Dirty Little Secret (19 page)

“You have given me so much, love,” he told her softly. “Made me a better man. I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for you.” He willed her to see the truth in his words.

The tiny smile that stretched her lips reached her eyes this time.

“We do what we can do, Sara Beth. That’s it. Let the chips fall where they may.”

He watched as acceptance settled on her, relaxing her body and the tight grooves around her eyes.

“Thanks, Alex.”

“Anytime.”

They lay for a long while, sharing the silence, until finally Sara Beth said, “What’s next?”

He knew she didn’t mean the company; they’d discussed that at length. If she meant personally… “We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, we will. Sam and Cailin have stuck it out this far; they aren’t going anywhere.”

Alex grunted his response.

Sara Beth looked at him. “What did that mean?”

“Nothing.”

Turning, she raised up on her elbow to face him. “Cailin’s not going anywhere, is she?”

I hope not
. He wouldn’t know; he hadn’t asked her. Call him a coward, but he’d never asked a woman to marry him when there wasn’t a built-in guarantee that she’d accept. And Cailin had more reason than most not to commit after the pain her ex had put her through. Not even under the threat of torture would he have given away his uncertainty where she was concerned.

Apparently he didn’t have to. Sara Beth smacked his shoulder. “God, you are such a man!”

He looked down his nose at her. “What? I didn’t say anything.”

“An
idiotic
man! You can’t even see what’s right in front of your nose.”

“And what’s that?”

The sneaky smile he’d learned to be wary of appeared out of nowhere. “You haven’t told her, have you?”

“Told her what?”

“That you love her. You haven’t said it.”

Not to her.

“Jeez, Alex. The woman’s been through the wringer, and you’re holding out on her?” She propped her chin on her hand. “Trust me, I know women—”

He couldn’t hold back a snort that said more clearly than words,
much better than I do
.

Sara Beth rolled her eyes and went right on with her sentence. “And I can tell you for a fact that your woman is head over heels. She’d follow you to hell and back.”

“She already has,” he said.

“So what are you holding out for?”

He swallowed hard, but it wasn’t a gulp. He wouldn’t admit to gulping. “I was waiting to be free.” He stared at Sara Beth, willing her to understand.

She shook her head at him, then settled back down on the bed. “Idiot,” she said.

He grinned.

* * * *

They chose the time for their confrontation with John carefully. The consortium had been a tremendous success. The news of Keane Industries’—meaning Ian’s team’s—breakthrough in AR research had exploded across the industry like fireworks on the Fourth of July. John was riding high on a triumph he hadn’t earned, and it was time to pay the piper.

The man rubbed his hands together in anticipation as he walked into Alex’s home office. “What did you need to talk about, Sara Elizabeth? This wouldn’t happen to be the announcement I’ve been looking forward to for the last seven months, would it?”

Sara Beth’s skin turned a little green, and Alex didn’t blame her. The thought of allowing John access to a child after all they’d learned about him was sickening to him too. But John wasn’t his father, and he couldn’t imagine how hard this was for Sara Beth.

“No, Dad, I’m not pregnant.”

John’s scowl made his disappointment clear. “Then what?”

“Take a seat, John,” Alex said. While Sara Beth sat on the couch opposite the one John deigned to occupy, Alex crossed to his desk and retrieved the folder he’d assembled from Corrine’s information, as well as the follow-up he’d done through a team of private detectives. He took his time, girding his mental loins. When he finally took the seat next to Sara Beth, John was relaxed back into the couch, arms splayed as if he owned the place.

Looking at the man who had ruled such a large part of his life, Alex was surprised by the emptiness in his chest. He’d expected to feel something, anything, at this moment—anger, triumph, possibly even remnants of the fear that used to swamp him when he was a teen facing John’s determination—but instead as he stared across the low table at the man who had run his life for so many years, only a weary resignation settled on his shoulders.

He got straight to the point.

“Sara Beth and I are getting a divorce.”

The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Then, “Like hell you will!”

“Yes, we will. You know Sara Beth is not happy, and neither am I.”

John’s derisive “So?” scraped along Alex’s already tenuous nerves. Sara Beth’s startled gasp telegraphed her hurt clearly.

