Page 17 of Empowered
His response was almost instantaneous.“I’ll bring home an extra slice of pizza for you.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m here if you need me.”
Sarah put her phone away. She’d rather do work than dwell on what she couldn’t prevent.
Like facing the man who had caused so much of her pain.
Russell Monroe was a shell of his former self. After surviving a major stroke last summer, he was now mute and bound to a wheelchair – which a nurse or his fiancée had to push for him. The man had aged thirty years overnight. Gone was the powerful businessman with silver hair and lines on his face that suggested vast experience and a voracious sexual appetite. He looked older than his own father would have been if he were still alive.
Even so, he always recognized Sarah when she ascended the beige steps leading to the massive foyer of Russell Monroe’s retirement estate.
His fiancée, the Japanese heiress Natsuko Matsuda, was in residence. Much too young – and too smart – to be embroiled in this mess, she had agreed to marry the man in return for a handsome allowance and a plethora of benefits for her family back in Osaka. (And being allowed to keep dating her Japanese boyfriend.) The Monroes, in turn, were excited to have the stepping stone into Japanese markets on their side. The fact the woman approached Sarah with a smile before recognizing her did not make things easier to bear.
“Ms. … Clayborn? How nice to see you. I was expecting Ms. Oduya.”
“She’s out today.”
Natsuko stopped a few feet away, her practiced heiresses’ smile almost an insult to Sarah’s stoic disposition. “Suppose you want the tour and reports, then?”
“If you would.”
Every Friday, a representative of Damon Monroe’s office went to the estate to check in on the criminal invalid and to make sure everything was in order. This usually fell on Alisha’s shoulders, since nobodywantedto send Sarah there after finding out what happened between her and Russell. They said it in such a way that they thought they were protecting her.
Everyone wanted to protect poor, fragile Sarah. It made her sick, sometimes.
The tour included a brief interview with the full-time staff at the manor, glancing through the expenditures for the past week, and ensuring that there were no unsavory leaks, since the senior Mr. Monroe once had a lovely habit of using his extensive network of goons and nefarious individuals to light ex-wives on fire and to shoot unwanted daughters-in-law. His convalescence prevented him from achieving that level of evil these days, but the Monroes were taking no chances now that a baby was on the way. This was a man who had forced his ex-wife to have a miscarriage as well… all because he decided the child was too “defective.”
Why or why did Sarah have to think about that when she walked into the sunroom and found her ex-lover sitting in his wheelchair?
His amber eyes lit up in instant recognition. The man could no longer speak or even thrust his finger in her direction, but he could bore a hole in her with the daggers in his eyes. He blamed Sarah for this. Her and Alice Monroe, that she-devil.
“As you can see,” Natsuko said with the usual sarcastic tone she used when around her future husband, “my fiancé is doing quite well for his predicament. I consider it a blessing every single day when I wake up and he’s still with us.”
Russell shot her an insidious look before settling on Sarah again.
What was he thinking about? Fucking her? Having his baby beaten out of her?
“My employer won’t be satisfied unless I take a photo.”
“Of course.”
Sarah pulled out her work phone and reluctantly took a picture of the man sitting by the window. As soon as she lowered the cell phone, Natsuko took her by the arm and steered her toward the door.
“Speak with me for a moment. In private.”
That meant away from Russell’s trained ears. The nearby library would have to suffice.
“I’m going to bring this up with my future son-in-law the next time I have dinner with him,” Natsuko said as soon as she sat down at a small table, “but I found a clause in Russell’s will that implies I don’t get anything when he dies unless I have a child by him.”
There were many ways to get around the fact Russell was no longer fit for sexual activity. He probably had material on ice, since the man was narcissistic enough. Unfortunately, Sarah was also privy to knowing that Natsuko was infertile – one of the reasons she found this arrangement good for her and her family.
“And?”
“It’s a problem. I need my lawyer to take a look. If it’s unavoidable, I’m going to have to come up with something.” Natsuko shrugged. “A surrogate will have to be used.”
“If I may…”
