Secret Indiscretions (Carson Cove Scandals 2)

“Ah.” She pursed her lips. “Well the new employees generally don’t get to see Jon very often. Please make an appointment if you need to see him—otherwise, I’m sure it can wait until your next performance review.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, and the smile faded from my face. “That makes sense.”

Does she know about the Martin Construction account? Maybe that’s why she was so cold to me—damn. I guess she’s right though. I’m basically a nobody—asking to sit down with the CEO of the company without an appointment.

I spent the rest of my lunch break wandering around the building and exploring a little bit. I didn’t get to do that much when I was working there part-time. I was going to need to bring a book or something to keep myself entertained if I had to spend every lunch break away from my desk until I was done with orientation. It was supposed to last six months, but after I messed up the Martin Construction account, I didn’t know if my trial period would last longer than normal. I watched the last few minutes tick by and then walked back to my desk once I was legally allowed to return to work.

“Your phone was ringing off the hook while you were gone. I finally had to answer it—someone is waiting for you in the lobby.” Lisa looked up at me as I walked into our shared workspace.

“Did they say who?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

“No, but they said they would wait…” She shrugged. “You might want to let Damien know that you’re going to be away from your desk for a few minutes.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

Damien had someone in his office, so I had a wait a couple of minutes before he was free. He didn’t seem to share Lisa’s sentiment about running every minute of my schedule by him. He was also quick to point out that I could have been down in the lobby and back before I had a chance to talk to him. If I was on thin ice, then it seemed like every decision I made was adding a crack. I had no idea who could be waiting for me. I didn’t know that many people in Carson Cove, and if it was mother, or Taylor, or anyone that I knew, they would have called my cell phone first. I stepped off the elevator and didn’t recognize anyone, so I walked up to the receptionist.

“Hey, I believe someone is waiting on me…” I leaned against the desk.

“Are you Melanie Monroe?” A gruff voice echoed behind me.

“Yes, I am…” I turned to see a man in a suit.

“Here.” He held out a piece of paper.

“What’s this?” I reached out to take it.

“You’ve been served.” He immediately turned and started walking towards the door.

Served? What the hell?

My hands started trembling as I flipped the paperwork over and started scanning the page. All it took was a glance to make my heart sink into my stomach—every line that I read made my stomach churn until it started to cramp. I was being sued—by Jackson—for custody of Charley. The paperwork said I was ordered to appear in City Court for an emergency hearing in three days to establish temporary custody arrangements before the actual trial—because Jackson was claiming that I had denied him access to his child, and he wanted court ordered visitation rights until the matter could be sorted out.

“Oh my god, this can’t be happening!” I felt like I was about to throw up.

I—I have to run. I can’t let that monster take Charley away from me.

I looked around in a panic and realized that my meltdown wasn’t going unnoticed. There were several other people in the lobby that were staring at me—the receptionist had the phone in her hand and a finger hovering over the button that would call security. I tried to regain my composure so that I didn’t look like a crazy person, even though I certainly felt like one—and then I noticed that there was someone outside of Alcott Inc.—someone standing at the window—waving. It was Jackson. My emotions flooded my veins. I charged the door, threw it open, and immediately confronted him.

“You bastard!” I held the papers up. “Do you think I’m going to let you take Charley away from me!? I already told you that isn’t going to happen!”

“Relax, sunshine. I’m sure we can work something out.” Jackson’s lips spread into a sinister looking smirk—the same one I thought was sexy, once upon a time.

“There’s nothing to work out, Jackson.” I shook my head back and forth. “I’m not letting you anywhere near my daughter if you’re on drugs. You need help, not custody of a child.”

“She’s my daughter too.” He put his hands in his pocket and kept his voice calm—which was unusual for him. “Our daughter…”

“You don’t give a damn about our daughter. Somewhere in that twisted head of yours, you think doing this will just make me come running back to you.” My jaw tightened as I spoke.

“We could be a family, sunshine.” He shrugged. “I’ll tell my mother’s attorney to dismiss the case if you come back to the city with me.”

“And let you put your hands on me?” I narrowed my eyes. “Not a fucking chance.”

“Then I guess I’ll get custody.” Jackson’s shrugged again.

“We’ll see about that.” I turned to walk back into the building—I was getting dangerously close to doing something I would regret.

“I can’t wait to tell Charley what a whore her mother is.” Jackson’s words were still calm—but they stopped me in my tracks.