Freedom (Billionaire Secrets Series, #2)

by Lexy Timms

  Chapter 7

  “What the hell are you doing?” Simon stomped over to the man looming over the garbage bin.

  “Simon, wait!” she cried, terrified of what the stranger might do to him. Too late—Simon had already gotten in the guy’s face.

  Her heart started to hammer. What if the guy had already snapped a picture of them together? What if he got a shot of Simon being aggressive? Worst of all, what if the guy hurt Simon? That would only add fuel to the fire.

  The photographer held his hands up. “Hey, buddy, I don’t want any trouble. I’m just doing my job.”

  Simon reached for the guy, but in the blink of an eye the photographer managed to slip out of his grasp and make a run for it.

  She watched in horror as Simon started to race after him. She tried to chase him. “Simon, don’t! This is exactly what they want!”

  The comment made him stop in his tracks and he spun around to look at her. The photographer was getting away, but she didn’t care. The thought of Simon getting hurt in a scuffle was already making her start to tremble.

  He headed back over to her and stared deep into her eyes. “Are you okay? You look pale.”

  “I thought he was going to hurt you,” she breathed.

  What was wrong with her? Simon was fine. Neither of them had been hurt. However, she had thought he might get hurt for a moment, and that was making her break out into a cold sweat.

  Her legs wobbled, and she felt them give out from under her. Before she hit the ground, Simon wrapped his strong arms around her to steady her. She collapsed against the solid weight of his hard body.

  Dizziness was making her head spin.

  “Let’s get you back inside,” he said firmly.

  She didn’t argue. All she could do was nod and let him help her back into the lobby, where he quickly warned the concierge about the reporter, and then continued to help her until they stepped back into his apartment.

  Once inside, he eased her down onto one of the sofas in the living room. He got her a glass of water and then took a seat beside her.

  “How’re you feeling?” he asked. “Do you need to lie down?”

  She shook her head. “No. I just need to catch my breath.” She shut her eyes, trying to make the room stop spinning. When she opened them again she found Simon looking intently at her, a serious expression on his face.

  How was she going to explain to him that she had freaked out thinking that photographer might hurt Simon? This wasn’t a normal reaction to being worried about her boss. It was the kind of reaction she had over people she cared about.

  Cared about.

  Oh, shit. No. She couldn’t care about Simon. Not now. Not ever. A silly schoolgirl crush was one thing, but anything more would destroy everything. With Gary trying to take Finn away from her, she couldn’t afford to have strong feelings.

  He pressed his hand to her forehead. “You’re shaking.”

  “I thought that guy might hurt you. Us, I mean,” she said. The truth was, she had been far more worried about that photographer hurting Simon than she had been for her own safety. But admitting that to Simon would lead to a world of trouble neither of them could afford.

  “Not while I’m around.” He captured her chin in his hands, forcing her to look at him. His touch was already soothing her. Making her heart rate begin to slow down. Chasing her fears away. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. Not now. Not ever.”

  His words made her heart start to race all over again. No! a voice inside her head was shouting at her. Warning her not to give in to her feelings or desires this time. Not to fall into his arms and let him kiss her senseless.

  The media was already invading their lives. The least she could do was try to protect Finn from that. If she didn’t have the strength to protect her own heart, she would protect her son.

  She shot to her feet. “I need to go to the bathroom. Let me splash some cold water on my face. That’ll make me feel better.”

  Surprise flashed in his eyes. He had probably thought they were having a moment. Which they were. But she had to be strong now. She had to resist temptation. No matter what. Even if it was making her chest tighten so painfully she could hardly breathe.

  “Down the hall on the right,” he finally said. “I’ll mix us a drink. Something stronger than water.”

  While he busied himself at the bar, she went into the bathroom. The cold water helped a bit. Woke her up to reality. She hadn’t come over here to pine over Simon. There were documents he needed to sign, and they needed to go over plans for dealing with the press. This was a professional meeting. Nothing more.

  When she walked back into the living room she found a sandwich and a glass of amber liquid with ice waiting for her on the table.

  She smiled in spite of herself. “You cooked?”

  “You’re funny,” he said. “No. I put a sandwich together, which is all I can do. Truth be told, I don’t even know why I have all those appliances in the kitchen. It’s not like I do anything more than order takeout and stuff ham slices between bread.”

  She laughed and sat down beside him, taking a swig of the liquid. Scotch. “Remember when we were kids and we wanted to make a meal for your parents?”

  He cringed. “I do remember. Dad had finally come home from working out at sea for weeks and we decided to have a surprise party for him. I think this was before he started doing factory work. Wasn’t there a cake involved?”

  “Yeah, there was,” she said. “Didn’t you get some of the ingredients mixed up?”

  “No, you’re not going to pin this on me,” he said. “You were the one who put salt in the cake, not me.”

  “I distinctly remember you measuring out the salt,” she said.

  “It looked like sugar,” he insisted with a chuckle.

  “If we had tasted the batter like I suggested we probably would have realized our screw-up before serving your poor father a salted cake,” she pointed out.

