Chapter 3
Chapter Three
HARPER
“F orrest, Forrest, Forrest, if you think you hold the upper hand, you are mistaken.” I push off the wall he had me pinned against, and I must say, he is packing an impressive package in those pants.
Not that I ever doubted that would be the case.
Walking straight to the bathroom, I just want to shower and crawl into bed, but the moment I’m under the water, thoughts of his kiss and the body that is hiding under his clothes overtakes my brain, and without a second thought, I step one foot out and reach for the drawer that has my vibrator in it. I take no shame in giving myself the pleasure that I can’t seem to get anyone to share this week.
After getting myself off, I dry off and look at myself in the mirror, smiling because I know that Forrest is starting to buckle, and as much as he thinks he doesn’t want me, he absolutely does, and fighting it is getting harder.
I’m going to crack that tough exterior before long and enjoy one hell of a night with him that we will walk away from and wish we had done it sooner. He can give me all the bullshit that he is looking for a relationship with more, but he has had one-night stands before, so what’s one more before he finds the happy little wife to live the rest of eternity with?
Because that sure as fuck won’t be me.
* * *
It’s been weeks since I caught up with my sisters and mother, and the text message in our group chat this morning is Mum’s polite way of reminding me of that.
Mum: I was just checking my diary, and I must have missed our next dinner because I can’t find it in there.
She knows full well it’s because we haven’t booked one in, but we all humor her after my sister sends a side message in our sister chat that Mum’s not in.
Amanda: Who can do the 27th at 7pm?
Harper: Not me, but the 29th lunch or dinner 30th, does that help?
Rachel: Let’s do lunch the 29th then we can go out afterwards without her.
Jumping back into Mum’s group chat, I’m laughing to myself as we humor her with pretending that it had already been organized.
Harper: It’s because it was a lunch this time, you must have forgotten to put it in your diary. The 29th at 12pm at The Ritz.
I reply while I’m messaging my assistant to book the restaurant for me.
Mum: Oh, silly me. I look forward to it, I’ve been missing my girls.
We all heart the message and then jump back to talking in our girls’ chat.
Rachel: We need to find her a hobby besides lunches with Ivy and being the happy wife of Oliver.
Amanda: When did she become so needy? These dinner/lunches are getting more frequent.
Harper: Give her a break, we are her hobby. She is just being a good mum. We are lucky.
I think about everything my mother went through when Dad left us, and then to find out he was murdered in the US where he was hiding from the English tabloids and investors whose money he lost was equally hard. Being abandoned then his death. She hated him for what he had done, but I’m sure deep down, part of her still loved him, so to lose him what felt like twice really hit her hard. It took her years to come back from that, and it wasn’t until she met Oliver that we saw her finally start to bloom into the beautiful woman she is today.
Harper: Besides, the solution is easy! One of you give her a grandbaby.
Rachel: Why us?
Amanda: Yeah, you’re the oldest.
Harper: And you have the boyfriend, plus kids give me hives.
Rachel: Ughh, here we go, the “I’m never going to marry or have kids” speech. It’s getting old, just like you. Once you turn forty, your time is running out. Find a man and have his baby so then I don’t have to.
Harper: Now we both know that’s not happening, so Amanda, we are relying on you.
Amanda: Wow, nothing like putting the pressure on me and Stephen. The poor guy hasn’t even put a ring on my finger yet.
Rachel: Why don’t you propose to him? Why does it always have to be the guy?
And there is the strong opinion of a modern woman in her twenties who is ready to take what she wants from the world. I’m so glad she has the confidence to stand up and live her life on her terms. I live a life like that, but mine comes from the trauma of my father, but Rachel was too young to really feel everything Mum and I did.
Her confidence just comes from the fact that she is a millennial baby, and they have grown up in a world where women are fighting for equality, or to be honest, they aren’t fighting, they are just taking equality in any way they want to in their lives, and it’s exciting to watch.
Amanda: Because I’m a romantic and that’s what I want, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Rachel: Woah, I never said there was, it’s just not for me.
My sisters are five years apart in age, and although they look alike, they are quite different. Amanda loves love, it’s that simple. Reads and watches rom-com movies every minute she can get. Loves to be swept off her feet with flowers, dinner dates, and walks through the park in the summer. She has an arts degree from university and works for a publishing house as an editor. I’ve been trying to encourage her for a few years that she should try her hand at writing her own book, but she keeps just brushing me off and tells me that she’s happy in her own lane, helping other authors make their books the best they can be. But maybe one day there will be a story building in her head that she just can’t ignore, and it inspires her to put the words down on paper.
