Beneath The Lies (28 page)

“Thank you, Ned. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“No problem, dear. The last thing your father would want is for you to stress over money. Update our system with your current address, and I’ll get this letter back into the mail for you.”

“I will, and thanks again.” Seconds later I hear the phone click and the call is disconnected.

I wrap the towel around my body and head out into the bedroom, looking for something to put on as Gavin walks in. His eyes take me in from head to toe as I watch his desire for me take over.

“Were you just talking on the phone...naked?” At first, I thought his comment was a joke, but I can tell he’s serious.

“Yep. I was talking to my dad’s VP. I think he’s about fifty years old, but I’m sure he’d be willing to give you a good run for your money.”

Gavin starts to relax after he hears my comment. “I don’t want my girl talking to other men while she’s buck naked, but as long as it’s not someone wanting in her panties, or in this case under her towel, then I guess it’s okay.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I huff out on a laugh.

“No, just making sure I protect what’s mine.” My eyes widen at his words. “Yours?”

“Hell yes, mine. But you already know that.”

Gavin reaches out and pulls on the edge of my towel, causing it to fall to the floor. “This fantastic body is mine. All mine.”

Gavin grabs ahold of my hand and pulls me tight against his body as his mouth finds mine. The second I saw him walk in my body began to light up, but now I’m on fire. Gavin walks me backward until my legs hit the bed and I fall back onto it.

“Jesus,” he growls out. “I’ll never get fucking tired of looking at your fucking gorgeous body.”

Gavin’s greedy eyes rake up and down my body as he pulls his t-shirt up and over his head, giving me my own delectable view. Next he sheds himself of his jeans and briefs, than he’s crawling up the bed.

Before his head makes it to mine, he stops to suck on each of my breasts, sending another jolt of desire through my body.

Gavin’s mouth takes mine in a hungry kiss while his fingers move down between my legs, causing us both to moan. His fingers slowly pump in and out, teasing me, making me want more.

“Harder. I need it harder.”

Gavin pulls back and looks into my eyes as he removes his fingers and slowly slides himself all the way in. He’s slow at first, but then he starts moving faster, harder, just the way I like.

“Is this what you wanted? Did you need my cock? Fuck. You. Feel. Amazing.”

I can’t form words. Instead, I dig my nails into his ass, which rewards me with Gavin thrusting even faster. I’m tightening up. I can feel my orgasm building when Gavin starts rubbing my clit. “Babe. Come. I need you to fucking come.”

And I do. I fall right over the edge, taking Gavin with me. “Shit...” he says into my neck as he finds his own release.

Once Gavin slows down then finally stops before he drops his weight down on me. “Why were you talking to your dad’s VP?” Gavin nuzzles my neck, waiting for an answer. His question causes me to chuckle. We’re lying together naked and he’s wondering about my phone call.

“My dad left an envelope addressed to me in his office at work. Ned sent it once already to my apartment but it was returned, so he thought he would call and see where I was living.”

“Oh. Did he say what’s in the envelope?”

“No, but he did say he would transfer enough money to my account for me to finish school.”

This is the part of the conversation that I couldn’t wait to tell him. I desperately want to take some stress off his shoulders.

“Babe, I told you I had enough money to take care of it,” he says in almost a clipped tone, causing my body to tense. I remember the email denying him a loan and now that he has the chance to talk to me about what’s going on, he’s not. Apparently, Gavin is able to pick up on the change in my mood. “What? What’s wrong?” he asks, sounding less upset and more concerned.

“Um, I saw an email you left up on your computer screen a few weeks ago. I didn’t mean to snoop but you left it up. You were denied a loan?”

Gavin eyes stay locked on mine as he slowly pulls out of me. “Why does that have anything to do with paying for your school?”

Is he trying to be dense? “You applied for a loan. You were denied. That seems pretty cut and dry.”

Gavin looks away and sighs then slowly turns his face back around toward me. “I applied for a large loan. Part of the money I’d use as an investment in Hill Software, but the majority of the loan I planned to give to Carly.”

My eyes narrow at his comment, causing Gavin to laugh again. “I planned to pay her off—for Callie—but it didn’t work out. I’ve paid her a little more than a hundred grand in the last four years. I thought if I came up with half a million dollars in one lump sum, there’d be no way she could walk away from that.”

“Oh,” I whisper.

“Yeah,
oh
. I told you, I make good money. I can afford to pay for your school and take care of you, but unfortunately I don’t have the kind of money I’ll need to pay Carly off for good, which is what I want.” That also explains his foul mood around the time he received his rejection letter. I nod my head, agreeing with him.

“Thank God I didn’t sell my stock.” Once Gavin processes what I just said, I can see his jaw clench.

“You were going to sell your stock after we talked about why that’s a horrible idea?”

His voice has once again taken on a harsh tone, one that I know means he’s serious. “Yes?”

“Damn it, Kate. I told you I’d take care of it!”

Gavin’s irritation takes over, causing him to hop up and off the bed. “Why is it wrong that I didn’t talk to you about this but it’s okay that you didn’t think to mention what you had planned to do with Carly?” I scream back at him, causing him to wince.

“Babe, I know if the day ever comes that I get full custody of Callie that you’ll be on board with it. When it comes to Carly...shit, I’ve been dealing with her for too long. Long enough that I hate that she can bleed over onto us. I didn’t want to give you hope that I had found a way to finally get her out of my life then not have it happen. Which, by the way, is exactly what did happen.”

