Freedom (Billionaire Secrets Series, #2) Read online

  But there hadn’t been a day that went by that he hadn’t thought about her. Fantasized about her. Every day he spent with her and couldn’t touch her felt endless. The sleepless nights were even worse.

  Suddenly, she pulled her hands away. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

  She was obviously more nervous than she’d let on. And no wonder. Simon wasn’t even sure there was really going to be a meeting. He only had Linda’s panicked text to go on:

  The board knows about you and Heather. Apparently it’s been leaked to the press. They’re about to blow the lid on it. Meeting scheduled for this morning. Be prepared.

  The problem was that they had almost no time to prepare, and their reputations were now on the line. His company’s reputation and Heather’s. That’s what worried him. Simon hadn’t told Linda anything about his affair with Heather, but he could read between the lines from her text. It was obvious they were going to be hauled up for their indiscretion.

  Like a pair of teenagers caught in the gymnasium. Hadn’t that almost happened to them once, too?

  “Let me do the talking during the meeting,” he said, trying to reassure her. He couldn’t let the stress of the situation show. Heather needed him to project certainty and confidence, even though he was bristling at the thought of his own board combing through his private life.

  “This is as much my fault as it is yours,” she said.

  Simon placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. “I’m the one in charge. This is on me.”

  “What if they force you to step down?” She shut her eyes. “I couldn’t bear it.”

  He smiled, refusing to let out the chuckle behind it. That would never happen—he owned the company. They couldn’t ask him to step down. But he appreciated her apprehension for him. “I’m more concerned about you,” he said instead. “Whatever happens in there, I’m going to save your job.”

  Heather opened her eyes. “I’m still up for evaluation.”

  “Right,” he said with a nod. “And I got a board member to do your three-month evaluation, remember? You’re safe for another month at least, and if I have to force them to keep you working after that, I’ll force them.”

  Typically, he’d be the one in charge of evaluating her first three months on the job, but after they’d had sex he’d made sure he put that task in someone else’s hands. That had been the ethical thing to do, and he was determined to make sure she didn’t pay for his screw-ups. Heather had been working for him for less than three months, but already he knew she was the best assistant he’d ever had. She deserved to work at Dover.

  She sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose. “I’ve made such a mess of things.”

  “No, you haven’t,” he assured her. “This is something I have to fix, not you.”

  “I should’ve let you just tell the board about what we had done,” she said miserably. “You wanted to tell them, but I begged you not to. Now I’ve made you look like you can’t be trusted. Like you’ve been trying to hide the truth.”

  He shoved his hands into his pockets and forced out a deep sigh. The truth was so much more complicated than she realized.

  The one woman he wanted was the one woman he couldn’t have. Things had gotten so out of control so fast. How had this innocent, nerdy woman managed to upend his life so completely?

  Heather was the most unassuming woman he’d ever met. She liked to stay out of trouble. And even though she had come out of her shell since he’d known her in high school, she was still very much a wallflower.

  This morning, like all mornings, her auburn hair was pulled up into a severe bun. The freckles on her face made her look even younger than she was. More innocent. But Simon knew that beneath that innocent, reserved exterior was something else entirely.

  Everything about her surprised him. Fascinated him. No matter how hard he had tried over the past four weeks, he couldn’t get his assistant out of his head.

  “I had wanted to tell the board about us,” he admitted. It was company protocol to reveal any kind of romantic relationship between Dover colleagues to the board. Dover Inc. took ethics very seriously and so did he. But Heather had begged him to keep their relationship a secret, and after it fizzled out he hadn’t seen any reason to reveal the truth to the board.

  For the past month he had been convinced that nobody would ever find out. They’d put the past behind them, and Heather had acted like nothing had happened between them. It hurt to go along with the charade, but he had done it.

  “I had wanted to,” he repeated, “but—”

  A knock on the door made Heather jump back, startled.

  “Come in,” he called out.

  One of the company’s executive assistants waltzed in, her phone in hand. “Simon? The board is having an impromptu meeting this morning and they’d like to see you—”

  “We know,” he said tersely.

  The executive assistant blinked. “Oh. Right. Well, you’re to follow me. Along with your assistant.”

  He nodded. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

  They filed out of his office and made their way down the hall, towards one of the conference rooms.

  It was crazy, but as they walked Simon couldn’t shake the feeling that all the employees were staring at him. Staring and whispering about the scandal that was about to blow up in his face. For ten years, his reputation at Dover had been spotless. That was about to end abruptly. His position as CEO was on the line. It was a risk he had been willing to take to be with Heather. But she hadn’t wanted that. Hadn’t wanted to start a real relationship. Somehow that hurt a hell of a lot more than the prospect of losing his job.

  When he stopped at the conference room door he opened it, letting the executive assistant walk inside. Before Heather stepped in after her, he gently touched her shoulder.

  “Remember, let me do the talking,” he said. “Go in ahead of me and keep your head up. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  She bit her lip and nodded. “Okay.” Inhaling sharply Heather swept inside, leaving him behind.

  He lowered his hands to button up his jacket, preparing himself to project the same confidence he always did. This was his company. It was time to show the board that he was still in charge.

