Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Lucas
I dropped my bags inside my house in the early hours of Friday morning and let out a sigh.
Three days with Mindy and working out a way to apologize to Valerie had wiped me out.
My sister had been right. She didn’t need me rushing to her side or being her knight in shining armor anymore.
My baby sister had grown up. I’d come to terms with that fact.
A quick shower to wash off the red-eye flight, since that was the first flight I could get out. I hadn’t slept much on the plane, mainly because I didn’t know how Valerie was going to react to my apology and my declaration of love.
She was the right woman for me, and I’d let her down a second time. No more. When I heard her message, late yesterday, my heart dropped. Not that I didn’t have confidence in her figuring out what was going on, only that there was no reason for her to stay at FI.
I dressed and then drove to the office. I couldn’t wait to see Valerie. When I walked into the office, she wasn’t there. I frowned. She was always early. I paused; something wasn’t right. There were no papers on her desk, no sticky notes. No ledger.
Fuck. She’d left already? I sat down at my desk. A folder marked urgent sat under my keyboard. I opened it. I read the summary page. Holy shit. Her father was involved. I grabbed my phone.
“Miles, where is Valerie?”
“Look who’s back.” The sarcasm in Miles’ voice made me cringe.
“I know. I screwed up. Where is she? Her desk is empty.”
“Valerie is locked in the conference room on the C-suite level with Legal.”
“That big of a mess?”
“Yes.”
“I’m reading her report now.” I kept reading the summary she left. “Got to go.” I didn’t even let Miles respond. This was bad. Very bad. Valerie was going to need support, and I needed to be there for her.
Grabbing the report, I high-tailed it out of the office and up to the C-suite. I knocked on the conference room door and waited until someone said come in.
All eyes turned my way when I walked in, but I had eyes for only one person.
Valerie. She looked tired. “Everyone, sorry to be so late. I had a family emergency and just returned.” I took the empty seat across from Valerie on John’s left.
I wanted to sit next to Valerie, but Nick was there.
At least I could see her face. “Lucas Bryer.”
“Glad to have you here, Mr. Bryer,” the blond-haired man in a suit said. “We’re discussing what Ms. Ray found as it pertains to Rustic and Bernard Ray Enterprises.”
I nodded, but noticed Valerie was looking down at the table. Did she think I’d blame her? She was innocent in all of this. Hell, she wrote the damn report. I studied her. Valerie looked tired and… I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something else.
“Shall we continue,” John said.
“Yes.” Nick shuffled the papers in front of him. “Ms. Ray, tell me how you got involved with all this and why I should believe you’re not a part of it?”
I stiffened. “What kind of question is that?” I pushed my chair back.
Valerie raised her head. “Sit down, Lucas.” Her voice was soft. “As I already said, I was asked by my boss to take on this job. And from my understanding, Mr. Boyd requested me.”
She was calm. Too calm. This was a Valerie I’d seen before. She was shutting down. Damn it, this was a disaster.
* * *
Five hours later, the corporate and SEC lawyers and investigators all left.
A warrant had been issued for Bernard Ray’s arrest, which would probably happen shortly.
“Well, that was fun. Not.” I commented. It was more brutal than I expected.
Several times, I had to force myself not to lunge at the investigators questioning her.
Nick must have noticed because he stepped in several times and made them back down with a few words. My concern was all for Valerie.
“Agreed, but they were doing their job.” John looked at Valerie. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, John. Thank you.” She rubbed her forehead.
I’d been at surprised at how composed and controlled she’d been, but then again, that was Valerie. “It’s been a long couple of days.”
“Of course. Why don’t you go home. I’d like you to come in on Monday, so we can discuss next steps and close out your contract with FI.”
John rarely got involved with contractors, so what was different now? Why did he need to talk with Valerie?
“I’ll be here.” She stood and walked to the door.
I was going to follow her when John said, “Lucas, stay.”
I couldn’t ignore my boss’ request no matter how much I wanted to.
“Sit down. We need to have a talk.”
