Page 24 of Broken Billionaire Boss

“Good morning, are you aware that Victoria had a life insurance policy that lists only Natasha and someone by the name of Frederick Smith as the beneficiary?”

I wasn’t surprised, now that I knew Natasha was not my biological child, I can see why she would do that. “No, I didn’t.” I hadn’t told Peter about Natasha; I was waiting until all this legal mess blew over.

“I’m still trying to get more information on who Frederick Smith is. I’ll keep you posted.

“Sounds good. Thanks, Peter.”

I was so confused; I didn’t realize how many secrets Victoria had squirreled away. They were all popping up like overgrown weeds trying to suffocate me. I stood outside to take in the fresh air. I longed for the simple days when we just argued about our difference in opinion. The revelation of the past four months painted the picture of a woman who was lying, cheating, and maybe stealing. I braced myself for what was to come next.

It was now 4 p.m. and I had no intentions of spending one more night at the ranch with Brandon until I knew who he was and had some idea of his motives. Sam was still working but I could tell all the important items were completed. I went to find her so we could both leave at the same time. She was in the art room taking pictures of the walls and measurements of different dimensions. “Hi, Sam.”

Startled, she said, “Oh, hi, do you need me for something?”

I wanted to say yes, but instead, I pulled her close and kissed her passionately on her soft lips. I couldn’t help myself. I had been holding my feelings back for some time now; they decided they wanted out.

Sam was surprised at first, but I felt her melt into my arms and she was now as eager for my lips as I was for hers. I didn’t want to stop, but she finally broke free and slipped out of my arms. She looked at me, turned, and left the room. I wasn’t sure if I had offended her. I walked out of the art room shortly after to see if she wanted to talk. By the time I made it out to the driveway, her Buick was pulling off.

* * *

I gotin my Tesla and headed out to get Natasha. I felt drained. If I’d upset Sam, I was hoping that, after the renovation was complete, we could talk about taking things further. After today, it seemed like she wasn’t interested. I received a call from Steve as I pulled up to Natasha’s dance studio. That was quick. He’d left yesterday morning, and I didn’t expect to hear anything from him for another week.

“Mr. Brooks, I found out some very interesting things about our friend Mr. Brandon White. I am on my way back to Texas right now from Jersey. How does your schedule look tomorrow?”

“I should be free, what time are you thinking?” I heard a faint intercom in the background and figured Steve was already at the airport on his way back. Most private investigators would have spent the night out of town and billed me, but Steve seemed eager to get to the bottom of the mystery. I wished I had thought of this earlier.

“I should be back in a few hours,” he said. “My flight leaves in forty-five minutes.”

“Is 10 a.m. too early?” I had no doubt in my mind Steve would have come by at 6 a.m. if I suggested it.

“No, 10 a.m. is good for me.”

“Sounds like a plan. I could hear Steve rummaging through his bag to find something. I imagined he was looking for the binder he showed me the day before. “I do have some additional information for you, give me a second to get through security. I will call you back.”

As I stood outside Natasha’s dance studio waiting for Steve’s call; I couldn’t help but wonder why my investigation into Brandon yielded nothing close to what I was now finding out. I did not want to discuss anything around Natasha. She was finally starting to act like her old self, and I needed to shield her from all this ugliness. Finally, the phone rang. I was eager and picked up on the first ring.

“Sorry about that, Mr. Brooks, things here took a bit longer than I expected. Brandon White’s real name is Frederick Smith.” My phone slipped from my grip, hit the pavement, and shattered into a million pieces.

CHAPTER 18

SAMANTHA

After finding Brandon going through my bag, I was ready to get the hell out of the ranch for good. I was not sure how he was involved in all this mess, but I was now convinced he was the eyewitness that Detective Parker alluded to. He must have been the one to suggest the motive of Chris’ involvement with Victoria’s death being linked to infidelity. I was just the convenient scapegoat. I was sitting on my loveseat with my head flat on the chair. My morning sickness was now a part of my everyday life and was now consistently showing up around 6 a.m. I had a cup of Earth Mama Ginger Nausea Tea; it was the only thing that gave me relief these days. Lizzie recommended I try it and it worked wonders, at least for me. This was themaster bedroom revealdayand I was focused on getting everything done to keep the project on schedule.

So far, I had three billionaire clients waiting for me to start their renovations. Word had spread about mykeen eye for color choicesand my ability to keep my client’s business confidential. That was one good thing that came from all the media coverage. Personally, I think they all were drawn to the latter more, these rich people had a lot to hide.

Lizzie’s business naturally picked up as well. She is still my temp agency of choice. She liked the feeling of being my gatekeeper. We have plans to start looking for a bigger office space in the near future. Now that things were winding down with the pandemic, clients were starting to request office visits. We couldn’t have our billionaire clients in our cramped office in downtown Grapevine. It served its purpose but it was time for an upgrade.

I was deep in thought when the phone rang. “Hello?”

The voice on the other end was sweet and sultry. “Hi, Samantha, my name is Ann Marie Smith. Am I speaking with Samantha Walker? I am a realtor from Redfin. I am following up on a request to look at houses in the Dallas metroplex area.”

I quickly sat up. Probably not a good idea. I closed my eyes to stop the room from spinning. It was 6:45 a.m. Who calls anyone this early—realtors, I guess? “Yes, I am Samantha Walker.”

Ann Marie continued, “Do you have time to talk? I was hoping we could go over the area and style of houses you like. I also need a budget. Do you plan to buy cash or are you getting a loan?” I am not sure I caught all that; I was still recovering and was not expecting so many questions. Regardless, I was happy to have this conversation. It meant I was one step closer to purchasing my first home. Right now, I have some motivation to go back to the ranch and brave Brandon. “My budget is $200,000. I like older homes with character so I would prefer a mature neighborhood. I plan on purchasing with cash and what was the last question?”

“What area would you like to start your search in?”

“Highland Park probably? I am not sure if there are homes there at my price point.”

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