Page 65 of Merrick

“Please know when to take no for an answer. I…”

“You have a visitor.” His stare spoke volumes and when he stepped aside and she saw who it was, she rose slowly. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

He looked so much like his uncle that she felt the pain shimmering inside her. His dark hair was brushed back from his face and gray eyes, the exact shade and shape of his uncle’s stared at her.

“I hope I have not come at an inopportune time.” Even his voice was similar, she thought dazedly. How the hell had she not realized that before.

“What are you doing here, Michael?”

He came into the office and looked around. “I wanted to see you, tell you thanks for what you did for Jason.”

“Does your uncle know you’re here?”

“No. May I?” He gestured to the shabby chair in front of the desk.

“At your own risk.”

He sat and folded his hands between his thighs. “I was angry at you, pissed off that you would use him to get your information. But the last two months – throughout the trials and testing the family has been through brought us closer to each other and forced us to see what was happening right in front of our noses.” He gestured with one hand.

“My brother was crying out for help, and we ignored it.” He stared at her and noticed that her lovely face had whittled down some. “I am my uncle’s heir. Not his brother, my dad.

Uncle Merrick is my hero, my inspiration and I have so often wished that he was my dad. I love him completely and heard what he went through. I respect him as a businessman. He cares about his employees, and there are thousands of them.” He shook his head with a smile.

“He gives of himself. A lot of men in his position only care about the bottom line, but not him. If an employee needs a loan, he approves it. If one of their family member is ill and he can help, he does. Just a month ago, while this fiasco was going on, a long-time employee had a crisis, and he stepped out of the fray to lend a hand.

Another employee had his farm burnt to the ground and he was given a place to stay and help to rebuild the farm. That is what makes him so special. He is ruthless when it comes to business, but a stickler for being fair.” He trained his eyes on her. “And for a long time, it was all about work for him.

I saw the way he looked at you and realized that finally he was happy – over the moon happy. I had never seen him looked at a woman like that before. You were good for him. All the others just wanted the prestige of becoming Mrs. Merrick Pendergast, but you were different. You changed him for the better.”

“I used him.” She told him bluntly. “To close my case.”

He continued to look at her. “You love him.”

“That’s neither here nor there.” She hedged.

“He’s suffering, the way you are.”

“I’m fine.”

“I do not know you very much, but I believe that you are always straight. You love him and he is miserable without you. He does not smile anymore and spends all day and all night at the office. I went over to his place one night to hang out with him, and he got drunk.

That is what he has been doing to try and cope. Getting drunk, but it is not working.” He scooted forward, expression pleading. “I love my uncle very much and I am frightened he is going over the edge. Please, I am begging you, do something about it.”

She sat there in silence, staring at the young man who in all the investigation had remained steadfast and unmoving, with not a scratch to his impeccable record. Yes, he reminded her very much of his uncle, a man of integrity who had been shovedinto a bitter and exhausting investigation and his name dragged through the mud.

“He has moved on,” she whispered.

“No.” Hope flared in his face. “If you’re talking about the judge, he just takes her to functions he cannot get out of and nothing more.”

“He won’t forgive me.”

“Perhaps not at first. You ripped out his heart.” He nodded when she flinched. “But you are the love of his life and a love like that can never just go away. It stays.” Digging into his cashmere overcoat, he took out a creamy envelope and rose to hand it to her.

“What’s this?”

“An invitation to my wedding.” His smile came. “Julia and I are getting married. Something to celebrate after the horror we have been through.”

“I can’t…”

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