Manhattan Merger

CHAPTER FOUR

THE second the judge left the courtroom, Rainey was so relieved she leaped from the chair to hug Grace Carlow. The attorney dwarfed her five foot six inch body.

“It turned out as I knew it would, my dear.”

“Only because of you,” Rainey half sobbed the words. Relief swept over her in waves.

“Rainey’s right,” Bonnie chimed in, giving both of them a hug. “Without your confidence, I would have had a coronary before we ever got off the phone.”

Grace smiled. “It’s over, and the lesson we’ve learned has been instructive for the company.”

Rainey nodded.

“We also learned something else, ladies.” She cocked an expressive brow.

“What?” Rainey and Bonnie were both wiping their eyes at the same time.

“Mr. Sterling only has one sister. It means Senator Sterling-Boyce’s daughter and maid read our romances. That’s the kind of inside information guaranteed to make Mr. Finauer’s day.”

Rainey had never met the CEO, but she’d heard that when he erupted, everyone felt the shock waves. If this case had gone the wrong way…

“All’s well that ends well, honey.”

“Oh, mom—” Rainey turned to embrace her mother and brother. “Thanks for flying to my rescue on such short notice and bringing everything. The outcome would have been very different without you two!”

Craig gave her a hug. “Congratulations on your big honor, even if you can’t accept the award.”

“Thanks.”

“Trust my sister to pick the one billionaire face in the crowd,” he teased.

She groaned, still shuddering from nerves which had been playing havoc with her emotions over the last twenty-four hours.

Her brother grinned. “I guess I’m going to have to break down and read Manhattan Merger to find out why Mr. Megabucks felt so violated.”

“We’ll never know all the things about Bonnie’s novel that upset him so much. But it wouldn’t hurt you to read a really fantastic relationship book with a powerful emotional punch.” Rainey sniffed. “Maybe it will give you insight into your less than satisfactory love-life.”

“How come it hasn’t helped yours?” he whispered.

“It has! Reading romance novels has taught me to wait for the kind of man I want for my husband. He just hasn’t come along yet.”

“Ms. Bennett?” a deep unfamiliar male voice sounded behind her.

She whirled around, but felt like she was still reeling after she’d come to a stop.

The man she’d drawn, painted and dreamed about so many times was actually standing in front of her, up close and too personal for her to breathe normally.

With a sense of déjà vu her gaze traveled over his rugged male features. There were strain lines near his eyes and mouth that hadn’t been there two years ago. Lines put there by a stalker who’d crippled this man’s fiancée…

No doubt those creases had deepened further as a result of finding himself on the cover of Manhattan Merger, a book that paralleled his life to such a degree, he’d not only felt violated as Craig had said, he’d felt threatened.

“I would give anything if I could undo the pain and suffering I’ve caused you and your fiancée—” she blurted. Her smoky green eyes glistened with tears that trembled on the tips of her velvety black lashes.

“Please tell her how sorry I am to have been the person who turned your lives into another nightmare. I can’t even imagine how terrible that experience must have been for both of you and your families.”

“It was. I won’t lie to you about that.”