FOREVER BELOVED (Billionaire Love Series) (6 page)

After a polite round of applause and a few
soft questions by reporters, I was greeted by Micah and Emma as the
press conference broke up.

“Thanks for doing that, man. You were great.
I appreciate it,” Micah commented as he shook my hand.

“No problem. I really believe in what you’re
doing. It feels good to help out,” I answered with a genuine
smile.

“Well, we appreciate everything you’re doing
for our foundation,” Emma supplied, standing next to her
husband.

“It’s all for the kids. I’ve always wanted to
be a part of something like this, so thank you for putting it
together.”

“And we appreciate that. It’s good to see
you, man. But I need to talk to a few more people before they
leave,” Micah volunteered as he patted my arm.

I smiled. “Sounds good, man. Talk to you
later.”

Micah took off across the room, but Emma
stayed conspicuously behind, clearly wanting something from me as
she glanced at me.

She gave me a sweet smile, which lit up her
lovely face. “It’s good to see you excited about this project. I
think you actually smiled as you were speaking. I was just telling
my sister I remember you smiling all the time when you were with
her. But now, it seems rare for you to smile like that
anymore.”

She wasn’t pulling any punches. I made my
face unreadable. “That’s because I grew up.”

She shook her head, while her blue eyes
glowed with compassion. “No, there’s a sadness in your face these
days. It wasn’t there when you were with Marla.”

I scoffed. “A lot has changed since
then.”

“Yes, it has. But I know my sister. She never
does anything without reason. She’s as solid and practical as they
come and I think there’s more to her story than you know. I think
you should really consider the possibility that you don’t have all
the facts.”

Why did everyone think it was a good idea to
dig up the past?

“No offense, Emma, but I can’t take advice
from you. You have no idea what she did.”

She put her hand on my forearm as she leaned
toward me, meeting my gaze directly. “I know how much she loved
you, Beau. That counts for something. Don’t throw that away because
you don’t want to look at the past.” She patted my arm and gave me
a sympathetic glance. “You’re a good man, Beau, even if you don’t
want the world to know it.”

*****

Emma’s words bothered me. She had no idea the
turmoil I was experiencing on a daily basis as I questioned my
life. I was taking a long, hard look at the way I had been
living.

It wasn’t pretty.

Empty and hollow were two words that came to
mind.

It was in the little things, like eating
dinner by myself and not having anyone to talk to about my day. It
had never bothered me before, but now it did.

So I cut out going out so much. I had partied
a million times before and it was always the same. Boozing and
schmoozing to get into some girl’s pants I wouldn’t remember in the
morning had lost its appeal. It was old and I was tired of it.

For all my success, I wondered what I really
had in life. I had one grandfather I cared about, one friend in
Micah, and no one else I was close to. Plus, I had a kid I had no
idea how to connect with.

Speaking of which, the concept of family was
everywhere I seemed to look. It started when I went out for a jog
and saw a father and son in the park, playing catch. It seemed
innocent enough. But it got me thinking.

Could I actually develop a relationship with
Charlie?

What would it even look like?

It was daunting to consider.

Did he even want to know his old man?

That was even scarier to think about.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t ignore
that the world was full of families. I started noticing things,
like kid photos on my employees’ desks. Happy children, adoring
parents...hell, even a couple of puppies on TV caught my
attention.

What the hell was I supposed to do with a
grown-ass kid?

The answer wasn’t coming very quickly.

One thing I was sure about, though, was I
didn’t want a sign from the universe telling me what to do. I would
decide on my own damn time, if and when I would get in touch with
Charlie.

Meanwhile, things ramped up when the FBI
showed up in my office one day unexpectedly. I was coming back from
a meeting with the contractor on the Arsenal project when Donna
stopped me at the elevator.

“Your next appointment is with Roger
Albright,” she whispered as she pointed toward the office.

“Who?” I asked, not familiar with the
name.

