Utterly Yours (Book Five) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (3 page)

              “I’m sorry, young man, but tears are not going to sway me,” the judge practically laughed at Tony as the kid stood before the judge attempting to plead his case.  Tony’s lawyer sat idly by rubbing his temples, being of very little use to the kid.

              Nathaniel hated sitting by his team of lawyers; his stomach felt as though it was in knots every time he looked over at his former assistant who was still claiming his innocence.  Lillian had come with him that day; he felt her hand clasp around his in a reassuring manner.  Adam shook his head and looked down and away from Tony.  “He should have taken the plea deal,” Adam whispered to Nathaniel. 

              A number of the board members were present today as well.  It was not the court hearing but merely a predecessor to that to determine whether or not Lynch Industries had a case against Tony, and with the overwhelming amount of evidence Lynch Industries lawyers had just thrown at the judge, there was little hope that this got thrown out.  “Someone is setting me up,” Tony muttered.

              “And who would want to do that?” the judge questioned. 

              “I don’t know,” Tony said.  “But I didn’t do this.”

              “The wire transfer had both yours and Mr. Lynch’s signatures.  Mr. Lynch claims you hid the paperwork amongst some approval forms for his new charities.  Your emails and your tablet seem to suggest that this is true,” the judge said coldly.  “So unless you give me something concrete, young man, I am setting a date for your court appearance right now.” The judge paused, waiting to see what Tony would say.  Tony merely looked down at the ground. 

              Nathaniel angrily glanced over at Tony’s lawyer who had hardly uttered a word the entire morning.  The guy had no defense for Tony.  “Very well,” the judge said.  “The prosecution has requested we get this done as quickly as possible because they are prepared to deliver their case.  Does the defense have a preference?  Do you need time to prepare your defense?”

              Tony’s lawyer stood.  “The defense is prepared.”

              “Two weeks from today.  The 18
th
of this month, at noon in this courtroom.  You’re all dismissed,” the judge practically snarled as he exited the courtroom.

              Nathaniel wanted to go over to Tony, but his lawyers would not allow it.  He felt Lillian’s reassuring squeeze again, and he squeezed her hand back.  Tony was escorted through a back door; he looked so pathetic in that orange jumpsuit and cuffs.  The team of lawyers stayed behind to use one of the conference rooms, and Nathaniel gathered with Lillian and Adam in the lobby.  “That was hard to watch,” Nathaniel said.

              “Sorry, man,” Adam said and clasped his hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder.  “I know you two were close.  I just don’t get it.  I never imagined Tony to be capable of something like this.”

              “You’re telling me,” Nathaniel said and exhaled.  “Two weeks from today?  That’s awfully quick for a court case like this, don’t you think?”

              “I asked the judge to do that,” Adam said.  “He’s an old friend of mine.  I figure it’s better to get this out of the way to get the negative attention we’re getting out of the news a soon as possible.”

              “Adam, that’s not right,” Nathaniel said and pulled his shoulder away.  “If you’re friends with the judge, that’s a conflict of interest.  How do you know him?”

              “He’s just an old drinking buddy,” Adam said.  “And what’s the big deal?  He’ll be unbiased, I’m sure.  Besides, Tony’s going before a jury.”

              “I agree with Nathaniel,” Lillian said.  “That judge shouldn’t have taken this case if he’s partial to the prosecution’s side.”

              “Come on, you guys,” Adam said with a hand wave, “with a company like Lynch Industries under our belts, there’s not a judge in the city we don’t know in one way or another.  This is just some guy I used to grab a beer with back in my early twenties.  All I did was ask him to try to speed this thing along.”

              “Yeah, but that doesn’t give Tony time at all to prepare his defense,” Nathaniel said.

              “The defense lawyer seemed to be cool with it,” Adam argued.  “Don’t make a big deal about this, all right?  We need this to go away quickly, and you know it.  I know this is really personal for you, Nathaniel, but we can’t let it be that way.  Tony stole from us.  He made that choice.  Now he’s paying the price for it.  I feel bad for the kid, really, I do, but we can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.” Adam looked at his watch.  “I got to go.  I’ll see you two around.”

              Nathaniel watched as Adam hurried out of the building.  He frowned.  “I don’t care what Adam says, I’m not okay with that,” he said.

