The Only One for Her (22 page)

Chapter 45: Trace

The week after the fire had almost become a blur. Jack had been instrumental in working with Morrison to determine a cause for the fire. Arson had been ruled out which was a relief. It appeared that some exposed wires rubbed against one another, a spark ensuing, starting an electrical fire. At first, I expected Angelina to have had something to do with it, even though the fire had claimed her life. But, no connection to her involvement was found.

Since I had so much to deal with, Lindy pushed the wedding back a few weeks. A wedding at the beginning of summer would work out. I didn’t want her to be disappointed, but I had no choice. Jack and I worked morning till night to recreate the company. Lindy and Kristie were instrumental in furnishing the new office so everyone had what they needed to do their jobs. Fortunately, a recently vacated building a few blocks away had been available. I was grateful I had reserves in the bank for any unforeseen problems. This was far beyond a problem as I had to be the one to tell Angelina’s parents their daughter had died. It completely sucked, but what else could I do? I didn’t want someone they didn’t know to tell them. I had almost become their son-in-law after all.

Once we received the report from the fire marshall that the fire was an accident, I could collect the insurance money for the company. Derrick and I had decided on full coverage, so we would have the money to start over if we ever needed to. We’d paid a higher premium so we could collect the insurance money within thirty days of an accident. Fire was covered under that premium. It was worth every extra cent now that we needed it.

I had the new printer plans ready. All we needed was the money to be wired into the account to get up and running again. Jack had handled so many of the details for me so I could focus on getting R and D back on course. If we didn’t have the printers, we didn’t have a company. Filling our orders was imperative. Just enough money was in the account to complete the orders we had before the fire and to do payroll.

Looking out my office window, I couldn’t quite accept everything that had happened. The last couple of months had so many blows it was like I had been in a boxing match with a heavy weight champion. Lindy was the silver lining in this whole fucked-up mess. Jack lightly tapped on the door.

“I just got word that the insurance money will be wired into the account tomorrow.”

“That’s great news. Thanks.”

“No problem. Also, I’m going to take off early today. I have some things I need to do, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Of course.” Jack turned to walk out. “Jack.”

“Yes,” he said turning back to face me.

“Thanks for everything. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“That’s what the right hand man is for,” he said, giving one nod. With that, he left.

Around four, Lindy came into my office. “I’m so glad tomorrow is Friday. Please tell me you don’t have to work this weekend.”

“No, honey. Come here,” I said. Lindy came around my desk and sat on my lap. “Have I told you just how amazing you’ve been through all of this?”

Lindy rested her forehead against mine. “Yes, sweetie. You have.”

“I just want to tell you again how much I appreciate you. Thank you for being so understanding and just rolling with the punches.”

“Of course, Trace. Life is full of trials. It’s how we handle them that shows our character.”

“That’s very wise.”

“My mom taught me that when I was a kid. I didn’t quite understand what she meant, but as I got older, it made sense.”

“You had a good mom.”

“She was great. I hope to live up to her example when I become a mom.”

“You will, honey. You’ll be amazing.”

Lindy kissed me. I knew she wanted to be a mom more than anything.

“Let’s go home,” I said. “We can pick up some Greek food on the way. How does that sound?”

“Perfect.”

“Do you want your usual?”

“Yes. I love Moussaka. It’s my favorite.”

I laughed. “I always get my favorite, too.” Taking out my phone, I texted our order. One of the perks of being friends with the owner.

Walking out, we stopped by Fran’s desk. “We’re going to be in late tomorrow. Probably around noon.”

“Sounds good,” Fran replied.

I planned on shutting out everything and spending hours alone with my girl. I didn’t want anything to be rushed.

Once home, setting the bags down on the island, I asked, “Are you starving or can you wait a little while before we eat?”

“I can wait.”

“Good,” I said, scooping Lindy up and throwing her over my shoulder. She squealed with delight. “I’ve been thinking about having you in my bed all day.”

***

Morning came too soon and I woke to Lindy serving me breakfast in bed. She had made omelets and toast. The coffee was the second thing I wanted…after her.

“Good morning,” she said looking at me with need, hunger.

“It has been a good morning. I can’t believe I fell back asleep.”

“Well, I did ride you pretty hard,” she said coyly. “So, you needed your rest.”

“I hope you’re planning on an encore before we go to work.”

