She rolled her eyes. “Sure he will. His company will use the time to cover their tracks.”
The room got quiet. “Sam’s family has money, a lot of it. I know that. And I have a feeling that you’re holding that against Di Meglio for what that guy at Yale did to you,” Ms. Lora said.
Peyton almost choked on her hot chocolate as she stared at Ms. Lora. “How did you know about that?”
Ms. Lora gave her a small smile after taking a sip of her hot chocolate. “Your grandmother… . She found out from Audrey Duncan.”
Peyton’s eyes widened. “Audrey Duncan?”
“Yes.”
Audrey Duncan had been a friend of her grandmother’s from church. “How on earth did she know?”
“If you recall, Audrey had a cousin whose daughter attended Yale at the same time you did, and she happened to mention you leaving school after the holidays with some excuse about you needing to be near your grandmother. Well, since your grandmother was doing fine health-wise, Audrey’s cousin’s daughter assumed you were either pregnant or dumped by some well-to-do guy you were serious about on campus. Since you weren’t pregnant, we figured the latter was true.”
Peyton nodded. “Yes, the latter was true, but he didn’t dump me. I decided to cut out before he did, after overhearing a conversation between him and a friend as to why he never invited me home to meet his family.”
Ms. Lora snorted. “It was his loss and not yours. And I hope you’re not holding what happened to you at Yale against that Di Meglio guy. Not all rich people are snobs. Like I don’t believe that all big corporations would take advantage of the little guy.”
She reached out and took Peyton’s hand in hers. “Do me a favor.”
Peyton lifted a brow. “What?”
“Keep an open mind where Angelo Di Meglio is concerned. At some point you’re going to have to give your heart to some man for safekeeping. Don’t close your heart to him just because he’s wealthy and successful. Unless his family got their money illegally, someone worked hard for it. Besides that, you’re not a pauper yourself, you know.”
Peyton couldn’t help grinning because Ms. Lora was right on that account. Over the years she had put together a nice nest egg. She had worked hard for her money and invested wisely. “Okay, I’ll try and keep an open mind where Angelo is concerned.”
An hour later, after she was alone in the room once more, Peyton stared up at the ceiling and thought about what Ms. Lora had asked of her. Keeping an open mind about Angelo didn’t mean she would open herself up to heartache. Now, since she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she had fallen in love with him, she would have to protect her heart more than ever.
Chapter 26
“Okay, Angelo. What’s going on with you and Peyton?”
Angelo tensed as he leaned back in the chair behind his desk. Leave it to Sam to ask the one question he’d rather not answer. He shifted his cell phone to his other ear. “I don’t know. How about you tell me?”
“Look, stop being a smart-ass and answer my question. Since Peyton returned from Chicago she’s been pretty tight-lipped. She comes into the office early and stays late. It’s been almost two weeks. I’m back in Houston now, but I talked to Mac and nothing has changed. What did you do to her?”
Angelo rolled his eyes. Of course he would be the guilty one. “I didn’t do anything to her.” Other than give her my heart, he thought, but refrained from saying. He’d called Peyton a number of times but she refused to return his calls. “And why are you calling me? She’s your best friend. Why don’t you ask her?”
“I tried but she clammed up on me and said she’d rather I didn’t inquire about the relationship between the two of you. But I’m inquiring, at least to you. I love you both, and I hate seeing the two of you miserable.”
He shrugged. “Who says I’m miserable?”
She chuckled softly. “A better question might be who says you’re not miserable? I hear you’re just as bad as Peyton, working long hours and keeping to yourself.”
He couldn’t deny the truth. Since returning from Chicago, instead of taking time off as planned, he’d decided to return to work at full speed. He arrived early and worked until he was bone-tired at night. That was the only way he could go home and not stay awake most of the night thinking about Peyton. She had made her decision, and he would have to live with it.
He decided to tell his sister what had gone down in Chicago. As he talked he replayed every single moment in his mind.
“And you’re sure about Gallant? What if someone has falsified the reports and they are guilty? That many people getting sick is no joke, Angelo.”
“I know, and trust me, you don’t hear me laughing. I ordered additional tests be done before agreeing to represent Gallant, and the judge accepted those results without ordering new ones as Peyton requested. She wanted the water samples analyzed by an impartial party designated by the courts. Based on the test results I saw, Gallant isn’t guilty of anything.”
“But someone is,” Sam said quietly.
“Yes, someone is. And that’s why I hired Alex. If anyone can uncover the truth, it’s him. If I’m mistaken and Gallant is responsible, I will no longer represent them. In fact I will work with Peyton to nail them.”
“Did you tell Dad that?”
“Yes, and he supports my position.” Angelo hadn’t been surprised. As much as his family had wanted the Gallant account, they wouldn’t hesitate to let it go if they discovered the company had been untruthful. The Di Meglio law firm didn’t operate that way.
His phone beeped. He checked the caller ID and saw it was Alex. “Okay, Sam, I need to get this call. It’s Alex.”
“All right, Angelo. Let me know if he’s found anything.”
Angelo clicked on the other line. “Alex?”