  Simon stepped inside the freezing conference room, keeping his face expressionless. Whatever they wanted to say, he was prepared. He could handle this. He swallowed. So why did he feel so nervous, then? He had nothing to worry about, right? Except, this was it. The moment of truth.

  Chapter 2

  They were all staring at her.

  Watching her every move as she made her way to an empty seat at the round conference room table. All of Dover’s conference room tables were round, to foster a certain egalitarian vibe.

  None of that made her rising queasiness go away. The entire board was sitting at the table, staring daggers at her. Nobody said a word as Simon stepped in after her and took the empty seat beside her.

  Like she’d predicted, everybody on the board was impeccably dressed. Suits for the men and pantsuits for the women. The board was totally different from the rest of Dover’s relatively laid-back staff. She suspected that none of the board members would ever dream of wearing jeans to work, and she was glad she managed to get Simon to wear his immaculate designer suit.

  And right now, he looked unbelievably sexy in the Italian suit. It was perfectly tailored, and it gave him an aura of power. He might be in trouble with the board, but there was no denying that he was the one steering everything. Simon was in command of the room.

  “Glad you could join us,” Linda said from her seat at the table.

  Simon frowned. “You’re not a board member, Linda.”

  “No. But we need a strong media person to deal with this situation,” Everett Eastman said. Heather ran through the list of those present. She knew Everett. He was an esteemed board member, brought in from Britain in the early days of the company to give it an air of polish. If Everett t
hought they needed to deal with the media that he loathed almost as much as Simon did, he was probably extremely unhappy.

  “I know what this is about.” Simon glanced at her, and her anxiety subsided. As terrifying as a meeting like this was, Heather knew she could get through it if Simon was on her side. “None of this is Heathers fault.”

  “We’re not here to cast blame. All we want is to get to the bottom of this,” Everett said, his dark eyes narrowing. “Dover’s rules are quite clear. If there is a romantic relationship going on between two employees—CEO included—you’re expected to report it. Yet, no report has been made.”

  “That’s my fault,” Heather murmured, hating that her face felt like it was heating up. “I told Simon not to—”

  “What my assistant means is, I neglected my responsibilities,” Simon interrupted, shooting her a warning glare. “I should’ve made a report. I didn’t. There’s no excuse for what I did.”

  She knew he had insisted on doing all the talking at the meeting, but she wasn’t going to stay silent while the board made accusations against him. This situation was just as much her fault as it was his. Simon had decided not to report their relationship because she had begged him not to.

  Everett frowned. “Well, it looks like you two are going to defend each other. I can’t fathom why.”

  “I’m in charge,” Simon said firmly. “I take full responsibility.”

  “That’s all very well and good,” Everett barked. “But we have the media to contend with. They’ve been calling non-stop, trying to get information out of us. Apparently, they discovered this liaison of yours over the past few weeks and are ready to break the story.”

  “How did they find out?” Simon demanded. “I’ve made my mistakes, but I’ve done my best to be discreet.”

  “The family lawyer,” Everett muttered.

  Simon looked at him quizzically. “What?”

  “You hired a family lawyer a few weeks ago, didn’t you, Simon?” Linda asked.

  “Yes, I did. A damn good one,” Simon replied. The way his eyebrows pressed together, he clearly wasn’t seeing the point.

  “It looks like some underling at your lawyer’s firm went gossiping to the press about you hiring one of their family lawyers,” Linda said. “You don’t have a family, so it was unusual for you to have hired such a lawyer. That made the press do some snooping. And they figured out that you hired a lawyer to help your... uh, girlfriend.”

  “Oh, crap.” Heather groaned. Gary. Her jerk of an ex-husband must have blabbed to the press.

  After she had gotten Finn back from him her ex had called, and they’d gotten into a huge argument. He was the one who was ticked off, when she had every right to be mad. He’d kidnapped Finn. She bit her bottom lip to keep from saying anything to the board. It wasn’t any of their business. She’d gotten Gary calmed down by agreeing to let him come over to visit Finn, with her there supervising. The visit had gone well enough for Gary to swear up and down that he’d be more present for Finn in the future. He’d even promised to keep her fling with Simon a secret.

  He hadn’t visited Finn in the month since then, which meant that part of his promise had already been broken. He’d probably broken his other promise by telling the press about her and Simon.

  “Something on your mind, Ms. Hall?” Everett asked sharply.

  “No,” she said. There was no use in bringing up the subject of Gary. It would just add even more drama, which was the last thing they needed.

  Besides, Gary was the reason she’d closed the door on a relationship with Simon. After Simon had helped her get Finn back, she knew there was no way they could ever be together. Her son was her number one priority. She hadn’t even really gotten together with Simon, but even a brief fling with her boss had put her son in danger. Gary was still too jealous, and she owed it to her son to sort things out with his father. Starting a relationship with a man was out of the question. She could see that now.

  Besides, the fling with her boss had also put Simon in a dangerous position. He’d agreed to pay for an expensive lawyer, and there was no way she could expect her boss to sacrifice more than he already had. She’d taken too much from him already.

