Freedom (Billionaire Secrets Series, #2) Read online

  Why was he doing this? This was just as much her mess as it was his. He was ruining his career for her even after she had shut the door on them. Even after she had rejected him so cruelly.

  “Everett?” Simon pressed. “Are you leaking information to the press?”

  There was a gasp from all the board members as their heads swiveled from Simon to Everett.

  “Enough! Of course not.” Everett held up his hands. “Fine. Let’s move this along.”

  “Get to the point,” Simon said tersely. “What do you want to say?”

  “I sincerely hope you don’t make this kind of mistake again in the future,” Everett said. “It’s not just the fact that you didn’t report this. You’re the CEO. You can’t be having affairs like this.”

  “This is my company. I’ll date whoever I want,” Simon said through gritted teeth.

  Everett’s eyebrows shot up. “This is very unlike you, Simon. I’ve never seen you so passionate about another human being before,” he remarked snidely. “I hope for your sake that Heather defends you with the same passion.”

  “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but I’ve never disrespected anyone in my relationships,” Simon said, crossing his arms. “Nothing I’ve ever done has been unwanted. I’m not a perfect man, but I am an ethical one. I’ll never let my personal life get in the way of being a professional. I’ve also made sure Ms. Hall’s employment was out of my hands so there would be no bias when she’s evaluated.”

  “You seem very...protective of her.” Everett’s lips curved up into a mocking smile. A smile that unsettled Heather because she detected a hint of malice flashing in his dark eyes. Maybe Simon had been right, and Everett had leaked information to the press. She had thought him respectable. Now she wasn’t so sure.

  “I’m protective of everyone at Dover,” Simon said.

  Everett scoffed. “Never like this.”

  Simon gave Everett a hard stare, anger etched on his handsome face. His jaw clenched.

  Her heart started to hammer at the sight of him towering over her, looking so dangerous. She’d glimpsed this part of him before when he stood up to her ex-husband weeks ago. But such displays from him were rare. Simon wasn’t a hot-head. He didn’t act impulsively or get angry like this. But here he was. Ready to fight for her honor.

  She felt a flush steal up her cheeks. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Suddenly, she felt like a schoolgirl again. Looking at her first boyfriend stand up to the class bully on her behalf. She was light-headed. Almost giddy at the thought of a man willing to risk it all. For her.

  Heather bit her lip to keep from saying anything. She’d probably just make things worse, and Simon looked like he wanted to stay in control of the situation.

  “I’m protective of Ms. Hall because we’re old friends,” Simon said.

  “We discovered as much through the background check you ran on her,” Everett said.

  Her heart squeezed. Of course, there had been a background check. They were unlikely to find anything that Simon hadn’t already figured out, but if they found out that she had started her working relationship with her boss based on a lie, this scandal was liable to spin out of control.

  “I went over that background check a few days ago.” Simon frowned. “There’s nothing in there that we didn’t already know.”

  Simon hadn’t told her that he’d read over the background check. He’d kept that from her. They’d been getting along at work over the past few weeks, but apparently not well enough for him to trust her with that information.

  “Fine. We’ve done enough digging.” Everett closed the binder in front of him and folded his hands on the table. “How do you suppose we solve this?”

  “We can release a statement,” Linda spoke up. “Heather, if you’d like to give a statement, that would be great. The situation would look more like a mutual relationship that’s fizzled out, rather than a scandal.”

  “No.” Simon sat back down and narrowed his eyes at Linda.

  Lind frowned. “What?”

  “I’m not dragging Heather into this media storm,” he said. “She has a son to think about. Let me deal with making a statement.”

  “I don’t mind making a statement,” Heather breathed. “If it’ll help Dover, I’m more than happy to do that. I could work with Linda on it.”

  “If you insist.” He scowled, clearly displeased that she’d defied him. The look barely lasted a second before his face became unreadable. He turned to the board. “Now what’s my punishment, even though I’ve done nothing wrong?”

  “We haven’t decided yet,” Everett said. “It all depends on how the media spins this. If it’s bad, you’re looking at a suspension of three months, minimum, Simon.”

  Heather gasped. “No.”

  Simon shot her another warning glance that chilled her right down to the bone. “I can handle whatever I have to. As long as Heather’s job isn’t in jeopardy. I’m not going to accept you forcing her out or undermining her work. A three-month suspension is simply a holiday that’s long overdue.”

  “We wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing,” Everett reassured him. “For now, let’s work on a statement and figure out how the media is going to handle the story. We can spend the next 24 hours preparing to go on the offensive instead of taking a defensive position. Linda, start crafting a statement and include some quotes from Heather. Get the statement out to local media early tomorrow morning—that way it doesn’t get lost in the afternoon news rush.”

  “Are we done here?” Simon asked, his voice as hard as granite.

  “For now, I believe,” Everett replied.

  Simon got to his feet and nodded at Heather. That was his signal that it was time to leave. She rose to her feet slowly, trying to ignore her wildly fluttering heart. Trying to ignore the board members all condemning her with their silent stares felt next to impossible. These people were harsh. She should’ve let Simon report their activities when they first started. What a mess she’d made of this.