“He’s an FBI agent. He’s been calling me
every day for the last two weeks and today he just showed up.”

“Do you know what he wants?”

“No, he just asked to speak to you.”

Shit.

I didn’t want to deal with him, but that’s
what being the boss is all about.

“Sorry, Beau, I didn’t know what else to
do.”

“It’s fine. Give me five minutes and send him
in.”

I hustled into my office, threw on my navy
Hugo Boss sports coat, and prepared to meet an FBI agent for who
knows what reason.

Sure enough, five minutes later, Donna showed
the man dressed in black into my office. He wasn’t a big guy, but
his dark eyes were sharp and he surveyed my sprawling office as if
it was a crime scene.

“Thanks for meeting with me today,” he said
in a low voice, meant to convey authority, as he gripped my hand in
a firm handshake.

I nodded. “No problem. What did you need to
talk to me about?” I asked, pointing to a seat in front of my desk
as I sat down behind it.

Parking his ass in the leather high back
chair, he explained why he was there. “I’m not gonna dance around
the issue, Mr. Shepard. We’re investigating Senator Blackwood.
We’ve received a tip about his attempt to extract a bribe from you
to smooth the way for some permits granted by the Historical
Society for your Arsenal hotel.”

“Why would I help you out with your
investigation?”

“Because we’re also investigating your
father.”

That was unexpected. “What? Why?” I asked,
before I could temper my reaction.

His brown eyes soaked in my concern. “We’ve
noticed he has a hand in almost every big deal going down in this
city, including your project.”

“He knows a lot of people and has a lot of
connections in the city of Baltimore,” I defended, even though I
knew he was crooked.

“Yes, he does. Don’t worry. We’re not really
after him. We want the Senator and if you help us, we’ll make the
case against your father go away.”

“What exactly are you asking me to do?”

“We want you to call the Senator again.
Confirm you’ve made a payment in exchange for his help with the
permits.”

“Hmm…that’s something I’m going to have to
think about. I would love nothing more to see that old codger get
thrown in jail, but I don’t want to jump into this little game
you’re asking me to play.”

“I understand. Here’s my card. You have a
little time to think about it. But, we need your help in putting
the Senator away. He’s been committing fraud for years.”

“I understand. I’ll get back to you
soon.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Marla:

After dropping off my last delivery for Meals
on Wheels and spending some quality time with Mrs. Edwards, I went
back home. As the front door swung open and I stepped inside the
entryway, I was greeted by the sounds of weapons discharging as a
string of profanity followed.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I walked into
the living room after putting my purse down.

“Just chilling out,” Charlie offered, playing
Halo on his Xbox console.

“Okay. How long have you been playing?” I
asked, standing next to where he was seated on an oversized green
bean bag.

“Only two hours.”

“You should at least get outside today and
soak in some sunshine. You need your vitamin D to feel good.”

He paused his game as he glanced back at me.
“I might. But I’m in no hurry on my day off to run around outside.
So what’s your plan for the day?”

“I’m going to visit Charly after I eat some
lunch. Do you want to come along?” I asked.

I had yet to tell Charlie about the true
nature of his relationship to Charly. My son only knew him as a
good friend of the family. I was going to have to tell my son about
his grandfather soon, preferably in Charly’s presence. I might even
do it today, if he was willing to go with me.

“I don’t think I’ll go with you. But tell
Charly I said hello,” Charlie answered, more concerned with his
game.

Guess it wasn’t meant to be.

I kissed his forehead. “I will. I hope you
will come with me next time or if you want, you can go visit him on
your own.”

He nodded and turned his attention back to
the TV. I left him to his game and went into the kitchen to make a
chicken salad sandwich for lunch. After I ate, I drove over to
Charly’s place. He lived in a good-sized skyscraper, so I took the
elevator up to his apartment. He answered the door and his face lit
up as he welcomed me in.

“Marla!” he said, giving me a good hug.