              “You shouldn’t be,” Lillian practically hissed.  “Something isn’t sitting well with me about all of this.  I smell a rat.”

              “You’re not the only one.”

              Nathaniel blinked his eyes open and smiled slightly to see Lillian still passed out on the pillow beside him.  He was getting ready to lean over, possibly to tickle her awake, when his phone started going off.  Nathaniel did a quick scan of his bedroom, eventually visually locating the phone on his dresser across the room.  He stood and hurried over to it, swiping it up promptly and holding the device to his ear.  “You have Nathaniel Lynch,” he said, not having recognized the phone number.

              “Mr. Lynch!” a familiar and frantic voice rung out on the other line.

              “Who is this?” he asked.

              “Maggie, this is Maggie,” the woman said; Maggie was the head honcho Nathaniel had hired to run the homeless shelter back in Troy.

              “Maggie?” he questioned, unsure as to why she would possibly be calling him.  He hadn’t even been aware that she had his private number.

              “Mr. Lynch, I cannot believe what is happening!” she shrieked.  “They told me the order came directly from Lynch Industries CEO, but that can’t possibly be true.”

              “What are you talking about?” Nathaniel asked.  “Calm down and tell me what is going on.”

              “Some men with paperwork showed up and told me to kick everyone out of the shelter and to empty out the building.  They said it’s scheduled for demolition in three days!”

              “That’s ridiculous!” Nathaniel snapped.  “Tell those men to leave you the hell alone and to call me.  I’m going to the office, and I’ll let you know when I figure out what the hell is going on.”

              “Thank you so much, Mr. Lynch,” she said.

              “I’ll call you later,” he said and hung up the phone, spinning around to see that Lillian was now awake and sitting up in bed –looking at him with a curious look on her face.

              “What’s going on with the shelter?” she questioned.

              “I’m not sure.  Maggie just called me and was saying that some guys showed up telling her that the place is scheduled for demolition.” Nathaniel could see the alarming look resonate across her face.  “Don’t worry.  I’m going to handle it.  I’m heading up to the office now to figure out what is going on.  I’m sure it was just some sort of mix-up.”

              “Do you want me to come with you?” she asked, already throwing her feet over the side of the bed.

              “No, you stay here,” he said with a hand wave.  “I’ll handle this.”

              “If you say so,” she said unenthusiastically.

              He finished getting dressed, gave her a kiss goodbye, and promised to be back soon on his way out the door.  He took his car straight to Lynch Industries, eager to figure out what had taken place.  He had not ordered any sort of demolition –surely, he assumed, this was some sort of mistake.  He headed up to the top floor to locate Adam’s assistant, Katie, assuming she would probably be able to solve this mix-up.  Knowing Katie, she was probably already aware of the problem and was working on fixing it anyways.

              When he entered the hall on the second to highest floor where her desk was, he saw an almost frightened look cross her face.  “Katie,” he said as he marched up to her desk.  “Something weird is going on,” he said, and he immediately noticed that she was avoiding eye contact.  Her strange behavior caused him to change his chosen course of action.  “Where’s Adam?” he practically snarled, sensing something amiss.

              “Um… he’s a little busy at the moment,” she said.

              “Busy with what?” Nathaniel asked.

              “He’s, um… in a board meeting,” she said.

              “A board meeting?” Nathaniel’s voice boomed.  “Why wasn’t I made aware of a board meeting?  I’m not in Troy anymore.”

              He did not wait for her to come up with a response.  He headed down the hall to the main board room and darted in without warning.  He saw Adam seated at the head table surrounded by the twelve men and women who made up the board.  “Nathaniel?” Adam sat upright as though he had been caught with his dick out.

              “What’s this?” Nathaniel asked.

              Mr. Robinson, the oldest gentleman on the board, snorted slightly.  “This should be good.”

              “Why is there a board meeting going on that I didn’t know about?  And why the hell am I getting phone calls from Troy about the shelter being scheduled for demolition?” Nathaniel snarled at the room.

              The young woman of the group turned up her nose slightly.  “The shelter was a wonderful marketing tool, but it’s outlived its purpose.  We voted to have it demolished, and we’re investing in creating a hotel on the property.  The first in a future chain.”