  “Heather isn’t my girlfriend,” Simon said firmly.

  His words were like a needle in her heart. Sharp and unexpected. But Simon was right. She wasn’t his girlfriend. Not after she had made it abundantly clear the night she literally slammed the door in his face.

  She had been so ready to be with him. So ready to finally open her heart to a man after all these years. Then Gary had kidnapped Finn, and that put everything in perspective. Her relationship with Simon was so fragile that it hadn’t even really gotten off the ground. But even just a few nights of hot sex had been so passionate and so explosive that it consumed everything around them. Nobody was safe with them together, her son least of all.

  Not to mention Simon’s career was at stake, and she refused to ask him to jeopardize everything he’d worked for. She wasn’t worth a billion-dollar company.

  Everett stroked his graying beard, deep in thought. “So, what exactly is the nature of your relationship?”

  “There is no relationship.” There was no anger in his voice. In fact, there was nothing in his voice that gave away anything. Simon sounded like he was completely over her. Not that she blamed him. After she had so harshly rejected him, it made sense for him to move on. Even if she hadn’t. Even if going to work every day was both the best and the worst thing she could do.

  Seeing Simon every day made her ache. Filled her with a regret she had never known. But seeing him also made the ache go away. Because she got to spend time with him. And spending time with Simon was better than being away from him.

  The desperate, painful longing that she carried with her all the time now was better than all the years she had spent away from him. It was crazy, and she couldn’t explain it. Miserably pining over Simon while he worked in the next office was better than never getting to see him. Her schoolgirl crush had morphed into an obsession. It was like Simon was a drug she never wanted to quit. A habit she couldn’t break. She knew that wanting her boss was trouble for her but, damn, it felt so good.

  Everett crossed his arms, eyes laser-focused on Heather. “Did you or did you not have a sexual relationship with your boss?”

  Heather squirmed in her seat, the question making her too anxious to sit still. This was beyond embarrassing. If they had reported what they’d done, like Simon had wanted, this cross-examination probably wouldn’t be happening. But she had been so terrified of anyone at Dover knowing what she had done that she had begged Simon not to report anything.

  Regret began to mix with her anxiety. “I did,” she blurted out.

  The board members gasped audibly. Some began to speak in hushed tones.

  Her face flushed. The embarrassment was turning into total humiliation. More than a dozen people were quietly judging her, and she had never felt so small. So foolish.

  She didn’t get into trouble like this. She had spent her entire life following the rules. But with Simon back in her life, she had grabbed trouble with both hands. Tossed caution to the wind.

  Simon glanced at her and cleared his throat. “We did have a sexual relationship. But that’s over now.”

  “Heather, did you have sexual relations at work?” Everett asked.

  “Dammit, Everett!” Simon said icily. “What the hell are you trying to insinuate?”

  “It’s not an insinuation,” Everett shot back. “I’m flat-out asking if you had sex here at Dover headquarters.”

  “No!” Heather said sharply. The thought was... tempting. Dammit—focus, Heather. This is your job!

  “I’m not going to sit here while you try to humiliate Heather like this,” Simon ground out. “We did not do anything here at Dover.”

  “You don’t always work here at the office,” Everett said coolly. “Did you have sexual relations during work hours somewhere else?”


  Silence.

  Mortified, Heather stared at her hands. She hadn’t even realized that she was gripping the edge of the conference table. Her knuckles were turning white and she couldn’t pull her hands away.

  Her stomach knotted. Tears pricked the back of her eyes, but she blinked them away. The board might try to humiliate her, but she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She was going to face this with all the dignity she could muster. Even if they ended up firing her, she refused to cry in front of them.

  Everett’s dark eyes landed on hers and held her gaze. “I assume that’s a yes.”

  She swallowed hard. “We had an encounter after the inter-company conference a several weeks ago. Work had ended but we were together in Simon’s hotel room.”

  More gasps. Even louder than before. Some of the board members shook their heads in disbelief. Others avoided her gaze. She sat up straighter in her chair, trying to project a confidence she didn’t feel.

  “Stop this, Everett,” Simon commanded. “You’ve put on your show. Leave Ms. Heather Hall alone.”

  “Heather, was that the only time you had an encounter with your boss?” Everett pressed, ignoring him.

  “I’m warning you.” Simon shot to his feet, his hands balled into fists. “This ends now. You and I can talk in private, but so help me, if you continue to question Heather—”

  “You’ll what?” Everett cut in.

  “I’ll destroy you,” Simon said without blinking. “Don’t think for a moment I won’t.”

  Everett’s eyes widened in shock. “This is outrageous,” he sputtered. “You can’t talk to me like that.”

  “And you can’t talk to Ms. Hall like that,” Simon retorted. “Your problem is with me. Not her.”

  “I simply want to get to the bottom of this,” Everett said, his voice rising.

  “Don’t take that tone with me,” Simon warned. “You’ve got some nerve. Dragging her in here. Bombarding her with ridiculous questions. This isn’t about HR or employee protocol. You’re asking for details. She did nothing wrong. I’m to blame, not her.”