Stolen: The Billionaire Deception (18 page)

“
Thank you for saying that,” he said. “I love you. I’m so sorry for what my father did to you.”

“
None of that was your fault.”

“
I know. But I knew that his business practices were less than ethical. I should have questioned him more or done some research of my own before now to find out how he had achieved his “success.” At first, I just didn’t care. I was reaping the rewards and as long as he left me alone, I thought I was enjoying life on his dime. I fell in love with the lifestyle and I let myself believe like he did, that I somehow deserved it. I like to believe that had I truly known how it came to be… that a young girl’s life had been permanently altered because of it and not for the better… that I would have objected. I can’t honestly say what I would have done then. I know that no business and no amount of money is worth that. After I took over as CEO and I started finding things out here and there that he’d done that were questionable in terms of ethics and morality… I was just too afraid of him to stand up. I thought if I just did things right from there on out, I could make it right.”

“
You can’t be held responsible for the sins of your father. That was a lesson I had to learn myself. Once I learned it I fell deeply in love with you.”

“
I missed you. Can we go back and start over?”

“
Can you forgive me for my lies?”

“
I completely understand them and the only problem I’m going to have with any of it is remembering your name,” he said with a laugh. “Can you forgive me?”

“
There’s nothing to forgive. You were a victim of your father and me both.”

Seth grinned and said, “The difference is I like being your victim.” Then turning serious he said, “I want to help you.”

I felt the first real hope I’d had in a while slip back into my soul. “You want to help me take back my company?”

He smiled again and nodded. “Yes, I want to help you get back what is yours. I’ll do whatever it takes, including standing up to my father. I want to make up for what he did to you, as much as I can.”

“
What about your own job?”

“
I don’t care about the job or the business or the money. I love you. I want to be with you and I want you to be happy and have everything you ever wanted… everything that you deserve. I admire you so much for going through all that you have and still holding onto your spirit and your good heart. You make me want to be a better man.”

It was strange. You hear people say they felt like a “weight” was lifted off of them… I never thought of it in literal terms before that moment. I hadn’t realized just how heavy my burden had been until right that second. With another person to help me carry it, it suddenly didn’t seem like such a daunting task.

“
Are you sure?” I asked Seth. I knew what he was offering to do would upset life as he knew it from then on out.

“
Absolutely,” he said. “Tell me what I need to do.”

“
I will,” I told him. “Thank you. First, there is something else I would like to do, if you’re up for it.” He looked confused for a second, until I smiled and then he suddenly knew exactly what I was talking about. He slid over towards me and positioned himself up against the head board next to me with our arms and knees touching.

“
How’s this?” he asked with a grin.

“
It’s a good start…”

He smiled broader and slipped his arm around me. I realized then that I had even missed his scent. He always had a fresh, crisp smell like an ocean breeze. I put my arm across his chest and relaxed into him. God, he felt so good. We just sat there like that for a long moment, enjoying the togetherness, comfortable in the silence.

I realized after another minute or two that he was waiting for me to set the pace and tone of our reunion. I lifted my head and straightened out so I could look at his face. Seth smiled and with his free hand he ran the back of his fingers down the side of my cheek. Then he drew his thumb across my bottom lip causing me to shiver almost violently.

“
You’re so beautiful,” he said. “I’ve thought so since the first second you walked into my office that first day.”

“
You’re beautiful,” I told him with a grin. “I’ve thought so since the second you spun your chair around that day. I almost fell into the floor when you looked at me with those sexy ice blue eyes. I never meant to hurt you in any way. I realized very quickly that I wanted to do the exact opposite. I love the sound of your laugh and your gorgeous smile always looks so much better knowing that I put it there.”

“
You’ve put it there nearly every day since I met you. This past week, not knowing what would happen between us was killing me.”

"Me too. And Grant,” I said with a giggle.

He flexed an eyebrow and said, “Grant was that worried about us?”

“
Well, me mostly. I’ve barely gotten out of bed in a week. I didn’t feel like anything really mattered anymore.”

“
I know. I was feeling the same way.”

"I’m sorry I hurt you,” I told him, one more time.

“
Don’t be,” Seth said. “It all brought us together in the end, and that’s all that matters to me.”

I put my hands on each side of his face then and kissed his lips. I couldn’t stop; I was so hungry for him. I kissed and sucked on his plump bottom lip and he let me lick across them both before his own hunger took over and he pulled me into him tighter and covered my mouth with his. My lips parted and he kissed me passionately. At that moment in time not only did nothing else matter, it hardly existed. Seth left a trail of sweet kisses down the side of my face and neck. I shuddered again, pulling him even closer into me so that not even light could come between us. After he covered my neck with kisses, Seth slid my shirt off one shoulder and began to cover my collarbone in kisses, occasionally nipping lightly at my shoulder.

“
You’re perfect,” he whispered. I was the one groaning and he was telling me that I was perfect. I took his face in my hands again and pulled him back up so I could kiss him again. I kissed him even harder that time and when we came up for air he said in a ragged, uneven breath, “Should I lock the door?”

“
Please,” I told him. He went over and turned the lock. When Seth came back he sat down next to me again and began running his fingers lightly over my face. He was tracing my features with his fingertips like he was trying to memorize them. It was one of the most non-sexual erotic feelings I had ever experienced.

