Page 8 of The Billionaire and His Forever

“Well, well, well,” a familiar voice tuts. When I look over my shoulder, I see Ford Montgomery standing there, hands in his pockets like it’s a day at the damn beach. “Look who the cat dragged in.”

Relief washes over me. He and I have grown apart over the last few years, but having a friendly face in front of me instantly eases the tension in my gut. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping you, I hope. I know I might not be your favorite person, but this really isn’t the time to address our personal matters, is it?” He takes a seat and picks up a pen, spinning it across his thumb, an old trick we used to do in college to intimidate our competition during debates. “I got a hold of Bowen, by the way. She’s out of the country.”

I inhale sharply through my teeth. “Shit. That’s why they’re sending over a baby lawyer.”

He shrugs. “Be that as it may, let me give you some free legal advice. Word on the street is, you have no alibi—which I’m assuming is true, otherwise you wouldn’t still be in custody. So it’s likely you’ll be in here for a while. You want to rethink that? A solid alibi would go a long way toward clearing your name.”

“No. I never laid a hand on Natasha. My whereabouts that night are nobody’s business.”

Ford looks at me searchingly, and I feel a flash of guilt. Does he know what’s going on between Abbie and me? He isn’t the type to believe everything the media says, and Abbie isn’t exactly close to him, but…he surely has to at least wonder if there’s any truth to those rumors.

“The judge might not grant bail at all, Graham. You’re rich enough to be a flight risk. You could be in prison for weeks or even months while this gets sorted out. “

All I can do is brood. The same thought has already crossed my mind.

“And if you’re locked up,” he goes on, “what do you expect Abbie to do?”

“She’ll be taken care of. In fact, I need you to do me a favor,” I say, lowering my voice. “I added her as an authorized user on my bank account when she started. Standard operating procedure for nannies, for emergencies. Which, if this isn’t a fucking emergency then I don’t know what is. Point being, there’s a debit card with her name on it at home. Top drawer of the desk in my office, in a sealed envelope from the bank. There was obviously never a need to tell her about it before now.”

He nods. “Okay. I’ll get it to her. What else?”

“I have urgent paperwork that needs to be signedtodayfor a business deal. It’s a merger with a bank in Dubai—they have over 23 billion dollars in assets, which should keep my Board of Directors and our shareholders feeling secure enough to ignore any dips in the company stock if this murder charge ends up going sideways. I swear to God, Ford, I’m innocent. But the public won’t know that. And if people start offloading shares en masse, the business could go under like that. My whole empire is at stake.”

I study his face, defeat weighing heavily on me. I have no one else to turn to, no one else I can trust. I’m going to have to rely on our decades-old friendship to get me through this.

“I understand. Completely,” Ford says, nodding slowly. “I’m just going to need a power of attorney so I can sign off on that paperwork on your behalf. Do you want me to draw up the POA docs?”

“Please. Right away. And one last favor—will you help Abbie handle things? Stay with her and Jude at the estate for a bit? I need to know they’re okay, both of them.”

That same knowing look crosses his face, but he nods. “Whatever you need, old friend. I’ll take care of everything. You can trust me.”

Chapter Four

Abbie

It’s beenforty-eight hours since Graham was taken away. And I’ve gotten exactly nowhere.

Meanwhile, Jude is busy shuffling from one lesson to the other, trying to keep a smile on her face even though she misses her mom and her dad. Cassie’s been helping me keep Jude distracted, having her assist with caring for the horses in the stables, braiding manes, and taking trail rides through the property. In fact, all of the staff are focused on keeping Jude preoccupied right now—so she still has no idea what’s actually going on. Graham’s history of dropping everything for business matters helps us keep the lie afloat. But I’m not sure how much longer we can maintain the charade before Jude starts to question it.

It’s exhausting, all this uncertainty. The knots in my stomach won’t let up, leaving me anxious and nauseated as we go from one tutor to the next. I know my dad is supposedly handling things, but I haven’t received an update from him either, and now he’s the one avoidingmycalls. I don’t even know if I can trust him. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked him for help.

After tennis, I take Jude to the kitchen for lunch. Mary and Esmeralda are waiting there, regaling her with tales from when she was little and trying to sneak into the pantry for extra cookies. Jude’s giggles lift my spirits, even if temporarily. For her, it’s just a regular day in a regular world, where her dad is off on another business trip and her mom is…more or less out of sight, out of mind. Not that Jude has stopped asking me when she’ll be able to visit Natasha again. But I have a good excuse for that, and it isn’t even a lie, really—Graham is the one who needs to take her to the hospital. The doctors are doing everything they can. We just have to think positive and wait for more news.

I’m sitting at the island eating an apple with almond butter when my phone rings. I fully expect it to be my dad, but instead it’s a number I don’t recognize with a New York City area code, which sends my heart into rapid palpitations. It’s got to be Graham, or maybe even his lawyer. I hurriedly make up a lie about needing to talk to my dad and then rush out to the front steps of the estate to have a private conversation.

“Hello?” I ask tentatively, heart in my throat.

“Abbie.” He breathes my name in such a way that reinvigorates my entire soul.

“Hey.” Tears cling to my lashes. “I didn’t think they’d let you talk to me.”

“Nothing can keep me from you. Not even this,” he assures me, but I can hear the stress in his voice. “You and Jude are the only thing that keeps me going in here.”

“How are you?”

His laugh is bitter. “It’s a regular picnic here. You’d love it.”

---