From Riches to Redemption Read online

  It was only then that River let himself finish. He buried his face in her throat and thrust into her until he unraveled with a low groan of pleasure.

  After a moment, River rolled onto his back to catch his breath. He could get used to being woken up like that more often. He stumbled into the bathroom to clean up, and when he returned a moment later, he found that Morgan had changed back into the silky chemise he’d banished from the bed earlier.

  With a sigh, he climbed back under the covers, wanting so badly to say something about the outfit. Instead, he snuggled up with her and decided to enjoy their night for what it was. They’d made progress. Baby steps, but progress.

  “So tell me,” he said, as they were on the edge of sleep. “It’s an awful tattoo you’re hiding, isn’t it? Do you have Kermit the Frog on your hip bone or something? Property of Big Jim?”

  He was answered only with a fluffy pillow straight to the face.

  “Good night, River,” was all she said.

  “Good night,” he replied with a chuckle. He pulled her close against him and drifted off into a contented sleep.

  * * *

  Normally, when Morgan worked at Steele headquarters, she tried to stay as far away as she could from the executive suites. That was the turf of her father, brothers and others entrusted with the day-to-day running of Steele Tools. There, they discussed and worried about things she couldn’t care less about—like whether moving their manufacturing facility to China would improve their bottom line, or if a hammer looked better with the traditional Steele red or exciting new yellow rubber grips.

  Tools were the family industry and she reaped the benefits of it, but that didn’t mean she had to live and breathe it the way the others did. In fact, if her father hadn’t indulged her in creating a charitable branch she could run, she wouldn’t have worked for the company at all. Several people in the family had started in the company and branched off into careers in politics or kicked off their own start-ups. Morgan felt like she would be one of those who eventually stepped out of the tool business. Into what, she had no idea.

  But Tuesday morning, after her long weekend at River’s place on Kiawah Island, she marched down the hallway toward the executive offices like a woman on a mission. She ignored everyone she passed on the way to her father’s office. It was early, not even eight o’clock yet, but she knew he would be there. Her father had spent the majority of his life in this office. If he wasn’t at home, he was in his executive chair, wheeling and dealing.

  His administrative assistant hadn’t come in yet, and for that, she was thankful. One less roadblock. She glanced through the glass of his office wall long enough to confirm he was there and alone, then she barged inside.

  Her father shot up in surprise, nearly spilling the coffee he was sipping all over his keyboard. “Morgan!” he declared, before gently setting the coffee aside. “Is something wrong?”

  “Yes. I have something I have to ask you and I need you to be honest with me.”

  Trevor cocked his head curiously and gestured to the guest chair. “Okay. Why don’t you sit down, sunshine, and we can talk it all out.”

  She winced at the sound of her pet name. She was not in the mood to be Daddy’s little girl. She was mad at him and she didn’t want him clouding her feelings with things like that. Still, she sat down in the chair, hovering on the edge and refusing to relax into the soft leather. “I had a discussion with River recently. He mentioned how he used the money you bribed him with to start his company. That sounds a little bit different from the version of events you told me.”

  “Bribe is a strong word, Morgan.” Trevor smiled at his daughter indulgently, but she wasn’t going to let him sweet-talk his way out of this. It was her life he was toying with. She wasn’t a chess piece to be moved around at his will.

  “Dad, this is no time for semantics. Did River demand the money to go or did you offer it to him?”

  Trevor sat back in his chair and sighed. “What does it matter? He took the money, didn’t he? That’s the important part, isn’t it?”

  “No, it isn’t. I don’t blame him for taking what was offered. What else did he have after you stole me away? What’s important is that you made me believe that he had demanded that money to go away quietly. You told me that you had to pay him off to keep him from stalling the annulment and demanding a part of my estate since I was too naïve to get a prenuptial agreement. You told me he threatened to go to the newspapers about our affair if you didn’t write him a check on the spot. None of that was true, was it?”

  Trevor watched her for a moment, the muscles in his jaw tensing. “No, it wasn’t true,” he admitted at last. “I told you that so you’d keep away from him. He wasn’t the right boy for you, but you were too blinded by young love to see it. I offered him the money in the hopes he’d take it and disappear. And he did. So things worked out in the end, didn’t they? He’s a success. You’re doing well. No harm, no foul.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t believe this. When he told me about the money, there was a part of me that was certain this was just his way of getting me to move past it. But River was telling the truth. You bribed him, and then made me think he was just a gold digger using me to get to my money.”

  “I thought it was for the best, sunshine. It was a story so awful that it would make the break clean and you wouldn’t try to run back to him when I wasn’t looking.”

  “For the best? Daddy, do you realize what you did? You didn’t just break up a pair of young, foolish lovers. You broke my heart when you told me that. You made me believe that no man could ever love me just for me, that my money would always be a factor when a man showed an interest in me. It made me so suspicious that I stopped trusting people. All these years... After everything that happened...”

  Trevor frowned as she spoke, but he didn’t interrupt. “Morgan, I never realized it had that kind of impact on you. I only wanted you to marry someone who was worthy of you.”

