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“That sounds like something Ken would do.” The bitterness in her voice is only thinly disguised. “How did Livia react?”
I suck in a breath, recalling the scene, and my role in it. I’m not feeling very proud of myself, and don’t want to admit to what I’ve done. Except, if I don’t, there’s very little point in me having made this call.
“She didn’t recognize him, if that’s what you’re asking… but I—I fired her.”
“What on earth for?”
“Because it seemed like too much of a coincidence that the daughter of the man who almost ruined my family could come and work for us.”
“Coincidences can happen, Hunter. And how do you know for sure that she is his daughter? You said she didn’t recognize him.”
“I don’t know for sure, but Livia is an unusual name.” Every time I say that, it sounds more and more like I’m clutching at straws, trying to justify my actions. I think Doreen senses that, too. I hear her sigh and can imagine her shaking her head or rolling her eyes at me, just like she used to.
“Okay. Let’s assume for the sake of your sanity that they are related. I’d still find it hard to believe Livia came to work for TBA intending to cause trouble.”
“Why?”
“Because she’d have been raised by her mom after Ken went to prison, and Julianne Bevan would never have condoned that kind of behavior.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because she was as straight as a die. She worked for a law firm. That’s how she met Ken in the first place. He hired her to come into the company as an independent investigator to look into the fraud he was perpetrating.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. But if you think about it, it was a clever move on his part. I don’t know how old she was, but she was quite an innocent. Ken saw that too and wasted no time in persuading her into his bed.” She coughs, and I wonder if she’s blushing. I don’t say anything, though. Right now, I’m struggling not to think about Livia’s innocence, and what I’ve done with that. “I can remember seeing her around the office,” Doreen says. “And she doted on him, which, of course, meant he found it even easier to manipulate her lines of inquiry. She’d have done anything he asked of her.”
“I presume she found no evidence of fraud?”
“Absolutely none. Ken made sure of that. Julianne went on her way, and Ken started seeing one of the girls in the finance department. Some women found him charming, although he could also be the most obnoxious of men, and I remember he used to strut around the office at that time, like he owned the place.”
“He thought he’d got away with it?”
“Yes. Until Julianne called him.”
“You mean she’d found something after all?”
“Not in the way you mean. She’d discovered she was pregnant.”
“With Livia?”
“Yes. I remember Ken was furious about it, but the next thing I knew, they were married. That surprised me, although your father said much later, after Ken was sent to prison, that he thought he’d only married Julianne because having a family would provide a better cover for him. It didn’t work, of course, and personally, I wasn’t so sure.”
“You thought he loved her?”
“Good Lord, no. I always thought it had more to do with him still wanting to manipulate her.”
“Over the fraud, you mean?”
“Yes, and in other ways, too. He treated her appallingly, you know?”
“He hit her?”
“Not that I’m aware of. But he always talked about her like he owned her… like she was dirt. And I know for a fact he continued his affair with that girl in the finance office. Not that I can ju—”
She stops talking, although I know exactly what she was going to say.
“It’s okay, Doreen. I know about you and my father.”