“Yes. You got a minute?”
“Sure. Is it about the Pembrook Pines investigation?” Angelo asked, hopefully. He needed to know something—good or bad.
“Yes, and I think it’s time for someone to go to jail.”
* * *
“Do you want to do lunch today?”
Peyton looked up from the documents spread across her desk and glanced over at Mac, who was standing in her doorway. She hadn’t heard the door open. “No, thanks, I’m not hungry.”
Mac shook her head as she came into the office and dropped down in the chair opposite Peyton’s desk. “You’re still not in a talkative mood about what’s going on with you and Angelo?”
Peyton shrugged. “There’s really nothing to talk about, Mac. For the second time in my life, I fell in love and then got hurt.”
Mac couldn’t keep the surprise off of her face. “So you admit to loving Angelo?”
“Didn’t have much of a choice once I realized what those feelings were that I had been experiencing. And the sad thing was that I was going to tell him how I felt that night before the hearing happened.”
Mac lifted a brow. “What hearing?”
Peyton drew in a deep breath and began telling Mac about what happened while she was in Chicago. Mac didn’t say anything but listened to everything she said. It was only when she’d finished and told Mac how she hadn’t taken any of Angelo’s calls over the past two weeks that Mac offered Peyton some advice.
“First of all, I can’t believe this is the first I’m hearing about you and Angelo in a courtroom. And I assume Sam doesn’t know as well.”
Peyton shook her head. “If she knows it wasn’t because I told her. She and Angelo are close so he might have said something to her about it.”
Now it was Mac who shook her head. “I doubt it. Mainly because Sam and I have been talking, trying to figure out what’s going on with you and Angelo. That night you two were at Sam’s for dinner anyone could see how great you were together, and I could
see you softening toward him.”
Peyton didn’t say anything as she remembered that night. It had been a wonderful weekend. The best. Her attraction to him was at an all-time high, but her feelings for him had run even deeper. Before the night was over, she admitted to herself that she had found in Angelo something she thought she would never experience again with any man. Love.
“I hate to play devil’s advocate, but what did you expect him to do once he realized you were the opposing counsel? Tell the people at Gallant he couldn’t represent them because the two of you were lovers and he couldn’t be impartial? Would you have done the same for Ms. Lora? Or did you expect him not to be on top of his game just because it was you?”
“Of course not!”
“Then what, Peyton? Angelo is an attorney, and like you, he’s a darn good one. It’s our job to defend people, even people we’d rather not defend. Remember last year when I had to defend that child molester who was out on parole and felt the community he’d moved into was discriminating against him?”
Mac shifted in her seat to a more comfortable position. “I was pregnant at the time and as an expectant mother, a part of me wanted to tell him he was getting just what he deserved for his horrendous crimes. But I remembered the oath I took as an attorney. We have to put our personal feelings aside and do the right thing, and I’m sure you would agree that the right thing was for Angelo to protect his client’s interest, just as you were doing.”
Peyton slowly got up from her seat and went to the window and looked out. It would be nice if when she went to bed at night she didn’t think about Angelo, or didn’t think about him in the mornings and during the day. But the bottom line was that she thought about him all the time.
She slowly turned around. “Why does life have to be complicated?”
Mac chuckled. “Good question, and I have another one. Why do women fall in love with men who we initially assume are all wrong for us? You know my history with Luke and Sam’s with Blade. But look at us now.”
Mac stood and stretched. “And to answer your question, life is complicated when we make it that way. You’re upset and hurt over what Angelo was doing, and all he was doing was his job. Maybe that’s something that you need to think about.”
* * *
The next day, Peyton was still thinking. In fact, she hadn’t thought much about anything else. She had talked to Ms. Lora, and there hadn’t been any reports of any others living in Pembrook Pines getting sick, and that was good. Maybe Gallant had decided not to risk exposure and was cleaning up their act, literally. If that was the case, then maybe something good had come out of the hearing, after all.
But that good news hadn’t flowed over to her relationship with Angelo. Had her expectations of him been unrealistic? Had she used the hearing as an excuse to back away because she’d felt herself falling hard and needed some way out?
“Ms. Mahoney?”
Her secretary’s voice over the intercom interrupted her thoughts. “Yes, Priscilla?”
“Alexander Maxwell is here to see you.”
She frowned. Why was Alex here to see her? “Please send him in.” She stood and moved around her desk and was standing and waiting when Priscilla escorted him into her office.
She smiled upon seeing him. “Alex, you’re a long way from home, aren’t you?”
He chuckled. “Not too far, but I miss Christy and the kids anyway.”
As she stared at him she couldn’t help but think that Alexander Maxwell was a good-looking man who made no secret about the fact that he adored his family. He was married to Blade and Slade’s cousin, Christy. They had a three-year-old daughter named Alexandria Christina, and two months ago Christy had given him a son, Christian Alexander. “And congratulations on the birth of your son.”
She watched his face light up in a huge, proud grin. “Thanks. Christy, AC and I are happy about Christian. Now if we can only get him to sleep through the night,” he said, taking the chair Peyton offered.
