The Only One for Her (21 page)

Chapter 43: Trace

The meeting was set for me to attempt to buy Angelina out. I didn’t want Lindy at the office in case things became ugly, so I had Fran tell her to take the day off. Of course she knew what was going on, but the last thing I wanted was Lindy to feel insecure because of Angelina. I also had my mom call Lindy, inviting her to lunch, and a time of wedding planning. My sisters were going too. Between the four of them, I’m sure they’d have everything nailed down in no time.

Harris arrived with the contract about a half an hour before our meeting with Angelina and Franco. I knew all the terms, but it was still good to go the over the details.

“I made three different contracts with three different offers depending on what you want to do.”

“I don’t want us to be strapped, but I want it to be good enough to get her out of here,” I said.

“Well, then let’s start with the second offer and if she doesn’t bite, we’ll go with the top offer.”

“Okay, that’ll work.”

Fran brought in a fresh pot of coffee. She poured a cup for each of us and there were additional cups for Angelina and Franco. They walked in with Melissa as Fran was leaving. What did we need Melissa here for? This was so ridiculous.

Harris began the meeting and I stayed quiet. God, I hoped this worked. I wanted Angelina out of my life yesterday. She was a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any second.

Angelina and Franco looked over the first offer, but then pushed the contract back toward Harris.

Shaking her head, she said, “This isn’t enough. My shares are worth more than that.”

Harris took out the second contract and had her and Franco look over it. “This is the best offer we can make. You should take it,” he said firmly.

“I don’t need you to tell me what to do. Selling doesn’t seem to be in my best interest right now,” she said. She pushed her chair back and got up. Melissa and Franco followed behind her.

That was it. Our meeting was over. My stomach turned and I thought I might throw up. She had invaded my life, my company, and taken Derrick’s life. What else was she going to do?
Why the fuck was she doing this?

“Harris, thanks for everything.”

“She might change her mind. You never know.”

We shook hands and Harris was on his way. I made my way back to my office. Passing Fran’s desk, I shook my head. I didn’t need to say anything. She knew.

Sitting at my desk, for a moment I didn’t know what to do with myself. I felt like I was in the ocean at night, trying to fend off hungry sharks. I hated waiting for her next move.

A knock at my door interrupted my thoughts. It was Melissa. What the hell did she want?

“May I come in?”

“Yes.”

Melissa closed the door and my instinct was to get up and open it, but I didn’t.

“Can I help you with something?”

“Trace, I thought we should talk.”

“About what?”

“I wanted you to know I had no idea that you were Angelina’s partner when I accepted this job. A headhunter contacted me about the position. I interviewed with Angelina and she offered me the job the same day. It seemed like a good move for me. More money, better benefits.”

“I’m happy for you,” I said. I didn’t want to deal with her, even if she was contrite.
Just go away.

“Thank you. Angelina knows we dated in high school.”

“Yeah, I figured that out. She’s using you to get to me.”

“Well, I can’t go back to my old job. I didn’t give proper notice and my boss was pissed I was leaving without training a new person. I left him in a lurch. Working for him had taken a toll on me.”

Melissa turned toward my wet bar. “Do you mind if I pour us a drink? I could really use one.”

“Help yourself.”

Melissa brought two drinks over to the sofa in my office. “I’d really like it if we could talk.”

“There’s really nothing to talk about.”

“Please give me a chance to apologize to you. I don’t think I ever did.”

Reluctantly, I got up and made my way over to the sofa where she was sitting. She handed me a glass of scotch. She had no idea how much I needed a drink too. Or maybe she did. Looking at her, I waited for her to speak.

“I know I was terrible to you, Trace. Cheating on you was the worst thing I’ve ever done to another person. You’re a great guy and you deserved way better than me.”

“Thanks for the apology. Seriously, I got over this a long time ago. It’s ancient history.”

Melissa raised her glass and said, “Here’s to moving on from the past and letting ancient history go.” She clinked my glass and we each took a sip. I had no idea why she was doing this. It was a long time ago and I was in love with Lindy, but she didn’t know that. I hope she didn’t think something could happen between us.

“In light of the situation, I’m going to start looking for another job. I don’t want to make your life worse by sticking around. Things seem pretty stressful here already.”

