Page 24 of Silver Fox's Secret Baby

But Mr. Sprout didn't need to know that. In fact, if he found out, it would probably make working with him even more difficult than it appeared it was going to be.

I crossed my arms and gave him a hard stare. "I assure you, Mr. Sprout, that I am qualified for the job."

"Come on." His voice dripped with insinuation. "A pretty girl like you and a rich bachelor like Henry? It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."

"I hope your misogyny doesn't come through in your marketing materials."

His lip curled up into a snarl. "Watching over someone goes both ways. If you think you have found yourself a nice sugar daddy, think again. I’ll be keeping an eye on you."

"You're welcome to watch and assess me as much as you'd like, Mr. Sprout. What you’ll discover is that I’m a dedicated worker who will be reporting my findings to Mr. Banion."

Ready to be finished with the conversation, I turned my attention back to my work, effectively dismissing him. Only when I was sure that he had left did I look up to confirm it.

Just what I needed.

Yes, I had a dream job, but I was having to work for Henry, the man who broke my heart and was my son’s father. Added to that was Mr. Sprout, who clearly wasn’t happy about my being here, and I was sure this wasn’t the only or last time he was going to let me know it.

I worked to push Mr. Sprout and Henry and everything out of my mind and focus on doing my job. At lunchtime, I stayed in my office, eating a granola bar that I had stashed away in my purse.

By the time four thirty came around, I had gone through all the data that Henry had given me and researched all the platforms online, ranking them from those that could use the most help to those that were doing pretty well.

I was finishing up a report I planned to send to Henry when there was another knock on my door.

When it didn't pop open right away, I called out, "Come in."

The door opened, and a head popped in. Lucas Thompson.

"Mr. Thompson."

Lucas smiled and stepped into the room. "I found you. And please call me Lucas."

I motioned toward the chair near my desk, inviting him to sit. "How did you know I was here?"

He sat down. "I stopped by the home address that you gave me and they told me you were here. I have to tell you, Samantha, for a woman who a week ago was down on her luck, you rebounded very well."

"That doesn't change my plans about contesting my mother's will."

He nodded. "Of course. That's why I'm here. I've been looking into things and might have some leads on what is going on."

Intrigued, I sat forward, eager to find out what he had learned. "Does this mean I have a case against my father?"

He hesitated, his head tilting from one side to the other. "I don't want to get your hopes up because as I said before, on the surface, everything is legal."

"Then what are these leads that you have?"

"The question here is, how did your mother come to sign these, right?"

I nodded.

"And there's essentially two different ways that could have happened. Someone brought these papers to her and convinced her to sign them—"

"My mother would've never signed anything like this. Unless, of course, she was duped." My mother had always been a sharp woman, but near the end, with the pain and fatigue and medication, her mind was muddled.

Lucas nodded. "I agree with that. But of course, the other option is that there is some sort of forgery going on. I'm leaning a bit toward the former. It’s suspicious that the paralegal I sent out to see your mom is all of a sudden away on a trip and can't be reached."

I took that in. "So maybe my father paid her to do this and then got her out of the way?"

Lucas shrugged. "It's a possibility, but not one that can be proven at this time."

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