Billionaire Decoded (12 page)

She gazed at him and shook her head.
"I don't have that impression at all, Brecken," she said. "I
know you've been around, that you just broke up with Alyson-"

"Let's not talk about her up
here, okay?" he requested. "It's too beautiful, too serene…"

She nodded. As he finished dressing,
he sat down on the bed and reached his hand toward her. She took it and sat
down on the bed beside him. Before this went any further, he had to tell her a
few things.

"There are a few things you
need to know if we’re going to be dating," he said suddenly. He was rather
surprised that he had said that, even as her eyes widened in dismay.

"Is that what we’re doing?
We’re going to date?"

He smiled. "Despite what you
might read in the magazines, I don't sleep with women that I'm not interested
in. That may sound like a fairytale to you, but I'm not interested in one night
stands." She looked a little nervous, but he wasn't quite sure what she
was thinking. He rushed forward. "Heather, are you familiar with Julian
Assange and Edward Snowden?"

She stared at him a moment, as if
confused by the question. "Of course. Edward Snowden is a former
government contractor who leaked a bunch of state secrets and other information
from the National Security Agency back in 2013. Assange founded WikiLeaks back
in 2006 and published classified information and media. They're both computer
geeks and likely very good hackers. Why?"

"How do you feel about
them?"

"How I feel about them?” she
asked, surprised. She shrugged. “I don't know. I don't know that much about
them, only that many people feel that they’re traitors.”

"And, how do you feel about
me?" She looked confused, as if unsure where the conversation was going.

She hesitated and then spoke.
"I think you're a hard worker, Brecken. You're also incredibly
intelligent, and you seem to be kind and considerate. You’re definitely
attractive and sexy, but that goes without saying." She grinned.
"You're also a little mysterious."

He nodded. He didn’t want to tell
her everything, but she deserved to know. He would not pull her into his life
blind. His heart thudded. She could walk away from him. She could quit her job.
He didn’t want that, but she needed to know. She deserved it.

“There's a lot more about me that
you should know, especially if we’re going to be dating, but the last thing I
need is to have my life read like an open book. Can I rely on you for
confidentiality and sometimes even secrecy?"

"I can be discreet,
Brecken," she said. "I've signed dozens of confidentiality documents
and guarded not only to the private lives of my employers, but proprietary
information and intelligence.” She frowned. “Why are you asking me these
things?"

"Let's go for a walk," he
said abruptly. He stood and began pulling her toward the door. "I want to
see this quaint little town. I think there's a park just down the street."

"There is," she said.

They headed out the door, and he
paused only long enough to lock the attic door behind him. He slid the small
key into his pocket and then they made their way down the stairs and out of the
house. The air was cool and crisp as they walked to the park on the next block.

He couldn't believe how it easy at
peace he felt at the moment. Here. With her. Maybe the city and his hectic lifestyle
were having more of a detrimental effect on him than he had realized. He would
have to do something about that. Suddenly, he realized something else. "We
missed Valentine's Day," he commented.

She looked up and him and shrugged.
"I think you just more than made up for it."

As they walked into the park beneath
the trees, Brecken wasn't quite sure where to start. She seemed to know what he
was thinking and beneath a massive elm tree, she paused and turned to look up
at him.

"Brecken, I have to know.
What's going on?"

He looked over her shoulder for
several moments, gathering his thoughts. Then, leaning against a tree with her
standing close, he began to explain. "Before I started Shaw & Burks, I
was in the military. Actually, I'm in ex-Navy SEAL.”

Heather stared at him. “I know what
you’re thinking. Most SEALS are big brutes of guys with-”

“Not at all, Brecken,” she said.
“You’re lean as a whip and strong. You have a comforting, sheltering presence
about you. I sensed it the first time I walked into your office, when you
called me in for an interview.”

He smiled. His male vanity was not
extinct. He liked hearing those words. At any rate, he had to continue. “We had
an operation in Afghanistan, one of the ugliest I have ever experienced. I did
some things I'm not too happy about."

She looked up at him, her gaze
serious and compassionate. "Go on," she invited. "I can handle
it."

He wasn’t so sure. "Do me a
favor, Heather, and remember all those nice things you just said about
me."

She frowned as she looked up at him,
her gaze showing concern. "I will, Brecken."

Brecken spat it out. "Shaw
& Burks is not exactly what you think it is."

Heather listened as Brecken began to
tell her his story. Ex-military? A SEAL? Black ops? As he laid his history bare,
she wasn't sure whether she should cheer and wave a flag or run.

"I've been leaking and selling
secrets," he said simply. "That's what my firm does."

What did he mean? She had
straightened in dismay, not sure whether he was joking or not. Then, when she
noticed look on his face, she realized that he wasn't. What the hell?

"Originally, Shaw & Burks
did just computer programming, like I said. But little by little, I began to
use my company's infrastructure to make it possible for information to be
shared, or leaked, depending on how you look at it, to a number of
governments."

"What kind of information,
Brecken?" she asked, her heart thumping with dread. She felt sick to her
stomach. "Does any of the information that you've divulged harm US
troops?"

