From Riches to Redemption Page 2

  Even then, there wasn’t a rush to return to their argument. He had time, so he made his way to the bar for a refresher and enjoyed some of the cold canapés being passed around. They weren’t particularly filling, but rich people seemed to like fancy foods that cost a lot yet left a gnawing hunger in their bellies.

  “Mr. Atkinson?”

  River turned to find an older man with a young blonde on his arm. “Yes?”

  “Kent Bradford,” he said, thrusting out his free hand to shake with River. “I hear you build some amazing houses.”

  River smiled. “I’m glad that’s the word going around, but I like to think of it as well-built homes my customers love. Are you interested in building a property, Mr. Bradford?”

  “Call me Kent. And actually, yes I am. Do you work outside of the Charleston area at all? I’ve secured some mountain property near Asheville, North Carolina, and I was hoping to build a cabin.”

  His brow went up. “A cabin?” A cabin wasn’t worth the time or energy to travel that far. The man could get a better deal from a local company.

  Kent chuckled. “Well, I say cabin, but let’s be honest. A five-thousand square foot, three-story house is hardly a cabin. I just want it to have that mountain cabin feel. With all the modern amenities and luxuries, of course.”

  That was more like it. “I haven’t built out there, but I would be happy to discuss it with you.” River reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a business card. “Why don’t you give me a call next week and we can talk about what you’re interested in. I can have my architect draw something up.”

  “Wonderful.” The man accepted the card and slipped it into his pocket. “I’ll be calling you.” With a smile, the man turned and led the younger blonde over to the dance floor.

  Tonight wasn’t all about confronting Morgan, despite what she might think.

  It was also about business. Working with the Steele Tools company on their annual charity project was good PR for him. Just being in this room put him within shouting distance of damn near every millionaire in the state of South Carolina. While he waited to talk to Morgan, he was happy to pick up a few business contacts. These types were always wanting to build a summer home or a new status-symbol mansion to keep up with the Joneses, and that meant business was good for him.

  He figured that eventually he would get a chance to talk to Morgan again. The room was only so large and the night had really just begun. But the next thing he knew, one of the twins got back on stage. River knew she had three older brothers, two of whom were identical twins, but he couldn’t even begin to be able to tell them apart, especially with them all sporting similar, Mark Twain-esque names.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry to say this, but we’re going to have to end the event early tonight. We’ve had a family emergency that we need to tend to. If you would be so kind as to see your way out, we would truly appreciate it. Morgan will be in touch with each of you in the upcoming weeks about your support of this year’s Strong as Steele community project. Thank you so much for coming.”

  And with that, the twin disappeared from the stage.

  That was odd. The family had gone to a lot of trouble and expense putting this event together. Tickets to attend weren’t exactly cheap, either. There must have been something serious going on if they’d chosen to end it and kick everyone out of the house before they got checks out of everyone.

  Looking around, River caught a blur of emerald green as Morgan was ushered across the hall by her mother and a large man he didn’t recognize. He looked like the former military type despite his expensive tuxedo. The brothers followed them, and they all disappeared into a far room of the house and didn’t come back out.

  He loitered for a while, letting the other guests clear out of the valet lot in the hopes that someone might come out. But soon, he found he was one of the only people in the ballroom aside from the catering crew that was busy cleaning up. He finally gave up and called it a night himself. When he found no fewer than four police cars outside the mansion as he left, he got the feeling the family emergency was going to take up the rest of their night. Knowing the Steeles, whatever happened would require major damage control to keep the family from looking bad.

  Strolling outside, he handed over his ticket to the valet driver and waited for his truck. A few minutes later, the attendant pulled around front with his sapphire-blue F-250 Lariat Super Duty pickup. River tipped him and climbed in.

  This wasn’t exactly how he’d expected tonight to end. Things felt awkward and unfinished. They’d only begun their discussion when it came to a quick and premature end. Then again, he didn’t really know how he’d wanted it to end, either. Perhaps he’d hoped that the sight of him would cause Morgan to swoon? Or maybe that she would rush into his arms and tell him how wrong she’d been and that she still loved him?

  Ha. He pulled away from the Steele mansion with a smirk on his face. That wouldn’t happen in a million years. His ego wasn’t so large as to think she’d given much thought to him over the last decade. He was the poor, unsuitable boy who wouldn’t amount to anything. That wasn’t the kind of person who loitered in your thoughts. Her big mistake.

  No, odds were that she’d tried to put him and their relationship out of her mind as soon as possible. To pretend it never happened just the way her family wanted her to. She probably wanted to put him out of her mind right now, but it wouldn’t be so easy this time. River had seen to that by signing an agreement with a representative from Steele Tools who didn’t know who he was. Few people outside of her parents would know their history together and their silence had worked to his advantage. Now he was guaranteed to spend a large chunk of the summer collaborating specifically with the company’s community outreach representative—Morgan.