“That might be a good idea,” I said. “There’s no way to know just how uncomfortable things are going to get.” Then I felt it. Dizzy. Disoriented. The room was spinning slightly and my eyelids were heavy. I had no control over my movements. I tried to stand up, but I ended up plopping right back down. Melissa began kissing my neck. Her hands were all over me, but I couldn’t seem to get her off me. Then everything went out of focus.

Waking up, it looked like late afternoon. I wasn’t sure how long I had been out. I was lying on my sofa, trying to figure out how I got there. Sitting up slowly, I rested my head in my hands. The pounding of a thousand jackhammers were going off in my head. It took several minutes, but I finally got up and went to my desk. A manila envelope was on my chair. I picked it up before sitting down. Opening it, I slid out pictures of myself with Melissa all over me. The note inside struck my heart.

If you don’t do what I want, Lindy will get her own copy of the pictures
.

Pounding the desk, I yelled out, “Son of a bitch.”

I buzzed Fran. She came in immediately.

“Fran, when was the last time we talked?”

“The last time I saw you was after your meeting with Angelina. Then when Melissa came out of your office, she said you didn’t want to be disturbed. Oh, no. What’s wrong?”

Showing Fran the pictures, I said, “This is what’s wrong. Melissa drugged me, took these, and I’ve been sleeping on my sofa ever since.”

“Oh my God. It didn’t occur to me that she was lying. It should have. I actually left my desk at lunch today too.” That must have been how she got back in with the printed photos.
Bitch.

“It’s not your fault,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t believe this has happened. I don’t want Lindy to see this, but I don’t want to lose my company either.”

“Trace, I know you’re a grown man and you don’t need me to tell you what to do, but I’m going to tell you anyway. Go home and show Lindy the pictures and tell her what happened. That’s the best thing to do. I truly believe Lindy will understand. She seems to understand that Angelina is capable of anything.”

“You’re right. If I hide this and then it comes out, I look guilty. Anyone looking at these can see I’m barely conscious.”

Fran looked over the pictures again. “I agree. You don’t look like you are awake in these. I can talk to Lindy to if you need me to.”

“Thanks, Fran. I’m going to get going. I need to get this over with.”

Fran nodded and I left.

Dread filled me as I drove home. I couldn’t take losing Lindy. I hoped to God she believed me. If she didn’t I wasn’t sure what I would do.

Walking through the door, the aroma of onions and garlic filled the air. Lindy was making spaghetti. When I entered the kitchen, she wrapped her arms around me. “Welcome home. I hope you like Italian. I had the best day with your mom and sisters and I just felt like cooking when I got home.”

“It smells delicious,” I said, holding her tight. For all I knew, this could be the last time I held her.

Turning to stir the meat sauce, Lindy said, “I think between the four of us everything has been decided for our wedding. So, if you had anything specific you wanted, you need to speak now or forever hold your peace.” Lindy laughed at her own pun.

“I’m sure everything will be wonderful just as you’ve planned it.”

“We decided on a date, too. Three weeks from Saturday. I hope you’re available.” Her eyes were beaming as she spoke about our wedding.

“We need to talk,” I said turning off the meat sauce.

“Sounds serious.”

I took Lindy by the hand, leading her to the sofa, the manila envelope with the pictures and note in my other hand.

“Trace, what’s wrong?”

I took out the pictures and note. “Today, Melissa paid me a visit. She drugged me and when I woke up, I found these on my desk.” I handed the note and pictures to Lindy. She looked at them, anger streaking across her face.

“That. Woman. Is. A. Bitch. She thought this would work to manipulate and control you? Obviously, you’re knocked out in these pictures. Does she think I’m stupid?”

“Well, apparently, she knows I am. I let Melissa into my office and let her give me a drink. Angelina had just vehemently turned down my offer and honestly, I needed a drink. I’m so pissed I allowed myself to be put in this position.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“It sure as hell feels like my fault. It’s like I’ve been invaded by some viral plague and I can’t get rid of it. She’s not going anywhere.”

Lindy cuddled up to me. “You can’t change anything that’s happened. You can only deal with it.”

Thank God she is a wise, intelligent woman. Thank God I had her by my side. I was so lucky she was levelheaded. I had no idea how I would have reacted if I saw pictures of her with another man. “Thank you for believing in me. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“In three weeks we’re going to be hitched, so you’ll never have to find out.” 

“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day. So, you had fun with my mom and sisters?” I really wanted them to all have a close relationship.

