Page 40 of Stranded with the Billionaire
“What?” Jake narrowed his eyes and glared at Max. “I did no such thing.”
“You did,” Max grinned triumphantly. “That’s why you’ve gone overboard to get her back. You wanted to make her hurt as much as she made you hurt. Very immature Jake.”
“That is not what this is about in the least,” Jake growled, ignoring the idea that Max might have some truth to what he said. Not the love part but certainly the getting Sterling back. “She’s been libeling this family for years. Her articles were outrageous. I put a stop to them. I’d think you’d be grateful.”
“Her articles were no worse than any other tabloid paper,” Max scoffed.
“All I did was make sure she wouldn’t work in the industry again,” Jake shrugged away the guilt that he had overstepped the bounds of right and wrong. He’d made certain she wouldn’t work in a lot of industries, any job that put words to media where the public might read, hear or see them.
“She said you destroyed her,” Max replied. “Actually, if I recall what Dillon told me, she said you’d destroyed not only her but an entire town. Do you know what she was talking about?”
Jake could only shake his head. He didn’t know what Sterling had meant by that mysterious comment. His gut was telling him that he’d done something terribly wrong.
The door opened and the guard led Michael in. Again, the process of unshackling and handcuffing Michael to the steel table happened.
“Where did he get that bruise?” Max angrily asked the guard.
There was a bruise on Michael’s cheekbone. Michael gestured to Max with a hand motion, as if asking him to forget about it.
“I’m not going to forget about it,” Max said hotly. “Someone is going to be held accountable for that.”
“If you’d like to file a report, you can do so at the main desk when you leave,” the guard replied. “You will be observed by a guard through the window at all times. When thirty minutes have expired, I will return for the prisoner.”
Max muttered as the guard left, not liking his attitude.
Michael held out a hand in greeting to Jake, as best as he was able considering he was restricted by the handcuffs.
Jake shook Michael’s hand. “It’s good to see you Michael.”
His cousin nodded. Jake had to remind himself that Michael no longer spoke. A few years ago, Michael had undergone an operation to remove two tumors from his brain. As a result, he’d suffered a small amount of brain damage to the language part of the brain. Michael could no longer read, write or talk properly. Sometimes he couldn’t find the right word to say, sometimes he substituted the wrong word entirely. For the most part, Michael now limited his responses and used gestures or people who knew him well to help him communicate with others.
“I was hoping to ask you a few questions,” Jake began and at Michael’s nod he continued. “I want you to know that my father has admitted his guilt in this and is going to take responsibility for his actions.”
Both Max and Michael were surprised by Jake’s words.
“I need to know,” Jake studied Michael for any sign of guilt. “Did you smuggle any of the drugs?”
“Hey!” Max growled, leaning forward. “We all know Michael is innocent.”
“No,” Michael’s voice was rusty as he responded. He cleared his throat and waited, watching Jake.
“Did you know that your father was smuggling drugs?” Jake questioned.
“No,” Michael’s tongue struggled over the word and his face showed a flare of annoyance at his ineptness at answering a simple question.
“Did you know David was laundering money through Ramesly Pharmaceuticals?” Jake persisted.
Michael hesitated. He looked to Max.
“We’ve already gone through this,” Max informed Jake. “There were accounting errors uncovered that led us to believe that there might be money being laundered through the company. We didn’t know by who or that the money was from illegal drugs if that is where it came from. All we knew is that there were discrepancies.”
“How long have the discrepancies been going on?” Jake turned to look at Max.
“Thirty years,” Max sighed.
“Did no one think to inform the police?” Jake looked at Michael. He’d been David’s right hand man throughout the years. If anyone had known, it would have been Michael.
Michael looked at Jake in frustration.
