Page 71 of A Flower for Angus

Chapter 17

Angus glanced at hiswatch. It was 2:00 in the morning and he was in the study in the dark, facing the door in a comfortable leather chair and waiting for his onery lass to sneak in.

The three weeks since they’d arrived in Chicago had been grueling. The last time he’d had Poppy over his lap for stress relief had been at her request, and that was days ago. She hadn’t asked again and had refused his offers.

Each night she went to bed close to midnight, only then at his insistence, and it was always with one of her pain pills to ease her headaches. She’d pass out and he’d make sure she was sleeping soundly and then retire.

Each morning, she would appear at 7:00 a.m. for coffee in the study where Molly would have it waiting for her. Coffee and toast were all she’d eat until lunch.

If she didn’t skip lunch when he was busy with Vince.

She was getting sleep, so why was she so brittle and edgy?

Frankly, he was worried about her. It felt like she was losing more weight, and he didn’t like that either. It wasn’t until Edna had stopped him in the hall this afternoon and asked if Poppy was feeling all right that the penny had dropped. Edna had heard her up in the night when she’d gone to the kitchen for some milk. Dishonesty wasn’t something Angus was prepared to tolerate.

His wee one had accomplished a lot, he had to admit. The world of corporate finance wasn’t something Angus had experience with and didn’t want to. Condoloro Enterprises was merging with Delanoy and the company name was changing to Colony Corporation. The CEO of Delanoy was one Poppy had sought out, not one of the many offers on the table that had come her way to help bail out Julian’s sinking Enterprise. She’d gone to great lengths to erase any mob contact or influence.

After extensive interviews, she’d only kept some of the board members under the condition that they submit to a complete background check by Vince to make sure they hadn’t been compromised. The rest were retired with severance packages, especially anyone who had been involved with the cashflow. The fact that they were happy to go made him very suspicious.

Of course it would take weeks, probably even months before the full extent of everything was investigated and the truths revealed. The audits hadn’t implicated Abby Nesbitt, but they all knew she had choreographed the embezzlements to offshore accounts under Hanrahan’s name. Ace Ducat, who she had retired to the bayou, also had suspicious investments in his name, although they couldn’t be proven false. But especially suspicious were the withdrawals for Adrian’s many gambling debts.

Some things they might never figure out, especially since Nesbitt seemed to have covered her bases and eliminated those she implicated. Except for Julian’s secretary, Sarah Solano. Nesbitt hadn’t mentioned her and they still hadn’t been able to locate her. He was afraid she was another one of Nesbitt’s victims.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door slowly begin to open. Poppy’s slender body slipped inside and closed it before she hit the light switch. When the room lit up, he noted she was in her night clothes with a short silky robe slipped over her thin pajamas. Perfect. He wouldn’t have any trouble getting to her sneaky little bottom.

When she turned and spotted him, she squealed in alarm and put her hand over her heart. “Angus! What are you doing here like a golem in the dark? You scared me half to death.”

He shot her a disapproving glare. “The real question, lass, is what are ye doin’ here? Ye’re supposed to be in bed at this time of the night.” He got up from the chair and advanced on her.

“M-Me?” she stuttered, glancing around as if she were desperate for an excuse to appear on the wall. “I... uh...forgot my reading glasses.”

“Ye’re reading at 2:00 in the morning?” he growled. “Ye took a pain tab, ye should be out like a light until morning.” Then it hit him and his eyes narrowed. “Ye’ve no been takin’ them, have ye?”

“I-I didn’t take one last night,” she confessed. “I knew I had some extra work to get out of the way and...”

“It’s not just last night that ye didn’t take one, is it?” he interrupted her, trying to tamp down his righteous irritation. “Don’t lie to me, lass.”

Finally, she lifted her chin defiantly. “What of it? I don’t have to answer to you.”

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