“Who?”
“The executor of the estate.”
“I still don’t understand what estate or why Maddox is mentioned.”
The door behind them opened and a voice that had haunted Jake’s sleep for the last two months filled his ears.
“Sorry I’m late. I had to take a call.”
Jake’s head snapped around to Keaton. “What is she doing here?” he whispered.
Keaton tipped his head to acknowledge the question but his gaze remained glued to the papers in front of him. “I’m assuming she’s the executor.”
From the corner of his eye, Jake saw movement and turned. The breath sucked from his lungs as he laid eyes on Lory for the first time in eight weeks. She looked the same except for the obviously expensive suit she wore.
The skirt brushed her knees, neither tight nor baggy; it skimmed her thighs reminding him of how they looked in shorts. She removed her jacket and draped it over the back of a chair; the briefcase she carried went on the table.
Her blouse, fitted but like the skirt not tight, gave her a professional look without making her appear harsh. When he reached her face, he saw no sign of the woman he’d known. The one who had gotten beneath his skin and burrowed into his heart.
This woman looked tired. Her mouth drawn in a way he knew meant she hadn’t smiled in a while. Despite that, her lips were blush red, plump and ripe.
She had a mouth made for kissing.
Why had he never kissed her?
And her hair. It was flowing around her shoulder, the gold strands reaching her breasts. He wanted to sink his hands into those golden locks and hold on tight. Never let go.
Shaking himself out of lustful thoughts, he tried to remember why he shouldn’t have them at all.
She didn’t look his way, busying herself with opening the briefcase and pulling out a stack of papers she laid on the table in front of the lawyer who had introduced himself as Clark Garrison.
“Thank you, Mallory,” the lawyer said, already flicking through them. “It’s signed?”
“Yes. Every spot you marked.” Jake sucked in another breath at the sound of her voice.
“Did you have any trouble getting it?”
Mallory laughed and Jake closed his eyes as a shiver rolled from his head to his toes. He’d missed the sound. The sweet honey of it oozed through his veins. Snapping his eyes open, his gaze stayed glued to her as she pulled out the chair and sat down.
“All I had to do was hand over the check and promise not to proceed with the fraud charges.”
Jake turned to Keaton and leaned in. “What are they talking about?”
“I believe Ms. Dawson has acquired the thing we’ve been after since Maddox was returned to you last year.”
“What?” He couldn’t keep the sharpness from his voice, or the volume down.
“What your lawyer is hinting at is this.” Clark pushed the papers across the table for Jake to read.
His gaze skimmed the first few lines before his head jerked up, his eyes landing on Lory. “You got her to sign.”
“It was the least I could do after everything.”
She didn’t smile and her gaze was shuttered, the emotions, the kindness and affection he had become used to seeing were nowhere in sight. He didn’t know what to say. Thank you seemed so inadequate when she’d given his son the freedom to live without fear his mother would come back, except those words were all he had. “Thank you.”
“Okay, now let’s get into why else we’re here.” Clark pulled another pile of papers over and began leafing through them. “As per Jeffrey Dawson’s will, a trust fund for any children Renee Willington produced has been executed. As of this time Maddox Jacob Conners is the only known offspring of Renee, therefore, he is the sole recipient of the fifty-two million dollar fund.”
Jake choked. “W-what?”
