Marrying the Boss. Megan KellyЧитать онлайн книгу.
She rose and went to the drinks cart. “He loved Helen. He adored her, but he cheated on her. I believe it was about power and an illusion of youth. I’ve never understood how she could turn the other cheek, which she did until the tramp got pregnant. That she couldn’t abide.” His mother glowered into her glass. “We thought she’d gotten rid of the kid. Obviously, we were wrong.”
Mark snapped his mouth closed. Who was this person speaking so casually of “getting rid of the kid,” as though the baby weren’t important, as though it weren’t family? Not the mother who’d adopted him to fill a yearning for a child she couldn’t conceive. Not the mother he’d known all these years.
Of course, he thought he’d known the Lion. He’d never have believed the Lion would cheat on his wife. Nor that Grandmother would accept it, as long as no children came from such a union. So maybe he didn’t know his mother. Or his father, either.
“Did Father ever…step out?”
Gloria chuckled. “Darling,” she said, dropping ice cubes as punctuation, “I am not—click—the type to turn the other cheek. Click Your father never strayed. Click, click.
Mark let go the breath he’d been holding. His world had changed that afternoon, but some truths still held. “Did the Lion know Leanne hadn’t been…? Of course, he must have known she existed to have named her in the will.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” His mother fell back on the couch, not spilling a drop.
Practice? Mark reproached himself for the thought. The revelations of the day had his head spinning.
“I think,” she continued, “the Lion must have kept in touch. Not while Helen lived. He’d never dishonor her wishes that way.”
But he’d sleep around on her? Mark began to feel as though he’d grown up in a madhouse.
“Perhaps he got in contact after Helen died,” Gloria said.
“What matters is that Leanne’s here.”
“We’ll talk to the company’s lawyer. If we can’t have the will overturned due to its unusual nature—which reflects on the Lion’s mental stability at the time of writing it—”
“Benton will testify Lionel had full possession of his faculties.”
Gloria waved a hand in dismissal. “Of course he will. He’ll be protecting his hide. Our lawyer will make sure the judge understands that.”
Mark could only marvel at his mother’s keen mind. Devious and a little scary, but since she acted from love for him, he couldn’t complain. “And if that doesn’t work?”
“We’ll buy her off.”
“No, Mother, we won’t.”
“I’ll get millions from the Lion.”
“Whatever money you get should be yours.”
Gloria leaned forward and grasped his hand, her scarlet nails biting. “What better thing to spend it on? You deserve control of the company, Mark. The Lion had to have been crazy even to think of handing it over to anyone else.”
“She’s not just anyone. She’s his daughter. His blood.”
“Is that what’s bothering you?” She leaned back. “The Lion loved you, Mark, as much as he loved his own son.”
He nodded, telling himself it might be true.
“In the meantime,” his mother said, “I’ll get our lawyer to recommend a private detective for the case. See what we can find out about little Miss Fairbanks. And her mother.”
Mark opened his mouth, then closed it and looked away. It didn’t sit right, but he knew it to be a wise course of action. Know thy enemy.
Especially if the enemy possessed killer legs.
LEANNE READ her letter to her mother. “‘You are to convene at the Collins Company boardroom next Tuesday or forfeit your chance to be named Chief Executive Officer.’”
She’d scanned it herself, then brought the notice to her mother’s house to discuss. “I don’t want to go.”
“What do you mean?” her mom demanded. “Gloria and the boy stood in front of a judge and tried to have your father declared insane. If you don’t show up, it’s like saying you agree.”
Three weeks had passed since the revelations in the mausoleum. Her letter had arrived by registered mail, relating the details in “lawyer language” and citing the amount of her cash inheritance. A very nice nest egg. Her mother could retire, and Leanne could quit teaching if she wanted.
Mr. Benton had told Leanne the Collins Company lawyer had argued with Gloria against bringing the case to court on the grounds it would hurt the company’s image. Gloria pursued it nevertheless. A judge, who, according to Gloria, “didn’t have the sense God gave tree sap,” had pronounced the will valid. She had turned the air blue when they lost.
Leanne paced the living room. “Why would I want to run CoCo? I’m not even sure I could, but I don’t want it. I don’t want anything from that family. They’ve had no use for me for the past thirty years. I have no use for them now.”
Her mother stepped in front of her, bringing Leanne to a halt. “Sit. You’re making me dizzy.” She dragged her onto the sofa beside her. “Now, listen. Your father pro—”
“Please don’t call him that. He doesn’t deserve—”
“Your father,” she insisted, “provided for you. I received a check every month after he left, before you were even born. I got a check in my eighth month to cover all my doctor and hospital fees.”
“As if he’s some hero for doling out money. Mom, he was rich—filthy, disgustingly rich. It was a payoff so you wouldn’t make trouble.”
“Lionel knew I wouldn’t make trouble. He gave me money to provide for us. For your safe delivery and care. Every month,” she stressed, “a nice check came in the mail.”
“I know, Mom. I get it. Conscience money.”
“He loved me, Lee.”
Leanne bit her lip and dropped her gaze to their clasped hands. If her mother needed to believe that, she wouldn’t argue.
“And he cared about you. That’s what the money meant. That’s why he mentioned you in the will.”
“But not you.”
The silence hung between them. Leanne wanted to cry out, If he loved you so much, where’s your inheritance? But she wouldn’t hurt her mother with bitter words.
“Let it go, honey,” her mom said quietly. “I’ve had thirty years with you. That’s gift enough.”
Leanne laid her head on her mother’s lap, fighting back tears. “You’re unbelievable.”
She stroked a hand through Leanne’s hair. “I loved him. When you love someone, that’s all that matters. I didn’t care that he was rich. Or married.”
Leanne sat up. “That’s so unlike you.”
“I hope you find a love like that, Leanne.”
She grinned. “You want me to have an affair with a rich married man?”
Her mom chucked her playfully on the chin. “Smarty-pants. I want you to experience a love that will take your breath away. That makes you reexamine everything you thought you knew about yourself. That makes you a new person.”
“I don’t want to have to change to keep some guy. That’s not who I am.”
Her mom frowned. “Is that what you think of me?”
“I don’t know. You never imagined you’d ever be with a married man. Then Lionel