A Kiss of Color: The Complete 3 Book Collection (34 page)

Brandy stared at the both of them for a moment, unblinking, before a low groan escaped her. “Guys….I believe you…truly I do. But do you have any idea what that’s going to sound like to the police? And what kind of financial advisor,” She railed, shaking her head in denial, “Would ask you to move money to your personal accounts? That’s a
gigantic
no-no under any circumstances!”

Xavier felt his stomach turn to ice.

In the back of his mind, he’d thought that the prospect sounded slightly off, but at the reassurance from Daniel and the other members of the financial team, he’d written off the risk. He’d hired the best of the best, and trusted them.

Or, at least, he had. Now, he was beginning to doubt. “Brandy.” He covered his eyes with a hand. “You have to understand that I only did this because my team
assured
me that it was the best option. The
only
option.”

“Well, we’re going to need to speak with this team of yours then.” The elder woman replied, flipping through the papers she held. “To clear all of this up. And we’re going to have to return the money. Today. The sooner the better.”

“Of course.” Xavier rose, glad, at last, to have something to do rather than sit and watch everything unfold helplessly around him. “I’ll go to the bank right now.”

“I’m coming with you.” Helena immediately tried to rise from the couch, huffing a bit at the weight of her stomach.

“No, you’re not.” Brandy was immediately at her side, gently helping her sit back down once more. Before she could protest, the attorney continued. “There are too many reporters out there and you and the baby don’t need to be exposed to all of that. Especially not so close to your due date.” She glanced back at her brother. “Xavier and I will go to the bank and then we’ll come right back. You stay here.”

Helena scowled at her and Xavier couldn’t help but smile at her predictive stubborn nature. He knew what she was going to say before she even said it and pre-empted her protest. “I’ll be gone twenty minutes, hon.” Leaning down, he pecked her downturned mouth, and then her forehead tenderly. “Promise.” He placed a palm on the round of the young woman’s stomach, reverently touching feeling for the pulse of new life within. “Just keep him safe and sound, alright?”

Helena’s sigh was reluctant, and her smile even more so, but Xavier could only leave once both of them had made an appearance.

He dressed quickly before gathering the paperwork he would need in his briefcase. Then, he took a deep breath and prepared to face the sea of rabid media outside.

It was only half as bad as he’d imagined, but that was still pretty damn horrible. Camera men worked so hard to get into his path that he had to push a few out of his way while Brandy strong-armed her way through the masses at his side. Luckily, she had parked relatively close to the driveway, and within five minutes, they were safely on their way to the bank.

Where they’d be able to undo this whole awful mess.

When they reached the bank, however, there was another plethora of reporters blocking their way. They had to park about four blocks away and make their way through another sea of people before they were finally admitted.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Xavier hurried to one of the personal bankers to arrange a more private place to talk and within minutes he, Brandy, and the young woman were hunkered down in an executive’s office.

Xavier quickly explained to her that he wanted the money they’d transferred into he and Helena’s personal accounts to be moved back to the company accounts immediately, handing over the paperwork with the account details. The young woman, both nervous from the commotion outside and slightly star stuck, immediately commenced with the transaction.

…only to stop after two minutes, her expression confused.

“Um…Mr. Thompson, sir?” She inquired softly, raising her gaze to him.

“Yes?” Xavier tried not to be irate. The girl was only trying to do her job, but he needed that money out of his account ASAP. Before someone ran him under a bus.

“The money you wanted me to move? It’s not present. In fact, your account has a balance of about twenty million, while Ms. Graves’ account only has about one hundred thousand.”

Immediately, Xavier was hit by a wave of nausea so powerful he thought for a moment that he might be sick. The money was gone. He had just looked into his account three days ago and it had all been there. He’d mentally reminded himself that he needed to ask Daniel when the money needed to be returned at that particular time.