“Trace, it was one of the best days ever. Your sisters are going to be my bridesmaids. We found my wedding dress, their dresses, your mom’s dress. David’s Bridal had everything we needed and at one point, we all broke down and cried. They are so loving and welcoming. I feel incredibly blessed to be marrying into your family.” It’s times like these that I am so thankful for my family. They’re cool.

Stroking Lindy’s hair I said, “We’re the lucky ones.”

Lindy reached up and kissed me. “Are you hungry? Should I turn the meat sauce back on? The water is boiling for the spaghetti.”

“Now that I know everything is okay between us, I’m starved. I had lost my appetite for a while.”

“You had nothing to worry about. I would never believe something like this, not about you, Trace. I know this sounds stupid, but what did you ever see in her? Don’t answer that though. I don’t think I want to know.” Thankfully I could see evidence of a smile, so I felt sure she wasn’t feeling vulnerable here.
What had I seen in Angelina?
Lindy got up and finished making dinner, and I felt so thankful for her.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, sweetie. You just sit there and relax. Can I get you anything?”

“A glass of red would be good.”

Lindy poured each of us a glass of wine after putting the spaghetti in the pot. “Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes or so.” She handed me the glass and sat beside me again.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come back to the office. You being there might be a thorn in Angelina’s side. I really don’t want you to have to deal with her.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m kind of relieved. The tension has been thick.”

“You have enough to do with the wedding. I’d like for us to plan our honeymoon, but we might need to postpone it for a little while. I don’t think taking time off any time soon is going to happen.”

“I totally understand. We can get away when you figure things out. Any idea how this is all going to—”

“Go away?”

“Yeah.”

“No. None at all. I’ve had Jack do background checks. He’s come up empty-handed. Buying her out is the only idea I’ve come up with. But now that she’s done this, I expect more bad things to happen.”

“Are you planning on confronting her about the pictures and note?”

“I was thinking about it driving home, but she could blame it all on Melissa. I have no proof that she’s even involved.”

“Maybe we should contact the police. This is blackmail after all.”

“You know what? I do still have the card for the detective who investigated Derrick’s death.”

“Why don’t you call him and I’ll get dinner on the table.”

“Okay.” Yep, I’m one lucky bastard.

Chapter 44: Lindy

Trace briefly told the detective what had happened. Said a bunch of uh-huh’s and hung up.

He came to the table and said, “He’s coming over in an hour.”

“Good. I hope he can help.”

“At least there will be an open file. They can try to get prints off the pictures, but we’ve both touched them, so it’s unlikely. He did say that even though they had to rule Derrick’s death as an accident, something didn’t sit well with him. There’s just no evidence to prove anyone had anything to do with it.”

“Hopefully, we can get something on her soon and get her out of our lives.” Something had to give. My poor man was being raked over the coals by this vicious woman.

Before I knew it, our doorbell was ringing. “I’ll get it,” Trace said.

He ushered Detective Matthews into the living room. After introducing us, the detective began asking Trace about the events surrounding the pictures. Trace explained everything he could remember. I hated what she was doing to Trace. He didn’t deserve any of this.

The detective put the pictures in a plastic bag and said he would have them dusted for prints, but most likely Angelina had been careful and used gloves. But, it was worth a shot.

“What did you do with the glass?” the detective asked.

Trace thought for a moment. “I left it on the coffee table.” Trace glanced at his watch. “The cleaning crew is there. Maybe they haven’t cleaned my office yet.” Trace took out his phone and called Martha. “Martha, this is Trace. Has my office been cleaned? Okay. There were glasses on the coffee table. Have they been washed? Shit. Okay. Thanks, Martha.” Trace ended the call. “They’ve already washed the glasses.”

“Nothing we can do about that. When I hear back about the prints, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I’ll do a complete background check on Angelina, her family, her lawyer, and Melissa. Anyone else you can think of that might be associated with her?”

“No one else comes to mind,” Trace said shaking his head.

“Okay, well, if anything else comes up, let me know.”

“Will do.” We walked the detective out and I hoped he would come up with something.

“I’m so exhausted from all of this.”

“Why don’t we go upstairs, take a shower, and get into bed. I think I can take your mind off things for a little while.”

Trace looked down at me, pure lust emanating from his face. “I love how you think.”

