Page 169 of Sins of the Father

I go into the bedroom, put on my best suit and tie, then go back out.

“Go, do your work. I’m going to finish this first.”

I glance at my countertop full of spices. “How long is that going to take?”

She shrugs.

I groan but sit down at the table. She takes so long, I get lost in the numbers again until she turns the music down and stands in front of me in a green mesh bra and panties that match her eyes. Her camera hangs around her neck.

“Well, hello,” I say.

“Hello, Mr. Sinclair.” She snaps a photo then releases a few of my buttons on my shirt and takes another one. “I hear you made a few lists this year.”

Instead of my usual groan, I grin. “That’s what they say.”

She straddles me and leans into my ear. “What do you think about naked photo shoots?”

Epilogue

Harper

Three Months Later

The last fewmonths raced by. My new job with Cindy is fun and exciting. I’m learning a lot about photography. Steven loves his new position, too.

His old company called him and begged him to return. Dudmeyer even personally apologized. It seems Matt flailed too many times and got demoted back to his former position. But the trust was broken.

The judge didn’t allow bail for Maximillion since he was a flight risk. A week after his arrest, someone killed him in prison. The speculation one of Giovanni’s men did it was all over the news.

The announcement of Maximillion’s death crippled Beth. She couldn’t get out of bed for weeks. No matter what he had done to her, her heart was still attached to him. And she blamed herself. Quinn found a grief counselor for her, and she’s been slowly getting better.

The press hounded Beth but is slowly focusing on other headlines. For several weeks, they harassed Quinn and Steven, too. But the real story was Beth’s relationship with him. So the press finally backed off them. Beth’s still living with Quinn and Jamison but is about to go back to her place.

The death of Maximillion affected Quinn and Steven, too. It wasn’t grief but more of a shock. Maximillion was dead and could never mess with their mother again. But he was also their father, whether they liked to call him that or not. Quinn struggled with guilt about not feeling horrible her father died. Steven was enraged with his mother falling into a depression over Maximillion after what he did to her.

We worked out some of his anger together in the gym.

Steven and I have settled in. I rearranged his kitchen and feng shui’d the entire place. There really wasn’t a lot to do since he’s a minimalist, too, but the things driving me crazy, I repositioned. It only took me a few hours, and my quirkiness amused Steven.

My lease Steven paid off is coming due, so we’re going to spend the weekend in New York. Jamison went behind my back and paid movers to take all my belongings to his penthouse, so I have to go through my few items and decide what to move to Chicago. But I thought it would be fun to be tourists with Steven all weekend since he hasn’t spent a lot of time in New York City. Valeria finished shooting Quinn’s movie, and Jamison’s place is empty, so we are staying there. We also have plans to meet up with Claire and Ethan one night.

When we get to the penthouse, I go to the guest suite. All my things are in three boxes. One is a large box, and the other two are half the size. My furniture was rented, so I don’t have anything else to deal with.

“Guess you are a minimalist,” Steven teases.

“Perks of me.”

He grins. “Oh, I think there are more perks than just your anti-hoarding skills.”

“Glad you think so. I should sort through this stuff and get it over with.”

“I’ll grab a knife.”

He leaves the room and comes back then opens the boxes. We pull everything out.

“You’ve been holding out on me, Harper. These are definitely going back with us.” Steven holds up several pieces of lingerie. “I think you should give me a fashion show. Try this one on first.” He tosses me a cherry-red push-up, lace teddy.

I rise. “All right.” I grab a pair of matching red stilettos.

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