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Chapter 23
Archer stood near the window in the dining room, looking outside, as the two women and the security guard, Robert, ranged around the food-laden table, deep in discussion. He turned and looked at them as he said, “I really don’t want to think about things in that way. I’d rather hope for the best than plan for the worst.”
“Son, you know very well that’s not the correct way to deal with such things,” Athena replied. “In fact, it was your optimism concerning that employee that landed you in this fix to begin with. You know that it should be standard practice to check the quality of all your products, services, and employees. If they throw you to the wolves, you’ll have only yourself to blame.”
“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” Kady complained, when she heard these words, automatically jumping to his defense. “Archer did very well with every other employee he’s ever dealt with, didn’t he? Can we not focus on that instead? It should be something the lawyer places emphasis on, if you ask me.”
“It’s all well and good to say he’s done well, but there’s still a substantial amount of money that his company gained through skimming, and there's no absolute proof that he was not personally involved. I’d say that this guy knew exactly what he was doing. But the real question has to be why. What reason could he have for screwing Archer over?”
“It was over a woman, most likely,” Archer conceded. “But the trouble is, I don’t know which woman, or when, or even why. You have no idea how relieved I am to be out of that playboy lifestyle the other men in the company enjoy so much. Being with one woman who truly loves you is infinitely better by comparison.”
“Yes, especially since she’s got such a good head on her shoulders,” his mother added.
“How would you know that?” he asked.
“One has only to be in a room with her for three minutes to ascertain that,” Athena scoffed. “Still, if you go to prison for any length of time now, leaving her here alone would be unacceptable in her condition. I would be duty bound to take care of her, as you must know. I’ll not leave my grandchild and his mother to fend for themselves in such a way.”
“Then what do you propose?” Archer grumbled. “Are you going to stay here with them? Won’t that make it difficult to run your business in Milan?”
“I shall simply take her with me to Milan for three weeks when I return,” she said in a managing tone. “She’ll be perfectly safe, and she’s not due to give birth until two months after the intended trip. Besides, I understand she has an interest in fashion, so she should really enjoy the experience.”
“Excuse me, but I am sitting right here,” Kady complained, although her heart raced in anticipation at the thought of studying fashion in Milan. It sounded like a dream come true. A dream that she would never have even dared consider a few short months ago. But the reality of leaving had left her feeling deflated. “Don’t you think you should be asking if I want to be away from Archer for three weeks? Or whether or not I feel safe to travel outside the country in my condition to begin with?”
“I do understand, of course, Kady,” she conceded. “But with that mad woman about that you’ve been so up in arms about, I think you’d be much safer away from here anyway. If she’s really as obsessed with Archer as you say, who knows if she would try to hurt you just as soon as she knew you were alone? No, I’m afraid I cannot possibly allow it.”
Kady rolled her eyes. At least she could tell where Archer got his managing attitude after this exchange. But the woman did have a point. She wrapped her arms around her burgeoning belly in a protective gesture. She would never want to do anything to place herself or her unborn child in harm’s way, and she clearly remembered the look of irrational hatred that morning when she had found Mia and the other woman sneaking through their kitchen. She turned to Archer to gauge his opinion and he nodded as he looked somewhat resigned as well.
“I think that if—and this is a big if—if I am in prison while you are gone, that you’re very right in wanting to take Kady along,” he said, directing his words at his mother while his eyes worriedly traced Kady’s seated form as he began to pace. “I’m just hoping this conversation will be pointless in the end, and I’ll be here to keep her safe myself.”
“You two are getting ridiculous,” Kady complained. “I’m pregnant, not helpless. I can take care of myself if need be. However, if you go to prison, Archer, I may as well take your mother’s offer as an opportunity instead of a sentence of my own. Seeing Milan has always been a dream of mine, so of course I’ll go along if that’s what happens.”
“You two sound like you want me to go to prison,” Archer told them then. “You sound like you’re hoping I’ll be gone a while so you can get your heads together and do whatever you want. Is that the way it is, then?”
“Of course not!” Kady protested, not understanding where Archer was coming from with the idea that she would actually want him gone. The very idea had dread forming in the pit of her stomach like a boulder. “I’m just trying to cooperate here. You know, trying to make the best of thing if– Well, just in case…”
“Perhaps we should discuss this after court tomorrow,” Robert suggested, interrupting her sentence. “Besides, no matter what happens, you’ll still have me to watch over her. That Mia woman won’t get anywhere near Kady with me on the job. I guarantee you that.”
“Then it’s settled, I suppose,” Archer said with a heavy sigh. “They’ll be taking me into the back as soon as the trial is over if they decide to put me into the prison. I won’t have another chance to discuss this outside of their walls if that happens. So what I’m saying is, despite the fact that I don’t like this discussion at all, it’s still good that we had it, okay?”
“Yes, okay,” said Kady, as she came and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Now come back over here and eat, will you?”
“Yeah, boss, no point in starving yourself over any of this. Whatever they decide to do tomorrow, you have the strength to get through. And I doubt they’ll give you the same sentence that they gave to the other guy. Especially not on a first offense.”
“You’re right,” said Archer, a little more confident than before, and not quite so dejected as he came back to his chair. “A good meal and a good sleep are two things I could really use. Too bad I’m only getting one of them tonight.”
Kady’s eyebrows shot
up, hearing that. When she glanced over at him, Archer gave her a wink that clearly explained his words. She blushed hotly as his mother gave a delicate cough that could have been a laugh, but when Kady looked in her direction she was looking toward the window, seemingly engulfed in taking in the city scape.
When her eyes met Archer’s, a wave of dark heat rolled over her entire body at the seductive look he was sending her. If this was to be their last chance for intimacy before they had to spend time apart, he intended to take full advantage of that as well.
Chapter 24
“But what is she even doing here?” Kady demanded hotly as she and Robert sat with Athena in the courtroom, glaring back at Mia. She was blatantly sitting at the center back of the room with a smug look on her face, and pretending that Kady wasn’t even there while casting friendly waves and smiles at Archer’s mother.
“She has every right to be in this courtroom, unfortunately,” said Robert with a frown, every muscle of his body on high alert. And as a security guard with a military background, he had a lot of muscles. “Unless she attempts to do anything illegal, there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.”
“Maybe she’ll perjure herself or something and land in the slammer herself,” Kady said with a snarl of dislike, slightly ashamed to be hoping the worst for the nasty woman, but mostly wishing she would just disappear from their lives altogether. “We can only hope.”