“What’s the last transaction on the account?” Brandy, as always, managed to keep her cool, placing a reassuring hand on Xavier’s shoulder as she spoke with the banker. The young blonde quickly scanned over the screen in front of her before frowning. When she raised her gaze again, it looked to Xavier with remarkable suspicion.

“A withdrawal. Yesterday. By Mr. Thompson.”

Xavier immediately stood, his incredulity rising to a fever pitch. “That’s impossible!” He bellowed, making the poor girl shrink back from him in fright a moment before Brandy gave him a warning look. This time, however, Xavier ignored her and blustered on. “I spent yesterday and the day before in a holding cell at the police station. How on earth could I have come here to make a withdrawal!?”

“It…it wasn’t here!” The banker replied, visibly shaken. “It was at another branch.”

“Another branch
where
?” Xavier struggled to contain his rising panic. It wasn’t his own welfare that he was worried about. He’d been taking care of himself for quite a while. He could figure this out, but he’d need time to be able to do it correctly.

Time that he didn’t have.

He had a baby on the way, and his future wife to care for. They’d just bought a new house and his account had been emptied not only of the money he’d been holding for the company, but another large sum besides.

And they said
he
did it.

“One close to San Francisco.” The banker replied lowly, making her client groan low in his throat with frustration. So, over one hundred fifty miles away. How the hell had this happened? And who would have done such a thing? Who had the authority and the account numbers? He’d made sure never to disclose such information to his entire financial team at once. They had bits and pieces but not the full picture.

There was a sudden commotion from downstairs that made all three of them look through the glass window onto the main floor of the bank below. Xavier’s eyes widened in horror when he saw that the throng of reporters from outside were pushing their way into the bank, looking for him.

“Time to go.” Brandy announced before turning back to the cowering banker. “Tell me this place has a back door.”

“First floor, down the northern hall.” The young woman managed, looking from Brandy to Xavier and back again. In her eyes, Xavier could read harsh accusation. She thought that they were criminals, and though he loathed to admit it, the evidence didn’t seem to be terribly in his favor.

But there was nothing he could do to change her mind now.

So, instead, he quickly followed his older sister out of the office and down a back stairway until the found the northern hall. Luckily, the reporters hadn’t reached the rear of the bank and they shot down the hallway before yanking open the back door.

Which revealed another crush of the media. When yet more cameras flashed and gossip-hungry men and women demanded information, Xavier felt an emotion he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Fear.

It had been an awfully long time.

Helena gathered that Xavier told her he’d be back in twenty minutes about two hours ago, and she was beginning to get worried. Since he’d left, she’d taken a shower and dressed, but she hadn’t been able to eat much. She’d been restless all morning, and her son even more so. He was squirming around so much it made his antics in the holding cell look like a walk in the park.

The gray-eyed woman lay in bed, rubbing back and forth over her tummy in an effort to comfort her antsy child. Every ten minutes or so, she glanced out the window over the expanse of their yard, past the huge number of reporters and to the street, looking for Xavier. Pounding on the door came pretty incessantly, and she forced herself to ignore it, trying to remain calm.

How could this have happened?

Xavier had obsessively screened those he hired to his financial team just to make sure things like this didn’t occur! Every background check and every interview had gone off without a hitch. These were the people who had helped him make the company into the powerhouse that it was. Helena knew for a fact that Xavier would never conspire to steal money from his own company – not after all the work he had put in to make it an honest and forthright company.

Then the question remained: who would?

At a sharp pain in her stomach, the young woman inhaled deeply before biting her lip. Her little man was definitely active today.

She wondered if Xavier had encountered any trouble on the way to the bank. It wouldn’t hurt to call him, just to make sure. He’d do the same for her if their positions were switched. Shifting carefully onto her side, Helena reached out for her phone on the bedside table and was preparing to dial Xavier’s number when a sudden wet gush came from between her legs, soaking the coverlet beneath her.

Helena gasped in shock, staring down at the drenched cotton.

