Page 16 of The Duke's Surprise Heir

Gilly leaned back in the office chair, disgusted and frustrated. “I don’t see the point in having all of this extra money if I can’t spend it on something that makes me happy!” he grumbled. “And what the hell am I going to do with all of this cash anyway?”

Henry slumped down into the only office chair. “You’re going to invest it. I told you to let me invest the money for you.”

“I don’t want to invest anything!” he snapped impatiently. “I want to enjoy life!” He threw his hands into the air. “We’re taking all the risks here.” Then he glared at his boss. “Actually, I’m taking all the risks. I’m the one that’s moving all those damn boxes around, hiding the crates that we don’t want anyone to see!” He crossed his arms over his chest. “What the hell are you doing? Seems to me like you’re just a messenger boy.”

Henry had anticipated this kind of a betrayal. Greed always interfered with a good operation.

“Well, if you think you can figure out the weight distribution and space allocation for the next shipment, plus calculating which of the other shipments that will need to come off, ensure that the fuel usage is both adequate for the flight so that the pilot can safely land the plane at the destination airport as well as ensure that whatever additional fuel that may be needed won’t be noticed, then I guess I can just transfer my responsibilities to you and you can have the entire bonus that we earn for each shipment.”

Henry waited, glaring at Gilly until he sighed.

“Fine!” he grumbled. “You’re right. I don’t know how to do all of that.”

The tension in Henry’s shoulders eased up. He didn’t mention that the computer program that Macie had developed did all of that automatically as soon as he typed in the new weight and size calculations for the crates he needed included in the manifest.

One worry off his mind, he thought.

But that made him wonder where Macie was. She should be returning to work next week. Her maternity leave would be over by then but he hadn’t heard anything from her in a while. Not since he’d discovered that she’d visited the warehouse several months ago.

Focusing on the problem at hand, he stood up and moved to the door, gripping the handle as he looked back at Gilly. “Make sure that the crates are stored in the back of the warehouse this time. I heard that there were some issues with a shipment a few months ago.”

Gilly waved Henry’s words away. “I handled it.”

“How?”

“It was just some bitch snooping around. I stopped her from opening anything. She didn’t see anything.”

Henry blinked. “That was Macie. And yeah, I got Ricky to take care of that situation.”

“Ricky?” Gilly repeated. “Why would you involve him in anything?”

“Because she was becoming a concern, you idiot!” Henry snapped. “She’s taken care of. Don’t worry about it.”

Then he jerked the door open and stomped out, furious with the idiot. Gilly was going to be a problem, he thought. Perhaps he’d speak with Ricky about the warehouse manager.

But if Ricky “took care of” Gilly, then who would take over for Gilly? The man had been working at the warehouse since the inception of the company last year. He was good at his job and kept the shipments moving.

As Henry drove away from the warehouse, trying to figure out who he could get to replace Gilly and, in the end, accepted that he’d have to keep the guy on board. He wasn’t sure how to get someone else in place that could do the job and keep his mouth shut. Henry made a mental note to explain caution to Gilly one more time. Increased spending habits, unexplained money, or big purchases were the first red flag to any operation.

Chapter 7

Macie sat up and stretched, then looked around. The guest bedroom was beautiful. Decorated in soft shades of yellow and white, it was distinctly feminine. She wondered if Edward had other guest rooms done up with more masculine décor.

Sitting up, she looked around and smiled when she spotted several more bags of clothes that had been deposited just inside the door. Edward was spoiling her and Macie didn’t mind. Not one little bit! She liked it. No, actually, she loved it. After years of not allowing men to buy her anything, other than an occasional meal, it was nice to just relax and let herself be taken care of for a change. She’d been taking care of Kyle for a year, even if nine months of that had been in utero. She’d still done it all on her own. All of her prenatal doctors’ appointments, food shopping, and decisions had been hers alone. There hadn’t been anyone she could bounce ideas off of, no one to talk to when she was scared or anxious. No one to tell her that her quickly expanding body wasn’t ugly.

Still, she didn’t have time to linger. Kyle would be waking up soon and…!

“Where’s Kyle?” she whispered, not remembering where she’d put him to sleep last night. She remembered eating dinner with Edward. She remembered feeding Kyle one last time. But she didn’t remember much after that.

Good grief, she barely remembered changing into this satin nightshirt!

Throwing off the covers, she raced out of the room. Normally, Kyle woke her up during the night. But both of their sleep cycles were off, so maybe she hadn’t slept as long as she’d thought.

Her room opened onto a long hallway and Macie wasn’t sure which way to go. Thankfully, there was a light at one end and she rushed towards it.

Sure enough, the hallway led to the balcony that overlooked the great room. That’s where she found Edward, who was again sitting on the floor, playing with Kyle. It was so unexpected to see the extremely large, muscular man patiently handing a toy to the tiny, little man. Edward seemed to genuinely enjoy watching Kyle gnaw on the latest “treat”.

He must have sensed her presence because he looked up and their eyes locked. Even from this distance, she could feel the lust coming from those dark, penetrating eyes. Her stomach clenched and she was suddenly very aware of her body in a different way. Different from everything she’d gone through over the past twelve months.

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