That evening, I invited her to stay with me. The truth was, I was hoping she’d move in and we’d be a family. Granted, I’d need a bigger place, but I was already scouting that out. But she declined, saying Maya needed to have her regular routine going into the week. I thought she was feeding me bullshit since she was staying at Petal’s but until I could get her alone, I couldn’t confront her about it.
When I showed up at work, she was busy on the phone, which was a good sign. Business was starting to take off. So, I went to my office, and began to work through the surveillance footage April had gone through. She’d flagged a few items for us to review.
A few hours later, I took a break. April wasn’t at her desk. I went into the breakroom. She wasn’t there either.
“If you’re looking for April, she went to lunch,” Cyrus said, eating a sandwich as he looked over a folder.
I grabbed a cup of coffee. “I’ve been looking at the tapes she flagged. She noticed a few patterns.”
Cyrus looked up intrigued. “Do they mean anything?”
I nodded. “It's a team effort, like we thought. Several in lower management are stealing from the retail stores. Not one inside man, but at least half a dozen of them. And they’re good. They’re using folks from other stores that employees wouldn’t recognize.”
“Clever. Are we ready to talk to Mr. Lassen?”
“I have a few more tapes to review, and I want to check some of the conspirators’ records, but I think we can let him know we’ll have something shortly.”
Cyrus finished his lunch and stood. “I’ll give him a call with an update and to expect a full report shortly.”
I followed him to his office, grabbing my notes on the way and handing them to him. As he dialed, I heard the front door open. Either April was returning or we had a visitor. Either way, I wanted to check.
I walked to the front entry and stopped short.
“August.” I fisted my hands, and it was all I could do to keep myself from pummeling him. The only thing stopping me was that going to jail could hurt my chances with April, and in being Maya’s father.
“I always knew you were low class, and you proved it by putting your hands on my sister again.”
In the military, I learned to control my emotions. To stay focused on not let things like hate or fear cloud my judgement. I tapped into that ability as August spoke.
“To come back here and walk into her life like nothing happened and go back to defiling my sister is worse than low class. You’re trash,” he finished.
I took a breath, reining in rage that seeped out from my pores. “It wasn’t eight years of nothing, August, and you know it. It was eight years of living a lie. A lie you perpetrated.”
“You can tell yourself that, but if you really cared for her, you wouldn’t have left in the first place.”
The rage ratcheted up. “You have some fucking nerve, August.”
“Do you use that mouth around my sister? My niece.”
“You’re the one that said I needed to prove myself. To make something of myself. I left to do that. You know I did. She knows I did. But that wasn’t enough, was it? You had to make sure she and I were apart. Tell me, August, did you decide to betray your sister before or after you learned she was pregnant? Were you afraid she’d leave you alone, and since you’re such a snivelling, uninteresting, piece of shit, you knew no one would be your friend? Have you even gotten laid since high school?”
Yes, it was petty and immature, but at least I wasn’t hitting him.
“I was protecting my sister from you. She deserves better.”
He probably wasn’t wrong about that. But there were worse than me. “Like Matt London? The guy who screws anything with tits? That’s what you want for April. Or is it money? You don’t care who he bangs, as long as he has money?”
August eyes narrowed. “And how is it that you're better?
“I’d never betray her, unlike you. You’re a lying conniving bastard. Your parents would be so disappointed in you.”
He surprised me by shoving me against the wall. Instinct immediately took over, and I grabbed him, reversed our positions, and pinned him against the wall and then I let loose.
“You fucking stole my child. Seven years, August. I missed her birth. Her first steps. What sort of fucking monster are you to take that from someone? What did I ever do to you to deserve that?”
“You fucked my sister—”
“I love your sister, August. You fucking douche.” I pushed him; his head knocked against the wall.
“You don’t know love. Your family was as dysfunctional as they come.”
“You don’t know love either, which makes no sense because you had great parents and a loving sister. There’s something wrong with you up here,” I tapped his temple, “that you’re morally corrupt.”
“I’ll ruin you. I’ll make sure your business fails.”
“Go ahead and try. I wonder what all your country club friends will think when they learn that you stole my child. That you betrayed your own sister, and August, I’m not just talking about what you did to break us up. Now that April is finding her footing. Asserting her own power, how long before she decides to take her part of the trust and discovers all the things you’ve done to keep her from it?”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m only looking out for her. She has a home. She has a job—”
“She shouldn’t be an employee in the company her father founded, you greedy bastard. You want to control her so you can keep the trust.”
“That’s not true—” August pushed at me. I let him go and stepped back, feeling like I’d made my point. But then he took a swing at me. “I’m going to destroy you.”
I ducked then grabbed him and pressed him against the wall again. “I’m a decorated Navy SEAL. You’re the man who lies and cheats. Who betrays his sister and steals a child. Let’s see who this town sides with, shall we?”
“Jude.” Cyrus’ hand pressed on my shoulder and pulled me back.
I released August. “Bring it on, August. Based on this meeting, I suspect, just like when we were in high school, I’ll come out on top, and you’ll look like the snivelling loser you always were.”