He looked down at her. "As an
ex-soldier who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, I would like to say no, but
sometimes, you just don't know for sure what some of the information you give
others will do. You see, the challenge in dealing with secrets is that when you
share them with former military men, some of them tend to go off the grid to
right wrongs… Wrongs that they discovered because of the secrets you've
revealed to them."

"What kind of secrets?"
she asked. "You mean like about drug lords in Afghanistan, sex rings in
Russia, stuff like that?" To be honest, she wouldn't have trouble with
someone divulging information about people like that. People like that didn't
deserve secrecy. They deserved to be outed so that they could be punished.

"The plain truth of the matter,
Heather, is that when you know someone’s secrets, of any sort, you also know
someone is going to want to hurt you." He paused, shook his head and
looked down at her. "At the moment, I'm dealing with a rather troublesome
situation."

She wasn't quite sure how she felt
about all this. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know. He was confiding in
her, which was good, but she wasn't sure she wanted to be involved in any of
this. Was he a traitor? Or was he simply trying to do what was right?

"There's a group of soldiers
down in Bolivia. Of course, this is only one group among many spread all over
the world. Anyway, this group leaked information to me about a colonel’s human
abuse record. I suppose no one should have been surprised. Civil unrest,
takeovers, and military and paramilitary conflicts have raged down there for
decades."

Heather said nothing, waiting for him
to finish.

"Anyway, the colonel found out
that I know about what he's been doing. He’s been sending threats. So has
Alyson."

"Does Alyson know about all
this?"

Brecken nodded. She frowned.
"So, that's what she's holding over your head?"

He glanced down at her in surprise.
"How do you know she's holding something over my head?"

"Brecken, anytime you two are
together you can literally cut the tension in the air with a knife. Women don't
act so…arrogantly bitchy is the only term I can think of at the moment, unless
they know something about you that you don't want to get out. Women can be
incredibly good at that kind of thing."

"I suppose so."

Then, Heather thought of something.
"Is it this colonel from Bolivia or a member of his group that messed with
my computer?"

He shook his head. "From what
my security has been able to find out, the answer is no, but it's probably
somebody else that has dirt on me." He paused and avoided looking in her
eyes.

"What is it?" she said,
her heart sinking. She had seen that loaded look. He wanted to tell her
something else, but wasn't quite sure if he should. "You need to be honest
with me, Brecken. What?"

He sighed. "Unfortunately, my
hiring you seemed to alert the suspicions of some."

A cold sensation swept through her.
"When do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain, Heather.
I guess in a nutshell, it means that anytime I do anything or make a change,
people tend to get wary and suspicious. All I can tell you is that there have
been some questions about why I hired you. I do have to say one thing, though –
Alyson hit the nail on the head to a certain extent."

"What do you mean?" she
repeated, needing additional clarification.

"As you can tell from our most
recent liaison, I have feelings for you. Of course, those feelings are purely
physical and emotional in nature. But there are some that are suspicious. They
don't know you. You’re a new face in the company. So they're going to be
watching you, too."

Her heart skipped a beat. "
What?"
She couldn't believe it. Now, he was telling her this? Now? She frowned,
backing up a step. "When were you going to tell me about all this,
Brecken?" She shook her head. "I took the job at Shaw & Burks
thinking it was one thing and now I find out it’s something else? Something a
lot more questionable and probably dangerous?"

She couldn't believe it. Despite her
intense sexual attraction to Brecken and the wonderful time they had just
shared together, this…this knowledge was not something she had expected. She
glanced up at him, her eyes wide.

"Am I in danger, Brecken?"
she asked. “I need you to be completely honest. If I'm in any danger, or you even
think I'll be in danger, you better tell me, right now."

He nodded. "I understand,
Heather that this comes as a shock. If you decide you don't want to work with
me anymore, I'll understand, but confidentiality is a must. I can tell you that
I have not divulged any information regarding United States military or the
military of our allied countries that will put them in harm's way. I
have
gathered information about foreign
militaries and passed it along to a contact I have in the State Department and
sometimes to the CIA. Still, the majority of the public in general is not going
to understand what I do or why."

"To be honest, Brecken, I don't,
either." She shook her head. "I don't want to do anything that puts
myself or my family in danger."

He nodded. "I understand.
Heather, let’s walk back to Mabel’s. You can go home, think about what I told
you, and then think about whether you want to continue working for me or not.
Believe me, the accounts that you're dealing with have nothing to do with my
secrets. Nothing. Just programming clients. I promise. Everything you've
touched is on the up and up. I just want you to know that."

She didn't know what to think. Her
mind was spinning in a thousand different directions. Still, she wanted to
believe and trust in what he had just told her. She was not involved in any
illegal activity. "Brecken, I can't say I understand exactly why you're
doing what you're doing, but if it's not harming American lives or any of the
lives of our allies, I think I can believe in what you're doing…to an extent.
As long as you're telling me the truth – and all of it. Have you left anything
out?"

"I've told you the truth,
Heather, and I don't have anything left to hide."

She caught a look in his eye and
wondered briefly about that. He swallowed.

