Page 104 of Inevitable Inheritance

Derrick nodded, but he didn’t seem to have heard anything she said. Instead of responding, he grabbed his clothes and went in search of his phone to take on the day.

* * *

The day zoomedby for Taylor, and she had been in text contact with Derrick all day, just checking in. His answers had been brief:Good. Going into a meeting.She was worried about him. Simon’s explanation of his behavior helped to bridge their relationship, even if Derrick knew nothing about it. Derrick affirmed that he loved her every day, and guilt ate at Taylor because she could not return the words, not in the way he wanted her to. She cared about him, a lot, but she just couldn’t say something she wasn’t sure of.

Six o’clock came, and Taylor decided it was time for her to get Derrick. A ten-hour day was long enough for taking over a company right after your father died, leaving you in charge of an empire. She gathered her things, and Henry and Luke walked her to the elevator. On the way down, Henry engaged in a tense phone discussion.

“We need to head out, and get Mr. Fletcher. Make it happen.”

The person on the other end said something that seemed to displease Henry, and he gripped his phone, hard.

“And the police can’t get control of it? This is ridiculous,” he grunted.

“What’s wrong, Henry?” Taylor asked.

“I will call you back,” Henry said, hanging up. “The street is cluttered with photographers. They started piling in about an hour ago. It would seem they want a picture of you and your new husband,” Henry explained.

No kidding, Taylor thought. Their marriage license had been breaking news, all over every station, magazine, and social media platform worldwide. Just trying to get to the private burial had been a huge debacle because of the herds of media, paparazzi, and just people trying to get a shot of Taylor and Derrick since the news broke. It was ridiculous, but it didn’t seem like it was ever going to stop.

“All right. Well, let’s do it,” Taylor said.

“No,” Henry said quickly.

“Henry, this is crazy. They are going nuts because we are avoiding them, if—”

“No.”

Taylor scowled at him. “How about a compromise?” she asked, and he glowered. “Oh, don’t be such a grump! How about you get me to Derrick safely and then you assess the situation? If you feel it is too unsafe for Derrick and me to go out after you see for yourself, then fine. If you think it is okay, we go and make an appearance, get our pictures taken, and go home.”

Henry made no change in his face or posture. “Fine,” he agreed.

Taylor smiled at him. “There now, was that so hard?” she asked and was rewarded with a small smile from the big bulldozer of a man. Taylor still had no love for the media, but she understood her position in the spotlight, and that meant people wouldn’t rest until they saw a glimpse of her and Derrick. Or it could only make them hungry for more, but she really hoped that wasn’t the case.

Taylor was ushered into the garage and followed her security detail obediently through a series of doors and hallways and eventually found herself in an alley. Henry held open another door, and she made her way down a flight of stairs and to another elevator. Somehow, she had been herded into the garage of Fletcher Enterprises.

“Pretty awesome, Henry,” she commended as she entered the elevator.

They sailed up and Taylor got off at the top floor, exiting with Luke. “I will let you know as soon as I can,” Henry said.

“No problem,” she said. She was sure Derrick would need to decompress anyway before they went through the chaos she was determined to get over. Truth was, it scared her to go into that mob, but she needed to face it head-on.

As Taylor crossed the threshold into Derrick’s office, she could hear his voice just on the edge of shouting. It seemed his day hadn’t gone as “fine” as he had said in his texts. “I’m going to go and talk to Derrick, could you give us a minute Luke?” Taylor asked.

The stoic man nodded, taking up space leaning against the wall across from the office door.

Taylor walked past the empty secretary desk and back to Derrick’s office door. She opened the door without knocking and peeked her head in, finding Derrick standing behind his desk, his back to the door. He was on the phone, and from his posture and what Taylor could hear, it was not going well.

“I do not care how long it takes. Get it done!” Derrick informed the caller, slammed the phone on the receiver, and then picked up the entire office phone and threw it against the wall. The phone shattered in about a dozen pieces.

Boys are so silly.

“Feel better?” Taylor asked with a sarcastic smile.

Derrick turned in surprise. “No,” he answered, slumping into his chair and putting his head in his hands.

“Tell me about it,” Taylor encouraged, walking around the desk to be next to him.

Derrick shook his head. “It’s stupid.”

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