We no sooner made it upstairs when Trace’s phone began ringing. “I better take this. It’s Jack. Maybe he found out something.”

I stood there hoping it wasn’t bad news when Trace exclaimed, “Oh, my, God. No! I’ll be right there. Have you called the fire department? Okay.” Fuck, this isn’t happening.

“What’s going on?”

“The building’s on fire. Jack said it’s pretty bad. We’ve got to get down there.”

“Let me drive,” I said forcefully. “I don’t think you’re in the best condition to drive right now.”

Trace nodded.

From the freeway we saw billowing clouds of smoke rising up against the darkening sky. “Shit, I can’t believe this is happening.”

All I could do was hold Trace’s hand as words failed me. Turning down the street that led to the office, my stomach clenched and I thought I was going to throw up. I said a silent prayer.
Please don’t let there be anyone inside.

Flames leapt from the building. I had never seen anything like it before, except on TV. Parking across the street, we made our way through the crowd, many of them employees from the R and D department. Heat radiated from the building; the air was thick with ash and smoke. My eyes were stinging and my throat was dry.

“Jack, do you know what happened?” Trace asked as we approached.

“I have no idea. I was just getting home when I got the call about the alarms going off. The fire department arrived like two minutes ago. I have no idea if everyone got out.”

“How many cars are in the lot?”

They both began counting. “It looks like twenty,” Jack said.

“I see Angelina’s car, but where is she?”

“I haven’t seen her. I didn’t think to check the cars to figure out who was here.”

“Was she here when you left?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

That’s when I saw it. A firefighter carrying a limp body from around the back. He laid her out on a gurney. She was so still.

“Is that her?” I asked, pointing to the lifeless body.

Trace ran over, Jack and I following behind. “Is she?” Trace asked to the fireman without continuing.

“I’m afraid so,” he said. “There was nothing we could do. She inhaled too much smoke.”

“Shit. What the hell?” Oh my God. She’s dead. Was this her final stance and she got caught in the fire or was she so out of her mind that she let it take her? This was all too much.

“Has anyone else been found in the building?”

“We’ve cleared the building. No other casualties have been found.”

The building continued to burn and the firemen worked tirelessly to extinguish the flames. They made us move back across the street. Part of me was relieved to not be so close. Leaning against Trace’s chest I said, “Are you okay? This was your life’s work.”

“No. Not really. I don’t get what’s going on.”

“I know you wanted her out of your life, but I’m sure this isn’t the way you imagined it.”

“No. I was angry with her, but I never wished her dead. I can’t believe this.”

Trace wrapped his arms around me. “Her family is going to be devastated. She was so young.”

“Yeah, she was really close with her family. God, I hope everyone else got out.”

The roar of the flames had died down and the aftermath of this terrible event was upon us.

Jack exhaled loudly. I had almost forgotten he was there. “We have a lot to do. Please tell me you have all the files backed up on your hard drive at home.”

“Yes, I do. We can rebuild everything, but we can’t get Angelina’s life back.”

“No, we can’t. Even though she had been terrible to you, I’m sure part of you still cared for her,” Jack said, putting his hand on Trace’s shoulder.

A fireman approached us. “I’m Travis Maddoc. I was told one of you is the owner.”

“Yes, I’m Trace Michaels. I own the company. This is my fiancée, Lindy, and Jack Cawston, my Chief of Operations.

“Any idea what might have caused the fire?”

“I have no clue. Jack?”

“I’ve been racking my brain, trying to figure it out, but we didn’t have anything flammable on the premises. I just can’t imagine how this happened.”

“We’ll send Morrison out to investigate the cause of the fire. I need your contact information.

Trace gave his phone number and took Travis’s card.

“I’ll send out a text to everyone letting them know what happened,” Jack said.

“Thanks. I’ll find out in the morning when the investigator is coming out. I’ll be in touch after that.”

“Okay. I’ll put together a list of things I think we should do. Why don’t you do the same and we can meet Morrison here. I would imagine he’s coming out tomorrow.”

Trace gave a heavy sigh. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll…I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Just like that, Trace and Jack had a game plan.

“I’m glad you have Jack. He seems like a huge help.”

“He’s the best. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” Trace reclined the passenger’s seat a little. I drove us home in silence. He was exhausted and I knew he needed the quiet. It would be a long road to getting things back to normal.”