"Come on, let's go back to the
Bed and Breakfast. We can finish talking there if you want."

Heather walked with Brecken, not
sure what to think anymore. She wanted to hear more about him and what started
him down this path. She wanted more details. What kind of secrets and
confidential information was he trading and selling? She asked him that very
question, and he said he would explain more when they got back to his room.

When they returned, Mabel and John
were still out. They walked inside and then up the stairs to his attic room. He
unlocked the door, slid the key back into his pocket, and then entered, holding
the door open for her. She followed, even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to
anymore. She needed more information. She wasn't sure what to think.

"Brecken, I'm not going to
lie,” she said. “I'm confused. I'm torn. I want to believe you, to believe that
what you're doing is right, but it I have a feeling that what you’ve told me is
just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to have a relationship with me, I'm
going to need to know more about you, and I'm not sure where the best place to
do that is here or down in Boston. I don't even know what I want to do right
now.”

Heather did know one thing. She
didn't want to lose her job. That it wasn't turning out to be quite what she
expected was an understatement. Still, he assured her that nothing she was
working on had anything to do with the more secretive part of his business. Everything
she was working on was legal. Should she believe him? Could she?

He sat down on the bed and then
patted the quilt beside him. She sat down, her leg so close to his that she
could feel his warmth. She wanted to unravel the mystery of Brecken Shaw. What
made him tick? Navy SEALs were trained to adhere to a code of honor. Had he
broken that code? Or was he merely taking it to the next level?

"Ask me anything you want,
Heather. I'll answer."

She thought a minute. "Do your
parents know what you're doing, really?"

He sighed and shook his head.
"My mom died when I was a teenager. My dad… He had his own company. He
made millions as a commodities trader. My dad was smart, driven, and
dedicated." He glanced down at her. "You know that Formula One drag
strip I took you to?"

Heather nodded.

"He used to take me out there.
We used a hang out together all the time until Mom died. Then, my dad changed.
Nothing made him happy, not even me." He was quiet for several moments.
"By the time I graduated from high school and went to college, we rarely
spoke. We drifted apart so far I didn't know if we would ever be able to come
to a meeting of the minds again. Then, just before my last mission in
Afghanistan, he died."

"I'm so sorry," Heather
said, meaning it. The thought of either of her parents dying sent a shiver of
horror through her. She couldn't imagine life without her parents.

"I guess you could say I've
never forgiven him."

“Forgiven him for what?" she
asked.

"For never being happy with me,
for never telling me he was proud of me. When I completed BUDS training to
become a SEAL, you know what he did?"

Heather waited.

"Nothing. He didn't come to the
graduation. He sent me a card." He shook his head. "I was so angry
with him, figured that he didn't care, that he wasn't proud of me. It was only
later, after he died, that I found out that he couldn't come. He was going
through intense chemotherapy treatments for pancreatic cancer. He didn't want
me to know."

"You haven't forgiven him for
dying before you guys could make up, reestablish a relationship," she said
simply.

He gave a slight shrug. "I
suppose in a way that's true. The last memory I have speaking with my dad was
him yelling at me on the phone, telling me that I wasn't good enough to take
over his company. He was right. I was fucked up. That was just before I joined
the Navy and applied for the SEAL program. After I graduated, I didn't hear
from him for months."

"You didn't know he was
sick," she said.

"And, I didn't make any efforts
to open the lines of communication," he said honestly. "I'm stubborn,
Heather, and my father was even more so. Now, it's too late."

She could tell that he was deeply
affected not only by his father's passing, but the fact that his father had
passed when they'd been estranged. "Everyone makes mistakes, Brecken. I'm
sure that your father loved you. The point is that we need to learn from our
mistakes. Once you have children of your own, I'm sure that you'll do your best
to make sure that they’re a part of your life, not repeat the same mistakes
that drove you and your father apart."

*

Heather and Brecken ended up talking
late into the afternoon and then into the evening. Before she knew it, they
were both lying down on his bed together. She had fallen asleep in his arms.
When she woke up, she looked up at the ceiling, confused. She turned her head
and remembered where she was. He stood by the window, but slightly off to the
side, looking down at something on the street.

"Oh my goodness! I have to get
home. What time is it?"

Brecken turned from the window and
smiled down at her. "About seven. Heather, I think it's best if my driver
takes you back down to Boston today. Just to be on the safe side."

Heather climbed off the bed and
moved toward Brecken. She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at
him, her chin resting on his chest. "Why would you think that?"

He wordlessly gestured toward the
window with his chin. She moved toward it, careful to stay off to the side. Her
eyes widened. She saw a man across the street, just standing there.
"Brecken, that guy… That's the guy that was watching me, taking
pictures!"

"They must've followed me
here," he said.

"They?"

Her heart was pounding in alarm as
she watched as Brecken pull his phone from his pocket. He called someone.
Within a few minutes, she heard the rumble of a truck coming around the corner.
A Ford 250 or something. She glanced out the window and watched as two men got
out of the truck, looking competent and tough. Ex-military buddies of
Brecken's? She wasn't sure, but what she did know was that the tall man in the
suit quickly left.