Partners (Fire & Lies - One) (9 page)

Fuck. What is
it with this woman’s draw? She’s like a fucking tractor beam. I
shouldn’t even be here. My head is just so fucked right now. I
don’t even know my right from my left.

Angry at
myself and my stupid mental ramblings, I growl at her. “Just spit
it out, Chloe. I didn’t come here for the view.”

She nods,
taking a deep breath as she rubs her hands nervously over her
knees–fuck she’s beautiful. “I know. I’m just a little surprised
you turned up here.”

“What can I
say? I’m a fucking bleeding heart, and I wanted to get this over
with. But me being here still doesn’t mean I’ll help you with
anything. It just means that I want to know what was so important
that you needed to go to such an effort to pop back into my life
after you forced your way in and then took off three years
ago.”

“I know you’re
angry with me, Aiden. What I did was…”

“Fucked up?
Cowardly? Bitchy? Despicable?” She flinches, and I feel bad for
attacking her. But I’m finding control in anger and right now, I
need control.

She holds her
hand up to stop me, her eyes closing painfully like my words are
actually hurting her. “I know, Aiden. I wasn’t honest with you, and
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have led you on the way I did. I shouldn’t
have started something I knew I couldn’t finish.”

I look at her,
still finding her the most beautiful woman in existence, and lean
forward, my elbows resting on my knees as I crack my knuckles and
let out a breath.

“Let’s just
leave it be and get to the point of this.”

She nods her
head and wipes her palms on her thighs. I can see through her thin
shirt. I shouldn’t even be thinking that but I can’t fucking help
it. I force my eyes to meet hers.

“Well, as you
know, my father is in a coma,” she starts. “And it wasn’t a suicide
attempt. I’m convinced someone was trying to kill him.”

“If this is
about finding out who tried to kill him, Chloe, you’re on your own.
The list of people who want your father dead is so long that it
would wrap around the world a few times.”

“No. I know
who did it. It’s the why that’s the problem.”

“The why? This
is the part where you tell me why you’re so sure he’s innocent,
even though all the evidence is pointed right at him like a
blinking arrow.”

“Yes. But
doesn’t that make you question things? I mean, you were close with
my father. He was a smart man. Does it really make sense to you
that he would steal that much money and leave a trail leading right
to his door–a door that when opened would ruin his company–his
pride and joy? I don’t think you understand what he went through to
make that company the shining star it was. You don’t know what he
gave up–what I gave up. He had his faults, but he’d never do that
to his workers. He’d never do that to
me
. The company was
everything.”

“Chloe, from
where I sat, it looked like you knew exactly what he was doing. You
bailed on the company just at the right time and conveniently
happened to marry into the family of the very company that came in
and bought up all of the tiny pieces at a rock bottom price. If it
had have worked out, it was the perfect plan. Your father would
have ended up filthy rich and your father in law’s company would
take on the market share and become more powerful than any one man
could have hoped to be. But it didn’t work out did it? Somewhere
along the line, daddy fucked up and your loving husband and father
in law decided to cut you loose so they didn’t look guilty too.
Just how did you escape going to prison yourself, Chloe? You seemed
like you had quite the part in all of this.”

“If that’s
what you think then why did you even come here?”

“Because I
thought that you’d at least have a better story than, ‘Daddy was a
smart guy–it makes no sense’. I thought you’d have some sort of
evidence that would at least have made the time I wasted coming
here worth it. But you’ve got nothing, do you?”

Narrowing her
eyes, she quickly stands, giving me a pretty sweet view of her arse
as she spins around and storms out of the room without adjusting
the back of her oversized sleep shirt. I get a nice look at her
little black panties that ride high on her right arse cheek.

I avert my
gaze though, as I feel a renewed stirring down below, reminding
myself that I’m here out of curiosity. Chloe needs to stay firmly
in that ‘don’t be an idiot’ box where she belonged all along.

When she
stomps back, she’s pulled on a pair of jeans and a fitted black
singlet. She still isn’t wearing a bra, but I can’t actually see
anything anymore, which is a little disappointing.

