Paul’s thoughts drifted back to Thomas Jordache again. “I’m glad Jordache doesn’t know anything.”

  “I’m afraid he does. Shayla has met with him twice.”

  Paul gritted his teeth and leaned forward in his seat. “For what reason?”

  Callie told him what Shayla had told her about her two meetings with Jordache. “So, as you can see, he’s convinced Shayla he’s dying, and that someone who works for Nicholas Chenault is trying to make it seem as if Jordache is behind all those things that have been happening at Chenault.”

  Paul nodded. “I don’t know if Jordache is actually dying, but I do know that someone who works for us by the name of Carl Stockard is making it seem that Jordache is up to no good. At least, that’s his plan. I only found out about it last night. I’m going to wait and see just what his next move is before I do anything.”

  At that moment Paul’s beeper went off. Standing, he pulled it out of his pocket and checked it. “May I use the phone? It’s the office calling.”

  Callie nodded. “Yes, it’s on the desk over there.”

  She watched Paul cross the room, thinking that he still walked with purpose in his stride. She also couldn’t help but notice what great physical shape he was in. He’d taken off his jacket, and as he picked up the phone and began dialing, his muscular shoulders flexed beneath his white dress shirt in a way that made her draw in a deep breath.

  “Leanne, it’s Paul.” After a few moments he exclaimed. “What!” Then a few seconds later. “When? Where’s Nick now?” He released a deep sigh of disgust before saying, “Leanne, I want you to find Howard Reeves. I’m on my way.”

  After hanging up the phone he crossed the room back to Callie, his face filled with rage. “Stockard has made his move. Nicholas returned to the States earlier than expected, and Stockard presented him with evidence that Shayla is working with Jordache and supplying him with secret information.”

  Paul heard Callie’s sharp gasp, and understood. It was like history repeating itself. The same charges had been made against her sister twenty-seven years ago. Callie was on her feet now. “Where’s Shayla?”

  The muscle jumped at the base of Paul’s jaw at the thought of what Stockard had done, and how far he’d gone to get a higher position in the company. And to make matters worse, he was going to use his daughter to accomplish the feat.

  His daughter.

  The thought washed over him. Shayla Kirkland. His own flesh and blood. A daughter he’d created with the woman he had loved.

  “Paul, where’s Shayla?” Callie repeated, reclaiming his attention.

  “She’s on her way into the office.” He decided not to tell Callie that Nicholas had ordered that Leanne type up Shayla’s termination papers.

  “I have to get there immediately,” he said, putting his jacket back on.

  “I’m going with you.”

  Paul stopped what he was doing and looked at her. “Why?”

  “To make sure Shayla’s okay.”

  Paul shook his head. “Nick loves her. If she makes it into the office before I get there, once she explains things to him he’ll—”

  “Refuse to listen to anything she has to say, just like you refused to listen to me that night. Your anger overshadowed your love, and so will his.”

  Paul inhaled deeply, hoping with every breath he possessed that she was wrong. He hoped that Nicholas proved to be a better man at love and trust than he had.

  “But I wouldn’t want to be in Nicholas Chenault’s shoes if he doesn’t believe her,” Callie added.

  Paul raised a brow. “Why’s that?”

  Callie looked up and shrugged before saying, “One thing Shayla inherited from you, Paul, is your stubbornness and tenaciousness. Unlike Eva and me, she’ll stand up for herself. She won’t let Nicholas or anyone else accuse her of something she didn’t do. And if he tries, all hell’s gonna break loose.”

  “That should be interesting,” Paul said, heading for the door and thinking about anyone giving Nicholas hell about anything. “I think it’s time we cleared things up once and for all, and that includes telling Shayla I’m her father, not Thomas Jordache. That means you’ll have to tell her you’re her mother, as well. It’s time she knew the truth, Callie.”

  Callie nervously bit her bottom lip as she followed Paul out the door. He was right. It was time. But she couldn’t help worrying how Shayla would handle it all when she found out.

  Chapter 28

  One of the first things Shayla noticed when she reached Nicholas’s office was the number of security men sitting in the lobby. She raised an eyebrow when Carl Stockard looked at her with what appeared to be a smirk, then she frowned. She’d never liked the man since the first day he had introduced himself to her.

  As she approached Leanne’s desk she couldn’t help wondering why Nicholas had changed his mind and decided to come into the office, and why he wanted to see her. Something must have happened. Had there been another break-in?

  “Good morning, Leanne. You called and said Mr. Chenault wanted to see me.”

  “Yes, go right in. He’s expecting you.”

  Shayla frowned at the briskness of Leanne’s response. “Thank you.” She crossed the lobby to Nicholas’s office, opened the door, and walked in, closing it behind her.

