Page 94 of Dangerous Temptation
Elena toyed with the cuff of her slipper. ‘He won’t even go into the office. I know he’s comfortable there, and the whole company is wrapped up in some big project. He says he can do everything he needs to by teleconference.’
‘How about something fun?’ her mother suggested. ‘Is there any way you can lure him out for something like that?’
Elena grimaced. ‘I made the mistake of suggesting we go visit Siren and the pups the other day. It was a bad call.’
One she hadn’t thought the whole way through.
‘Oh, baby.’
‘I thought we could replace a bad memory with a good one.’ At the very least, they could apologise to Dr Hoff. The reception had been so delightful until they’d created such a commotion.
Well, they hadn’t created it. The reporter had. Clips from that ambush were still trending on YouTube.
‘He’s richer than God, Mom. He can get anything that he wants delivered.’ Anything. They’d even had dinner from restaurants that supposedly didn’t cater.
There was a long pause at the other end of the line. ‘OK, I’m with you now,’ Yvonne said. Her voice was calm but clipped. ‘But you’re not going to like what I have to say.’
Elena bit her lip. They both knew that was why she’d called.
She just needed to hear it aloud.
‘The behaviour you’re describing isn’t healthy. It’s controlling and it’s disturbing.’
‘He’s not –’
‘You have to look out for yourself, Elena. I know you care about him, and you’ve convinced me he wasn’t that involved with the Ponzi scheme, but you have to take care of number one.’
‘I’m trying to think about myself.’ It was why she’d called. ‘But I don’t want to hurt him.’
She’d tried adjusting, and she’d tried working with him. If they’d never met … If she hadn’t gone to the lake house, she’d probably be in exactly the same situation, only she’d be a hermit in a tiny studio apartment. Yet hewasinvolved, and she’d become stronger than that.
She couldn’t stand to see him do this to himself.
He’d already been imprisoned once. The penthouse might be cushier and better equipped, but it had become a prison of his own making.
‘Sometimes you have to make tough decisions,’ Yvonne said quietly. ‘Even if they sting.’
Elena bit her lip. The screen saver had timed out and her laptop had gone black.
‘I was with a man with money once.’ Her mother’s voice became raspy. ‘I know how it can creep into the corners of your life and burst out the seams.’
‘Oh, Mom.’ They’d rarely talked about the divorce. She’d been so little, and then it had merely been a fact of life.
‘I loved your father, Lainie, but I had to do what was right for you and me.’
Elena swallowed hard. She had to do what was right for Alex and her, too. ‘I understand. Thanks, Mom.’
It was painful, but it was what she’d needed to hear. Sometimes a kick in the butt was necessary.
It was time. He’d protected her. It was time for her to do the right thing for him.
Terrible as it might be.
They said their goodbyes, and Elena picked up her laptop. She traced her fingers along the outer edge. It had been a gift from him, one of the many ways he’d rescued her. She tapped a key to bring it back to life and stuck a flash drive in the USB port.
She had it clenched in her hand as she walked into his office down the hallway.
She’d told her mother he could do anything here he needed, and his office was proof of that. It looked like a war room with two monitors on his desk, a work flow diagram spread out over two tables, and a big screen TV on the wall. Any technology he needed was at his beck and call.