  At best, he’d hoped she would spend the upcoming weeks regretting what she’d done to him. But after seeing her tonight, this summer might prove to be more pleasurable than he’d expected. At least for him. He hadn’t been sure how his former love would look after all these years apart. When she’d turned to him in that stunning green lace gown, he was almost knocked back off his feet. Her exotic green-gold eyes, the high cheekbones, the skin like flawless porcelain... It was as if hardly a day had passed and yet everything was somehow different. Especially when she looked at him with a mix of horror and surprise distorting her lovely face.

  The girl he remembered, his bride, had been the prettiest girl he’d ever seen in his life. With her long, luscious dark hair, insightful eyes that saw through his defenses and a sweet-as-sugar smile, he was smitten the moment he’d lain eyes on her. She was older now, perhaps harder, judging by the guarded way she had spoken to him. But even so, he was tempted to fall into her same trap again. Thankfully, he knew better now. Her love came with strings. Baggage. It might come easily, but it could go just as fast.

  If Morgan wanted him this time, it was only because he’d achieved his goal and was finally worthy of Daddy’s approval. Nothing had really changed about him as a person. He just had money and prestige. Those things were paramount to Mr. Steele. And to Morgan, River supposed.

  Hitting the button on his console to open the gate, River slowed at the entrance to his property on Kiawah Island. When it was finally open, he passed down the lane to the home he’d built for himself once he’d finally had the time and money to make exactly what he wanted. A lot had changed since that awful night all those years ago.

  River had taken the older man’s advice along with his check, walking away and making something of himself with that money. Not to prove anything to Morgan or her father. More to prove it to himself. And he had, many times over. He wasn’t the dumb kid he’d been back then. And now it was time for Morgan and Trevor to see how much the man’s investment in River had grown. Maybe, just maybe, they might regret judging someone so harshly in the future.

  But even if they didn’t, he wasn’t intereste
d in getting anyone’s endorsement these days. Especially from a controlling bastard like Trevor Steele.

  Two

  “I have the report ready from the fund-raiser. Accounting just brought it to me.”

  Morgan looked up from her computer to see her assistant, Vanessa, coming into her office with a manila folder in her hand. “That was quicker than I expected.”

  Vanessa handed over the file. “I’ll let you know when your next appointment arrives,” she said before slipping back out to her desk.

  Morgan opened the folder and her brows lifted in surprise as she saw the bottom line. Given that the event had run for less than a third of its usually scheduled time, she hadn’t expected them to raise as much money. They’d never even gotten around to the silent auctions. The family hardly had time to circulate through the crowd and stir up donations. She’d already been planning a contingency for this year’s project, narrowing the scope significantly. Considering she had to work with Southern Charm, a part of her would’ve been okay with cancelling it entirely.

  Instead, they’d actually raised more. Apparently, cancelling an event for television-worthy drama in their family made their guests and donors feel bad. And when rich people felt bad, they tended to write a check to feel better again.

  Actually, they’d raised enough to build at least three houses in the community this year. And that was just in the month since the event. More funds could still roll in during the next few weeks. Last year, they’d only raised enough for two houses and that had been their all-time high.

  That was one bright spot in the dark drama that had plagued her recently. Finding out she had been switched at birth was a major revelation. The news had just come to light and yet, if you asked Morgan, it felt like years since she found out the truth. That sort of news could shift your whole perception of the world. Especially when you realized that your whole life was a mistake.

  Normally, time flew by. She lived a pretty busy life, pouring almost all her energy into the family company and its continued success. When she wasn’t at the office, she was at the gym trying to work off the stress and the extra pounds that clung to her hips. She’d always longed for the naturally slender figure of her mother, but instead, her weight was just another item on a list of things that weighed heavily—pun intended—on her mind. But even then, nothing could have prepared her for everything that had happened in her life since that night.

  Now, Morgan couldn’t even look in the mirror without seeing some imposter looking back at her. How could she have been so blind all these years to the things that were plainly visible to anyone who bothered to look? There was no way she was a Steele. She’d always had a different appearance from the rest of her family—the dark one among a sea of blonds—but it had never registered in her mind what that really meant before the truth came out.

  Now she wondered what her parents had really thought all those years. Had her father believed Morgan was the child of an affair with a dark-haired man? Had they thought a recessive gene had come through? They certainly hadn’t guessed their real baby girl had been switched with an imposter in the maternity ward or she wouldn’t be almost thirty with the last name Steele. Her family would’ve marched back to the hospital and handed over their changeling the minute they suspected something was wrong.

  Even after the truth had come out, there wasn’t much they could do. At least at first. The news had come in a double whammy on the night of the charity event: not only had she been switched at birth, but also, the real Steele daughter—Jade Nolan—had just been kidnapped from the steps of their mansion. There was no time to process the impact of the realization. All they could do was dig up ten million dollars to pay the ransom demands.

  Morgan had never seen her father that shade of sickly pale before. Not even the night he burst into her honeymoon cabin. Then, he’d been furious. The latest news just seemed to make him heartsick. Even so, he sprang into action in true Steele CEO form. The money was paid, Jade was found safe and the kidnappers had disappeared without a trace. That left a sudden silence where everyone was now absorbing what this news really meant.

