Billionaire's Single Mom

"I know, first world problems, right?" he sighed again. "I feel like my life is so meaningless—like I'm going through the motions and doing what's expected, but nothing makes me happy anymore."

"Have you thought about seeing a doctor for that?" I teased as I reached up and patted his cheek.

"Ha!" he laughed and was about to say something when a car pulled into the driveway and the front door opened. Jack started to get up and then saw that it was his brother exiting the house. He ducked back down behind the bush in front of us, put his finger to his lips, and said, "Shhh."

Peering through the bush, Jack tried to get a look at the person getting out of the car. When he couldn't, he settled in on the bench and waited to see if he could hear their voices.

"I told you not to come here tonight," Lincoln said tersely. "Everyone's here. What if someone saw you?"

"Oh, do shut up, you silly worrywart," the woman replied. I didn't recognize the voice, but Jack's eyes widened as he listened. "I have information that can't be transmitted via phone or email, and it's urgent."

"Fine, tell me what you need to tell me, and then get the hell out of here," Lincoln said.

"The Chinese are ready to make a deal on the

warehouse operation, and the buyers from New Delhi are ready to take over the ordering portion and the customer service phone support," she said as if ticking things off a list. "I think we need to settle the deal with the Chinese before we talk with the Indians. Otherwise we're going to have a hell of a time selling them the partial pieces."

"You should have thought of that before you started bolstering the warehouse operation stateside, Sloan," he replied.

Now it was my turn to look at Jack with wide eyes. I wasn't sure that what I was hearing was correct, but the implications were clear: Lincoln and Sloan were working together to break up Baby Steps. I felt Jack's arm tighten around me and saw him put his finger to his lips again to remind me to stay quiet. I nodded and continued listening.

"If we can break down the pieces of the company, we can sell them at a substantial profit and pay off the shareholders before we take our cut of the deal," Lincoln said. "But you have to stop coddling my little brother. You know we only picked him because we thought he'd run the company into the ground so that he could get back to doing what he was doing before the old man kicked it."

"You're such a cold-hearted jerk," Sloan said with laugh, and then more quietly, "I love that about you."

Jack slid forward and pushed the bushes apart enough to see that Lincoln and Sloan were locked in a passionate embrace.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath.

"Shhhh," I remind him. He nodded and slid back on the bench, his hand squeezing my shoulder tightly.

"I'll take care of your little brother," Sloan said after a lengthy silence. "You take care of sinking the renovation loan and making it look like a bad business deal. If all goes according to plan, we should be able to get out from under this thing in the next month. I want it off the table by the time you make a break with Jessie, and we start to plan the next step."

"Uh, yeah, about that," Lincoln began.

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet," she said in a terse voice. "I told you when we began this thing that I wasn't going to take no for an answer, Lincoln. I put you in a position to capitalize on the deals that the bank made. You're not going to back out on me now."

"Look, I'm not sure I want to leave my wife right now," Lincoln said. "We have kids."

"Put them in boarding school," Sloan said. "My parents did it and look how I turned out."

"Uh, yeah," Lincoln said hesitating. "All I'm saying is that I need a little more time to figure out the personal side of things, okay?"

"Well, don't drag your feet," Sloan said. "I'd hate to have to pull out the big guns and take aim."

"There's no need to be unreasonable, Sloan," Lincoln said in an icy voice. "I'll figure things out, and we'll get what we're after."

"You'd better hope so," Sloan said as she walked back to her car and opened the door. "I'm not accustomed to being disappointed, and I don't deal well with it when I am."

"Understood," Lincoln said. "I'll see you tomorrow. Usual time and place."

The car door slammed, and Sloan backed out of the driveway, leaving Lincoln standing there alone. He didn't move, but since we couldn't see past the branches in our way, I couldn't tell what he was doing. A few minutes later, we heard him walk up the steps and go back inside the house.

"Well, I'll be damned," Jack said as he looked at me. I had no idea what he was thinking, so I stayed quiet and hoped that he would keep his arm around me a little longer.

Chapter Thirty-One

Jack