“Hey, Charly. It’s good to see you.”

“Come in, come in.” He ushered me through the
front door to his beautiful place.

Charly’s apartment was similar to a suite
found in a five star hotel—plush luxurious furniture and
twenty-four hour maid service. I loved the cheery tangerine color
on the walls and the large windows, which let light stream in. My
favorite, though, was the high vaulted ceilings, which were two
stories high.

He was happy here. He liked his little social
club and the fantastic gourmet food they served. I was always up to
sharing a meal with Charly.

“Did you bring me anything?” he asked, always
thrilled when I added something to Charlie’s boxes.

“Here you go,” I said, handing him a long,
teal envelope as I walked through his living room.

“Another letter?”

“Yep.”

His blue glance lit up with curiosity. “How
many do you think you’ve written Beau?”

“Good question...I don’t know. In the
beginning, it seemed like I wrote him every other day. Back then is
kind of a blur, though. Maybe a hundred?” I asked, not really
sure.

“Could be. I remember the first stack of
letters you brought me. I thought to myself that girl truly loves
Beau.”

I smiled at his recollection. “Still do. He
doesn’t think so, but you have the proof.”

After I started writing all those letters to
Beau, I passed them off to Charly’s safekeeping. I think,
subconsciously, I thought it would somehow bring Beau back to
me.

What I didn’t expect was for those letters to
birth a project I ended up working on for over twenty-two years as
I catalogued Charlie’s life. It started when I had Emma take
pictures of me every month while I was pregnant, in a side profile
shot where I held my hands underneath my growing belly. I liked
tracking my progress and my obsession grew from there.

After Charlie was born, Beau’s granddad
surprised me with a video camera. I had that clunky video recorder
out all the time. I wore that sucker out, taping all of Charlie’s
milestones from his first smile to his first roll over to his first
taste of banana.

When I wasn’t taping my baby, I was writing
down all the cute little things he used to say. When he outgrew his
toddler years, I kept his prized toys and the frayed blankie he
called Be-bop.

Once he got into school, I saved art
projects, drawings, report cards, and favorite books. As Charlie
grew older, I made a record of everything in high school from his
first day to graduation.

I slowed down a little when he went to
college, but I still filmed his graduation and his first day of
work at the salon, even though he begged me to shut off the camera
on my phone.

I was determined to give Beau a chance to
watch his son grow up, even though it was second hand. It was the
best I could do.

“I’ll add this to the rest,” Charly said,
waving the envelope around in his weathered hand.

“How many boxes are there now?” I asked.

Charly had offered to store all the boxes I
had accumulated over the years. It seemed right to let him be the
guardian of Charlie’s records.

“Oh, there must be seven or eight, now.”

We walked toward his spare bedroom and he
opened the walk-in closet where the collection was stored.

“Do you think Beau will ever see any of these
mementos now that he knows about Charlie?”

“I think all of your hard work is going to
pay off, my girl. He’s gonna devour all of these boxes pretty
soon.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“The day is coming when I’m gonna open this
closet and hand him these boxes.”

That thought terrified and thrilled me.

The past laid out bare for what it really
was.

“I don’t even know how he’ll react, and that
scares me,” I admitted, terror reflected in my gaze.

A comforting smile spread across Charly’s
kind face. “Give Beau credit. He’ll do right by this. You’ll
see.”

I tried to hold on to the faith Charly was
giving me. I wanted Beau to have access to all the time he had lost
with us. More importantly, I wanted him to understand the love I
had poured into this project.

Maybe...just maybe, I had reason to hope.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Beau:

During the off-season, my attention turned to
building up the team and working with the general manager to secure
new players for the upcoming season. I loved the thrill of the hunt
and securing the best players to sign with the Gators.

It kept me busy, mostly from thinking about
Charlie.

I didn’t know what to do with the fact that
my kid was running around in the world. It wasn’t as if he was
little and I could take him out for ice cream or play catch in the
park.