Chapter 39
COLIN
Ever since I’d left Chicago, my family’s legal troubles had been the furthest thing from my mind. There had just been so many other things going on that I’d chosen to focus on the engagement and the merger rather than investigations and court cases that were outside of my control.
Between the FBI and the actual legal professionals we’d hired, I’d figured we had things covered on that front.
It turned out I’d been wrong. The crimes my father had been convicted of had been financial and any evidence that would exonerate him or put Mallory in that cell beside his was financial too.
That was where I shone—and it was also why I should’ve been paying attention instead of falling in love with my fiancée and a foreign culture. Fuck, I really dropped the ball on this one.
“Colin?” Deja asked, prompting me to lift my gaze back to hers. “What do you mean, you have to go back to Chicago? Is it just for, like, a meeting or?—”
“No.” I raked my fingers through my hair, then mentally grabbed my balls, took her hand, and guided her over to the couch.
I’d thought I could protect her from all this, but at this point, I was just going to have to bleed my family’s trauma all over her and hope she stuck around while I tried to stem the tide.
“I’m not sure how long I’m going to be there, Deja. ”
She sat down, tucked her feet underneath her, and turned her entire body to face me as I sat down beside her. I drew in a deep breath, appreciating that she’d been patient with me so far, but it was time to just talk.
“When my father was arrested, my family lost almost everything,” I started slowly, stroking my thumb along the side of her hand I was still holding.
“Obviously, we still had the company, but its reputation was in tatters. Technically, it still existed, but we lost most of our clients, the contracts we’d been about to sign, and even the projects we were already attached to. ”
Deja’s gaze remained steady on mine, but she didn’t say a word to interrupt.
“In our personal capacity, we were allowed to keep our family home. Most of my brothers were still minors and Jane was the only one who’d already gained access to her trust fund, so she used that money to keep us afloat as far as she could, but the expense of keeping a seven-person family afloat took its toll. ”
I inhaled another deep breath, feeling like I was flaying open the very deepest parts of myself right now, but I was too numb with the news I’d gotten to be embarrassed or to hurt too much.
“I was already working for Thayer at the time and my salary package was structured by my father before his arrest, so I earned good money, but most of that went to helping Jane maintain the family as well.”
“It took us both ages before we were able to start saving,” I admitted. “We also both stayed with our mom and our brothers at home so we weren’t wasting money on rent or utilities, but all along, neither of us believed that my father had committed these crimes.”
“I remember,” she said softly. “There was a woman, right?”
“Yeah, Mallory.” I felt my face tighten as I said her name.
“She’s a big part of the reason I have to go home.
Investigations into where all the Thayer money went have been ongoing for years, which is why none of our trusts have been restored, but recently, the authorities found an offshore account. ”
Her eyes widened. “Is that where the money went? Did they nail her?”
“I don’t know, but if I had to guess, I’d say that account is where the stolen money went.
” I adjusted my grip on her hand and folded it into my lap.
“They’ve been searching for Mallory for a long time and they’ve finally found her.
She’d been arrested in Germany and they’re extraditing her back to Chicago. ”
“So that’s why you have to go?”
I nodded. “The discovery of that account is causing my family some major legal issues. It’s not in any of our names, but they’ve linked at least some of the Thayer money to it.
If I can help our legal team prove that Mallory was the person responsible for funneling our family’s money to it, she won’t get away with it. ”
“I’ll come with you,” Deja said without even skipping a beat. “I fully agree that you should be there and that you should help prove she’s the responsible party. You’re brilliant, Colin. If anyone is going to find the evidence you need, it’s you.”
My heart nearly broke when I shook my head. “Thank you for the offer, but no. I’m not taking you away from your family to drag you into the hell my father left for me, Deja.”
Her face fell. “We’re getting married, so why would you do this alone?”
Because I know what it’s like when everything catches fire, federal investigators marching in and out of our home while reporters accost us outside of the office. Legal briefings that last until midnight and endless speculation whenever we turn on the TV.
I didn’t know how to explain any of that to her, though. No one who hadn’t been through it could know what it felt like to be caught up in the raids, the headlines, or the fear of what tomorrow would bring.
“I don’t want to do it alone, but I have to,” I said firmly. “Your family is here and we’re nowhere near you needing to be in the States to start your operations there.”
All of which was true, but not really the reason I didn’t want her coming with me.
She’d met me after my family had already clawed our way back to being part of civilized society.
There was no way she could understand what was waiting for me back there, carrying a last name that had become synonymous with scandal.
A last name that’s about to become hers.
That was the part I hated the most. The Saads were respected. Honest. Everywhere they went, people knew their names and they spoke of them with reverence, clearly holding their family in high esteem. I detested the fact that I couldn’t offer her that.
