by Eliza Ellis
Kori checked her phone again. No messages. It was just as well. A clean break was better than a messy one. Although she had hoped to hear from Sabrina, after the way she’d left Marshall, she hadn’t expected anything more from him.
Well, nothing more than the return of her heart.
Chapter 20
Kori and her mother walked into Kat’s new bakery. It wasn’t open to the public yet, but everything looked shiny and ready for the first customers. The only thing missing were rows and rows of sweet desserts behind the glass showcases on the counters.
“Kat, this is amazing,” Kori said in awe as her eyes scanned the small restaurant. It boasted a number of tables both inside and outside, and a chalkboard menu on the wall that would list the daily special flavors. Kat had chosen bright colors in her decorations, and the place already smelled like she’d been baking all morning. Warm and sweet.
“Doesn’t it?” Drew wrapped an arm around Kat’s middle and brought her in close, planting a kiss on her cheek. “I told her she better get back there and start baking me some sweets.”
Kat swatted him with a small dishtowel. “You’ve got plenty of sweet.”
“Sure do.” He kissed her full on the mouth.
Kori looked away, her heart wrenching in pain. It’d been a week since she’d left Italy and still no word from Marshall. Foolishly, she wanted to know if he was still the CEO of his company. And Sabrina was conveniently avoiding her calls and not returning her text messages. She never expected to lose both the man she loved and her best friend in less than a month’s time.
The only thing keeping her sane was researching for her new business. She had a website, plenty of marketing set up, the list of services she would provide, and accounting all set to go. The only two things left were the launch and getting clients. Two of the most difficult things.
“How was everything?” Kat asked in a sober tone.
The gravesite. Kori had visited where her father had been laid to rest with her mother. They’d had a nice, long talk about missed opportunities and unmet expectations. Kori’s heart had started to heal, but it would be a long time before she could release the stress and tension she had self-inflicted to be what her father had always wanted. She was a success and would be again—on her own terms.
“I don’t think I could ever apologize enough,” Mary said. “I know I should’ve done more for you girls. I only hope you’ll let me do as much as I can for the rest of my life.”
“Don’t stress yourself out about it,” Kat said. She placed a serving tray full of cupcakes down on a table for them. “Eat your feelings instead.” She winked.
“Yeah, Mom. We understand now, and we’re willing to get past it. You have to, as well,” Kori added.
Mary sat down on one of the bright green chairs and took a cupcake. “I think, as a parent, it’s hard to face that you’ve failed your children in some way. You can’t get that time back to do it over again. It’ll have a lasting effect, and I don’t want any of you to suffer any more because of what happened and what I was afraid to do.”
Kori leaned over and kissed her mother’s head. “We love you, Mom.”
Mary smiled up at her daughter and wrapped an arm around her waist. “I love you, too.”
Kori sat across from her mother, thinking about Marshall and whether or not he had felt the same about Sabrina. How had their conversation gone? Kori had thought she and Sabrina were on good terms—until the silence. To preserve his relationship with Sabrina, maybe he had decided not to contact her anymore. Kori’s eyes stung again, but she blinked back the tears, determined not to let them fall.
Her phone buzzed, and she hurriedly pulled it from her purse. It wasn’t Marshall, but her lawyer. She had to be in NYC tomorrow for a meeting with Brigham’s legal team. They wanted to discuss terms.
“Terms?” Kat asked. “What does that mean? It’s not going to court?”
“That’s probably a good thing,” Drew said. “If they want a discussion, they may be willing to settle.”
“Or threaten to sue me into unrecoverable bankruptcy,” Kori muttered.
“Let’s try to be positive about this,” Mary said. “You know the truth, and so does he.”
“But he has a team—”
“We don’t know anything yet. You know what my therapist told me? She gave me an acronym to memorize. F.E.A.R. False evidence appearing real. If you don’t know anything, there’s no need to fear. Get the facts first, then make a decision.”
All pairs of eyes trained on Mary.
“Mom, when did you become this sage of wisdom?” Kat asked.
Mary smiled and licked the icing on her cupcake. “When I decided to be my own woman. I’m just sorry it took me all these years.” She grasped Kori’s hand. “You’ve always been able to do whatever you set your mind to. No matter what happens, it’ll be okay.”
And it was okay to fail. She had learned that in the days since she’d left Italy. Failure was part of the learning process. She couldn’t grow otherwise.
Tomorrow, she’d have to prove how much she’d grown.
Chapter 21
Kat exited the elevator on the thirtieth floor of the office building in downtown Manhattan. She spotted her attorney, Robin Braithwaite, at her firm’s reception desk. Robin quickly came forward, hand outstretched. “Kori! I’m so glad you were able to make it.”
Kori shook Robin’s hand. “I look like death, I know.” She touched her puffy hair, still in the same style since yesterday, and then rubbed the space beneath her eyes. “I caught the red-eye. I think I checked into the hotel at two a.m. and barely got any sleep.”
Robin scanned Kori. “Well, you look exactly how I want. Professional. Great suit, by the way.”