  “I was eleven years old—what did I know?” He grinned and finished his drink. “Why don’t you eat something while I sign those documents?”

  Right. Business. Work. It was so easy to start reminiscing with him. So easy to get sidetracked.

  For her, Simon represented a happy time in her life. A time when everything was simple and wonderful. And though spending time with him now as an adult wasn’t always simple, it was wonderful no matter how much her heart ached. Being around him always made her feel like she was dancing on a cloud that she might fall from.

  She shoved her silly schoolgirl notions aside and reached into her briefcase to retrieve the documents. She handed them over to Simon and then took a bite out of her ham sandwich. Sure, Simon couldn’t cook, but there was something special about having a billionaire dote on her like this.

  With the papers signed they started discussing ways to deal with the press.

  “What if that reporter got something important?” she asked him.

  “Trust me, I’ve been fending off the press for years,” he replied. “They’ve never been bad enough to go through trash before, but I’ve got a damn good disposal system and anything sensitive is well taken care off. That guy probably got a handful of old leftovers and nothing more.”

  “With all the effort you put into keeping your privacy, I’m amazed the media got wind of the story,” she said.

  His jaw clenched. “That’s amazed me, too. I suspect someone at the law firm the family lawyer works at had something to do with it, so I’m working on getting that looked into.”

  He hadn’t told her that he had been looking into the law firm, but that probably had to stay quiet. It didn’t feel good that she hadn’t been informed, but she couldn’t afford to take things personally now. “That’s good,” she said. “It’s terrible that someone might have broken your trust like that.”

  “Yes. Terrible,” he said stiffly. His face darkened.

  A cloud seemed to have come over him since she had brought up his privacy. No doubt he wa
s troubled by the way the story had gotten out. That kind of thing would unnerve anyone. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if Simon’s trust in her had eroded. Eroded enough for him to not tell her about investigating the law firm.

  It was hard to blame him if he had lost trust in her. After all, the scandal was partially her fault. Plus, she had lied to him at the start of their working relationship right after his previous assistant had betrayed the company.

  She bit her lip. The best thing she could do to ease whatever his doubts might be was to throw herself into her work even more. Show him how committed she was to Dover no matter how shaky things were right now. Then he’d see that they could put the scandal behind them.

  If he trusted her, she’d have a better chance of staying on at Dover. And with Gary coming after Finn, she was going to need a stable job if she wanted to prove that she was a good mother.

  They steered the conversation back to Dover and company issues. Heather oversaw most of the communications Simon received, but he gave her the go-ahead to sort things out with him and the media department if things got dicey. For now, the press hadn’t been able to reach Simon. After years of fending them off, she knew that he’d figured out a way to keep the media at arm’s length.

  Still, rifling through his trash was a new low for the press, and she made sure to take that lesson home with her in order to protect Finn.

  “Does that about wrap things up?” he asked suddenly.

  She glanced at her watch and realized the time. “I believe so. I’m sorry, did you have plans?” Expecting someone? She held her hand up. “Sorry. That’s none of my business.” Blushing, she quickly stuffed the remaining papers on the table into her briefcase and headed toward the door. “If there’s anything we missed, I’ll see if I can pdf it over to you or it can wait till Monday.” Simon followed her to the door. She knew she was near the verge of babbling but realized she didn’t want to know if someone was coming to his apartment. He had every right to be dating or seeing someone. She... sigh... She just didn’t want to know. “Thanks for taking care of all this. And for going out of your way to try to protect me. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

  Simon smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It takes two, Heather. And one of us knew better.”

  She paused as she stepped through the doorway into the hall. She turned and opened her mouth to say goodbye one last time; instead, she pressed her face right into his chest.

  He stepped back quickly.

  “I’m sorry,” she managed, “I didn’t realize you were following me out.” Was she going to spend a lifetime apologizing to him? She kept her head down, hoping he wouldn’t see her blushing. He smelled beyond good and felt incredibly solid against her. She was tempted to press up against him again.

  “Do you want me to walk you down to your car?”

  She straightened as she realized she was the one fooling herself. He wasn’t interested in her. He’d made that clear. “It’s fine. I’ll see you Monday.” She glanced up quickly, trying to meet his gaze, but couldn’t hold it. She turned and hurried to the elevator, pressing the button more times than she needed to. The doors slid open immediately and she stepped inside, fanning herself and wondering why she suddenly felt so warm.

  HEATHER MADE SURE TO lay low throughout the weekend. It was better to stay home and spend time with Finn anyway. She had always treasured every moment with her son, but now she treasured them even more.

  She woke up bright and early Monday morning to drive Finn to school. It didn’t matter if the media was hungry—she wasn’t going to give up her morning routine with her son. After dropping him off, she drove to work.

  Stepping into Dover’s lobby made her stomach flutter. Everyone in the lobby turned to stare at her as she walked in. She hadn’t been inside Dover’s offices since the story broke, and she had no idea what to expect from her coworkers. They had probably spent the morning gossiping about her and Simon.