“I’m planning all kinds of things, Mr. Michaels, but I think we need a little food first.” I watched every word coming out of Lindy’s mouth. Her lips were so juicy, all I could concentrate on was having them wrapped around my hard cock.

“I could go for a few bites of food.”

Lindy set the tray before me. She had piled food on one big plate and one little plate, along with two cups of coffee.

Between the two of us, we ate one omelet and a piece of toast. I didn’t want to be too full since satisfying my girl was a top priority.

By the time we strolled into the office, it was almost lunchtime. Fran looked up and smiled as we approached. “I have a list of things to do,” Lindy said. “I’ll see you two later.”

I kissed Lindy on the cheek and she went on her way.

“It warms my heart to see you so happy,” Fran said.

“Lindy is amazing. I’m more in love with her every day.”

“Well, she’s definitely the one for you.”

“Yes, she is. Is Jack in his office? I need to check on the insurance settlement. Make sure it’s all going smoothly.”

“I’m guessing he is. I haven’t seen him.”

“I’ll go track him down.” I made my way to Jack’s office, but it didn’t look like he had been in yet. Pulling out my phone, I texted him. He must have been busy. Shit, I hoped there wasn’t a problem with the transfer. The insurance company had emailed me it would be wired at twelve thirty today. Looking at my watch, the money should be in the account about now. I logged onto my account on my phone before going to my office. No deposit. I’d give them a few more minutes, then I’d call. It was only five minutes late, after all.

Making my way to my desk, I logged onto my account from my laptop. Still, no money had been deposited.

Aaron from accounting came into my office. “Jack asked me to deliver this to you at exactly twelve forty.”

“Twelve forty?”

“Yes, I thought it was weird too. He gave it to me last night before he left.”

“Okay, thanks.” Opening the envelope I found a letter inside from Jack.

Trace,

You’ve probably checked the account and realized the money isn’t there. I have it.

I brought Angelina into your life. She was working for me. When she didn’t want to amp things up by fucking Derrick, I threatened her with information I had on her dad. Once I revealed that I knew his dirty laundry, she complied with what I wanted. I didn’t anticipate you finding out before the wedding. She was marrying you for half your shares when you got divorced and then she would manipulate Derrick into doing what I wanted.

I had to deviate from my plan when you got wise to her cheating. Derrick was so pussy whipped by her, he was begging to marry her with very little encouragement. Since I’d grown tired of waiting for what was due me, I altered the plan. Derrick’s death was a convenient way to do that.

I had Melissa working at the insurance company and she changed the account number on your policy with an offshore account number I gave her. She was on vacation from her job while working for Angelina. You letting me handle things there was just what I needed for it all to go my way.

You see, I’m way more than a right hand man.

I’m your half-brother.

Our mother discarded me because she got pregnant by some guy who disappeared. Looks like her dirty little secret is out of the bag now.

Your loss is my revenge for what I lost when thrown away. She gave all her love and attention to her golden boy while I got nothing. When I was eighteen, I did find her. I went to your house to meet her, but then I saw you and your sister playing. All I wanted to do was make her pay. Hurting you was the best way for me to do that. It took a lot of patience waiting to figure out my plan. But once you became successful it was easy. Life can be so unfair sometimes. But you already know that.

I’m sure you’ll land on your feet. You’re the type that always does.

Jack

What. The. Fuck.
“Son of a bitch,” I yelled out. “This can’t be happening.” But, it was. My computer screen was proof that the money was not in the account.

Fran and Lindy came running in. “We heard you yelling. What’s wrong?” Lindy asked.

I gave the letter to Lindy. She and Fran read it. Lindy looked white as a ghost when she lifted her eyes to meet mine. “This is insane. Jack betrayed you because your mom gave him up? I’m at a loss.”

Both Fran and Lindy sat in the chairs in front of my desk. “I got played. I had no idea he was stabbing me in the back. I gave him so much control of what was going on with the company,” I said, shaking my head. I’m such an idiot. I had trusted Jack and he had orchestrated this plan to fuck me over. I never saw it coming. He must have been laughing his ass off when I had him do a background check on the woman he hired to screw me. He played it all so well, and I placed him in charge of dealing with the insurance company.
Fuck.

“How long?” Fran asked. I knew exactly what she meant.

“We have enough money to last for another month. I either need to sell, merge with another company, or get an investor.”

“I’ll compile a list of potential investors and companies that we could merge with,” she said rising from her seat. The woman was a godsend. So thankful she understood the business as well as she did.