“I mean it, Jude. You’re done in this town.” August fixed his tie and headed out.
I couldn’t decide if I should be worried. August’s family was well known and liked in Bismarck. He’d had eight years to make his own mark. I’d been gone. Still, if he behaved the same with others as he did with April and me, chances were, he didn’t have many loyal fans. I wondered where April would fall in this dispute.
“Why is that man so pissed off at you?” Cyrus asked. “Then again, I might be pissed because it appears that you’ve attacked a potential client.”
I sucked in a calming breath, watching August until he disappeared from view. Then I turned to Cyrus. “That crazed man is April’s brother. Believe it or not, he used to be my best friend. Or so I thought.” I really wanted a drink, and decided to grab one from the bottle stashed in the bottom drawer of my desk.
“That’s a long time to hold a grudge,” Cyrus said following me.
I pulled out the scotch and two small glasses. I poured two fingers of the liquid in both. “He ran me out of town eight years ago.” I set one glass in front of Cyrus and downed mine, pouring another two fingers.
“Why did you come back then?”
I wasn’t sure if Cyrus’s concern was about my feud with August or that August would hurt our business.
I stared him in the eyes because he deserved the truth. “Because I promised April that I would come back for her. Even though that mother fucker forged a letter from her telling me it was over, it never was for me.” I sank down into my chair.
Cyrus sat too, watching me as he sipped his drink.
“He forged a letter so I wouldn’t return, knowing full well, April was pregnant.”
Cyrus arched a brow.
“He fucking stole my kid.”
&nbs
p; This time both brows rose. “Kid?”
I nodded, the pain and hate tearing at my heart. “I have a seven-year-old daughter. I never knew, Cy, I swear to fucking God.”
His eyes softened. “I believe you. You’re not the type to abandon a woman, especially a pregnant one.”
I finished my scotch and contemplated having more, but then I remembered April and Maya. I couldn’t go around drowning my issues in booze. That was what my father had done.
“Can he ruin you? Your business? Our business?”
“I won’t let him. April won’t either.”
“Are you sure? We have a lot riding on this, Jude. While I sympathize with your situation, I have to consider my own as well.”
I nodded. “I know. I’m sorry this seems so fucked up. August has a family legacy behind him, but his own personality isn’t one that endears people. He always resented that I could move through life easily. People naturally liked me, even though I usually didn’t give much of a shit about them.”
Cyrus frowned.
I shrugged. “In high school, everyone is so fake. People are friends only because they get something out of it, usually popularity. I wasn’t into the bullshit. Oh sure, when it served me, I could fit in. But I didn’t like anyone, except August.”
“Why? If he’s a jerk.”
“At first, I mostly looked after him, since he was bullied pretty badly. We became friends eventually.”
Cyrus cocked his head. “How much of your friendship with him was to be near April?”
I sat back, never having considered that. I thought back to when August and I first became friends. April was just a kid, so I knew my friendship with August had nothing to do with her. But by the time she was fifteen or sixteen, things had changed. She was infinitely more interesting and vibrant compared to August. And of course, being a teenage boy myself, I didn’t miss the luscious curves she’d developed.
I shook my head. “At first, nothing, but maybe by the end, everything.”
22
April
I arrived back from lunch to an eerily quiet office. Not that it wasn’t usually quiet, but there was something about it today that was different. Ominous.
I went to check on Jude to see if he had questions about the areas I marked on the tapes. Actually, I just wanted to see him. I’d been avoiding him and keeping my distance because I wasn’t sure how to deal with August. I wanted to be with Jude, but I didn’t want him and his new business ruined because of my brother.
Jude wasn’t in his office, so I checked in with Cyrus. When he saw me, he sat back, his eyes scrutinizing me in a way that had me squirming.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. “Is Jude out interviewing?”
He shook his head. “Jude is out getting some air.”
That didn’t sound good. “Oh?”
Cyrus tossed his pen on the desk and let out a breath. “Your brother showed up.”
Oh hell. I sank down into a chair in Cyrus’ office.
“He threatened to ruin Jude if he didn’t stay away from you.”
My gaze snapped up. “Oh God.”
“Of course, Jude had a few choice words about that.”
I could only imagine.
“And just an FYI because your brother seems like the type to embellish a story, he made the first aggressive move, not Jude.”
“What?” Oh no. He didn’t really try to beat Jude up, did he?
“He pushed Jude. Jude, to his credit, didn’t beat the shit out of him, but he did knock him up against the wall. If your brother says otherwise, he’s lying, which, based on Jude’s account, is something he does.”
I looked down, feeling sick. “I’m sorry, Cyrus.”
“It’s too bad we can’t choose our families sometimes, isn’t it?”
I gave him a wan smile. “I don’t know what happened to August.”
“Well, don’t worry too much. Jude is a fighter. I am too. We’ve faced tougher adversaries than your brother.”
I nodded, but wasn’t sure they’d be able to overcome the influence my brother had in the city. August didn’t necessarily earn all the respect he had. He’d gotten some by having been my father’s son. But that didn’t change the fact that August was a well-known influential person in Bismarck. Jude and Cyrus weren’t. I was certain August could make things difficult for them.