Kori looked down and smoothed the legs of her pants. She had chosen a hunter green pantsuit because she thought appearing in black would be bad luck. This wasn’t a funeral. Her claim wasn’t going to die a cold death at the hands of Brigham’s law firm. She and Robin were going to win. She wanted to pick a red suit for all the blood she and Robin would spill, but when Kat told her she looked amazingly sexy in red, and well…
Kori stifled her fears that this was all for nothing. On the plane, she had talked herself down to if she could just get an apology, then she’d be satisfied. It wasn’t what she really wanted, but it would be enough for her to put this whole ordeal behind her. But after the alarm jolted her up this morning, she was too ticked to accept anything less than a complete win. This man had ruined her life—almost. A week ago, she might’ve thanked him for firing her; she never would’ve met Marshall, otherwise. But Marshall was no longer in her life, so it didn’t matter anymore.
“Be confident,” Robin said as they walked toward a conference room. “If you have anything to say, please whisper it to me first, and then I’ll make the statement.” Robin rested a hand on Kori’s back and ushered her into the empty conference room. “They’ll be here in an hour. I suggest we take this time to review your statement and any other details you’d like to provide. Take a seat, and I’ll be back shortly. I’m expecting some other people to join us.”
“You are?” Kori sat at the place marked with her name on a placard.
Robin smiled. “Oh, yes. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. At least, Brigham’s team will be surprised. You might even consider giving me a raise.” She winked and disappeared through the door.
A raise? She could barely afford the first five minutes of this meeting without dipping into her retirement. Kori scanned the conference room table. Different names were on placards. A few she recognized from meeting at parties held by their bosses. Why were they invited?
Kori settled in her seat and looked over the paperwork in front of her. When she read the police report she had filed the day after the attack, the scene from that night came back and tormented her. A powerful man, angry that he couldn’t have what he wanted. And then her subsequent firing without cause.
They both knew exactly why sh
e was let go.
Kori took a deep breath and closed her eyes to settle her nerves. Robin didn’t appear anxious or even worried. She had smiled earlier when she’d mentioned other people who were coming to the meeting. Did that mean she thought they would win?
In thirty minutes, the conference table was full of people whom Brigham had either propositioned or outright attacked. A few had brought their lawyers. Those that didn’t were being represented by Robin. Kori sat stunned by the number of people who were here.
“This has been brewing for some time,” Robin had whispered to her. “When you entered my office and mentioned Mr. Noland’s name, I thought to call around other firms. Sure enough, lawsuits were already in the works. His legal team had been meeting with several attorneys.”
“I had no idea,” Kori had said, stunned. “I booked appointments for Brigham to meet with his legal team, but lately he hadn’t wanted me to attend them.”
“And now you know why.”
Brigham had kept her out of the loop about his impending harassment claims, and when he’d made a pass at her, she had to be let go immediately.
“I’m thinking,” Robin had continued, “this was about to blow up with his investors, so he agreed to have the meeting.”
On the nose, Brigham and his team of attorneys entered the room. Kori took pleasure at seeing the color drain from his face as he spied the attendees. His hardened, arrogant expression morphed into guarded fear, and by the time he sat down, he wasn’t even looking at anyone in the room.
Robin began her speech, introducing Kori and then every victim in the room, including their attorneys. Kori sat straighter, her eyes pinned on Brigham, who still refused to raise his head.
“I think we all know everyone now,” Robin said. “Everyone should be familiar to you, Mr. Noland.”
Brigham grunted.
“Police reports have been filed, and if you look at the documents I’ve provided each of you, you’ll find all the statements have been corroborated by other witnesses, who have given sworn affidavits and will be happy to testify in court,” Robin said with a lift of her chin.
Including the driver of the limo. Robin had convinced him to not recant his statement after all. Kori hoped his faith in Robin wasn’t misplaced
“We’re going to need time to review these documents,” Brigham’s lead attorney said.
“Actually, what I think should happen—since your client already knows all the information—is that he should start by giving everyone an apology. By name. Then he can agree to the figure that you’ll find on the very last page and present documents to the court of his agreement to pay that amount.”
Brigham’s head snapped up.
Robin nodded with a feline smile. “Yes, I’ve already filed, as have the attorneys in this room. In fact, I’ve also contacted the appropriate business ethics bureaus and lodged complaints with them as well.”
“This is blackmail,” Brigham spat.
The lead attorney placed a hand on his shoulder to settle him.
“Oh! Blackmail, yes. I’m so glad you came to that, Mr. Noland,” Robin said gleefully. “I have here a statement from Mr. Marshall Buchanan of Buchanan Financial? According to him, you personally contacted his company right after Ms. Kaye was hired and used your favorite tactic to convince him to fire her. Your words were—I believe, but we can check the recording Mr. Marshall sent us, very bad form to leave a voicemail—‘if you don’t fire that expletive, then I’ll make sure your company loses business from,’ and then you list a number of companies that both your firm and Buchanan Financial does business with. You also indicated you would back out of a deal you were finalizing with the company.”