  “River was worthy. He was worthy in more ways than I can count. He wasn’t rich, but he was a good person and he loved me. So tell the truth—when you say worthy, you mean rich.”

  He sighed. “When you have the kind of money our family has, it’s not unheard of for people to be targeted romantically. How was I to know if River was sincere or not?”

  “It would’ve helped if the first words you spoke to him weren’t, ‘Get your hands off my daughter and put on some clothes.’”

  Trevor leaned closer and cocked a brow at her. “It also would’ve helped if I had met my future son-in-law before he was my son-in-law, Morgan. By secretly eloping, it seemed like you had something to hide.”

  “I did. I was hiding him from you, because I knew that you wouldn’t allow us to get married.” Morgan’s gaze dropped sadly to the hands she had folded in her lap. “You’ve controlled every aspect of my life since I was a child. The moment I tried to live my own life as an adult, you shut it down.”

  “You got married, Morgan. This wasn’t a nose piercing or some other type of harmless youthful rebellion. You married a boy you’d known for less than three months. Without your family. Without a prenuptial agreement. Letting you live your own life was starting out as a disaster. You were only nineteen years old.”

  Morgan’s head snapped up as his words fanned the fire of anger heating her cheeks. “Stop it right there. Stop twisting this conversation into a lecture about what you think I did wrong with my life. We’re here to talk about what you did. You lied to me. You manipulated my feelings. I’m almost thirty years old and sometimes I think you’re still pulling the strings of my life like I’m some marionette puppet.”

  “I think that’s a little overdramatic, Morgan.”

  “Maybe, but I’m allowed to feel however I want to feel. You’re not in charge of that.” She took a moment to collect her thoughts and figure out what she wanted to say to him. “I think t
hat perhaps having you as my father and my boss has given you too much control in my life. Perhaps some space would be healthy.”

  Trevor chuckled dismissively at her words. “You can’t quit being my daughter.”

  “Technically, I could. I’m sure the Nolans would be happy to see more of me. I haven’t gotten to spend as much time with them as I’d like to, but I’m pretty certain they would never tell me who I could love or decide who was good enough for me. But I couldn’t do that to the rest of the family. Or to you, no matter how badly you’ve hurt me, Daddy. But I can quit my job.”

  That caught his attention. He sat upright in his chair, no doubt thinking of all the loose ends she would leave behind if she walked out the door at that exact moment. “Are you serious?”

  Morgan took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. But don’t worry, I’ll finish this year’s project. It’s too late in the game to turn it over to someone else. But after the key ceremony is over, you can consider this my notice.”

  Her knees were shaking as she pushed herself up from the chair and turned her back on her father. She tried to walk to the door without losing her cool and made it as far as grasping the handle when her father spoke again.

  “Does he know about Dawn?”

  Morgan froze on the spot, her hand gripping the doorknob for support. She couldn’t make herself turn around or face him, because they both knew the answer to his question was no.

  “You kept that from him, didn’t you? Because you thought it was for the best. That he would be hurt by the truth.”

  She felt her father’s presence behind her as his hand came to rest gently but firmly on her shoulder. She didn’t flinch away from his touch, as even in this moment, it was a comfort to have him there. He was always there for her, even when she thought she didn’t need him.

  “You justified keeping your daughter a secret in your mind, but if he found out about her now, don’t you think he would be angry with you?”

  “Yes.” Somehow, she knew he would be. She had punished him for a crime he hadn’t committed and now they would all suffer for it.

  “Now you see where I’m coming from, sunshine. I’m sorry that what I did hurt you. It was the last thing I wanted to do. But we all make choices and sometimes the right answer isn’t so easy to come by. Sometimes we end up hurting the ones we love in an attempt to protect them.”

  She did understand. She didn’t want to, but she did. There was a part of her that had kept the truth about their daughter from River to protect him. But she’d also been angry with him. Now that those excuses were gone, what was keeping her silent? It was knowing that finding out the truth now would only hurt him. And that he would blame her.

  “Do you think he’ll ever be able to forgive me?” she asked quietly, the words barely a whisper.

  The hand on her shoulder tightened into a gentle squeeze of support. “For your sake, I hope so, honey.”

  Ten

  Greg straightened the bow tie provided by his temporary employer and took a deep breath. This was it. Weeks of planning and years of frustration were going to culminate tonight. Not in a payoff, no, but in some sweet revenge.

  As he carried around a tray of full champagne flutes, he noticed how the rich partygoers hardly paid any attention to him. Like he wasn’t good enough to be acknowledged as a simple waiter. They saw the champagne, though. They snatched that off the tray and continued their conversations, dismissing him once they had what they wanted.

  It took everything he had not to say, You’re welcome, in a mocking tone. He only had to hold it together for a little bit longer.

  As the last drink was taken, Greg turned back to the kitchen where the catering team was working. Black Tie Affairs had hired on a team of servers for the event with surprisingly few background checks. They hadn’t even realized his ID was a fake. They thought his name was Carl. And they hadn’t really looked at him, either. He was just there for the grunt work.