“John—”

“Who gives a damn if she’s happy, Alex? Really.” John’s disgust was evident as his gaze swept over his daughter. “I didn’t marry her off to you to make her happy; I did it to secure the future of this company. This family.”

“No, you did it to secure your power,” Alex said. “Unfortunately for you, you picked a man who could care less about your power but cares everything about her happiness.”

Into the uneasy silence that followed, Sara Beth spoke. “That’s all I ever was to you, wasn’t I? A means to an end.” She choked on the last word, and pain speared Alex’s chest. “You are my father. You’re supposed to love me, not use me.”

John didn’t respond. They sat, the truth a suffocating presence between then, until finally John stood, giving them his back to pace across the room. When he turned, his gaze sought out Alex, not Sara Beth. Ignoring his daughter, he narrowed his eyes in speculation. “This is about that secretary, isn’t it?”

Shit.

“You’re going to throw it all away over a woman, a whore.” John began a slow stalk back toward the couch. “Let me tell you something about women, Alex. They’re faithless. The whole lot. Can’t trust them as far as the next bed to hop into, and only then if you can tie ’em to it.” He spread his hands along the back of the sofa and leaned in, emphasizing his point. “They’re only good for one thing…or two things, actually.” The gleam of humor in his eyes made Alex want to punch him.

“What’s that?” he asked, knowing it was what the other man was waiting on, knowing the answer would make him sick.

“Securing the line, of course. And passing them on.”

Alex fought the bile rising into his throat as John came around and made himself comfortable on the couch once more. “To someone like James Allen, you mean.” He’d thought John would have a heart attack when Alex refused to try to convince Cailin not to testify. Only when he’d informed John the APD had plenty of evidence against the man even without her as a witness had the backpedaling begun. Within days John had distanced himself and Keane Industries from Allen so far the Mississippi practically ran between them. But there was no distancing himself from the evidence in the folder Alex still held. There was simply too much of it, God help them.

“God, Dad…” Again that faintly nauseated tone in Sara Beth’s voice. Alex reached for her hand, squeezing it, trying to infuse them both with strength. Sara Beth’s rough swallow echoed in the still room. “I guess I should be thankful you didn’t just sell me on the auction block.”

Eyeing Alex, John humphed. “Might’ve gotten a better result.”

Sara Beth stood abruptly. “I cannot believe my father is such a sick bastard!” Shaking her head, she asked, “Did you ever love me? Mom? Anyone but your own damn self?”

When John refused to respond, Alex told her, “At least you take after your mother.”

The small hand holding his clenched, then relaxed as if in agreement. Alex had never wanted Sara Beth to hear her father say those things, but he knew now, it was for the best. Nothing less than the true sickness of John’s mind could break the hold her father had on her belief in herself. The time for trying to please him had died long ago; they’d only waited this long for the burial.

Sara Beth seemed to sense the same, because she turned to Alex. “I’m done,” she stated, eyes dry, clear. Resolved. “I’m done.”

Alex nodded. Without a word to John, Sara Beth squeezed Alex’s hand once more and walked out of the room. Silence hovered until the door clicked closed.

“She could’ve been trained into the perfect business wife, Alex. You’re allowing her to walk out on the chance of a lifetime.”

“For me or her?” Alex asked, disgusted. Without waiting for an answer, he shook his head. “I won’t talk to you about Sara Beth any longer.”

John continued to eye him, a general searching for the best place to attack. “You think she’s something special, huh? Your blonde?” he finally asked. His tone said she wasn’t.

“I won’t discuss Cailin with you any more than I will Sara Beth.” Just the thought of this man’s opinions of the women in Alex’s life made him want to gag.

“Alex, Alex, Alex…I taught you better than this,” John crooned.

Alex nodded. “Yes, you did.”
Or attempted to
. “And I’m happy to say I’ve forgotten everything you tried to drill into me.”

“Your little secretary has been trouble since she first came aboard. Maybe more trouble than she’s worth.”

As if you can do anything about it
. Aloud Alex asked, “You think your threats will work on me like they do helpless women?”

John snarled. “She can still disappear.”

“So can you.”

“Not as easily, you’ll find.”

Lunging across the table, Alex had John’s tie twisted in his fist faster than John could blink. “Wanna bet?” Even John’s lack of oxygen couldn’t have communicated the threat better than Alex’s stare. “She is mine. Stay. Away.”