Her water had broken. The realization washed over her the moment before an intense pain clenched in her lower stomach, leaving her breathless for a few moments. She panicked momentarily before she reminded herself to breathe through it. She had read plenty of books about this during the time that she and Xavier had been separated. This was natural. She was just having a baby.

She was just having a baby
…and she had no idea where Xavier was.

Helena took several deep breaths, trying to find her Zen. Panicking would not help her now. Though there were media hounds on her front lawn and she had no idea where her boyfriend was, panicking would only make the situation worse. So, instead, she carefully shifted out of the wet spot in the center of the bed and sat up. The clenching sensation from her contraction had gone, but she knew it would return. Helena supposed she should take the fact that the contractions were far apart as a good sign. Labor, she had to remind herself, didn’t mean baby immediately.

Reaching for her phone again, the young woman quickly dialed Xavier’s number, waiting with baited breath for his answer. When she got his recorded message, she swallowed yet another wave of panic before hanging up. Immediately, she dialed Doctor Forge. Her mentor answered on the first ring.

“Susan Forge’s office.”

“Susan, I’m in labor.” Helena didn’t mince words. And luckily for her, Susan was a doctor and not a hysteric. The woman immediately became business-like and analytical.

“Where are you? How long have the contractions been coming? And where is Xavier?”

“I’m at home. I’ve only had one but my water’s broken, and Xavier went to the bank two hours ago and hasn’t returned. He’s not answering his phone.”

Susan emitted a long suffering sigh. “I’ll come and get you. Don’t worry. We’ll call Xavier on our way to the hospital.”

“Um…Susan? It might not be that easy.”

Luckily, Doctor Forge managed to find someone to cover her at the office and left right away. Once she arrived at the house, however, it took her a good fifteen minutes to actually make it to the door. By that point, Helena had managed to pack her hospital bag and was waiting by the door in a chair, breathing through the second contraction as she hoped to God that Xavier got back to her soon.

She heard the doctor before she saw her. If there was one thing she’d learned in her two years working for Susan, it was that the normally mild-mannered Doctor could be…intense, to say the least, when she was upset. She’d come within an inch of wigging out on the cops that had come to the office to arrest Helena, and now, she seemed like she was on the brink again.

“Get
out
of my way! I’m a doctor and you’re obstructing me assisting my patient! I don’t give a damn about any of your questions. Move before I call the authorities!” Helena couldn’t help a small smile, despite the chaos. She could always count on Susan to be the authoritative one.

The moment the doorbell rang, Helena rushed to answer it, wincing as the last of her contraction left her weak kneed. Susan hurried in quickly before slamming the door behind her, her expression irate. “This is
ridiculous
. They’re like hounds out for blood!”

“Tell me about it.” The dark-haired woman managed a small smile before another sharp pain drove her back down into her chair. Susan was immediately at her side, a hand on her shoulder in reassurance as she offered the other to Helena to squeeze.

“Breathe through it dear. Breathe through it. Everything’s going to be fine.” All at once, a sudden, knife-like pain jolted through her and Helena had to bite back a low moan of pain. That contraction had been
nothing
like the others. In fact, it had made her almost nauseous with pain.

As she swayed in her chair, Susan’s expression became concerned. She reached down to feel gently over the swell of Helena’s stomach before frowning. “Helena, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” The young woman answered quickly, but the truth of the matter was that she wasn’t fine at all. Another sharp, pinching pain ripped through her, drawing a short cry of pain as she shuddered and squeezed Susan’s hand tightly. She felt another, smaller gush of liquid between her legs and winced. She thought her water had already broken, and grabbed some tissues from a nearby table to dry her thighs.

When she moved to throw them away, however, her breath hitched on a gasp.

The tissue was bright red.

In that instant, Helena knew that something was horribly wrong. Her eyes widened at the sight of so much blood and it suddenly became hard to breathe. As if that weren’t enough, at that moment, another contraction rolled over her, this one coming in time with the drip of blood down her thighs.