Page 73 of Cause of Action

“Yes. Why are you asking?”

“Because I’m pretty sure she stole your designs before you fired her.”

“She couldn’t have. I have them.”

“She could have made a copy. My first thought was she broke into your offices and took them. Are you aware that she works for Vanessa Graves now?”

“What? I had no idea.”

“Vanessa ran a contest with her designers. Whoever designed the winning line would be awarded a hundred thousand dollars. Care to guess which designer won?”

“Nina?” she said.

“Yep.” I brought up some Instagram photos from Nina’s account and showed Katherine.

“That little bitch thief!” Anger consumed her. “Those pieces are my designs! I have them right here.” She stood from her chair, walked over to a large cabinet, and pulled out the designs.

I studied them against the photos.

“So, how are things going with you and my son?” Katherine asked.

I looked up at her, not sure how to answer.

“Fine.”

“Just fine?” Her brow arched.

“Yeah. Fine.” I smiled. “Why?”

“It’s just that Roman has never brought a woman around before. Parker, either. Those two are just like their father.”

“And Julian?” I asked.

“My sweet Julian.” A small smile framed her face. “I know he can be a little rough around the edges sometimes, but he’s an amazing man with a heart of gold. Seven years ago, he was engaged to a woman named Danielle. None of us really liked her, but we tolerated her for his sake. She took a job in Connecticut at a big law firm, although Julian’s father had planned to hire her for his firm. She thought Julian would just up and move for her career without considering his at the firm. He did everything he could to get her to change her mind, but she wouldn’t. She broke his heart. Since then, he refuses to commit himself to anyone.”

“Roman never mentioned that.”

“I’m not surprised. The boys don’t like to talk about it. It was a difficult time in our family.”

“Thank you for chatting with me, Katherine. I have to go.” I stood from my chair.

“You are going to handle that little thief, right?” she asked.

“Yes. I’ll get the truth, and this will be over soon.” I smiled.

“Thank you, Morgan.”

My phone rang as I climbed into the back of my Uber. It was Roman.

“Hello.”

“Hey, sexy. Where are you?”

“I just left your mother’s office, and now I’m headed to pay Vanessa a little visit.”

“Why were you at my mother’s office?”

“Nina worked for her. Your mother fired her eight months ago.”

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