In her hands,
she carries one of those brown archive boxes that’s so full of
paper that the lid won’t close.

“You wanted
evidence. I have a fuckload of evidence,” she says, as she drops
the heavy box on the coffee table between us. “In this box is all
of the evidence my father and I had been collecting to try and
clear his name. This was all a set up, Aiden. It was orchestrated
by Michael Goldsmith the day he approached my father with the idea
of the merger.”

I pick up some
of the papers and glance fleetingly at the list of dates, phone
numbers and appointments in my hands.

“Ok, let’s say
this is true,” I say, putting the papers on the coffee table. “How
did a man who had his own company just as big and protected as your
father’s to run, manage to falsify all of that evidence and gain
access to the company funds?”

“Isn’t it
obvious?” she asks, looking at me like I have two heads. “With
someone on the inside.”

“Someone on
the inside? No, Chloe. No. I personally screened every person who
entered that company–well, with the exception of you of course
which means that the inside person could only be you…”

“Thank god you
have a military background, Aiden. Because if you used to be a cop,
I’d seriously worry about the safety of the normal person.”

“Avoiding an
answer isn’t giving one, Chloe.”

“There’s no
answer to give! I was NOT the man on the inside–or the woman. It
wasn’t me, ok?”

“Then who?
Like I said, I screened them all–thoroughly. And I don’t fuck up,
Chloe.”

“Then you
should have screened a little more thoroughly, because even model
employees can be blinded by an offer of great wealth to sell out
their employer.”

As she talks,
she reaches into the box and pulls out a few folders and stacks of
paper before finding what she’s after.

“See this
house?”

I look at the
photo she’s placed in front of me. It’s of a massive white house
with a circular driveway and a columned entrance. “That’s not a
house. That’s a mansion.”

“Do you know
whose mansion this is?”

“Should
I?”

“Who is the
one person who worked with my father every day and had access to
all of his appointments and files.”

“That’s not my
house, Chloe.”

“Not you.
Jesus… who is the
other
person who had access?”

Frowning
slightly, I look from the house in the photo to Chloe and then back
again as if that photo was going to come to life and reveal the
answer for me. In a way, it kind of did, because suddenly, a face
popped into my mind.

“Audrey?”

“Yes, Audrey
Sargent, my father’s very own personal assistant.”

“Holy shit.
But how? Why?” I ask, beginning to dig through the box, pulling out
all of the paperwork and surveillance photos that Chloe has
obviously been gathering over the course of the last two years.

“Because she
was having an affair with Michael Goldsmith. With his tutelage, she
knew exactly what to do. My father and I were duped into thinking
we were creating the biggest corporate finance company in the world
by agreeing to join forces with them. But all we did was offer them
the keys to the kingdom and my father’s head on a platter.”

She watches me
as I pour over the information she’d gathered. “How the hell do you
know Goldsmith is behind all of this? This all just points to
Audrey. And it’s circumstantial at best. Without solid evidence to
prove either of their involvement, no one will believe you.”

“That’s why I
need you, Aiden. Audrey’s scared. She visited my father in prison
and admitted that she helped Goldsmith. She said she feared for her
life and told my father that she’d hidden some information as a way
to protect herself and that if anything happened to her, he would
‘know where to find it’. Dad didn’t have a clue what she was
talking about, so I went to her to ask her what it meant, hoping
she’d talk to me like she did to my father. But she acted like I
was crazy and wouldn’t tell me a thing–practically pushed me out
the door. Goldsmith must have been watching her, because the next
day, we received the call from the prison saying that dad tried to
end things. He’s been in a coma ever since.”

“And what
about Audrey?”

“She’s in that
house and doesn’t leave without an escort. But I’ve been watching
her. She goes to beauty appointments, clothing boutiques and
wherever Goldsmith requests her. It’s nothing out of the ordinary
for a kept woman, but she keeps all of her jewellery in a safe
deposit box and the bank she uses is the same one my mother used
for her jewellery. I think that’s where she’s hidden her proof. So,
I know where it is. I just can’t get to it.”