              “What the hell, Sherrie?” Nathaniel snapped at her.  “The board doesn’t have the power to do that.  That’s a personal charity project that belongs to the CEO.”

              “Which is no longer you as of fifteen minutes ago,” Mr. Robinson snarled.

              Nathaniel froze.  “Excuse me?”

              Adam rose from his seat and put his hands down on the table, leaning forward slightly.  “The board has elected for me to take your position.”

              The room grew silent as Nathaniel stared across the long table at Adam.  Adam remained perfectly stoic, a somewhat sad expression on his face.  Nathaniel broke his stare and glanced around the room.  “You’re demoting me at my own company?” he asked.  “Why?”

              “Come on, Nathaniel,” Adam said, lifting his hands up off the table.  “Let’s not make a scene.”

              Nathaniel gritted his teeth.  “Too late for that.  You and I need to talk –now!”

              Nathaniel and Adam entered the CEO’s office on the top floor, but not before Adam muttered something to Katie on their way up.  Nathaniel was fairly certain he had asked the woman to call security, but he could not be sure.  He squeezed his fists tight at his side when he saw that his belongings had already been put into a box.  “You got to be shitting me,” Nathaniel said when he saw the box at the edge of the desk.  “Already moving in, are we?”

              “Look, this wasn’t my idea,” Adam started to say, but Nathaniel was not going to let him finish.

              He reached out and grabbed his friend by his arm, squeezing tight and forcing him to look him in the eye.  “You fucked me!” he shouted.  “You expect me to believe you didn’t have anything to do with this?”

              Adam yanked his arm away and took several steps back.  “Listen, man,” he hissed.  “Don’t even try to tell me that you didn’t see something like this coming.  This company had to fork over a shit ton of money on a damn shelter just to try to improve your reputation because you’ve spent half your life fucking around Hollywood like some hot shot actor.  Then you let your damn assistant steal five million dollars right out from under your nose just because you didn’t read some damn paperwork before you started signing away like a jackass!”

              Nathaniel gritted his teeth.  “We’re fucking friends, man.”

              “I didn’t say we weren’t.” Adam ran his fingers through his hair.  “You want me to be honest with you?  Okay, here it is.  I definitely was a part of this, all right?  But only because you are no longer what is best for this company.  You’ll get your payout, and you can inherit my position here-”

              “Fuck you!” Nathaniel shouted.  “This is my fucking company!  I started this thing, and I drug you along for shits and giggles.  My damn name is on the building!  I pulled you up out of the slums, and this is how you repay me?”

              Adam glared at him.  “You helped me out, is that it?  Is that what you’re saying?  So I had nothing –
nothing
to do with the success of this company?  Fuck you, Nathaniel.  You and I both know that you could never have done this without me.”

              “Sure, whatever you say, Adam.  You’re a damn con artist is what you are!”

              “Yeah, like that fucking two-headed coin of yours,” Adam hissed.  “Yeah, I knew about that.  My old man was the one who showed you that old parlor trick.  I never said anything because you had been the one to put the most money into the original investments, but shit!  I work my ass off while you’re traipsing around fucking anything that moves.  Well, I’m tired of being your number two.  This is my company now, jackass.”

              “You’re unbelievable,” Nathaniel said, taking a step back just to put some distance between the two of them.  “And the shelter?  Whose idea was it to start a damn hotel chain?  We’re a tech company!”

              “We’re expanding, and before you ask, yeah, that was my idea,” Adam said and crossed his arms, staring Nathaniel down as he spoke.  “What do you care?  It was just a publicity stunt.”

              “I care because there are decent people who count on that place to provide them with a hot meal and a place to sleep every night,” he hissed.  “And you’re just going to have it torn down so you can build some luxury hotel?”

              “It was a business decision, Nathaniel,” Adam said.

              “How can you do this to me?” Nathaniel questioned.  “We’ve been friends since we were kids living in Troy.”

              “Look, I told you, I’m just doing what we have to do to keep this company running.  You’re bad PR, man.  You just are.  I told you that I’m reserving my old position for you.  Take it or leave it.”

              Nathaniel shook his head; they had been friends their entire lives, and Adam was stabbing him in the back big time.  “You’ll run this place into the ground just like your father did to my father’s company.”

