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“That sounds like something my father would say,” she said with a soft sniff. “And it also seems like the kind of thing he would do, twisting his bribe into something that would ensure you stayed away and I hated you. He wanted to keep us apart and it worked. It worked too well. It made me so angry. It made me hate you so much that I never wanted to see or hear from you ever again. I thought I had given my heart away to someone who was just using me for money. And when I think about later on...” She broke into tears again.
River had never been a fan of Trevor Steele. But in this moment, seeing how brokenhearted Morgan was to learn the truth, he wanted to punch the man in the face. Was River so unsuitable for his daughter that it was worth hurting her so badly? He wasn’t even sure she’d fully recovered from it. How could she learn to trust someone and be in any kind of serious relationship when her first one only taught her that men would use her for her money? Perhaps she would be willing to entertain something more than a casual fling if she hadn’t felt so betrayed by love.
His love.
“River, I...” She stopped, her lower lip trembling slightly as she hunted for words.
“What is it?” He reached out and cradled her cheek in his hand.
She looked up at him for a moment with nothing less than fear reflecting in her moist green eyes. She was afraid of something. It wasn’t him. Perhaps she was scared to share her feelings with him. That could be a scary prospect for her. Hell, it was scary enough for him. He’d felt a surge of joy run through him when he held her. An ache when they were apart. But with the key ceremony coming up, he didn’t dare let himself consider what that meant.
“You can tell me,” he said. He reached out and brushed
a strand of her dark hair out of her face. “Anything.”
Her lips parted to speak, but no sound came out. Morgan shook her head and let her gaze drop down to the collar of his shirt. “I’m sorry,” she said at last. “I’m sorry for all of this.”
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. You only knew what your father told you. I would’ve been pretty upset if I were in your position. No one wants to know that their love has a price.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh and melted against his chest. “This was my father’s doing. And he and I are going to have a chat about it, soon.”
* * *
“Please tell me you’re looking for a job.”
Greg peered over the top of the newspaper he was reading to see his father shuffling into the kitchen. At nearly eighty years old, shuffling was as fast as he could move. His tongue was still as swift and deadly as it had ever been, though.
“Not exactly,” he muttered back. He’d gazed over the classified ads, sure, but then he’d gotten bored and started reading the articles instead.
His father made a dismissive noise and disappeared back into the living room with a beer in hand to watch his evening game shows. Greg decided to ignore him. He’d found something far more interesting to focus on in The Post and Courier: the Steele Foundation was planning an event in two weeks. His eyes scanned the article quickly, trying to keep focused as the excitement built inside of him. This was his chance. He just knew it.
The article was focused mainly on the houses that they’d built in town and the needy families that had been chosen to receive the homes. It was a feel-good piece, but Greg didn’t care about any of that. It was the last paragraph that really stood out. The family would be hosting a ceremony at their Mount Pleasant mansion to celebrate the completion of the homes and present the keys.
The last time he’d gone to the Steele mansion, he and Buster had waited outside for their chance to snatch up and ransom Jade Nolan. That wouldn’t work this time, especially since he was on his own. No, this time he needed to find a way to get inside the house. He imagined they had security at the door. The only people allowed in would be on their guest list. That meant the families and major donors only. That, and staff of course. It wouldn’t be easy to get into the Steele mansion, but it could be done.
Thinking back to that night, Greg remembered that they’d pulled up alongside a white catering van near the rear of the house. They’d watched them carry out equipment and food, with easily a dozen servers in matching outfits going back and forth. The name and the company logo had been printed in black on the side of the van. It had had a smiley face with a bow tie, he was pretty sure. He tried to envision the logo in his mind, but the name of the company escaped him.
If the Steele family used the same catering company for each event, they might be the ones handling this upcoming party as well. For an event this large, he presumed they hired extra staff, perhaps from a temp agency. If he moved quickly, he might be able to get on board with the caterer for the event. That would give him unlimited access to the house, letting him move around easily among the guests and execute his plan without anyone questioning who he was and why he was there.
And what plan was that, exactly? He wasn’t sure what he would do once he was inside the mansion, but he had some time to figure that out. First, he had to discover who would be catering the party.
Curious, he went to the cabinet where his father kept one of the last phone books in existence. Computers and smartphones were as alien to this household as robots and laser guns. He flipped through to the section of catering companies and found a large corner ad with the smiling face he remembered from the van.
Black Tie Affairs!
That was the company, he was certain of it. He glanced down at his watch. The library a few blocks away would be open for at least another two hours. If he went over there now, he could get on the computer and see about putting in an application with the company. His dad would be so pleased to know he was trying to get a job. Greg was certain this wouldn’t be what he had in mind, though.
Slamming the phone book shut, Greg grabbed his keys and headed out the door to the library. His brain was spinning with ideas as he climbed into his van. He was almost giddy at the thought.
This was his chance to finally make an impact on the Steele family. Perhaps literally.
* * *
Morgan couldn’t sleep.
After the wine and lovemaking, she should’ve drifted off into a blissful slumber curled up at River’s side, but it wasn’t happening.
River was out cold. She could hear his rhythmic breathing in the bed beside her and she envied him. Of course, he had every reason to sleep well. His conscience was clean and the truth was finally out. Morgan, however, had a million different thoughts running through her mind.