Rachel, on the other hand, is in that post-university life where she is earning good money, and she spends it on clothes, handbags, shoes, and traveling the world. But she also loves a Saturday night out at an axe-throwing party with her group of friends and then finishing off in a nightclub and partying until it closes. Especially since her last boyfriend tried to contain her, and that just pushed her to party harder. Mum worries about her, but I don’t. She is just living her best life, and I trust her not to do anything stupid. Using her communications degree, she is now an executive for Heart Radio, so gets to meet plenty of music stars and attend all the cool parties. She invites me along to some, but to be honest, I’m getting too old for that lifestyle. Although I jumped at the chance to meet Ed Sheeran last year, whose music is on my regular playlist.
Harper: Okay, children, settle down.
Rachel: Yes, Mother
Amanda: You and your damn emojis. We aren’t ten.
Rachel: FFS we aren’t sixty either.
Harper: I’m out before you two start a cat fight. See you on the 29th xx
Amanda: Won’t be me. Can’t wait to catch up. See you both soon. Love you xx
Rachel: It’s always me! But you love me anyway
And she had to stick another emoji in just to piss off her sister again. Rachel kind of reminds me of Flynn the more I get to know him and the way he is with Forrest. She loves Amanda like crazy but also takes great pleasure in winding her up every chance she can get. They had to lean on each other when Dad left. Because I was already busy trying to finish university, and then I was working so hard just trying to keep the family afloat that I was hardly around. So, they are extremely close but also at times look like they are about to kill each other. And it’s never been any different.
Families. They are never simple.
My computer chimes at me to remind me I have a board meeting in ten minutes, and I know that for the rest of the day, I won’t have time to think about my sisters, my mother, or that stupid kiss that keeps replaying in my mind.
It’s time to put some pressure on Forrest because I can’t be thinking about him when I’m sleeping with another guy, and I definitely have an itch that needs scratching, and if he isn’t prepared to come to the party, I’ll find someone who will.
* * *
It turned into a three-hour meeting where we needed to discuss the mess that the company was left in after Felisha’s father was forced out of the CEO position and removed from his ownership. The debates and discussing lengthy solutions has left me with the headache from hell starting to brew, but I don’t have time for that now.
Following Felisha down the corridor to her office to debrief as we always do, I know we are going to need more than the usual fifteen-minute chat. Before I take a seat, I grab the shot glasses we keep hidden in the cabinet on the side wall of the office, along with the tequila. I’m about to help my headache or make it get a whole lot worse. Signaling to her, she just nods at me, so I pour one for both of us and then we slam them back, and the burn in my throat has me shaking it off.
“Well, that was painful.” Felisha looks at me with a face that tells me she is still feeling the effects from the tequila that is settling in her stomach.
“What, the meeting or the shot?”
Both of us burst out laughing as I put the bottle away, and we settle into our seats on opposite sides of her desk.
I sigh. “I mean, I know we both already knew what the forensic accountants report said, but having to disclose that to the board because you want full transparency, that wasn’t much fun. I’m hurting for you, girlfriend, but I’m so damn proud of you too. Not once have you backed away from the hard parts of cleaning up this company from all the dodgy things that asshole father of yours did without you knowing.” I’m not one who likes to hug or show too much emotion, but there were times in that meeting I wanted to stand up and hug the shit out of Felisha and tell some of the board to back off.
“Thanks, but it’s okay. If I don’t own that my father is a terrible man and that what he did was atrocious, then we will never as a business move past it. But fuck, I wanted to tell a couple of those men to fuck off and not come back. We need to start looking for new board members and then replace the dickheads with more modern-thinking people. Anyway, enough about the shit show that was that board meeting, let’s talk about more enjoyable things. We haven’t had much time to chat the last few days. Are you all good? How is the renovation going, have I missed any dates that we need to discuss?” I can tell she is as tired as I am and neither of us want to talk about work anymore, so changing the conversation is perfect for me, but I don’t really feel like talking about men right now either, so I ignore that part of the question.