              Adam instinctively grabbed a glass paperweight off of Nathaniel’s desk, flinging it in his direction.  Nathaniel ducked, and the paperweight shattered against the far wall.  “Don’t fucking bring my dad into this!” Adam roared.  “That old fuck couldn’t have managed a Waffle House.  Don’t compare me to him, you asshole!”

              “Still harboring some hostility there, I see,” Nathaniel grumbled.

              The elevator doors opened, and two security guards entered.  Adam pointed a finger at Nathaniel, “Get this piece of shit out of my office!”

              Nathaniel felt the men each grab onto one of his arms.  He yanked out of their grasps.  “Relax!” he snapped.  “I can escort myself out!”  He pointed a finger in Adam’s direction.  “If you think I’m going to roll over and play dead and just accept this, Adam, you’ve got another thing coming.”

              Nathaniel exited Lynch Industries, flipping a finger towards the two security guards that had escorted him out.  “I hired you assholes!” he shouted as he loaded up into his car.  He sped down the street; his first instinct was to go home and tell Lillian what had happened, but a thought suddenly struck him.  He drove to the local prison.

              Within thirty minutes he was sitting on the other side of a glass window, and Tony was being escorted into the adjoining room.  The kid looked surprised to see him as he slowly sat down in the chair on the other side of the glass.  Nathaniel cringed when he saw a big, black eye and busted lip.  Slowly he watched as Tony picked up the phone, his hand shaking.  Nathaniel picked up the phone on the other end.

              “Nathaniel... Um… Mr. Lynch, what are you doing here?” Tony asked him.  “Isn’t this, like I don’t know, a conflict of interest or something?  You’re not here to offer me another plea deal, are you?”

              “Do you remember the day you had me sign that paperwork for the shelter along with the transfer papers?” Nathaniel asked.

              Tony frowned.  “My lawyer has advised against talking to anyone about that without him present.”

              “Yeah, well, I got news for you, kid, your damn lawyer has got Lynch Industries money in his fucking pocket.  I need you to trust me,” Nathaniel hissed.

              Tony hesitated.  “I remember that day.  Why?”

              “Who sent you the paperwork?” he asked.

              “I wrote up the paperwork for the shelter myself,” he said and then paused.  “But… I had forgotten to email it to myself before we left for Troy.  I had called Katie to ask her to send it to me, but she had been off that day.  Adam answered the phone and said he’d take care of it for me.”

              Nathaniel shook his head.  “Fuck.”

              Tony stared at Nathaniel through the glass; the kid’s eyes seemed to water over.  “Do you believe me now?” he asked.

              “I think Adam fucked you over, kid,” he said.  “Son of a bitch.  He planned all this shit out.  The missing ten thousand and thirty thousand were just a distraction.  Then he slipped that transfer approval form into your paperwork file so I’d sign it and make myself look like an incompetent jackass.”

              “Why would Adam-”

              “I just got demoted… fired, actually, from my own fucking company this morning,” Nathaniel gritted his teeth.  “Adam has been promoted to acting CEO by the board after they deemed me incompetent.”

              Tony began to shake.  “You got to get me out of here.”

              “I’m going to do what I can,” Adam said.  “I just don’t have any proof.  That bastard.  I can’t believe he’d do this.  Fucking me over was one thing, but framing you and letting you go to prison just to make me look bad is a level of crazy I didn’t know Adam was capable of.”

              “You got to get me out of here,” Tony said again, and Nathaniel looked him in the eye.

              Tony’s face was bruised, his lip busted.  He looked pale and skinny as though he had not been eating.  “They’re giving you hell in there, huh, kid?” Tony just nodded.  He looked terrified.  “Listen to me,” Nathaniel said firmly.  “I’m going to do everything in my power to make this right.  Adam’s not going to get away with this.  You just hang in there, all right?”

              Tony nodded.  “I’m just glad you finally believe me.”

              “I should have from the start,” Nathaniel said.  “And I’m sorry I didn’t.  I’m getting you out of here.  I’m going to call your sister and wire some money her way so you can get out on bail, all right?”

              Tears started to flow out of Tony’s eyes.  “Really?”

              “The money won’t be there until tomorrow.  I’d get you out myself, but I don’t want Adam to know I’m onto him.  And I’m getting your ass a real lawyer, too.” Nathaniel smiled at him.  “Don’t worry.  He’s not getting away with this.”