* * *
An hour later, I grabbed my keys and left my office. John hadn’t been happy that I’d taken off without notice especially with everything we were going through. He took me to task about how I reacted in the meeting.
I tried to explain, but he waved my words away, saying what went on after hours wasn’t his business. He did understand about the family emergency, but next time, check in, then he dismissed me.
The exhaustion on Valerie’s face in the meeting tugged at my heart. How many of her sleepless nights at finding out her father’s company was involved in an embezzlement scheme were made worse by my absence.
Traffic was horrible at this time of day.
After spending all the time in the meeting, then another thirty minutes with John, it was going to be late before I got to Valerie’s house.
When I finally arrived, there was another car in her driveway.
Who was at her house? I walked up to the door and was about to knock when I heard raised voices that I recognized.
Oh, hell, no. I turned the knob; luckily, the door was unlocked.
“How could you?” a female voice screeched.
“It’s my job.” Valerie’s sad voice spoke volumes.
I stopped in the doorway to her living room. Her mother and sister flanked her, their faces red and angry. Valerie stood there, looking defeated—as if this conversation had been going on for a while.
“You framed Daddy,” Kendall whined.
“Why did you do it?” her mother yelled.
“As I’ve said, it’s my job. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Damn right, you’ve done nothing wrong,” I said, moving into the room.
There was no way I was going to let these two put the blame on Valerie.
She wasn’t at fault. Valerie’s gaze focused on me, and her chin went up.
Maybe I shouldn’t be stepping in, but I couldn’t let her family hurt her anymore, not today.
The two women turned to me. “This has nothing to do with you,” Mrs. Ray said.
“He’s come to support us.” Kendall grinned and moved toward me, her arms outstretched.
The woman had no shame. “I’ve come to support Valerie.” Side-stepping her, I went straight to Valerie. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” I touched her pale cheek.
“You’re here.” Her voice was soft.
“No other place I’d rather be than with you.” Her eyes grew wide.
“But…”
“Nothing.” I placed my fingers against her lips. “We can talk as soon as they leave.”
“Oh, we’re not leaving,” her mother said.
“Like hell you’re not.” Valerie’s voice was stronger than before.
“Don’t talk to me like that. I’m your mother, and I don’t have to listen to you.”
The determination in Valerie’s eyes dimmed. I got it. All she ever wanted from her family was love, and they’d given her nothing but heartache.
My turn. “Leave now.” My voice was harsh. The need to throw them out on their asses was strong.
“She’s had my husband arrested.”
“Law enforcement arrested him. Your husband, along with his mistress, are being charged with a crime.”
“How dare you?” Mrs. Ray took a step forward.
“I don’t hit women, but if you take another step, I’ll reconsider that stance.” I made sure Valerie was out of the line of fire. “I’ve seen the evidence, and unless you want to be arrested for trespassing, I suggest you leave.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Valerie can.” I glanced at her. She was staring at me with disbelief in her eyes. We’d have to talk about that later.
“Please leave.” Her voice was steady and strong. “I have nothing more to say to the two of you.” She waved her hand at them.
“I don’t understand how I have such an ungrateful daughter.” Cora stomped her foot.
“He’ll never stay with you. He’ll find a woman worthy of him,” Kendall added before both turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind them.
Valerie sighed. “Well, that went about the way I thought it would.” She stepped away from me.
“Valerie.” I reached for her.
She held her hand up. “Lucas, thank you for stopping by, but I really need to be alone right now to deal with all of this.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I wanted to pull her into my arms and comfort her, show her I was here for her. Maybe a little late, but I’d own up to that.
“Yes. Please leave.”
The defeat in her voice hurt my heart. Did this mean I was too late to make amends? I hoped not, but I would respect her wishes for now.
“All right. Only because you’re asking me to.
But we’re going to talk.” I brushed my fingers over her cheek.
“Call me when you’re ready.” I forced myself to walk out of her house and drive home.
I could only hope she’d call me sooner rather than later because I wouldn’t be able to rest until I heard from her.