Page 28 of The Duke's Surprise Heir

Sean? Damn, not that guy! As part owner of Linx Airlines, Sean was an intimidating man! He was abnormally tall and had muscles in places that only Vivien would appreciate.

But, as Henry’s boss, there wasn’t much that Henry could say about the requested meeting. “Absolutely!” he replied with fake enthusiasm.

Obviously, Vivien wasn’t fooled. The woman nodded, then backed out of his office saying, “I’ll let him know that you will speak with him right after the meeting.”

The door closed with a snick and Henry glared at the door for a long moment. What the hell was Sean Byrne doing here? He was supposed to be in Georgia! Henry had enjoyed carte blanche here in Philadelphia with the three controlling partners in different parts of the world. Edward, “The Duke” as everyone around the company called him, lived in Bristol, Great Britain. He had been here in Philadelphia last year and hadn’t bothered to step into the Philadelphia headquarters after that. Antonio del Campo, some Spanish Marquesso, now that his father had been killed in prison a few months ago, remained happily ensconced in his ancient castle with his wife and new baby. And Sean Byrne, the bastard son of an Irish earl, preferred hanging out in Georgia. Although, why anyone would want to was beyond Henry’s understanding. They didn’t call it “Hotlanta” for nothing. The summers in Georgia were brutal!

So, what the hell was going on?

Maybe it was just a routine visit. The three partners were wealthy beyond anything Henry could imagine. The three were wealthier than the billionaires that flaunted their wealth, traveling into space in a giant vibrator or buying up social media sites. No, the owners of Lynx Airlines were billionaires many times over, but were content to fly under the radar.

Which only made them scarier!

Henry tugged at the collar of his dress shirt, swallowing past the panic. “Everything is okay,” he whispered, trying to convince himself. “He’s just here on a regular visit to touch base.”

With that rather unconvincing argument lingering in the air, he turned to his computer and logged into the Tokyo meeting. The meeting had already begun and Henry glanced at the time in the bottom of his computer monitor and sighed. He was fifteen minutes late.

That was fine, he thought. Let the underlings think that he’d had something important to deal with. He wasn’t going to tell anyone that he was fantasizing about oral sex from buxom blonds. He didn’t consider his fantasy to be “prostitution”. Yeah, he’d be paying for the woman’s expenses, but she’d fall in love with him. He was a great catch! Who wouldn’t love a man with power and authority, not to mention money?

Chapter 10

“You think you’re too messed up.”

Macie froze, the last bite of maple syrup drenched pancakes frozen nearly at her mouth. Slowly, she put the fork down. Edward had already finished his stack of pancakes and was slowly sipping coffee. Black, extra thick, and extra strong.

“I’m…what?”

“You think you’re too messed up for a relationship.”

Macie swallowed hard, the easy atmosphere of a moment ago obliterated by his words. “I thought that your parents warped your view of romantic relationships as well.”

He nodded. “Yeah, they did,” he said with a sigh. He leaned forward. “It doesn’t matter what’s in our past, Macie. We have Kyle now. We’ll be connected forever.”

“You…,” she felt her heart pounding again. If she made it through this…whatever “this” was…she was going to have to check in with her doctor to make sure her heart was still stable.

“I want to stay in Kyle’s life,” Edward announced. He set his coffee cup down on the dining table and reached for her hand. His warm fingers wrapped around hers, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. “We’re going to have to figure this out. We created a son together. We will always be connected, if only through Kyle.”

She swallowed and tightened her fingers around his. “You’re right. I know you’re right. But…I just…there’s too much happening in our world right now. I don’t know who vandalized my car, or if it’s the same person who set fire to my house and my barn. I don’t even know if I have a job to return to after we get this figured out. So my income is…uncertain. That means that my future is uncertain. I can’t commit to anything until we both know what we’re dealing with.”

Oh, that sounded very good! Very adulty and reasonable! Surely, Edward couldn’t argue with that!

Edward watched her face carefully, noticing the rush of emotions that flitted across it. “You’re right. We need to figure this out. However, you need to rest assure that you and Kyle will always be provided for. You never have to work again in your life,” he told her, then lifted his free hand when she opened her mouth to argue. “I know. You enjoy working.” He squeezed her fingers slightly. “It’s one of the many things about you that I admire. You’d never allow me to take care of you, even though I can think of perhaps a dozen ways that I’d like to spoil you if you’d let me.”

She laughed, recalling a conversation she’d had with a friend about what they’d each do if they won the lottery.

“I love my job.”

“And I can assure you that your job will be waiting for you when you return. No matter how long it takes to figure this out, you will still have a job at Linx Airlines.” He lifted her fingers and kissed them. “If you don’t want to work there, or if you ever don’t feel safe, then just say the word and I’ll transfer you to one of my other companies. There is always a need for someone who can program as proficiently as you can.”

She blinked back her surprise, then smiled. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

“Good. Now, how about if you take over my office again and see what you can find out? Sean is heading to Philly to speak with Henry and Antonio is flying up to Frankfurt to speak with our division head there.”

“Antonio is going to speak with Ralph?”

Edward set the coffee cup down on the table and stood up. He gathered the empty plates, bringing them to the sink for Ms. Kealy. “Yes. Do you know him?” he asked over his shoulder.

She shook her head. “I’ve only heard about him. He’s a scary man. The rumors around the Philadelphia office are that he’s not one to piss off.”

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