Billionairess's Dilemma: Reclaiming His Heart

Chapter 8: Crafty

Laurel

"A little early for revenge planning and plotting isn't it?" I ask my husband as he thumbs through papers on his desk. His hair falls over his forehead and I watch him with a smile. I love when he doesn't look too perfect. He peeks up at me through his lashes and I see the slow grin forming.

"Discovery meeting shortcake. Quit staring at me like that or else it's going to get pushed back."

"I hope I'm interrupting something." Goose says snickering as he steps into the office. Ellis throws a paper ball at him which he catches easily. "I mean this is a place of business." Brad walks in behind him and smacks him on the back of the head without breaking stride. He sets the box of pastries on the big dining table.

"We're the first ones here?" He asks surprised as he makes him and Henry a plate.

"Yep. Klein is coming, he got stuck on a call. Kyle and Coline are on their way with Susannah. Charles can't make it. Jessica is coming too. She's a little concerned about Kevin." Ellis tells them finally finding the paper he wanted. He grabs it and his tablet before moving to the table. I watch as he makes my plate first shaking my head.

"I can do that Jaws." He will always try to do everything for me.

"Act like you need me ok? It reassures me." He winks before going to take his seat.

"Where's Dad and Grandad?" Brad asks me.

"Golf this morning after Grandad's doctor's appointment otherwise they'd be here. They are prepared to cause mayhem and mischief once we iron out their roles today they said." I say laughing.

Klein comes walking in. "Good, I'm early before Goose eats all the pastries."

Henry protests with mock outrage. "I was only stress eating last week. You can lay off the jokes now. Chase made it on the team so I no longer need to be so worried."

"You had doubts that boy would qualify?" Klein raises one eyebrow at him. "He's damned faster than we ever were. If he doesn't go pro, I'll let Maya start dating at fifteen."

"They are only two years apart. How the hell is that going to work?" Henry shoots back.

"Easy. I don't lose no matter which one happens." Klein grins wolfishly at him and we all laugh.

Jessica, Coline, Kyle and Susannah all breeze in and head for the table. "Thank heaven there's Brad's homemade sugary goodness here." Susannah says with a big grin as she bites into a croissant.

"I heard Polly broke things off." Jessica says with a frown.

Susannah nods vehemently while she chews. I watch her swallow. "It seems you were right Henry. Celebrating the engagement so early showed her hesitancy and nerves. To my delight, all those toasts each of you had him join in got him drunk enough he confessed to Polly that he split her and Kevin apart on purpose. Apparently he would answer the phone and not let Kevin speak with her. Also he lied to Kevin about things she was saying. I woudn't be surprised if he did more than that but she was outraged by the fact he widened their divide. Little prick." She says pleasantly like she's discussing the weather.

"I knew she wasn't ready to be engaged. She only said yes because he asked." Henry mutters shaking his head.

"We should have taken Polly to some counseling for families of patients with chronic illness." I tell them honestly. "It would have prevented a lot of this issue and that little prick wouldn't have gotten his hooks into her so easily."

Kyle nods sighing. "Yes but we didn't think of it until too late. I mean we went when he was six Relly. In hindsight, I shouldn't have let him go somewhere different that summer. But it's too late for that. What do we know about him?"

Susannah sits up leaning on the table. "Here's what he and his mother say. She's a single mom who lost her husband thirteen years ago. She was grief stricken and struggled for a few years. She was adopted and had lost her family when Archer was born. Ten years after she lost her husband, her biological maternal grandparents found her. They brought her back into their family which is one of the reasons why they moved here when Archer was sixteen. The grandparents relocated here for his shipping business and they ended up following. Her husband was killed by a drunk driver."

"Quite the heartwarming story." Brad says skeptically.

Jessica snorts pointing at him. "Little too hallmarky christmasy movie for me to buy into. And I don't like these people on general principle for messing with my Kevin."

"Because it's not all true." Henry answers.

"This wasn't easy to find. I mean it was buried deep and we still are missing a lot of pieces." Ellis says as he passes papers over.

Henry nods as he did half the digging. "When they first started dating, we figured she'd get tired of him especially when he'd smother her then blow her off. Our initial background check didn't turn up any red flags. But this....this one did."

Ellis scowls. "And it took forever for it to come back which means someone is hiding information."

Klein starts reading. "Wait this says he didn't exist or his mother until 14 years ago. Not a single trace of them before that."

"Nope, not even a single late bill. Now tell me how a single mother with two boys to raise that was so grief stricken and struggling when her husband died kept herself off every bad credit list. Especially when she mentioned they had difficulty paying their bills." Ellis adds darkly.

"They mysteriously show up and are part of the Haltom family who have some old money......talk about a Cinderella story." Kyle says with a wry look in my direction.

"Yeah, why do I have the feeling we are about to go from hallmarky movie to a lifetime drama?" I ask as I stare down at the papers.

"Because it's never so simple with us." Henry points to me.

"She accessed an offshore account about a year after they suddenly existed. It had five million dollars in it. She drained it and moved it to another account to hide it. I found the trail though it wasn't easy to track. She's slowly withdrawn money from it over the years and invested some. The rest she's spent on their lifestyle." Ellis adds.

"But again, they didn't exist anywhere. Social security numbers had no activity on them until that year. And she didn't draw benefits from her deceased spouse though she could have with two young children. You know the poor struggling widow who tugs at your heartstrings." Henry says with a mocking tone.

"Witness protection?" Kyle asks.

"It's possible. It would explain the social security clues. She couldn't draw benefits for sure. It would alert someone. But the offshore account is a problem. She would have trouble accessing it if that were the case. There's got to be something else at play here." Ellis answers.

Klein taps the paper. "This says that older brother has an assault charge. Buried and hidden but he punched his girlfriend. Let's hope younger brother doesn't follow in his footsteps."

"He already hurt Kevin enough." I add with venom. No one messes with my nephew or Polly and gets away with it. Coline nods her eyes flashing.

"Goose, Jaws and Iceman ride again?" Henry jokes and Klein chuckles.

"At dawn Goose. We can't leave until dawn, but only if you bring coffee. I'm too old to go without that so early in the morning."

"We should talk to Kevin I think...." Coline begins but is interrupted.

"I knew something was up with the original shark squad meeting here today." I whip my head to the door finding Kevin standing there. Ellis merely raises his eyebrows at him.

"Did you hear anything interesting in the last three minutes you were there?" He waits and I realize he knew Kevin was already lurking.

"Tell me who the hell Archer Thornton really is and what you plan to do with him." Kevin says as he steps forward tossing a folder on the table. He steps back slipping his hands in his pockets. "And if he has anything to do with these."