“Ughh, I hope you appreciate everything I’m going through so you get to live a happy life with Flynn.” Leaning back in my chair, I laugh at the same comment I always throw at her. “But besides that, it’s progressing, but slowly, as usual. But, oh my goodness, I found the most beautiful new painting for the lounge, look at this.” I pick up my phone to find the photo I took to send to the designer.
“It’s by this artist that does acrylic flowers, and the colors just grabbed me the moment I walked into this little florist in Covent Garden last week. I knew I had to have it the second I saw it.” I pass her my phone, and the way her face lights up like mine, I know she loves it as much as I do.
“Oh, Harper, that is stunning.”
“I know, right. Sometimes you find beauty in places you never expected.” Just as I’m taking my phone back from her, there is a knock on her office door.
“Oh, what now, hasn’t this day been long enough?” I mumble as Felisha rolls her eyes at me.
“Come in,” Felisha calls, and as it opens, Sandon steps in, and my heart always sinks a little when he turns up in either of our offices because I instantly think there is a problem somewhere or with someone. I guess we are still all on edge after the whole Ewan Kentwall drama.
“Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but I went to Harper’s office and couldn’t find her, so thought I might try here as the meeting has not long finished.” He closes the door behind him and comes over, taking the seat next to me.
I’m a little surprised it’s me he is after. “What do you need from me?” I ask, sitting up a little straighter.
“Nothing, but we do need to chat, and I think you will want Felisha here too.” He looks worried about what he is about to say, and that makes me nervous, which is not an emotion that I often have.
“Should I be worried?” I ask as Felisha stands and walks around and sits on the armrest of my chair as she too senses this is more than a friendly conversation.
Taking a breath, he looks me in the eye with seriousness. “No, not at this stage, but you won’t like what I have to say either.” He pauses to collect his thoughts, and I just wish he would spit it out. I’m not a patient person.
“Get on with it, Sandon,” Felisha blurts at him.
“I’ve been contacted by a security specialist from the US, his name is Ashton Taylor, and it’s about your father, Ronald Williams.”
I haven’t said that name out loud in over twenty years, and to hear it now is like a knife has just been stabbed into my stomach, and the pain from all those years ago is real again, and I can’t breathe through it. A name and immense pain and suffering that I have long buried and never thought it would be dug up again.
Felisha’s arm comes around my shoulders, and just the feeling of her holding on is the only thing grounding me enough to remember to take a breath so I don’t pass out.
“I’ve got you, always.” It’s a reminder that my whole life, Felisha is the only person who has cared about me besides the women in my family and is ready to keep me safe from anything life throws at me. But neither of us thought we would have to battle anything to do with my father again.
“I know this is a shock, and I wish I could have just handled it without having to talk to you, but that isn’t possible.” Sandon’s voice is so flat and doesn’t give anything away for me to gauge just how worried he is about this.
“What did he, um… want?” Words are not easy for me to say right now.
“He is about to fly to London, and he wants to meet with you, and of course me and our team. There is a lot to discuss, but the basics are that he has a case that he is working on, which has involved him watching a man that has been in prison for seventeen years but is out now, and it turns out that man was your father’s murderer, Chester Tema. And the thing he is worried about is that Chester has been searching your name on the internet, and when they scanned his search history, he is also looking at questions about your current wealth.
“Why? Why does he want to know about me? I didn’t have anything to do with my father’s crimes. I worked hard for all I have. My mother and our family lost everything, just like his family did.” Now I’m speaking so quickly because I can feel panic taking over my rational brain. “Is he dangerous? Of course he’s dangerous, he killed my father. Oh God, is he going to kill me?” I can feel shivers racing all through me.
“I have to agree, yes, he is dangerous, but he can’t get to you in the UK. He would never be allowed to enter the country with his record, so you are safe,” Sandon says, trying to reassure me.
“Bullshit, Felisha flew to Australia with a fake passport that even I managed to organize. And I’m just a woman working for a hotel chain and I don’t know shit about the criminal world. You can’t guarantee he won’t come here. Fuck!” I jump from my seat because the panic is starting to sink in.
“Harper.” Felisha is up and grabbing me, trying to put her arms around me, but I don’t want that.
“What about my family, is he after them too?” Crap, I need security on them.
“Harper, sit down,” Felisha yells at me to gain my attention, pushing me back to my seat by the shoulders. “We won’t let anything happen to you. Now let Sandon tell us what he knows. Knowledge is power, you know this.”