“Yes, I bet. So what brings you to Oklahoma?” she asked, moving back around her desk to take her seat.
“I got a call from Angelo a few weeks ago about doing an investigation,” he said, placing a briefcase on his lap and opening it.
She lifted a brow. “An investigation?”
“Yes. It seems a number of people were getting sick from drinking water and you believed Gallant Chemicals was responsible.”
Peyton was surprised Angelo had hired Alex to pursue the matter any further. She nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Well, I discovered the drinking water was tainted with harmful chemicals, but not from Gallant. And to make sure, we brought in a team of experts from Madaris Explorations. Gallant agreed to let them come in and conduct their own series of tests on the water supply.”
That was another surprise for Peyton since she knew Gallant was under no legal obligation to do so. It showed their willingness to uncover the truth.
“Once we were sure we could eliminate them as the culprit, we began investigating other businesses in the area whose water supplies were linked to Pembrook Pines,” Alex said. “All of them were in compliance except for one. In fact, we were able to capture on video the person actually dumping harmful toxins in the Arvada Lake.”
Peyton sat up straight in her chair. “You’re kidding. And what company was it?”
“Conyers Print Shop.”
Peyton nearly fell out of her chair. “Conyers Print Shop?”
“Yes.”
“But that’s owned by Seymour Conyers. He and I went to school together. He knows a lot of the people who live in Pembrook Pines.”
“Well, that might be the case, but Mr. Conyers was caught on video illegally dumping industrial waste from his printing press facility into the river just last week. All the evidence was handed over to the police this morning, and I got word that he was picked up an hour or so ago. And I understand that after thorough questioning he’s admitted to it. Frankly, there was little else he could do after being caught red-handed.”
Peyton closed her eyes and rested her head back against her chair. She couldn’t believe it. Seymour had been at that hearing, sitting there watching as she tried making a case against Gallant. He knew about the people getting sick, yet he had dumped illegal chemicals in the water supply again as recently as last week? What on earth could he have been thinking?
She opened her eyes and met Alex’s gaze. “Did he give a reason for what he did?”
Alex nodded. “I understand he said business had slacked off, and he couldn’t afford to get rid of all those chemicals the way he should have.”
“So he risked people’s lives instead?” she said angrily, shaking her head, unable to comprehend how Seymour could have done such a thing. He was one of the South Side’s success stories, and he repaid the community this way?
Alex stood. “Here’s the full report, Peyton. Angelo wanted me to make sure I personally delivered you a copy.”
Angelo.
She inhaled a deep breath, realizing what that report meant, especially when she remembered all the things she’d said to him. She had been wrong on all accounts. “Thanks,” she said, taking the file from Alex. It was thick, and she intended to read every page of it.
She stood, needing to change the subject as she thought things through. “I understand Gina and Mitch are expecting again,” she said, smiling. Gina and Mitch Ferrell were close friends of the Madaris family, who Peyton had gotten to know through her friendship with Mac and Sam.
Alex chuckled. “Yes. Christy spoke with Gina last night, and she and Mitch are happy about it. We’ve been telling them for years that Cameron needed a baby sister or brother.”
He smiled. “And Rasheed and his wife are expecting again as well,” Alex added. Rasheed Valdemon was a sheikh in a Middle Eastern kingdom and ano
ther close friend of the Madaris family.
An hour later, after Alex had left, Peyton had finally read the last of the report that Alex had left with her. He had been thorough in his investigation, and to bring Madaris Explorations in to oversee the analysis had been brilliant. Their reputation was stellar, not only in Texas but around the country. Reese Madaris was the foreman, and he no doubt had a number of important projects on his plate. Yet he had taken time out of his busy schedule to assemble his team to investigate the drinking-water contamination.
At that moment, her cell phone rang. It was then that she noticed how late it was. The office had closed a half hour ago. She checked the caller ID and saw that it was Ms. Lora. No doubt she was calling to let Peyton know what had happened with Seymour.
* * *
“Pulling another late-nighter, I see.”
Angelo looked up from the papers he’d been reading to observe his mother’s face. He saw concern and understood why. He had returned to the law firm and immediately began working longer hours when he’d sworn he would cut back.
He tossed his pen aside. “Yes, I need to familiarize myself with this case I might be taking on.”
Kayla Di Meglio nodded as she entered and took the chair across from his desk. “Do you want to talk about it?”
He lifted a brow. “The case?”
“No, what’s really going on with you, Angelo. Namely, what’s going on with you and Peyton?”
Do you want to talk about it? He leaned back in his chair and recalled he’d asked Peyton that same question a couple of times before she’d finally told him that he had a habit of asking Sam that whenever he was in a brotherly mood. Now he knew where he’d gotten it from.
He wasn’t surprised that his mother was aware of his relationship with Peyton. He’d learned over the years that when it came to their children, his parents rarely kept anything from each other.
There was no reason to pretend he didn’t know what she was talking about. It wouldn’t work with his mother anyway. “I can tell you what’s going on in one statement. I’ve fallen in love with a woman who doesn’t trust me to do the right thing.”
Courting Justice Page 22