  She followed Simon as he sauntered across the conference room.

  “Simon, make sure this relationship between you two is really over,” Everett said when they reached the door. “Keep it professional, if you can.”

  “Trust me,” Simon said darkly. “It’s over.”

  Chapter 3

  He forced himself to stare straight ahead. Inside the chrome elevator their reflections stared back at them, silently judging. Simon tapped impatiently on one of the buttons. They were alone in the elevator, and the silence was a thunderous roar.

  “That could have been worse.” Filling silences with pointless small talk had always irritated him, but the thought of not being able to speak to her now was driving him insane. After she’d been ambushed by the board, he needed to make sure she was okay.

  Heather nodded, still not speaking. She probably resented the fact that he had wanted to do all the talking in the board meeting. Not that it mattered. She’d made her opinion loud and clear. It had been bold and reckless; despite his annoyance with it, he also secretly admired it. Heather might have seemed mousy to the board members, but she had faced them bravely. That took guts and he respected that.

  He glanced over at her, deciding to try a different tactic to get her to open up. “How’s Finn?”

  “He’s fine,” she replied curtly.

  “Glad to hear it,” he said stiffly.

  Simon would never let on, but the board meeting had gotten to him. The press getting wind of his private life was a potential social embarrassment for him. He had guarded his private life ruthlessly, and now it was about to be splashed all over the papers.

  Moments later, they stepped out of the elevator. He glanced at her. There was no point in making both of them suffer. If he could get her out of the line of fire, and avoid suffering through this scandal, he’d have to act now.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  Swallowing hard, she nodded and followed him into his office.

&
nbsp; The minute he got inside his office, he shrugged off his jacket and started to unknot his tie. Damn it. Even taking off some of his clothes like this was bringing back memories of their brief affair. He could feel her hands on him. Hear her breathless moans.

  This had to end. He had to put a stop to it before something even more insane happened between them.

  As he took a seat at his desk, he motioned for her to sit down across from him.

  He cleared his throat and slipped the tie off. “I’m sorry you had to deal with all that.”

  “Oh.” She looked at him in surprise. “I thought you were going to reprimand me for speaking at the meeting.”

  “You did what you thought was right,” he said. “I appreciate you trying to help, as reckless as it was.”

  “Thank you for defending me.”

  “It’s my job to protect the staff at Dover,” he said.

  “What did you want to talk about?” she asked.

  Simon sighed heavily. “I think it’s time for you to move to a different department.”

  “No way,” she said forcefully.

  He stared at her, taken aback. “You’re very good. At your job, I mean.” He shook his head. Shit, can I ever not screw this up? “It’ll be a fresh start. And may create fewer issues with the press.”

  “Moving me will be admitting we can’t work together,” she said. “We’ll basically be telling the board that you can’t handle this job if I’m around. That’s hardly a vote of confidence.”

  “You’re not getting fired,” he reassured her. “It’s not a demotion. I’ll just be giving you a chance to work without people making insinuations about you.”

  She shook her head. “When the story breaks, it won’t matter where I work. I’ll be the slutty assistant who chased after her boss.”

  “That’s not true,” he said. “If that’s how the press tries to describe you, I’ll go after them. I’ll sue them if I have to.”

  “For what, having an opinion you don’t like?” She frowned. “Simon, you can’t just make the world do what you want it to do.”

  “Watch me.”

  A breathless laugh escaped her throat. “You’ve been rich for way too long.”

  “Dover is my company. I built this place. I’ll be damned if some hack journalists try to take it from me,” he said. “And there’s no way in hell I’ll allow them to smear one of my employees. I won’t put up with it, Heather.”

  “The media is hard to control,” she said. “You of all people should know that.”

  “I do know that,” he admitted. “That’s why I’ve avoided talking to the press all these years.”

  “Now I’ve forced you to deal with them.” She lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze.

  “You haven’t forced me to do anything.” He knew now that if he didn’t give her an out she’d continue to blame herself. She’d probably guessed that his feelings for her hadn’t vanished. If he was being honest with himself, they’d only intensified. But he had to make her think that his feelings had died, even if it was a complete lie. Since she refused to move to another department, this was the only way for them to move forward. “I regret our time together. I got caught up in the past for a moment. It was a stupid mistake. I’m your boss and I made my choice to be with you. It was the wrong one.”

  THE WRONG CHOICE. SHE didn’t know what to say, how to respond. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Or was it dryness? Whatever it was, it felt near impossible to swallow.

  Sleeping together had been the wrong choice. He regretted it. Not that she could blame him. Their fling hadn’t lasted long, but it had caused so much heartache. Finn had been kidnapped, and now the media was digging through their private lives.

  But that knowledge didn’t ease her pain. Being with Simon had led to so much disaster, but she didn’t regret what she’d done. She regretted getting him into trouble, but not the passionate nights she had spent with him.

