Page 43 of Daddy's Accidental Babies

21

SAVANNAH

My hands were tucked in my lap, feet folded back under my chair as I waited uncomfortably for Dominic to show up. Vanessa had been in three times to check if he was here yet, while the journalist fromNewsweeksat in the armchair across the room going over notes on a different report they were doing via phone conference.

After last night, I knew in my gut he wasn’t going to show this morning, but I still held out hope that his casual ten-minute-late routine was all this was. But the longer the clock ticked with no sign of him, the stronger my gut reaction screamed in my ears. He had been so upset last night, though it wasn’t a harsh, angry reaction, more shock coupled with overwhelming emotion I didn’t think he knew what to do with.

The conference room felt sterile this morning, especially with cameras set on tripods and the camera crew walking in and out checking their phones and watches. It really wasn’t like Dominic to ghost something entirely. He would stake his career on being committed to things he started, which was one thing I loved about him most. It was also why I knew he was telling me the truth last night.

Had I told Dominic about the boys when I first found out I was pregnant, he would never have allowed me to raise them alone. I would be living an entirely different life right now, probably in a much nicer apartment due to the millions he had in spare change. My boys wouldn’t lack for anything. And parts of that would be very good, but parts would be a detriment to their upbringing.

My eyes flicked up as someone walked past the conference room door in a dark suit. I hoped it was him, but I was disappointed to see the CEO with a scowl on his face. Then Vanessa peeked in again, glowering, and then backed out. I could tell they weren’t happy about this no-show act from Dominic, but it wasn’t my place to explain to them why he wasn’t here.

Still, I did know the reason. He had made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t going to continue faking this relationship. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew he was serious. We should never have let it get this far to begin with. Most of that was my fault too, that I let him think it was okay to try to woo me by plotting a fake relationship for his PR rebrand, while spreading my legs for him and letting his heart get attached.

Shame washed over me and I shrank back in the seat as it dawned on me that had I simply put my foot down in the beginning and told them to find some other willing participant, none of this would’ve happened. But that first kiss, the way I let myself melt into him in that conference room the first time—I got selfish and wanted to drink from that well I knew should’ve been off-limits. I brought this on myself.

“Mr. Hubert,” I heard, and I looked up to see Vanessa walk in with a clipboard under one arm and a coffee in her other hand, “you can probably go. I think Mr. Knight has gotten hung up in traffic. I don’t want to hold you up. Can we reschedule?I’ll double-check Mr. Knight’s schedule and get a good date confirmed before we put it on the calendar this time.”

The doll-like smile Vanessa gave the man felt like a dagger straight to my heart. He stood and ended his call with a much more genuine expression and said, “Sure, no problem. I’ll send my team to pack up. Shoot me an email.”

Before he had even left, Vanessa’s eyes snapped to me as she said, “Walk with me.”

She headed toward the door, leaving me scurrying to catch up. I smoothed my hands down the front of my red skirt and stutter-stepped to close the distance between us. Her pace was clipped and too quick for my short legs in these heels, but I did my best to stay in step with her.

“Have you heard from him?”

“What?” I shook my head and tried to use my arms to propel me faster. “Why would I have heard from him?” Swallowing the knot in my throat, I turned the corner when she did and prayed she didn’t blame me for this.

“I know something is going on between you two, but I don’t know what. I assumed the fake thing turned real.” She waved her paper coffee mug with its cardboard sleeve around in the air as she spoke. “So I assumed he’d have said something to you.”

I refused to dignify her very correct assumption with an answer, so she kept talking. “Well, as good as the past few social pushes have been, I suppose we can delay this. The numbers are outrageous. The public loves the two of you together, so it’s no wonder shareholder approval rates are climbing again. That crap Marla tried to pull isn’t working.” She looked at me sharply and lifted one eyebrow as we paused by the elevators. “You heard about that right?”

I nodded and wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt again. “Yeah, and I think it’s despicable.”

“Don’t worry. HR is going through the proper channels…” She looked down at her watch and up at the flashing light above the elevator doors showing what floor the carriage was stopped at. “It’s a shame we can’t just fire her completely. People are so sue-happy these days. We have to write her up, and then document things, and warn her…” The clipboard waved around animatedly while she tapped her foot.

“Yeah,” I muttered listlessly.

The elevator chimed and the doors slid open revealing a grumpy-looking Graham. He stepped out and passed Vanessa, who asked, “Have you seen Dominic this morning? He never showed to our interview.”

“Uh, no,” Graham said, distracted by a tablet in his hand, “but I’ll be up to your office to chat in a few.” When his eyes bounced up to meet mine, I felt my chest constricting. “Savannah, do you have a sec?”

Vanessa jammed her finger into the elevator button as I turned to walk with Graham away from the elevators where she continued to stew.

“What’s up?” Out of the frying pan and into the fryer, my dad would say if he were here. It felt like my entire world was out of alignment all of a sudden. Especially when Graham showed me what was on his tablet screen.

“This is what’s up.” He, at least, had the compassion to stop walking while pouring out more bad news.

I stared down at the tablet screen showing an email sent to Marla with the wordLeverageas the subject line. I tried to make sense of it, but even after reading it a few times my eyes just weren’t focusing. My brain could not compute.

“What am I looking at?” Whatever it was, it had to do with Marla, which wasn’t good. For some unknown reason the woman was trying to sabotage my career, which would havelasting implications for Raven & Rhodes and their merger with Knight Holdings. Dominic would blame me for this too.

“Look at the sender,” he said, eyebrows tenting in the center.

I looked again, more carefully this time. As my brain finally knit the pieces together, my belly sank and turned.

“Someone from the Bennett campaign offices is sending Marla emails, and not only that, the log-in credentials used to access R & R servers, including Marla’s desktop, were found to come from remote access via an IP address located at the Bennett campaign headquarters.” Graham’s tone was clipped; he was angry about this, like it was my fault somehow.

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