She is right, and her stern advice is what I needed to stop my brain from spiraling.
“Firstly, I have checked out this Ashton Taylor, and he is trustworthy. Ex-American Army and now runs a high-end security business based in Chicago. I have just got off the phone with Remington, and his sources are saying the same as mine. We can trust him. Secondly, Chester is still safely in the US, and regardless of the prospect that he in theory could get a fake passport, Ashton’s team aren’t letting him out of their sights. Thirdly, we think you are just a steppingstone, and he is not actually interested in you. It turns out there was another man involved behind the scenes of your father’s financial collapse, and he was based in Chicago, looking after some of the American businesses. Your father was not a criminal but just a businessman who got too greedy and stepped over the line of safe investments. But his business associate in Chicago was not just greedy but dirty, laundering money for some underground crime bosses. And from what we can gather, Chester started piecing information together about this other man when he was in jail for all these years, and he is trying to track him down to finish the job he started with your father. And to get his parents’ money back, which is all he was trying to do when he found your father hiding out. Talking to Ashton, we aren’t sure he ever meant to murder your father, but it looks like he has never given up on wanting to get that money back.”
Trying to take in everything Sandon is saying, the only thing that computes is that he wants his money, and he is mentally unstable obviously.
“How much is it? I’ll give it to him so he goes away.” Yes, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll sell everything I have if I need to.
“No!” Felisha voices strongly.
“There is no way we are having any contact with him. And to be honest, that will only open you up to more danger.” Sandon reaches out and takes my hands in his, trying to get my attention. “We will protect you, Harper. I promise nothing will happen to you or your family. I need you to trust me, our team, and Remington and the Darby team. At the moment this is a very low-level threat, but of course, one we won’t ignore. Ashton is only coming to talk in person because he wants to share the intel he has, and sometimes it’s better not to put that sort of thing in an email.” He squeezes my hands again, which I’m too freaked out to notice, then he asks me one question. “Do you trust me?”
“I do, but to be honest, I’m pissed.” And scared, but I’m not admitting that out loud. I won’t give my fear any power.
I learned to shut down my emotions a long time ago. I just never imagined after all this time that I’d have to do it again.
I’ve always been the one to take charge and make shit happen, and especially when Felisha’s life was falling apart, I took great pride in my strength. So, digging deep, I’m about to do it for myself this time.
Sitting up straighter in my seat, I tell the fear in my stomach to fuck off because that emotion is no use to me.
“Right, so what’s the plan?” I look to Sandon, and as he is about to answer, the door opens again, and Flynn, Remington, and Forrest stride into Felisha’s office.
“Nice of you to knock,” I grumble as they surround us and look like they are about to kill someone.
“Are you okay, Harper?” Flynn leans down and pulls me up into a hug. He is the only one who can get away with that. We have been building this brotherly-sisterly connection that is one I’m not quite sure how to manage, but I have to admit, it’s a nice feeling.
“Uggh, get your arms off me, I don’t want to piss off your girlfriend.” I push him away, trying to make light of the moment.
“Where’s the fourth one? Don’t you four normally move as a pack? You are missing the head guy,” I sass, walking away from them to get some space because it’s all too overwhelming.
“Don’t do that,” Flynn says to me.
“Do what?” I shrug.
“Use comedy to deflect. You forget I’m the king of that tactic, and it doesn’t work on me.” He tilts his head to the side in sympathy.
“Well, what do you all want me to say? I’m sure you know as much as I do. Sandon will protect me, and it will all go away. Now, get back to work. Nothing to see here.” I look around the circle of people who are all observing me, and they each have different expressions on their faces. Remington and Sandon look like they are happy that I trust them, and I can tell their brains are working on what they are going to do. Felisha is worried. Flynn looks like he just wants to hug me again and protect me from the threat.
But Forrest, he looks so angry. His eyes are focused on me with precision, and if I move, they follow me. Security and logistics aren’t his thing, he’s the finance guy, but right now, if Chester walked into this room, I think he is the man I’d be most worried about. There is fire in his body, and he is ready to put everything on the line for me, the woman who he is not interested in because I’m a one-night stand kind of girl—or so he says.
I can’t look away because his intensity has me mesmerized.
“She will stay with me,” Forrest commands like there is no room to contest his words.
But it’s enough to shake me out of this trance. “Wait, what? No, not happening. I can take care of myself, asshole. I don’t need your grumpy ass hovering over me.”