  Boy, were they all in for a surprise. If they’d paid more attention, they would’ve noticed the strange boxes he unloaded into the ballroom with the rest of the catering equipment. Soon, those carefully placed explosives hidden beneath the linen table skirting would rip this ballroom and everyone nearby into tiny pieces. And that waiter, the one they never even looked at, would disappear in the chaos as a presumed victim of the blast. They wouldn’t be able to pick “Carl” out of a lineup. Their own arrogance would see to it that he would get away scot-free.

  “Carl, take this bag of trash out, please.”

  With a sigh, Carl set aside his tray and grabbed the heavy sack of cooking scraps. He went out the back door and tossed it into the dumpster the Steeles had had delivered for the event. As he stood out there, he looked at the sea of expensive cars parked across the lawn. He couldn’t afford the tires on one of those vehicles. He was done. Done with these rich, entitled people getting everything and him getting nothing.

  It would be easy to just walk away now and listen to the explosions and the screams as he disappeared into the night. But he wanted to see it. For once in his life, he wanted to watch one of his plans be executed without a hitch. So he went back inside.

  “Carl, take this tray of canapés out, please.” The head caterer slid a platter of tiny, fancy little foods toward him. He picked up the tray out of habit and carried it with him into the ballroom.

  Instead of going into the crowd, however, he eased back into a safe corner, far from the bombs. He set the tray of food on a table and reached into his pocket for the detonator. He wanted to wait for the perfect moment. He took one last look around the room... A crowd had gathered onto the dance floor. That would be perfect. He thought of his sister...of his mother...and then he placed his thumb over the button and took a deep breath.

  * * *

  It was done. The keys were in the hands of three deserving families and instead of feeling happy or even relieved, River almost felt sick to his stomach.

  He knew it wasn’t the champagne. As he stood at the edge of the ballroom and watched the others, he could see that everyone else was drinking the same bubbly beverages without ill effects. Of course, they weren’t on the verge of losing the most important person in their life, either.

  River tried to focus on something else. It was supposed to be a joyous event after all. The Steele mansion was once again draped in expensive fabrics and flower arrangements. They had gone all out, as usual. The ballroom was filled with people in formal attire, there to celebrate how wonderful they were for contributing to a good cause. Tonight, they’d gotten their big payoff—celebrating and applauding as they gave out the house keys to the needy families, and consuming a down payment’s worth of champagne and canapés.

  Like the fund-raiser, the event was a little over-the-top for River. He’d be just as happy to skip the party and put that money toward the houses or another good cause. Of course, the Steeles thought it was important to have this special and exciting night for everyone, but as someone who had received charity in the past, it made him uncomfortable. Not everyone wanted a light shone on the fact that they needed help to get by.

  Thankfully, the families seemed comfortable enough. They were easy to spot in the crowd, wearing their Sunday finest for the black-tie event. It wasn’t too much to suffer through to get a brand-new house in the end.

  This was at least a smaller event than before. Now he could easily find Morgan in the crowd. She was speaking with an older couple who had to be her biological parents. He hadn’t been introduced to the Nolans, but it was obvious she was a younger version of Carolyn Nolan, with the same creamy complexion, curvy figure and luxurious shiny dark hair.

  It was hard to focus on anything other than Morgan, however. Her scarlet-red gown fit her like a glove. It was one shouldered, leaving a single collarbone and arm gloriously bare. It bunched around the waist, clinging to her rounded hips, and fishtailed to the floor in a
crimson train that trailed behind her. She looked stunning—every bit the Steele heiress, despite her newfound pedestrian roots. The color alone was enough for her to stand out among the darker hues of the other partygoers, even though he could’ve found her without it. She was like a shining beacon that directed him home.

  It seemed like a lifetime since he’d walked into the ballroom and laid eyes on Morgan for the first time after all those years apart. Since then, they’d spent weeks in each other’s arms. They’d worked through a lot of their old baggage. Truths had come to the surface, healing old wounds they’d both carried through their years apart.

  River knew they’d discussed their little dalliance only lasting through to tonight, and they hadn’t mentioned otherwise, but he couldn’t walk away from Morgan when it was over. She turned and looked at him then, a soft smile curling her cherry-red lips. He smiled back and felt his chest tighten as though she’d reached into his rib cage and clutched his heart in her fist. No. He wasn’t giving up on her again. It didn’t matter what her father or anyone else had to say about it. He would tell her so when he got the chance, but so far tonight she’d been a crimson bumblebee, flitting around the room in her official capacity for the event.

  Finally, she broke away from the conversation with the Nolans and headed in his direction. “Good evening, Mr. Atkinson,” she said with a smile.

  “Miss Steele. You throw a lovely party,” he said, mimicking her polite and formal greeting. Even now, weeks later, she wanted the two of them to remain a secret. So it wouldn’t be ruined. Or something like that. Now he wasn’t so sure it didn’t have more to do with her father’s disapproval. Trevor Steele could certainly ruin things if he wanted to. He’d caught the man’s icy stare across the ballroom a few times, but they hadn’t spoken since that afternoon in the lobby of Steele Tools’ corporate offices.

  “Thank you.” She glanced around at the mingling crowds. “I wish more people were dancing, but it seems to be going well, otherwise.”