I walk straight up to him and wrap my arms around him. “I’m sorry. I was worried that you’d get upset that I mistakenly read your email. I should have told you. But...I hate the idea that I could be a burden on you.”

“Never. Kate, you’ll never be a burden to me. You...” Gavin trails off then looks down at me, “do you ever wonder why two people meet?

“The two of us...without some crazy luck we never would have met, but we did. And that night at The Hill, it wasn’t the first time I saw you.”

My mind starts racing, trying to remember when I met Gavin before that first fight I went to, but I come up empty.

Gavin brushes his thumbs over my cheeks with a soft smile on his face. “You were only four. Your parents came out here for some award my dad had earned. I remember the babysitter didn’t show up and your mother stayed home and watched us.

“That night was the worst and the best night of my life up to that point. In only a few hours your mother showed me what love felt like. She gave me a view of what a normal life could be, something I wasn’t sure existed. I also met you, the green-eyed little girl that grabbed ahold of my hand and sang to me. You were only four but already you were trusting and easy with your love.

“I envied the life you had with Mandy and I started to believe a happy future for my brother and I might happen, but that was the night my dad was killed.

“Your parents ended up going back to Colorado and Tanner and I never saw them again. As the years went by, I started to believe I dreamed you and Mandy up, that you weren’t real. Until that night I saw you at The Hill. I knew—I just knew—after one look, that you were her...Kate. My Kate.”

My chest flutters as I realize how long Gavin was waiting for me, and if it wasn’t for the death of my father—something at the time I thought ruined my life—I wouldn’t be with him now.

“I don’t think I really knew how right you were. That we’ve somehow always been on a path to each other. Hell, if my birth father had his wish I would’ve grown up somewhere in Mexico, and I never would’ve met you.”

Gavin brings his thumb up and glides it across my lower lip. “I don’t know why but I know we belong to each other. You’re my always and forever.”

I lean up and kiss him lightly on his lips, repeating his own word back to him. “Forever.”

The next week passes without any more drama, until the envelope from my dad arrives. In the beginning I didn’t give it much thought, but now after learning about the past, I’m nervous to open it.

I pull out a few sheets of notebook paper that are covered in handwriting, clearly my father’s. The date on the top is marked around four years ago, shortly after my mother died.

Dearest Kate,

If this letter has made its way to you, then my time here on earth has ended, but I can’t let that happen without telling you a few things.

First and most importantly, I want to thank you for being my daughter. When I met your mother, I thought my life was complete, but it wasn’t. Not until God gave me the most beautiful young lady I’ve ever met and allowed me to call her mine.

Thank you for not only being an amazing daughter, but for being the person I knew you could be. Every day you’ve walked this earth, I’ve been proud of you.

The other thing you may or may not know is that after your mother and I adopted you, I gave you ten percent of SGS. My company has always been on a path to your hands, but unfortunately, along the way, I made decisions that have affected that journey.

When James Loman left SGS, he kept twenty-five percent of the company in his name. After his death, his portion of the company went to his wife. Years later, when I decided to take SGS public, James’s widow bought up twenty-four percent of the company. Ultimately, without the ten percent I gave you, this gave her controlling interest of SGS.

James’s wife, Leeta Loman, is not a nice woman. I could have fought back and did at one point, but Leeta found information that she knew would hurt me, leaving me with little to no options.

I’m writing you because I want you to know the type of person this woman really is. Your mother and I sheltered you from the kinds of evil that really exist, but whatever you do, don’t become a casualty of Leeta’s ways. And whatever stories she tells, always remember that your mother and I loved you.

If given the chance, there are a lot of things in my life I would do differently, but finding you and your mom isn’t one of them.

Live life to its fullest, love your hardest and your dreams will come true.

With all my heart, Dad

I’m crying—no, scratch that—I’m sobbing. I love my parents and I’ve never doubted their love for me. But I miss them like crazy. This letter is a beautiful reminder of the life I was lucky enough to live.

“Babe? What’s wrong?” I look up to see Gavin rushing over toward me.

“Nothing,” I reply as I hand him the letter. As Gavin starts reading it, his face goes from easy to harsh. He knows his mother is evil but I’m sure reading this letter is hard on him.

“This explains a lot,” he says as I wipe away the last of my tears.

“Why?”

“Because your father’s stock became yours after he died. You have to wait until you graduate or turn twenty-five to cash in the financial rewards of owning them, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are yours. Which means Leeta lost controlling interest when your dad died.”

Geez, I read the same letter that Gavin did and that part never crossed my mind, I’m still processing the fact that James still owned stock in the company. The only story I was ever told was my dad bought him out. “Shit, this really explains a lot. She was hoping you two would be best buddies when you moved out here. Maybe even make it sound like she was doing you a favor by buying some of your stock to help you out financially. When that didn’t happen, she planted the seed that your parents stole you, hoping you’d end up hating them enough that you’d want to sell your stock in spite of what they did.” Gavin drags his hands through his hair.

“Fuck. I wonder what happens to your stock if something happens to you. That definitely puts a new light on your accident not being an accident.”

Gavin pauses and starts pacing back and forth like a caged animal. “Should we confront her?”

“We shouldn’t do anything where Leeta is concerned.
I have
the unfortunate task of being her child.
I’ll
deal with her.”