Page 25 of Silver Fox's Secret Baby

I continued to think through his hypothesis. "I'm still confused on how this would've worked. Unless, of course, your paralegal already had the paperwork drawn out when she went to see my mom. And how would anyone know that you would have declined to go see my mom and sent the paralegal instead?"

For a moment, Lucas just sat, and then he gave me a sheepish smile. "Those are the elements that I have yet to answer as well."

Frustration built because Lucas wasn't telling me anything that was getting me any closer to finding out how my father had duped his way into getting my mother's money.

"I promise you, Samantha. I am going to get to the bottom of this. I know it seems like I haven't brought you anything substantive, and I vacillated on whether to come see you at all because of that. But I wanted you to know that I was taking this seriously and that I’m working on it."

I sighed and sat back in my chair. "Thank you. I appreciate everything you're doing."

“Of course. I'm here to help you. I really liked your mom a lot. And I like you too."

I had a weird feeling in my stomach at his comment, not knowing if he was saying that he liked me like he liked my mother or something else. I decided to pretend that it was the former. "Thank you."

He shifted, and he gave me another sheepish smile. "Actually, I was wondering if maybe you would be interested in having dinner with me."

Okay, so maybe his interest wasn't just friendly. I wasn't quite sure what to say or do. Lucas was handsome, and like Henry, he seemed to be trying hard to fix a problem that he had caused.

"We could talk more about the case, perhaps giving me some more insight into your father that could help me."

I really wanted to get to the bottom of what my father had done, so I was leaning toward accepting his invitation, even though it also felt like a date, and I wasn't sure I wanted to do that.

I started to accept the invitation when Henry appeared in the open doorway. He had a smile on his face, but there was something in his eyes that told me he was irritated.

"Oh, excuse me. I didn't realize you had company," he said, entering my office.

Lucas stood and extended his hand. "Lucas Thompson. I'm Samantha's lawyer."

Henry's eyes narrowed as he took in Lucas, and I got the feeling he didn't like what he saw.

But he extended his hand to shake with Lucas. "Henry Banion. Samantha's boss. I hope you don't mind, but I need to meet with Ms. Layton."

It took a moment for Lucas to catch on that Henry was dismissing him.

I gave Lucas a helpless shrug. "Thank you for stopping by, Lucas. I appreciate it."

He looked from me to Henry and then back to me. "Sure. We'll talk later."

He left the office, and Henry took a seat in the chair that Lucas had just vacated. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything important.”

I studied him, and I couldn't help the feeling that he'd interrupted on purpose. But why? What was Henry up to?

10

Henry

Ihad fought the urge to check on Samantha all damn day. Hardly a moment went by when I wasn't wondering what she was doing, where she was doing it, and with whom. Had she gone to lunch in the staff room? Was she making friends? What men who worked for me were interested in getting to know her? Fucking hell, I was a mess.

As the sun dipped, indicating the end of the workday, I couldn't help myself any longer. I made my way down to her office. It made perfect sense for me to check and see how her first day had gone. There was nothing weird about that, right?

I’d just reached her office when I heard a man inviting her to dinner. I stopped short even though I wanted to stride in and yank whoever it was out of her office. Here I was, the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company, standing outside Samantha's office, eavesdropping like I was some fucking lovesick puppy. That pissed me off, so I strode in, not giving her a chance to answer.

Several moments later, the young man, who admittedly was handsome, and as a lawyer, was probably doing well, and closer to her age than I was, finally left. I studied her, wondering if she had an interest in him. I didn't see signs of attraction, but that didn't mean it wasn’t there.

"I wanted to come by and see how your day was. I see you received everything you need." I could hear the irritation in my voice, and I took a breath to calm it.

She studied me for a moment, but then turned to her computer, pressing a few keys. "I just finished up a report for you. The two platforms that I think could really use some attention first are your news network and the print paper out in California."

She stood and went to her printer, picking up the pages and handing them to me. She turned to sit back down at her desk, and of course, the pervert in me had to watch her fine form as she moved.

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