“If you’d like to take the rest of the day off, you can. Things are slow today,” Cyrus said.
“Yes, I think I’d like that,” I said standing. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew I couldn’t focus on work.
“By the way, good work on the surveillance tapes. Jude was right to hire you.”
The praise was bittersweet. I liked having my work valued, but I knew that being here was also a problem for him.
I left the office and headed straight to Petal’s. Maya was still at day camp, which was a blessing as I needed some time to wrap my head around the disaster that was my life.
Petal was serving a woman boxful of cupcakes when I entered. Her brow arched when she saw me. I simply headed to the kitchen area so I wouldn’t disturb her. I put a cup of water in the microwave to heat for tea.
“What’s up buttercup?” Petal said when she joined me.
I sat down on a stool and rubbed my temples. “My life is going to hell.”
The microwaved dinged. Petal went to it, getting the cup, plopping the tea bag in and handing it to me.
“Tell Petal what’s wrong.” She leaned against the large stainless-steel table.
“Apparently, while I was at lunch, August showed up at Jude’s business.”
“Oh. That couldn’t have been good.”
I shook my head. “Cyrus said some sort of scuffle between Jude and August ensued.”
“Jude attacked him?” Both of Petal’s brows rose to her hairline.
“Cyrus says that August pushed him first.”
“Idiot. I mean, really, August has to be stupid to push a Navy SEAL.”
I shrugged. “August said he’d ruin Jude if he kept seeing me.” Tears filled my eyes as fatigue and profound sadness sank deep into my soul. “I don’t know what to do.”
“First you need to take a minute. You can’t make decisions when you’re upset. And then you need to access all your strength and think of what is best for you and Maya.”
I scoffed. “I think I’ve proven that when it comes to August, I’m a wimp.”
“No. You left your job. You’re staying here. You’re asserting yourself.”
“And August is threatening to ruin all that.”
“No, he’s threatening Jude, who’s a big boy. August knows Jude is your Achilles heel, and he’s using it against you. Don’t let him, April. You’re so close to getting out from under him.”
I closed my eyes as I sipped my tea, hoping it would calm me. “I don’t know that I can get out from under him. He holds all the power. All the money.”
“So, get a lawyer,” she snapped, like she was a little perturbed that I wasn’t taking my brother head on in court.
“I can’t go against August. It would potentially hurt the business, and while my brother is a jerk, the business is my father’s legacy. Plus, I don’t have access to assets to afford to hire an attorney.”
Petal crossed her arms over her chest. “Get Jude to help.”
“He’s got a business to build. It’s going well, but it’s still new. And August is threatening to destroy it.”
She pursed her lips at me. “What does Jude say about all that?”
I set the mug of tea down, not feeling strong enough to keep holding it. “I don’t know. He was out when I got back. Cyrus didn’t seem worried, but he’s not from here. He doesn’t know August.”
She studied me for a minute. “Are you thinking of resigning?”
I shrugged.
“I hate you’re giving in to August. He’s a spoiled, selfish brat sometimes.”
“If I walk away from the job and Jude, it would
give him time to establish his business.” I said it mostly to myself, like I was talking myself into saving Jude’s business by acquiescing to August’s demands.
“What about you? What about Maya? You don’t think Jude is simply going to let you walk and take Maya with you? Not that he knows he’s her father. Regardless of Jude, that wouldn’t be fair to Maya.”
I shook my head, knowing Jude would likely make this harder. “He’ll be able to see Maya and spend time with her, but he and I…It’s best for everyone if I go back to working with August—”
“That’s bullshit, honey.”
“No.” I stood on shaky legs, but willing myself to be strong enough to do what needed to be done. “Maybe I can negotiate with August for more power and control, or recognition.”
Petal smirked. “He’ll see your coming back as a victory for him. He’ll give you lip service that’s it. You know it, April. You’re so close to breaking free. Maybe you can avoid Jude for a time, but don’t go back to August. You can stay with me. I’ll help you find another job.”
“I can’t afford to have August be against me, Petal.”
“He’s already against you, April. The minute he started dictating your life after your parents died, he was against you.”
“No.” As much as I was growing to really dislike my brother, I knew he wasn’t always against me. “It was so hard after my parents died. I don’t know what I would have done without August. I was so young. Pregnant. Alone—”
“Do I need to remind you that August made sure you only had him in your life? You wouldn’t have been alone if he hadn’t stopped Jude from knowing about Maya.”
I sighed. “Maybe that’s what all this is about. He’s keeping me close because without me and Maya, he has no one else.”
Petal pursed her lips. “So, sign him up for Tinder. It’s not your job to keep your brother from getting lonely.”
I gave a soft laugh.
Petal came over and put her hands on my shoulders, giving me a light shake. “Be strong, April. Don’t sacrifice the love of a good man, the chance to have the family you wanted, simply because August is an asshole.”
Eight Long Years: A Second Chance Secret Baby Romance (Heart of Hope Book 5) Page 13