“Not up for debate.” He glares at me again.
And before I can answer, Sandon agrees with him. “It actually has merit. If we leave her address as the current rented apartment but she doesn’t stay there, it is an added level of protection. That way she is never alone, and we don’t need to post a guard outside the door, which she’ll hate.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” I storm toward Forrest with my hands on my hips. “You can’t stand being near me because I piss you off constantly when I speak, yet now you want to be roommates. Why?” I ask, pushing him in the chest.
“Because you need me.” It’s almost a growl.
“Let’s get this straight, I don’t need any man in my life.”
He grunts with frustration. “You. Need. Me. Understood?” His eyes are boring into me like he thinks that can make me agree.
As we stand here snorting at each other like two bulls about to butt heads, Flynn starts talking behind me.
“I, for once, agree with my brother. How about the rest of you?” I can hear all the men agreeing, and then I feel Felisha’s arm on mine as she starts to pull me away.
“Give us a minute,” she says as she drags me toward her bathroom while my eyes are still locked on Forrest’s.
Closing the door, she turns me to look at her. “I want you to take a few deep breaths and then we will talk this through.” Her voice is not gentle, it’s just calm and comforting. She has seen me at my best and seen me at my worst. And this is somewhere in the middle.
Trying to take the breaths is hard because my heart is racing with rage, my head is running trying to process everything that has just happened in the last twenty minutes, and my gut is telling me that although it’s a totally ridiculous idea, I should do as Forrest said.
“What’s the most important thing right now?” Felisha’s hands are on my shoulders so I can’t look away.
“To find this fucker and sort him out,” I blurt out at her.
“No, Harper, it’s to keep you safe,” she appeals to me to put myself first.
“I can do that in my own home,” I whine.
“But you aren’t in your own home, and your apartment isn’t set up with security like we are going to need,” Felisha refutes.
“So, I’ll move in with you.” I’m almost pouting like a child.
“Third wheel, remember? You will hate it, and I don’t want anything to threaten our friendship.”
“So, you would rather see me tortured, living with Forrest, who I can’t stand but for some reason also want to jump his bones. And don’t look at me like you don’t know that,” I declare to her, that no matter what she has said to me it’s made no difference, and I still have a thing for him.
“But you won’t, because you aren’t the kind of woman he is looking for, and although you are emotionally detached with sex, he isn’t. And you aren’t cruel enough to hurt him.” She sighs and drops her hands off my shoulder and takes hold of my hands that are still balled in fists from frustration. “But he will protect you more than any other man in that room, and you know why?”
I look at her with confusion. “Why?” I question.
“Because as much as he is fighting it, he cares for you, but he won’t ever let that guard down until he finds someone who wants the same thing as he does, and that’s not you. So, take him up on his offer—well, demand, really.” We both giggle because she is right. “At least until we can speak to this Ashton guy and get a clearer picture of what is going on.”
“Ughh, you’re going to make me do it, aren’t you.” Walking away from her, I put my hands on the sink and look at her in the mirror.
“It will make me sleep better at night knowing you are safe.” Felisha smiles at me, knowing she has already done what she set out to do.
“Well, good for you, while I’m lying in his guest bedroom living through hell. And he better not complain about the sound of my vibrator, because if he doesn’t want to take care of me, I’ll be taking care of myself.”
She falls forward in full laughter and puts her hands on her knees. “What the hell am I going to do with you? How can you be such a sophisticated lady in a boardroom and then here we are talking about vibrators as we hide in the toilet of my office. Lord help me!” Walking up next to me, Felisha puts her hands on the sink as well and looks at me in the mirror with all seriousness. “Please do this for me.”
And I can never deny the friend who has had my back since I was seven years old, and I have to trust that she still does.
Groaning, I step back, straighten my outfit, and look at her.
“You’re lucky I love you, but you owe me big time for this punishment!” I sternly tell her and then turn, walking back out the door with all the confidence.
“Fine,” I say to Forrest. “But this is my choice, it’s not because you are acting like a caveman. Like I said, I don’t take orders from any man. I live life on my terms, and you better remember that, roomie.” I storm past Forrest and straight out the office door and head back to my office down the corridor.
And all I can hear from behind me is the deep belly laugh from Flynn. “Good luck, brother dearest, you are going to need it.”