know who was behind this. Right now he wasn’t sure if he was hoping it was Walter or not. If it wasn’t, then he had more than one fish to fry. I don’t care how many people I have to deal with. If it takes an entire army, I’ll hire them to protect Morgan. This I give my word on.
Bennett turned to his guys. “Let’s pick him up. Get me what I need.”
The two guys sitting beside Bennett sat without any emotion on their faces. Shaun could tell they were on alert and ready to follow Bennett into anything. He wasn’t used to such loyalty from staff. It was as though they were much more than just employees. He knew Bennett had served in the military before. Maybe that’s the comradery I see. Like family even though they’re not.
Everything kept coming back to the word family. He’d spent his entire life not relating to it, but now it seemed to be all he saw. And all I want. I want Morgan and Tyler as my family. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make that happen. It would’ve been so much easier to accomplish when she was still speaking to me.
“Loras, I need some advice. I have an idea, but I would like to do it without talking to Morgan.”
“Oh, son. You haven’t recovered from the last time you did that. Why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking? I’ll be honest with my advice.”
Shaun could work with that. “We all agree Walter needs to be out of their lives forever.”
“You’re not going to kill him are you?”
Tempting. Very tempting. “No. Right now his company is crumbling quickly. I think you and I should meet with him and use it in our favor.”
“Not following you, Shaun.”
“What is the one thing the Sapp family loves?”
“Money.”
“Exactly. And what’s the one thing we want?”
“Him out of Tyler’s life for good.”
“Do you know a good family attorney? I think it’s time to draw up some paperwork for good ole Walter to sign.”
“What type of paperwork?”
Shaun smiled. “One relinquishing all parental rights.”
“And he’s going to sign this why?”
“Because I’ll take everything he has if he doesn’t. If he does, I’ll pull the sanctions we have in place. He’ll recover over time.”
Loras shook his head. “Remind me never to piss you off. You don’t play nice.”
He nodded. “I protect the ones I love, Loras. And I love your daughter and Tyler. So what do you think? While Bennett handles his stuff, do you want to come see a lawyer with me?”
Loras was smiling as he reached out his right hand. “Count me in, son. I want to see that bastard’s face when he realizes he’s not the biggest fish in the sea any longer.”
Bennett and his guys hopped out of the limo to handle their business. “Don’t go see Walter without us, Shaun.”
Don’t worry. I’ll take all the backing I can get to help the Sapp family see their options are limited. “I want this done before the end of the day. So you line up things on your end, and I’ll get the forms needed.”
“We’ll rendezvous again at sixteen hundred hours outside of WS & Son.”
Loras and Shaun spent the next two hours getting all the documents needed as well as pulling some strings with a judg
e so the paperwork would be processed immediately once it was signed. Shaun wasn’t leaving any room for error this time. He needed to pull in a lot of favors with the Barringtons, but once they knew what the stakes were, they used their influence as well to make it all happen. Sometimes it is all in who you know.
He had prided himself in never needing anyone. He had his routine, and until Morgan came into his life, he never saw a reason to change it. His personal life was just that. In the last month, he’d been forced to share more of himself than ever before. It never became easier for him, but the reasons behind doing so did. Anything for you, Morgan.
On the ride to meet up with Bennett, Shaun made a quick call to Trent.
“There’s been a change of plans, Trent.”
“Do you want to buy the company instead of crushing it?”
“Hell, no. I’m going to use it as leverage for a deal I need him to take. If he goes for it, I’ll need you to pull back so they can rebuild what they’ve lost.”
“That’s not going to be easy for them to do at this point. You said crush and that is one of my specialties.”
He’d known that when he’d asked Trent for his help. How Walter was going to able to save his company was not his issue. He was going to give him the chance to rebuild, but that was all he’d promise to do.
“This woman sure must be special to you to have just thrown away millions of dollars on something you’re not even going through with.”
You don’t know the half of it. “I’m meeting with the Sapps in ten minutes. We should know shortly what, if anything, needs to be done.”
“I’ll be ready, just say the word.”
“Thanks, Trent, I owe you.”
Bennett’s team pulled up behind the limo, and he and his men got inside.
“What did you find out?”
“The stalker guy won’t be bothering her again.”
“One of Walters’s men?”
“No. A regular pervert off the street. Trust me. He won’t be anywhere near her again.”
One down. One to go. “Good. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Shaun, Loras, Bennett, and his two men entered the building. The man at the security desk looked like he was about to shit his pants. Yeah. I wouldn’t want to have to say no to us either.
You & Me Make Three: Barrington Billionaire's Series: Book Three Page 16