Page 65 of Silver Fox's Secret Baby

"Look, Samantha, I know this is difficult for you. But think about what's at stake here. You and Pax are the rightful heirs. Your mother would be sick to know what your father has done. Plus, it just wouldn’t be right for your father to get away with this."

“We’re not sure he did anything—”

“His call to you is proof he did. He wouldn’t care about the investigation if he’d done everything on the up and up.”

He was right. I couldn't back down. Regardless of the risk, the truth was worth fighting for.

“I don’t want to stop the investigation.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“I’m just worried about my father. What he might do.”

“How about I lay low for a bit and make it look like you’ve terminated our services? I won’t do anything here until I hear back from my guy in South America on what the paralegal has to say.”

I let out a breath of relief. "Thank you, Alex."

"Hey, no problem.”

"By the way, how's Tori doing?" I felt like a terrible friend for not asking sooner. In fact, I’d been so lost in my own issues, I hadn’t been checking in on Victoria.

"Excited for the baby to finally arrive. We're both pretty nervous but also incredibly happy."

I smiled, happy for them both. “I know you’ll both be great. Parenthood is an amazing journey."

We chatted for a bit and then ended the call. My father's threat still hung over me, but at least for now, I had a plan. When I returned to New York, I would finally tell Henry the truth, no matter the consequences. If that was what my father had as news, I needed to make sure Henry heard it from me.

22

Henry

Ireally didn’t want to be hurtling across the sky heading east back to New York. Why did I have to leave Samantha now, just when things were starting to go so well between us?

I closed my eyes and let my mind drift back to last night in Samantha’s arms. It was like it had been five years ago, only more, somehow. Even in her office having a quick fuck, there was something more. If I wasn’t mistaken, I was helplessly, hopelessly in love with Samantha. Resisting her was futile. All the reasons I should resist still existed, but I didn’t want to. I wanted her in my life and would figure out how to deal with the issues. I was a clichéd man having an affair with a younger woman who worked for me. News and social media would have a field day with that. My board could force me out. My daughter would probably be upset that I’d fucked her friend. But I was tired of denying myself happiness. The only question was what Samantha felt about me.

As the plane touched down at JFK, I resolved to fight for Samantha, for our future together. I'd convince the board that whatever scandal might arise wasn't worth getting rid of me. Or if that didn’t work, maybe I'd retire early and focus on making Samantha and Pax happy.

But I couldn’t focus on Samantha at the moment. At the office, I had to deal with the crisis that had brought me home—a potential lawsuit regarding a news story we’d been publishing about a senator.

“Any updates?” I asked one of several lawyers, Jasper, in the conference room, where I, the writers, and fact checkers were gathered.

"We’re working on it, Henry.”

I glanced around the table. “Were we wrong?”

The writers of the piece shook their heads. “No, sir.”

“So, what’s the issue?”

“Several other news outlets picked up on something from the piece and have been running with it. The senator has been harassed, as has his family,” Jasper explained.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“He’s suing them too, but Banion was the source of the original story—”

“But we never reported what the other news outlets are reporting,” another writer said.

I stared at them all, wondering what I was missing.

---