Page 56 of The CEO's Revenge

“Oh, Max! You and Savannah are incorrigible. Are you sure you haven’t been exchanging notes with Savannah? She said pretty much the same thing when she met Benny. He’s my tenant.”

I pointed to her cast. “So, you’ve been climbing on ladders.”

“It needed to be done.” She pursed her lips and looked at me keenly. “So you’ve been talking to Savannah.”

I plucked a card out of my wallet and handed it to her. “Now you can call me and we can talk without going through Savannah.”

“I would rather you went through Savannah, though. At least it would keep the two of you talking.” She patted my arm gently. “Sometimes Savannah does not know what she wants or needs, and as a mother, I need to nudge her in the right direction. Now that we’re on the topic of Savannah, let’s talk about what happened between you. She never told me. Why does she want to have nothing to do with you?”

“She thinks I cheated on her.”

Priscilla’s eyes widened. “Did you?”

I looked her right in the eye as I’d always done. “Never.”

“So why would she think that you cheated on her?”

“Let me start from the beginning.”

“That would be best.”

“As you know, I got out of prison a few months ago.”

“I had heard about that and I have to say I was shocked. I wanted to come see you or even attend the trial but then ummm, I had to see to an issue with Savannah around the same time.”

“She told me about the miscarriage.”

“Good. You know I don’t like to mince my words. I hope you forgive me for not reaching out when I’m sure you needed someone in your corner, but I’m sure you understand now why I could not.”

I nodded. “There’s nothing to forgive. Robert set me up.”

“Robert? Robert Steinberg?”

“The same. We had a business together.”

“Somehow I never connected the dots. Anyway, go on with the story.”

“Since my release I’ve been working on getting evidence. I have some documents which show duplicates of checks that Robert signed, but on the copy my signature has been forged. The books also show that the money did in fact go missing, but the payout was authorized by me. My inside link is still working on getting me the other documents I need so that I can make a report and have him arrested. Based on what I hear, in the last four years, these trumped-up embezzlement charges are child’s play in comparison to what he’s been up to.”

“But what does this have to do with why Savannah wants to have nothing to do with you?”

“On top of the embezzlement, he also set me up with a prostitute and had pictures taken. By his own admission, he had me drugged and a photoshoot was staged. Again, by his own admission, he planted the pictures of me and the other woman in my desk. Then he orchestrated a chain of events which led to Savannah finding the pictures. Because I was already arrested for embezzlement I could not defend myself.”

“And a few days later she miscarried,” she muttered almost to herself. “Oh! You poor dears! And all these years she’s blamed you.”

“I’m not blameless either. I’ve resented her for abandoning me in my time of need.”

“You have to tell her that Robert set you up with that woman, Max.”

“I didn’t know about the photos until recently. Robert’s plan was to ensure that if he couldn’t have Savannah, neither could I.”

“Really now.”

I nodded bitterly. “He’s ruined my reputation and he’s almost ruined my relationship. I will get Savannah back and once I’ve done that, God help him because I will sink him if it’s the last thing I do. And you best believe that I’m working damn hard on it as well.”

“I believe every word you have said, Max.”

“I do take some consolation in the fact that after everything Robert did he still was not able to get Savannah.”

---