Reunited in Love

*

Kerri stepped inside Natalie’s penthouse and closed her eyes. Four of the men had followed her to the top floor, two of them insisting on taking up stations outside the elevator and two more outside Natalie’s door. She’d definitely noticed they were around and they would make a nuisance of themselves until Barron called them off.

It infuriated her that none of them had done anything even remotely improper. If it came to a lawsuit, she wouldn’t even be able to claim harassment.

“What’s wrong?” Natalie said. “Did something hap—something did happen. Okay, sit down. You look like you’re about to faint.” She led Kerri to a couch.

“There are men outside,” Kerri said as she sat.

Natalie glanced at the door. “What men?”

“My ‘bodyguards.’”

Natalie’s eyes widened. “Bodyguards?”

“My grandfather sent them.”

“You have a grandfather? Sorry, that’s silly. Of course you do. But…why would he send bodyguards? Do you have a stalker or something?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. I think…they’re more like my keepers or something. So I don’t run again.”

Natalie stared at her for a long moment, then went to the kitchen and brought out cappuccino and hot tea. “Okay, I think you need to start from the beginning.”

Kerri sighed even as she gratefully took the coffee. The beginning. Easier said than done. “My grandfather is Barron Sterling.”

“Who?”

“Barron Sterling. You know, Sterling & Wilson? Corporate raider back in the 80s, currently an investor and venture capitalist?”

Natalie was staring at her again. “No way.”

“Unfortunately, way.”

Natalie swayed a little bit. “Okay, I need to sit down.” She took the seat next to Kerri. “Your grandfather is the Barron Sterling? Oh my god, Kerri. Holy shit. The man is l

ike the richest guy in the world. How come you never said anything?”

“We have some…issues.”

“Like what? Wait, did he cut you out? Is that why you were always working so much?”

Kerri shifted closer to Natalie. “No, more like the opposite. I was working so much because I had to pay off my college tuition. Barron footed the bill initially, but I didn’t want his money.” That might have given him some hold over her. I paid for your education, and you owe me with compound interest. It wasn’t that unimaginable. “So I sent him a cashier’s check for the full amount he paid plus interest. Prevailing market rate.”

“That’s…” Natalie shook her head. “I want to say that’s crazy, but I totally understand where you’re coming from.”

Yes, she would. She didn’t have such a great relationship with her family either. “He tracked me down in Hong Kong not too long ago. Said he wanted to meet, except I had nothing to say to him.”

Understanding dawned in Natalie’s eyes. “So that’s why you left. You didn’t want to see him.”

“Basically.” Kerri grimaced. “The health stuff was a factor too, but yeah. I couldn’t stand the idea of facing him.”

“Did he say why he wanted to see you?”

Kerri shook her head. “He never explains himself.”

“But you must know him pretty well. He’s your grandfather.”

“A grandfather who never had any time for me.” And one who had been too busy dealing with his own grief plus his daughter’s. A granddaughter whose birth had caused the deaths of his darling grandsons, not to mention his son-in-law, didn’t rank very high in his priorities.