“So you want
to go in there with your mother’s key and break into Audrey’s box
while you’re there? That won’t work. I know that bank and once you
collect your box, they escort you into a private room.”

“That’s not
even an option. My mother sold all her jewellery. We have to find
another way.”

“Sugar, I have
skills but I’m no magician. We’d have to rob the bank.”

“Not you,
Aiden. Me.” A smile creeps across her lips and a glint shines in
her eye. “And that’s
exactly
what I’m planning to do.”

FOR HOURS, I
poured over the contents of the archive box with Aiden, explaining
to him what I knew, and how I planned to get the extra information
I needed. He had questions–he had a lot of questions–but
essentially, he just listened as I presented the jigsaw puzzle of
deceit that took down my father and gave my mother a nervous
breakdown.

When we’ve
finally finished talking, I start reorganising all of my notes in
their correct files before I put them back in the archive box. As
I’m working, Leah returns home from work. The moment he opens the
door I wrinkle my nose as I can smell his job on him. It’s the
scent of hard work mixed with motor oil.

He throws his
keys at me, and I reach out instinctively to snatch them from the
air. “Hey, girlie, I’m going to hit the shower and then we’ve got
to talk. I’ve been thinking about our issue all day and maybe we
can do it without…holy shit,” he blurts in surprise, as Aiden steps
out of the kitchen and leans against the doorway, drinking a coffee
that he went and poured himself. The way he acts, you’d think he
visited our small flat every day.

“Leah, this is
Aiden. Aiden, this is…”

“I’m pretty
sure we met last night. You were the jerk who beats up girls
right?”

Leah reaches
up a tattooed arm and scratches the back of his head sheepishly.
“Well, kinda. This crazy woman wanted me to hit her for real, but I
wasn’t fucking having any of that. No way. No how.”

“Well, nice
act. It had me fooled–until I saw her eyes.”

“I told you,
you should have worn contacts,” Leah says to me. I roll my eyes,
knowing that it wouldn’t have made a difference with Aiden. He
would have seen through any disguise.

He steps
toward Aiden with a touch of caution and extends his hand. “I hope
there’s no hard feelings, bro. I’m just trying to help Chloe
correct some wrongs.”

Aiden towers
over Leah’s five foot nine and looks down at his hand for a moment.
I will him to reach out and take it. I really need these two to get
along or we’re never going to pull this off.

Slowly, Aiden
reaches out and takes his hand, shaking it once before letting go.
“So tell me–what’s
your
interest in clearing Chloe’s family
name?”

Leah just
shrugs. “I have my own reasons.” I see the discomfort in his eyes
as he steps back and clears his throat. He hates talking about his
own involvement with the Goldsmiths. “Excuse me. I’m gonna go
shower before Chloe bitches me out for stinking up the place.”

Giving me a
wink, he turns and heads for the shower, and we hear the sound of
the hot water pipes banging in the walls when he turns them on.

“What’s the
deal between you two? Another man brought to his knees by the Chloe
Donovan spell?”

“Would it
bother you if he was?” I ask.

He looks at me
for a moment; his coffee cup paused just before his lips as he
thinks over his answer. “Yes, actually. It would.” He takes a sip
from the mug.

I drop my eyes
and pick up another folder, sliding it back into the box. “No.
There’s nothing between us. He’s just a friend.”

“Well, for a
friend, it seems like you have that guy wrapped around your little
finger. Do you always use your power over men for evil?”

“Only when it
suits me,” I smile, lightening the mood as I place the last of the
paperwork back into the box. I look up at Aiden, at where he’s
still leaning against the doorframe between the kitchen and the
living area, and take a moment to absorb the fact that he’s
here.

Having him
standing casually in front of me the way he is, is something I’ve
dreamed about so many times over the last few years. There were
times when I’d sit and imagine what my life would be like if I’d
kept my promise to him and turned my back on my father and my
career to pursue my own happiness. From where I’m sitting now,
losing our jobs wouldn’t have been so bad. I would have had some of
my own money to fall back on, and he had his family’s nightclub. We
would have been ok, and we would have had each other. On top of
that, my father would still have his company and his life.