I put my lips on his face and kissed along his strong jawline and across his nose and eyes and forehead. I was memorizing him now with my lips. His hand was resting on my hip and when my lips made it back down towards his he captured them and we kissed again. When he broke the kiss that time a stray tear had escaped from my eye and rolled down my cheek. He brushed it away with his finger and said, “Baby what’s wrong?”

I smiled through the tears that had filled my eyes and said, “Nothing. Nothing at all is wrong.”

“
Then why are you crying?”

“
Because I’m so happy. My soul finally feels unburdened and now no matter what happens where the company is concerned, I know that I’m moving forward. I love you so much.”

Seth brushed away another tear and then after another hot kiss he said, “I want to spend the rest of my life loving you.”

I loved the sound of that and it would be what I aimed for from this day forward. He spent the rest of that day loving me. We only came up for air long enough to order food. Grant grudgingly left it outside my door. I know that in the long run he will be happy for me, but the truth was that I was so happy for myself, it didn’t really even matter.

~

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

~

ADELE

That evening when we were both satiated and too worn out to do anything but stay contented in each other’s arms Seth said, “You never told me what it is I can do to help. Where do I start?”

“
The night of your father’s party… when you found me in the study, I had been looking in his filing cabinet.” I had forgotten to tell him that, and for a second I was afraid it would make him angry with me all over again.
Instead, he said, “I wish you would have told me then. Maybe I could have helped you.”

I propped myself up on my elbow so that I could see his face. “I don’t think either of us was ready for that yet.”

“
Probably,” he said. “Did you find anything?”

“
I think maybe I did. I put it back when you came in and I didn’t get a chance to finish reading it. It was a legal document. Your father and my father were in some kind of legal dispute already before my father died. He was suing your father for a breach of confidentiality.”

“
Wow, that would probably be a document we need to see,” he said. “Where was it, exactly?”

“
In the bottom drawer in the file marked “Summer 1994.”

“
Okay. I can get us a copy of that. What else?”

“
Really? You’ll make a copy of it?”

He grinned and said, “Do you not believe that I’m going to help you?”

“
I believe you,” I said, kissing him softly. “It’s just so nice to finally have help. It will take a little bit of getting used to.”

“
Well get used to it because I’m not going anywhere.”

I thanked him again and said, “You know Phillip Granger?”

“
Of course. He’s one of the shareholders of Hunter Corp.”

“
He was at the ball that night too. He recognized me.”

“
You? The real you? Adele Morgan?”

“
Yeah. He apparently knew me when I was a little girl and he knew my parents well.” I smiled as I remembered what he’d said, “He said I look just like my mother.”

“
She must have been a knock-out,” Seth said with a smile.

“
She was,” I told him with a wink. “But anyways, he hounded me until I admitted it was me. He offered to help too.”

Seth chuckled and said, “Phillip can’t stand my father.”

“
I picked up on that,” I said.

“
His vibe?”

“
No, the fact that he said, ‘I can’t stand James Hunter.’” Seth laughed but his eyes looked sad. I suddenly reminded myself this man we were talking about was still his father. “I’m sorry. It must be hard to hear these things about your dad.”

He shrugged and said, “It is, but he just brings it all on himself. He’s so callous about people and life. He will die with billions in the bank and no one by his side. That’s sad, but it’s a fact of a life that he created.”

I laid my head back against his chest and closed my eyes. This amazing man had been dealt a crappy hand when it came to his father. I intended to do all I could to help him overcome that when all of this was over and done with.

***

SETH

I spent that whole day and night with Erin… Adele. It was going to be hard to call her that, but it was pretty and it fit her so I knew I’d get used to it. I ran into the roommate on my way out. He gave me the eyeball, but I think it’s funny. I can tell how much he cares about her and the way I look at it is who can blame him. She is hard to resist, that’s for sure.

I went into the office that day for the first time in a few. I got a lot of curious stares, but no one came right out and asked where I had been, or what had happened to Erin. I would figure out what to tell them all eventually, but today I had an agenda. I went to the lounge we had created for the shareholders. It wasn’t frequently used any longer, but I had a feeling that I would be able to find Phillip there today. I was right. When I walked in, he was on the computer. I saw him physically jump as he tried to "x” out of whatever had been on his screen.

“
How’s it going, Phillip?”

He looked guilty as hell when he said, “Good, good, Seth. How are you?” I knew it was mean, but I decided to have a little fun with him.

“
What were you looking at there?”

“
Oh nothing,” he said. “I was just doing a little research into a company I was considering putting some money into…”

“
Really? I have some extra cash I was looking to invest too. What company is it?”

The poor guy had sweat running down his balding brow as he said, “I don’t think you’d be interested in this one, Seth. It’s a little risky.”

I grinned at him and said, “I love risky, tell me more.”

His hands were shaking and I saw him trying to casually shut down the computer. I’m a terrible, mean person. “Nah, I should be going,” he said, reaching straight out for the power button.
When his fingers were hovering over it I jumped up and said, “Come on Phillip old boy, what are you hiding there? It wouldn’t have anything to do with Adele Morgan, would it?” When I said her name, his eyes went wide and his chest began to rise up and down in a rapid pace. I was suddenly afraid my teasing would give him a heart attack. I laughed then and now he was looking at me like I was insane. “I’m sorry, Phillip. I’m teasing you. Adele told me you’re helping her. I wanted to thank you and see if there was anything you need from me in order to do a better job of it.”