The fact of the matter was that this marriage was incredibly unfair to her. She didn’t deserve to be thrust into a family that, frankly, wasn’t good enough for her.
I had everything to gain from our union, but she had everything to lose. Her reputation could be tarnished beyond repair by my last name. It was a grating, sucking feeling I’d had all along, but it’d never been closer to the surface than it was right now.
I didn’t say any of that out loud, though. While I wanted to, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Probably because I was afraid that if I did, she’d realize I was right and change her mind about being with me.
Fuck, that’s really selfish. Maybe I should just?—
“What do you need?” she asked, interrupting my thoughts with a gentle squeeze of my hand. “What can I do, Colin?”
“I honestly don’t know.” I let out a quiet groan and shook my head before I let it drop. “I wish I did, but I just don’t.”
I’d built my entire career around certainty and problem solving. Numbers didn’t lie, steal, or cheat. They either added up or they didn’t, and when they didn’t, there was a mistake somewhere to find. That was my arena. It was where I thrived.
This, being torn between wanting to be with her and my familial obligations, was a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
Part of me wanted to get on the first plane to Chicago, lock myself in a conference room with Jane and our attorneys, and not come out until Mallory fucking Foundry had nowhere left to hide, but the other part was desperate to stay right here.
“Colin,” she whispered, scooting closer and lifting her hands to take my face in a gentle grip. “I’m here for you, okay?”
You shouldn’t be. “Thank you.”
“No.” Her eyes widened with exasperation, a stubborn gleam in those golden orbs as she slid even closer.
“Not thank you, or okay, or whatever other thing you were just going to say. I mean it. I’m here for you and I’m not going anywhere.
You’ve spent months telling me that and now it’s my turn. I’m here, Colin.”
As if to prove her point, she climbed all the way into my lap, straddling my hips, and she slid her fingers into my hair and kissed me. My thoughts had been sprinting in at least six different directions for the last hour, but suddenly, they stopped.
I kissed her back without even trying to resist, sliding my arms around her and just letting myself forget about everything outside of this room for a minute.
Relaxing into her, I tightened my grip on her hips and stroked my tongue into her mouth, moaning at the familiar, tantalizing taste of her that held so many memories already.
For a little while, she just kept kissing me, but when she finally pulled away, she was smiling. “Welcome back. I feel like I lost you for a minute there.”
“I think I lost myself,” I said, letting out a quiet chuckle. “I still have to go back, though.”
“I know.” She smoothed the front of my shirt before climbing off my lap. “I’m going to tell everyone you’re resting today, then we’re going to order room service, you’re going to eat, and everything will be fine.”
All I could do was nod and watch her leave the suite, knowing that as much as I wanted to believe her, everything would only be fine if I made it so. That was the thought that spurred me back into action, so I got up, ignoring the tent in my pants as I strode back to my laptop and sat down.
I would be able to do more once I got back to Chicago, but as long as I had my computer, I wasn’t completely useless to my family, so I got stuck back in, barely noticing time pass as I re-read the spate of emails that had come in a little while ago.
My door opened again a full hour later. I blinked at the clock on my screen, unable to believe it’d been that long. Deja walked in and a uniformed server pushed an entire cart overflowing with food into the suite behind her.
She’d changed into a yellow sundress with bright blue flowers on it, the colors making her tanned skin glow with an almost golden shimmer. I smiled as I looked at her, but even as I raked my gaze across her from head to toe and back again, I was hit with a healthy dose of guilt.
The server disappeared after parking the cart in the middle of the room.
“You should be at the pool with your family,” I said. “It’s a gorgeous day out there. You don’t have to waste it inside, with me.”
“Oh, but I do. Nanna will never forgive me if I don’t remind you to eat.” She walked right up behind my chair, reached over, and closed the laptop in one decisive motion. “Come on, Mr. Thayer. Lunch is served.”
“I was reading something.”
“It will still be there later.” She rested both hands on my shoulders and brought her head down to mine, pressing her lips close to my ear. “Good boys eat their food and then, if they take a break and listen to their fiancées, they might just get rewarded for it.”
I laughed, but it morphed into a groan when she trailed the tip of her tongue around my ear before nipping it. “Yeah. Okay. You win. Just a quick break. Then I have to get back to it.”
“Good boy,” she teased, taking a step back so I could get up.
As I went to grab a quick shower, she laid out the monstrous spread she’d ordered on the little table on my balcony, and we ate together in the mid-afternoon sunshine.
I hadn’t forgotten any of what was waiting for me back home, but when she took me inside and led me to bed before kissing me again, I decided it could wait until tomorrow.
Deja and I had one more night together. Then we would go back to being separated by an entire ocean, and this time, I had no idea how long it would be until I saw her again. The only thing I knew for sure was that no matter what, I intended to fight my way back to her.