Kori’s mouth hung open. Brigham had threatened Marshall? Marshall hadn’t said a word to her. His company had faced an incredible amount of scrutiny. She was a threat to a new business deal. Of course they would want her fired. Kori was familiar with the names of the companies Marshall’s firm did business with. He could’ve lost tens of millions of dollars and who knows how much his own company would’ve missed out on when their new deal went bust. Over her? Kori felt sick to her stomach. How often had he fought for her without her knowing? He had stuck up for her in front of his board when they had pressed him to fire her. Marshall had thought her worth it.
Now she felt even worse for leaving without saying goodbye. He had done so much for her in the background. How he had defended her. If ever she’d been unprofessional in her duties, it was how she had left Marshall.
“You can’t prove that was me!” Brigham shouted.
His lead attorney whispered harshly in his ear, but Kori couldn’t hear the words.
“Actually, Mr. Noland, we can. Mr. Buchanan has provided the call records showing the call was made from your office phone. And if you’d like to go through the long process of having voice recognition confirmed, we’ll be more than happy to accommodate you. Or you can just agree to our terms. You’ll find that the settlement is in line with what is being paid out by other companies of your size.”
Brigham’s closed lips moved around like he was forcing words back.
“Wrongful termination is a serious offense, Mr. Noland,” Robin said smoothly. “You will lose millions—and I’m not talking about the settlement amount. You have investors to consider.”
“I’m not going to concede,” Brigham said vehemently.
“What my client means to say is that we will review the documentation—”
“No, you idiot!” Brigham interrupted his counsel. “I said we’re not going to concede!”
“Are you drunk right now, Mr. Noland?” Robin asked with a predatory gleam in her eyes. “I hope you’re prepared for the news conference I’ve called that will take place in the lobby of this building once we’ve concluded our business here.”
“That’s really not necessary,” Brigham’s attorney said.
Robin nodded. “Oh, yes. Yes, I think it is quite necessary. As you can see, your client has had a pattern of abusive behavior to both his former employees and those of his competitors. Oh, forgive me.” Robin placed a hand over her chest and chuckled.
Kori stared at Robin’s dramatic display. She was terrified of her own attorney. She hoped Brigham would feel the fear before the meeting was over.
“I almost forgot,” Robin said, picking up a stack of papers from the table in front of her seat and crossing the room to hand it to Brigham’s lead attorney. “These are for you to review. We’ve taken the time to speak to legal counsel of each of the companies of whose employees are represented here today. They’re offering their full support to us. You see, Mr. Noland, when you do the wrong thing, you must face the consequences.”
Brigham’s face was flushed, a murderous glare on Robin.
Two hours later, a deal had been hashed out, and Robin and Kori sat in the conference room alone, drinking peach and mango smoothies from the restaurant on the third level.
“Better than champagne,” Robin said with a laugh after taking a long swig. “Thanks for the suggestion.”
“I figured it was probably better that no one see us with any alcohol, given Brigham’s history.”
“Good call.”
Kori blinked back tears. It was all over. She could rest. Actually, she could rest. She could do whatever she wanted. Take a vacation. Anywhere but Italy.
“Robin, I want to thank you.”
“No thanks needed. This was very fun. It can be a hard thing to prove, but I’m glad we were able to and that you have some justice.” Her eyes twinkled with delight. “In the form of a one with a lot of zeroes behind it.”
Robin and Kori laughed.
“What are you going to do with all the money?” Robin asked. “You don’t have to answer, of course.”
Kori responded right away. “I’m going to start my own virtual assistant business. And…I’m going to give you a raise.”
“Cheers to that!”
They clinked glasses.
Chapter 22<
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Marshall squeezed into Kaye Kakes and marveled at the number of patrons seemingly desperate to get to the front of the line. Business was booming for Kori’s sister Kat, and he hoped there were enough sweets left for him to purchase by the time he got to the front.
Sabrina had given him the wrong address for Kori’s mother. It seemed there were new owners in the home. But he did recall Kori mentioning her sister’s bakery, and it was only a matter of Googling to find its location. It was a long shot finding Kori here, but Marshall was all about taking risks.
He should’ve called, but he felt what he had to say would be best done in person. After leaving Italy, he had visited Sabrina for a few days to catch up with her and apologize. His daughter had forgotten how mad she was when she’d first been told about him falling in love with Kori. She gave him her blessing to marry Kori—if she would have him. But marriage would come later. He wasn’t the one to mention it. Sabrina said she was anticipating the future.
When he finally reached the front of the line, he told the register attendant his name and asked if he could please speak to the owner, if she was onsite. Luckily, she was, and after placing an order for a dozen assorted cupcakes, the attendant went into the kitchen.
A tall woman who looked similar to Kori emerged with a hairnet and apron on. So the owner actually baked the treats herself. He liked that. He’d done a lot of the groundwork himself when he first built his own company. Now that he was doing it again, he wondered why he had ever gotten away from it. He worked best when actually laying the foundation for the vision.
And if the one woman he wanted to see would return to him, then he’d spend as much time as he could laying the foundation for his future life to come.
“Thank you for visiting today. May I help you?”