A harsh gasp, the struggle to draw in nonexistent air, filled Alex’s ears; finally the twitch at the corner of his eye signaled John’s understanding. His nod was overkill. Releasing the tie, Alex carefully smoothed the silk before sitting back.

“Looks like the people I surrounded myself with weren’t as trustworthy as I thought,” John said.

“We prefer being honest, not sleazy.” He leaned forward in his seat. “The divorce is happening, John. There’s nothing you can do about it; you might as well get used to it.”

John was shaking as he finally let his own anger loose. “So be it. You can be replaced, you son of a bitch! I didn’t train you all these goddamn years to—”

“Let’s get something straight: you did not train me. You hounded me. What I learned, I learned from the best; I made sure of it. The only thing you taught me to do was hide.”

“Hide? Hide what?” Venom hissed in the words.

“Myself.” Alex threw the folder onto the table between them, and glossy, blown-up pictures and copies of documents spilled out across the gleaming surface. “But then, you know all about the subject, don’t you, John? So I guess technically you
were
the best man to teach me.”

John looked down, visibly reaching for control, and Alex saw the moment when he realized what he was looking at. Alex was careful not to drop his gaze—he had no desire to see the faces of the women John—and through him, Keane Industries—had betrayed. If it took him fifty years, every one of those women would be found. They would be compensated, cared for, and protected from the men who had abused them. Alex couldn’t make up for what had happened—no one could—but if he had a snowball’s chance in hell of ever sleeping again, even with Cailin beside him, he had to prove to them that he would never let it happen again.

One woman at a time.

John was slowly thumbing through the evidence. “Where in God’s name did you get all this?” he growled.

Alex couldn’t hold back his smirk. “Not God, John. You should know by now: a woman scorned isn’t the only kind of woman you should fear.”

The look John threw him could’ve steamed water. “There’s no way—” Then his taut cheekbones paled. “Corinne.”

Alex nodded. “She was a start.”

“That sanctimonious bitch! She—” John’s fists clenched, and his voice lowered to a register somewhere below mean. “You really think you can get away with this? I’ll make her life a living hell.”

As if I’m not smart enough to guess that
. “It’s too late, John.” Thank God. “She’s already here, under my protection—and you can’t do anything about it. Not if you want to keep your secrets…secret.” Carefully Alex reached out, thumbing aside the majority of the papers. At the bottom, where John had not yet ventured, lay the most damning evidence of all.

“Trina Marlowe.” Alex picked up the woman’s picture, studying it carefully. She’d taken the photo herself, it seemed, the night John hit her. Her pale image was a little blurred, but the black eye came through distinctly. Lord only knew what else the man had done.

Laying the picture directly in front of John, he picked up another. “Clarissa Johnson.” The photo was set on top of the first, followed by a transfer order. A demotion.

The next picture was a redhead, her face holding a sickening resemblance to Sara Beth. “Mary Pantell.”

On and on, the women John had had personal contact with came to light, in pictures and orders, lawyers’ summaries for dropped lawsuits, bills from private detectives—“muscle,” Corinne had called them. And the most damning evidence, witnessed testimonies, both from each woman and the people around them: coworkers, friends, health-care professionals, even spouses. Every sheet of paper built the ball of rage inside Alex until he was certain he could no longer contain it, until the probability that John wouldn’t be leaving this building in one piece forced him to stop.

“Should I go on?” he asked, his voice a deep, dangerous threat.

“No.”

With that single word, the man sitting across from him deflated, becoming in an instant the broken, powerless puppet he would remain from now on.

“There’s nothing you can do, John. Give it up.”

John tugged at the heavy knot of his tie as he cleared his throat. “What exactly do you want?”

“
We
want it all.” No way would he leave John with any means of hurting a single soul more: not Sara Beth, not Cailin, not another woman, any woman. Period. He rose and crossed to his desk to retrieve another file, this one with paperwork from his lawyers. “You are going to retire.” When John opened his mouth, protest imminent, Alex cut him off. “You will sign over your majority shares to Sara Beth, no caveats, no questions asked. Your
friends
will be stepping down, one by one, from the board, and their replacements will be chosen by a council headed by myself and appointed by Sara Beth and me.”