  Doing her best to ignore the stares and whispers she made her way up to her office, making sure she kept her head held high the entire time.

  She spotted Simon walking towards her office. “Good morning.”

  “We have a problem,” he said.

  “More reporters?” she asked.

  “Worse.” He handed the cell phone in his hands over to her.

  There was a video on the screen. With a frown, she pressed the play button and her ex-husband suddenly appeared. The angle was jerky, but that was definitely Gary. Smug, satisfied smile and all.

  In the video footage, a camera was being shoved in Gary’s face.

  “Mr. Hall,” a shrill voice off-camera cried out. “You were the one who discovered the CEO of Dover Inc. with his assistant. Do you have anything to add?”

  “To add to the fact that I caught the guy screwing my wife?” Gary asked with a growl. “That guy destroyed my family. He turned my wife against me. Now all I have left in the world is my son. And I’m here at the courthouse today to fight for my boy. Ever since Simon Diesel showed up, she won’t let me see him.”

  Heather gasped. “That’s a lie! Gary makes all these plans to see Finn and he never shows up.”

  “The media didn’t come close to getting my side of the story,” Gary continued in the footage. “I caught them having sex in my house.”

  “But your wife released a statement saying that the relationship is over,” another off-camera voice said. “Isn’t their relationship strictly professional now?”

  “No,” Gary said. “Heather is still sleeping with her boss.”

  Suddenly the footage began to shake violently.

  “Get that camera out of my face!” Gary thundered before the video cut out.

  Heather stared at the black screen, a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. She should have known that Gary wouldn’t want to sort things out privately. Now he had just added even more fuel to the fire with his lies.

  “This is bad,” she said weakly.

  He took her elbow and guided her into his office, shutting the door behind him. “Your husband is a loose cannon.”

  “Gary isn’t my husband,” she insisted. “He’s my ex-husband.”

  “Well your ex is the one thing we can’t control.” Anger flashed in his blue eyes. “We were supposed to keep a low profile. Focus on work while this story cooled down. But your ex just made things worse. Dover is trending on social media; did you know that?”

  She felt nauseated. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry.”

  Simon sighed. “It’s not your fault that your ex-husband is a complete ass.” He crossed his arms and looked down at her. “What did he mean when he said he wanted to fight for your son?”

  There was no escaping now. Simon would probably have figured it out eventually. And she knew that, once he did, he’d blame himself for her troubles. If her slamming the door on them had bothered him, it wouldn’t now. Not if he knew how far Gary was willing to go to punish her for her mistakes. He would never want any part of a relationship that meant he would have to deal with her vengeful, controlling ex-husband. “Gary wants full custody of Finn.”

  “What? That’s crazy. On what grounds?”

  “He says I’m unfit,” she replied in a small voice. “He says he wants to protect Finn, but really he just wants to punish me for my terrible choices. The press is going to eat it up.”

  “He wants to punish you for being with me,” he said.

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “And he’s willing to destroy Dover to do it,” Simon said darkly. “Because that’s where this is headed. The media frenzy over this will completely overshadow the roll-out of the new products. They’ve just been released. Numbers haven’t come in, but a disaster like this could ruin everything.”

  Everything he had worked for his whole life. All because of her.

  With one foolish decision, she had put her son in danger and torpedoed a company. Dover had so many employees. She hadn’t known her coworkers very long, but e
veryone had been so friendly and welcoming. What if she got laid off because of this? She’d never be able to forgive herself.

  “There has to be a way we can fix this,” she said.

  He crossed over to his desk. “There might be. I have an idea. But it’s impossible without you.” Simon grabbed an envelope from the stack of papers on his desk and walked back over to her.

  “What’s this?” she asked as he handed the envelope to her.

  “Open it.”

  She reached into the envelope and pulled out thick piece of paper in a familiar color, covered in elegant writing. An invitation. Heather read over the words. “Our high school reunion. But, I never got an invite.”

  “That’s probably because you went to another high school for your senior year,” he reminded her. “They probably only sent out invitations to graduates. Ordinarily I wouldn’t go to something like this, but these are desperate times.”

  It was almost impossible for her to imagine Simon at an event like a reunion. His privacy meant so much to him that he guarded his private life obsessively. A reunion would likely be torture for him. Torture made worse by the scandal. “You’re going to go to this thing?”

  “Yes, but only because it might help us save everything,” he said. “And that can only happen if you agree to this.”

  Her eyes widened. “Agree to what?”

  “Come to the reunion.” He reached for her hand. “Heather, this can only work if you come with me, and agree to be my date.”

  Chapter 8

  Be my date.

  His words hung in the air, stirring a tension between them.

  He knew he’d just asked the impossible. Requested something that was going to destroy the last shred of privacy either of them had. But they were running out of options. The media, his company... it felt like everyone was squeezing them hard, and with Gary so difficult to control they had to steer the narrative back in their direction. What a stupid idea. And yet...

  She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

  “It’s not a romantic date,” he blurted out, ignoring the fact that he wished things could be romantic between them. “It would be more like me escorting you.”