Forbidden Kiss (Carson Cove Scandals 1)

I had to cancel a few meetings in the morning so I could talk to my lawyer. He advised me not to buy Alcott Inc. The company was in good shape, but it wasn’t a great investment—it would be a long time before I recouped the money I spent. It wasn’t about that, so I ignored the advice I paid him for, and told him to work with Jon’s lawyer to put together a purchase agreement. Mary’s lawyer would have to agree to the price—it had to be enough to provide her with a fair compensation. She obviously deserved her share of their accumulated wealth—and it was within her right to ask that assets be liquidated if they couldn’t be fairly split—I just hated that their relationship had come down to that.

“Mr. Benson?” Cassie pushed my door open. “Don’t forget you have that investor call in ten minutes—Danny Fontenot is already waiting on hold.”

“Thanks,” I sighed and nodded.

Danny was my newest client, and he seemed to have a very hands-on approach with his investments. There were times when I had my regularly scheduled investor calls and ended up being the only person on the line—most of my clients trusted me or preferred to discuss things in person. Danny had decided to invest in the general fund at Benson Enterprises, which meant the overall health of the company was what turned a profit for him. I still didn’t know how he had gained all of his newfound wealth, but that didn’t matter—the background check said it was legit, so the rest of it wasn’t my business.

The call didn’t last long, but two other investors joined Danny for the discussion, and there were a few questions about the fund that I had to answer for them. As soon as the call ended, I saw my phone light up with a message from Victoria.

Victoria: Are you busy?

Bryant: Yes. Shouldn’t you be in class right now?

Victoria: One of them got canceled.

Bryant: Ah, okay. Is there a problem, or can this wait until tonight?

Victoria: I just wanted to know if you’ve talked to Mom recently.

Bryant: No. We don’t really talk… Not anymore.

Victoria: You should call her.

Bryant: Why? What’s going on?

Victoria: I don’t think she’s doing well…

Bryant: Dylan said he talked to her recently. Apparently, she has a new job… I think she’s fine. You can call her if you think there’s a problem.

Victoria: Will you do it? Please? For me?

Bryant: It isn’t my place to check in o

n her anymore. I doubt she wants to hear from me anyway.

Victoria: I still think you should.

I went round-and-round with Victoria, but neither of one of us were saying anything new. It used to be like that when she was a kid—she would just keep making the same request until we gave in or lost our temper and forced her to back off. I had another meeting scheduled, and I couldn’t keep playing her game, so I finally just caved. One conversation with my ex-wife wasn’t going to kill me, and there was obviously some reason that Victoria thought it was important. I waited until the end of the day to finally pick up my phone, but I didn’t dial Sarah’s number—there was someone else on my mind, and it sure as hell wasn’t my ex-wife.

Bryant: Any chance I can see you tonight?

Taylor: No.

Bryant: Why?

Taylor: Busy with school.

Bryant: Tomorrow?

Taylor: Busy then too.

Taylor’s answers were short—and quick. She didn’t even think about my request before she declined it. If she was busy with school, I could accept that. I just expected a little more from her response. I thought about addressing my concerns but decided against it. The last thing I wanted was to get into an argument with her, when we could just try to clear the air when we were finally together again. I should have let her say what she had to say when she visited me—I was afraid she was having doubts and tried to erase them. There was a chance it could be something else, and I hoped we could work through whatever it was. I was falling too hard to just let go of her—no matter how complicated our relationship would eventually become.

If I don’t have Taylor as an excuse to avoid the phone call, I guess I should call Sarah before Victoria decides to grill me about it.

“Hello?” Sarah’s voice echoed on the other end of the line after less than two rings.

“Hey Sarah.” I leaned back in my chair. “I—Victoria asked me to call and see if you were okay.”