  Simon had reminded her of what she had missed out on during her disastrous marriage to Gary. Her boss had been so attentive. So focused on making her feel beautiful and desirable. She hadn’t experienced that in so long that she had actually started to believe she didn’t deserve it. Gary’s thoughtlessness had almost wrecked her self-esteem. A handful of nights with Simon had made her re-examine her collapsed marriage. Made her vow to never put up with settling for a man like Gary ever again.

  Now, she’d never be with a man like Simon either. Not with his eyes narrowed at her, a silent accusation in them. He had just told her that their time together had been the wrong choice. As agonizing as it was to have shut the door on anything real with him, knowing that he had moved on so quickly hurt more than anything.

  “You seem to have taken the board meeting well,” he said, abruptly steering the subject back to business.

  “I guess.” She ignored the regret that squeezed around her heart like a vise. “But this can’t be about me and my fears. My son is going to be affected by the media attention and doing things like releasing a statement might calm things down.”

  “I can’t imagine how difficult something like this will be on your family.” He paused. “If you don’t want to switch departments, what do you want to do? Do you need me to set up some kind of security for you and your family?”

  As touched as she was by his offer to help, she shook her head. “That’ll just make things harder on Finn. He’s been getting counseling and making a big deal about this by adding security will stress him out. His counselor wants us to avoid extra stress.”

  “I didn’t know he was in counseling.” The expression on his face softened. “Heather, I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t shown up to your house that night none of this would have happened.”

  After getting kidnapped by his own father, she had done everything she could to make sure her son was okay. Taking Finn to a child psychologist seemed to help, but she hated seeing her son in any kind of pain. Hated how much the divorce was still affecting him.

  Guilt ate away at her. Finn deserved better. Somehow, she had to make things right. Make things okay.

  She wished she could tell Simon what she was feeling, but after the board meeting sharing her personal life with him wasn’t a good idea. He was her boss. Anything more than that would lead to further scandal.

  “It’s not your fault. Gary’s probably to blame for this getting out anyway,” she finally said.

  “I wouldn’t mention him to the board,” Simon said icily. She caught her breath, until he finished. “They’d only blame you even more, and I refuse to give them more ammo against you.”

  “I think the first thing I can do is get in touch with Gary and figure out how much he told the media,” she said. “That way we’ll have a better chance of getting ahead of the story.”

  “You sure you want to do that?” he asked. “He doesn’t seem like the most stable guy. I don’t want to get you into any trouble.”

  She put her hands up, trying to reassure him. “Gary has a temper, but he isn’t a danger to me. And I’ll talk to him on the phone in my office, so I’ll be avoiding a scene.”

  Her boss nodded. “You can go talk to him while I make some calls to reporters. If I squeeze hard enough someone will tell me what’s going on. Right now, Dover can’t afford bad press while the new product launch is going on. We have to contain this story. No matter what it takes.”

  AS SOON AS SHE WAS done working out a strategy with Simon, she went straight to her small office.

  Gary was at work, but if she was lucky maybe she’d be able to catch him on a coffee break. Heather took a seat at her desk, grabbed her phone, and called her ex-husband.

  Her heart hammered harder and harder with each ring. She had been flippant about Gary’s temper to ease Simon’s concerns, but arguing with her ex-husband had always been a stressful experience.

  “Hey, Heather,” he said, answering the phone like they were old friends. He only spoke like that when he wanted something.

  “Did you talk
to the press about me and Simon?” There was no point in beating around the bush. He’d only get suspicious if she didn’t just come out and say it.

  “Oh. That’s what you’re calling about.” He breathed out a loud sigh that sounded to her like relief. “Yes, I talked to a reporter.”

  “When were you going to tell me?” she demanded, unable to suppress her anger.

  “I swear I didn’t do this on purpose, Heather,” he said. “A reporter called. He said something about Simon’s lawyer and then tricked me into spilling the beans. By the time I figured out what happened, it was too late.”

  “So why didn’t you tell me?” she snapped.

  “Because I knew you’d overreact like you always do. Besides, you’ve made it really clear that you’ve moved on from me,” he said. “I didn’t think we were still telling each other things. Especially since you didn’t consult me when you had our son around him.”

  “For the last time, I didn’t have Finn around Simon.” She sucked in a breath, needing to calm her frayed nerves before she said something they’d both regret. “What exactly did you tell the reporter?”

  “I told the truth,” he replied. “I said that your boss had come over to your place and I found you two together half-dressed early in the morning.”

  Oh, fuck. It sounded so salacious when he said it like that. Which was exactly why the media would eat it up. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to bash her head against her desk.

  Being married to Gary meant she hadn’t had the most exciting love life, yet the last year had been nothing but a string of bad luck. Of all the men in the world she had to jump into bed with, it just had to be the reclusive billionaire everyone wanted a piece of.

  “Do you have the reporter’s contact details?” she asked.

  He rattled off a name, email address, and phone number. Then, he cleared his throat. “Is that all?”