  Morgan still wasn’t sure what would come of all this. Her whole life, her whole identity, had been tied up in being Morgan Steele. The perfect daughter. The baby of the family. Spoiled and doted upon by her parents and her older brothers. Rich. Well-educated. Poised. The ideal member of the family to represent the Steele Tools outreach program. That identity wouldn’t change overnight, no matter what the DNA tests said. It would take time to come to terms with it all.

  In the meantime, she woke up most mornings feeling lost. Who was she, really? Who would she have been if she hadn’t been switched in the nursery that day? It was too soon to know all the answers yet, but the time she’d spent with Jade and her parents had been enlightening enough. She certainly wouldn’t have gotten a private school education or gone on to study at Georgetown University. She wouldn’t have gotten a Mercedes convertible for her sixteenth birthday or a two-month trip through Europe as a high school graduation present. Her real parents couldn’t afford all that. Morgan had grown up with every luxury that should’ve been Jade’s to enjoy.

  Then again, if they hadn’t been switched, then perhaps Morgan would’ve been free to live her life the way she wanted to. That was one luxury she could never afford, no matter how big her investment portfolio got.

  At this point, she supposed she should be happy that her family hadn’t turned their backs on her. This had been their chance to wash their hands of her, and they hadn’t. Although she had the reputation of being the perfect princess of the family, it certainly wasn’t because she was without flaws. She was fairly sure she regularly disappointed her parents in one way or another. Not intentionally, but it still happened.

  Seeing Jade with her flawless skin, white-blond hair and big dark eyes—almost a clone of her mother, Patricia Steele—made her feel like even more of a disappointment. She imagined that even bound on the floor of the dirty warehouse where they’d found her, Jade was more like the ideal Steele daughter than Morgan would ever be.

  She’d only been able to spend a little time with Arthur and Carolyn Nolan, and only in a group setting, but it made her wonder if she would feel more comfortable with her biological family. Perhaps they would be so happy to spend time with their real daughter that their expectations would be lower. Perhaps they wouldn’t care that she wasn’t a perfect size two or that she’d eloped in college with a poor boy she’d loved more than anything. Maybe they would’ve supported her choices instead of erasing them.

  Or maybe she was imagining a perfect situation that had never existed and never could have existed. If she’d been raised as Jade Nolan, she probably wouldn’t have met River at that bar in Five Points. Her life would’ve taken a different path. But there was no going back and no sense worrying about things like that.

  A chiming sound came from her computer, accompanied by an instant message from her assistant. Miss Steele, your four o’clock appointment is here, she wrote.

  Speak of the devil.

  Morgan took a deep breath. And then there was that situation to deal with. It was a horrible thing to say, but the kidnapping had been a welcome distraction from River and his unexpected appearance. As though she didn’t already have enough going on in her life, he had to pop up out of nowhere. In one night—at one party, even—her past had caught up with her in more ways than one.

  Now, her ex-husband was sitting just outside her office, ready to talk about how they were going to spend the summer together. She could hardly even imagine how she was going to get through this.

  Morgan wanted to back out. She’d build six houses next year to make up for it. But she knew that wouldn’t fly. They’d already announced their partnership with Southern Charm Construction. If they didn’t go through with it, it would raise questions. Questions no one wanted to answer. Besides, if she made a fuss, her father
would get involved and that was the last thing she wanted.

  If Trevor Steele had taught her nothing else, it was that a Steele stayed poised and professional at all times—even in the face of scandal or disaster. So that was all she could do.

  Send him in, she replied to her assistant’s message. Then she locked her computer screen and prepared herself for another argument. There was no way they wouldn’t be finishing what they’d started the other night. If they were going to work together, they needed to clear the air once and for all.

  The door swung open and standing in the doorway was River. Today, he’d traded in his tuxedo for a navy suit, but it looked just as amazing on him. He’d found an excellent tailor, she’d give him that. The jacket fit his broad shoulders and narrow waist easily. He was still on the lean side, a runner’s physique, but even with his coat on, she could tell his upper body was cut. She supposed that working construction could build up those muscles. It made her want to squeeze a bicep and feel it flex beneath her fingertips.

  He smiled at her and she felt her resolve start to weaken as heat crept up her neck. It made her wish she’d worn a blouse with a higher neckline. Or that she’d thought to button it up to the throat before he came into her office. Or worn a scarf. At the slightest agitation, be it arousal or embarrassment, her chest and neck would turn a blotchy red. At its worst, her face would follow suit and she’d look like a furious cherry tomato. She hadn’t thought about this appointment when she dressed this morning.

  Of course, it would help if Morgan didn’t think about his muscles. Or his smile. Or his anything.

  It was too late for that. Instead, all she could do was wave him inside. He shut the door behind him and casually made his way across her office to the desk where she was waiting for him.

  When her father had first ordered the furniture for her office, she’d hated it. It was bulky executive furniture that weighed a thousand pounds and was far too dark for her taste. It was perfect for a mahogany row office, but that wasn’t the image she wanted to project. Working for charity while sitting at a ten-thousand-dollar desk was tacky.