“Thanks, Fran.” Fran closed the door as she left. Lindy came around, sat on my lap, and wrapped her arms around me.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered in my ear. I held on to her tightly. She was my angel, consoling me at the worst time in my life. No one could make me feel better like she could. Then it hit me. I wouldn’t have met Lindy if it wasn’t for Jack and his plan to destroy me.

Lindy pulled back and gazed into my eyes. Placing her hand on my face she asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m devastated. I don’t believe this has happened. He killed both Derrick and Angelina. What the fuck, Lindy?” She held me closer and I felt awful for yelling at her. He killed two people.
Fuck.

I lay my head on her shoulder and tried to calm down. We were okay. All staff apart from Angelina were okay. Her parents of course were a mess, but somehow didn’t blame me either. I’d thought they might try to sue me at the very least.

We’ve had investors knock on our door before showing interest. We would get back up. I took a deep breath and tried to view this as rationally as I could. And then it hit me.

“You know what, Lindy? I have you. You’re the silver lining in this whole fucked-up mess. I met you because of Jack and his plan. I most likely wouldn’t have been in Maui if it hadn’t been for what he’d been doing to me. Meeting you is the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“Oh, Trace. I love you so much. We’re going to get through this.”

Epilogue

Five weeks after Jack lowered the boom, I married my girl. It was a simple, beautiful ceremony, just like we’d both wanted. Small, intimate, only family. I surprised Lindy by flying Ro and Todd out for a week. It meant so much to Lindy to have her best friend to celebrate with us. My mom outdid herself turning the backyard into a picturesque garden for our wedding. When Lindy walked down the aisle, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Even more than the day I caught her on the rocks. The most important thing had happened to me. I’d married the person I was going to build my life with.

I decided not to tell my mom she was the reason Jack had gone after me. The only people in the world who would ever know were Lindy and Fran. I could only imagine the heart wrenching pain my mother had gone through giving up her child. Hell would freeze over before I allowed Jack to ever hurt her. I knew she did what she thought was best for him. I had known a mother who would give up anything to take care of me and that’s exactly what she had done for Jack. She gave up her baby so he could be taken care of. Jack made the biggest mistake of his life when he didn’t knock on the door and introduce himself to our mother. She would have welcomed him in with open arms. We all would have. In so many ways, I felt sorry for him. He might have thought he had gotten revenge, but in all reality, he was the one missing out. I had everything. All he had was money.

The list of investors Fran compiled didn’t pan out. Instead, Kristie’s father-in-law swooped in just days before we would have gone under. If it hadn’t been for him, I probably would have lost everything. He also bought the shares that Angelina had from her parents as they were her only heirs. I still remained CEO and ran the business. It wasn’t the same as when Derrick and I owned the company, but I was still living my dream of helping people. I knew my old buddy Jake would be proud of me. I had created all of this in his memory. I wasn’t sure if I’d come up with something to honor Derrick’s memory. He had tarnished our friendship. But knowing Angelina had manipulated him and set him up made things easier for me. It also helped knowing she had been forced by Jack to take things as far as she had. In some ways, she’d been his victim as well.

Lindy and I went to the Virgin Islands for our honeymoon during Christmas vacation. Too much was happening at work to get away sooner. Plus, Lindy had gone back to school, taking classes at Mesa College. She’d be able to transfer to UCSD after she had sixty units. She was so excited to be able to go back to school. I knew she would make an incredible nurse. She was already the best wife I could ever hope for.

One afternoon, while we walked along the beach, I spotted someone familiar. The man’s walk got my attention. Even with a beard, sunglasses, and a hat, I knew who he was. I expected Melissa to be with him, but the woman was too tall to be Melissa. I couldn’t quite tell who she was. But she somehow seemed familiar too. They were walking toward us, but they were a distance away. It seemed as though the man was staring at me as intently as I was staring at him. My gut reaction was to rush him, take him down, and have Lindy get the police. But, holding Lindy’s hand, I realized Jack had given me more than he had taken. I gazed at my wife, content by my side, and my initial instinct dissipated. When I looked forward again, they were gone. I scanned the area, but couldn’t spot them in the crowd. Inwardly, I smiled, knowing I was the bigger man, the better man. I was the richest man in the world. I had my girl, and she had me. She was my only one, and
I was the only one for her.

The End