Always With You (The Connor Family 6)

She smiled back saucily before sipping her drink. She then ran her finger around the rim of the glass. Was she even remotely aware of how sexy this was? How sexy she was? I barely stifled the impulse to move closer to her.

Her next words reminded me why she was here.

“Let’s talk about Marion.”

I just grunted, tightening my grip on the glass. She was here to sign me on as a client, nothing more.

“She alleges you cut off access to her funds and cut off her friends’ access to her. What’s your stance on all this?”

I looked straight at her, because I only planned to say this once and I wanted to leave her no doubt it was the truth.

“She cheated. With my friend, the former manager of this hotel, Lincoln. When I found out, I reviewed the payments she’d made with my credit card. Turned out she’d paid for a lot of their entertainment with my money. I froze her access to my accounts and fired him.”

I hadn’t said this to anyone. Not one soul. I had to admit, it had a therapeutic effect. I also felt like the world’s biggest moron.

Hailey went very still.

“Why did you not make a statement?” I appreciated that she wasn’t pitying me. No, I’m sorry, or this sucks.

“How would that make me look?”

“Like you put your trust in the wrong people.”

“Like I was an idiot for not seeing what was going on right in front of my eyes. They played this charade for two years. Two whole years. And you know what she said when I finally discovered it? That I’d been asking for it.”

“She didn’t!”

Maybe it was the fact that she was indignant on my behalf, but I just couldn’t stop talking.

“She said I never wanted to entertain her. Hell, what do I know? Maybe I did bring it on myself. I asked him to look after her when I was away on business trips, or worked late, because they were getting on well. Now I know why.”

I’d gone from not wanting to say a word on the topic to spilling my deepest fear. How had that happened?

“Reid, trusting your friend and your girlfriend does not make you a fool. I cannot tell you how to feel, obviously... but from an outsider’s perspective, you’re the scorned party here.”

“I don’t want this public. In fact, I would like you to keep this to yourself.”

She nodded. “I will not discuss this with anyone. I promise. But it will be harder to retaliate if you don’t want to give your side of the story.”

I closed my eyes. “I don’t want to retaliate. I just want the story to die down.”

Her silence told me just how impossible that was. Hailey tapped the pen on the paper. She hadn’t written down one word.

“Why exactly were you supporting her? She used to have a lucrative career as a TV moderator and now as a lingerie designer.”

“She also spends a lot more than she earns.”

“Ah, that explains why she’s pushing to have her own modeling TV show. Dragging this breakup through the tabloids is ramping up her profile. It’s a questionable tactic, but unfortunately, it often works.”

Hailey rubbed her temple, casting her eyes over the table, then back up at me.

“Right. Well, I just need your sister’s phone number from you tonight. I’ll be in touch about the rest.”

I hadn’t expected that. I’d envisioned Hailey staying here for hours on end, throwing question after question at me.

“I thought this would take longer.”

“I need some time to come up with ways to tackle this. My usual approach is to fight fire with fire, but I can see why you don’t want that, and I can’t come up with solutions on the spot. For now, I want to talk to your sister.”