Chapter 26
Charlie
“Morgan.” I smiled when she stepped into my office. Getting up from my desk, I walked over and hugged her. “It’s great to see you. I was shocked when I heard you moved back to New York.”
“Charlie Stone. It’s great to see you too. It’s been a while.
“Yeah, it has. Things didn’t work out in Seattle?”
“No. It was too rainy there for me. Besides, I met a guy, and let’s say he wasn’t who I thought he was.”
“I’m sorry. Have a seat, please. Can I get you some coffee?”
“I’m good. Thanks. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I need a favor.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“I need someone checked out.”
A smile crossed her lips. “Charlie Stone wants me to spy on someone for him?”
“It’s for my girlfriend.”
I told Morgan the story about how Marley and I met and about Troy.
“I want to meet her. She sounds like my kind of girl.” She grinned.
“Perhaps we can have dinner together.” I smiled.
“I’d love that. Write down the name of this Troy guy, and I’ll dig up everything I can on him.”
“Thanks, Morgan. I really appreciate this.”
“Anything for you, my friend.”
“By the way,” I said as she walked to the door. “I don’t want to know how you find out the information you’re going to find.” I smirked.
“No worries. You know I keep my secrets.” She winked.
Later that evening, as the elevator approached the penthouse, I heard music blaring. Stepping into the foyer, I walked into the living room to find Marley, Olivia, and Penelope dancing around the room to I Love It by Icona Pop and Charli XCX.
“Oh, hey.” Marley smiled, turning off the music.
“You three look like you’re having fun.” I walked over and kissed her lips.
“We were, McBillionaire.” Olivia walked by and patted his chest. “We’re going to go. Talk to you tomorrow.” She hugged Marley.
“Yeah. See you tomorrow.” Penelope hugged Marley. “Bye, Charlie.”
“Good night, ladies.” A smile crossed my lips. I grabbed the small remote, put on a slow song, placed my arm around Marley, and began dancing.
“Oh, are we having a dance, Mr. Stone?” She grinned.
“We are.” I tenderly kissed her lips. “I got in touch with a friend of mine from college. She’s going to check into Troy for you.”
“Really? Who is this friend of yours?”
“Her name is Morgan, and she’s the best hacker there is. If there’s anything to be found about Troy, she’ll find it.”
“Thank you for doing this for me.” Her arms tightened around my neck. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, babe. I told her all about you, and she wants to meet you. As soon as she finds out something about Troy, we’ll have dinner together.”
One Week Later
When I heard the elevator coming up, I walked into the foyer. When the doors opened, Morgan stepped out, and I hugged her.
“Thanks for coming.”
“I’m loving the new digs, Charlie.” She grinned. “Wow.”
“Thanks.” I chuckled.
I led her into the kitchen, where Marley pulled the chicken from the oven.
“Marley, I’d like you to meet Morgan Ashley. Morgan, this is my beautiful girlfriend, Marley.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” Marley smiled, hugging her.
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Marley. Wow. Look at you.” Morgan smiled. “You are a very beautiful pregnant woman.”
“You’re sweet. Thank you.”
“I have to admit that I was shocked when Charlie told me the two of you were having twins.”
“Trust me. We both were.” A smirk crossed Marley’s lips.
The three of us sat down, talked, and ate the wonderful dinner Marley cooked for us. Afterward, I poured Morgan another glass of wine, and we got down to business.
“So, your boy, Troy Truman, is in some serious financial trouble with gambling debts, bad investments and call girls. He was fired from Chase Morgan last month because he was losing clients who were unhappy with their returns. He overpromised and underdelivered.”
“But he was just on a two-week business trip,” Marley said.
“That wasn’t for his previous employer. That was for an investment that went wrong. I did some digging on your client, Allison. The day she marries, she inherits the trust fund her parents set up when she was born.”
“That’s why he’s in such a rush to marry her,” Marley said. “She mustn’t know he was fired.”
“Probably not. I found a passport application with his picture and a different name. My guess is that he’ll talk her into investing her money, put it in an off-shore account, and disappear without a trace.”
“Oh, my God. That poor girl. She is so sweet and trusts him completely. Wait a second. When we were looking at wedding invitations, she told me that he didn’t want anyone from his work at the wedding, only family and a few close friends. How could I have slept with that disgusting pig?”
“It wasn’t your fault, babe.” I reached over and took hold of Marley’s hand. “Just forget it ever happened.”
“It happens to the best of us.” Morgan smirked.
“I can’t let her marry him,” Marley said.
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. I’ve sent Allison and her father some of his financial documents with an anonymous letter about his recent unemployment.”
“They won’t know where they came from, right?” I asked with worry.
“No. Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?” Morgan’s brow arched.
“Not at all.” I chuckled.
“She’s going to be heartbroken.” Marley pouted.
“It’s better she finds out now before marrying his broke, deceptive, cheating ass.” A smile crossed Morgan’s lips. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you receive a call from the bride-to-be tonight.”
After Morgan left, I helped Marley clean up from dinner. Her phone rang as we headed to the bedroom to get ready for bed.
“Charlie, it’s Allison’s mother.” Her eyes widened.
“Answer it.” We sat on the edge of the bed, and she put it on speaker.
“Hello.”
“Marley, it’s Adele.”
“Hi, Adele.”
“I don’t know how to tell you this, but we will no longer be needing your services. Allison called off the wedding.”
“Oh no, Adele. I’m so sorry.”
“We’re not. It turns out Troy isn’t the man she thought he was. Could you please cancel everything for us?”
“Of course. I’ll do that first thing tomorrow. Is Allison okay?”
“No, she isn’t. She’s heartbroken, but she’ll be fine. I’m putting a check in the mail first thing tomorrow for your fee and some extra to compensate you for having to call the wedding off.”
“Thank you, Adele. I appreciate it. Please give Allison my best.”
“I will. Thank you, Marley.”
She ended the call and lay her head on my shoulder as my arm wrapped around her.
“That poor girl,” she said.
“She’ll be fine, babe. Like Morgan said, it’s better she found out now before he married her and ripped her off.”
The following morning, as Marley and I stood in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee before I left for work, my phone rang.
“It’s Morgan,” I said, looking at Marley. “Good morning, Morgan.” I put the call on speaker.
“Good morning, Charlie. I wanted to inform you that I got an alert that our boy, Troy, has skipped out of the country.”
“Already?” I asked. “Allison’s mother called Marley last night and told her the wedding was called off.”
“That’s good to hear. He wiped out his bank account and hopped on a plane to Switzerland. I’m not sure why he chose there, but he won’t be in the States any time soon, if ever.”
“Thanks, Morgan. I owe you one.”
“You’re welcome, Charlie. Hi, Marley!”
“Hi, Morgan. Thank you for everything.”
“No problem. You two have a good day.”
“You too, Morgan.” I ended the call and slipped my phone into my pocket.
“I can’t believe he went to Switzerland. What the hell is there?” Marley’s brows furrowed.
“Who knows. Maybe he likes Swiss girls.” I smirked. “You probably sent him over the edge when you told him the twins were his.” I narrowed my eyes.
“I hope I did.” She grinned, patting me on the chest. “Don’t give me that look. You know he deserved it and even more now. I love you. Go to work.” She reached up and kissed my lips.
“Stay out of trouble while I’m gone.” I bent down and kissed her large belly. “You two behave in there.”