  He was standing with his back to her, looking out of the window as if deep in thought. Light snow had fallen earlier, and now everything was bathed in a beautiful white frosting. At any other time she would have thought Nicholas’s musing was about the scenery, but something about the stiffness in his stance dismissed that idea.

  Something had happened.

  She immediately crossed the room to him, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him primly on the cheek. He automatically jerked back, recoiling from her touch. “Nicholas, what’s wrong?” Instead of answering, he turned to face her. The eyes that looked down at her were filled with anger. They were cold, brittle, and hard.

  “Ms. Kirkland, now that you’re here we can get started,” he said in a very clipped tone.

  Shayla glanced around, making sure they were alone. Why had he called her Ms. Kirkland, when there was no one else in the room? “Nicholas, what’s going on?”

  Nicholas’s eyes glittered stone. “What’s going on is that you’re about to be fired.”

  “Fired!”

  “You heard me. And if there was any way possible, I’d make sure you’d never work in this city again.”

  Shayla closed her eyes, certain she was hearing things, certain when she opened them again this would all be a bad dream. However, when she did reopen them, she saw Nicholas standing in front of her with a face of stone. “I think you’d better tell me what’s going on,” she said in a strained voice. “You owe me an explanation.”

  Nicholas stood silently, all his attention on the woman standing before him. She was a consummate actress. Sterling ought to put her in one of his movies. Here she was standing before him looking innocent…and so beautiful. It hurt just to look at her, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He had loved her deeply, physically and mentally, and she’d only been using him.

  “I don’t owe you a thing, Ms. Kirkland,” he was finally able to say through clenched teeth. “But you do owe me. We never got around to doing it on the desk, did we? Since you were willing to sleep on your back to get information for Thomas Jordache, you might as well have gone all the way.”

  Shayla froze, and the color drained from her face. “Jordache?” she asked in a painfully soft whisper.

  “Yes,” Nicholas snarled as rage engulfed him. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out about your lover? How much is he paying you, Shayla? How much were you getting to sleep with me? What does one earn for pillow talk these days? You weren’t so bad in bed. I could have beat his price.”

  Shayla swung and slapped Nicholas full force on his face. “How dare you! How dare you insinuate that I’m a whore,” she hissed, eyes blazing with the same fury as his. “You’re the only man I’ve ever slept with.”

  Nicholas rubbed the cheek that was still stinging from her assault. His entire body shook with exploding violence. Never in his life had he been this angry. “That’s right, you were a virgin, weren’t you? I’m sure that must have increased your value.”

  When Shayla raised her hand to slap him again, he caught it in his. “I wouldn’t advise you to try that a second time, unless you want to spend the night in jail. I’ll press charges against you so fast it’ll make that pretty head of yours swim.”

  When he let go of her hand Shayla jerked it down and balled it into a fist at her side. “There’s been a mistake, Nicholas. You’re wrong about me,” she whispered. The tightness in her throat made the words hoarse, ragged. “Please let me explain.”

  Nicholas heard the raw pleading ache in her voice and felt a part of him beginning to melt. But then, just as quickly, icy coldness covered his heart again. He would not succumb to her innocent act. He had loved her. He had trusted her with his heart. He had cherished her with his body, mind, and soul.

  His jaw tightened as he reached on his desk and picked up the paperwork Stockard had presented to him. “Can you explain these, Shayla?” he asked in a voice tinged with fury and pain.

  It was the pain more than the anger that Shayla’s mind suddenly latched on to. She took the papers he was handing her and studied each one, realizing how he could think what he did, but hurt nonetheless that he had. “Yes, I can,” she said quietly.

  Nicholas’s gaze held hers, once again feeling his anger trying to dissolve. He fought to retain his pride, his dignity, and respect. “Can you also explain why both times there have been incidents with my company I just happened to be with you?”

  Her gaze never leaving his, she shook her head and said softly, “No, that I can’t explain, other than to say they were coincidences.”

  His eyes darkened even more. “Coincidences like that don’t just happen.” Summoning the last vestiges of his control, he once again hardened his mind and heart against her and her claim of innocence. He took the papers from her hand. “I don’t want to hear any explanations you claim you can give. You’re fired. I’ll have my security men escort you out.”

  By determined will and sheer stubbornness, Shayla refused to let him believe the worst about her. She refused to be put in the same position her mother had been placed in by this same company twenty-seven years ago. She refused to let Nicholas dismiss her from his life. She loved him. He was wrong about her, and she was going to make him see it.

  “I won’t let you fire me, Nicholas, without hearing me out first,” she said, tilting her chin and folding her arms over her chest.

  Nicholas frowned. For one heart-stopping moment when he looked into her eyes he thought he saw the same pain and hurt he knew were reflected in his. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say, Shayla. And if you insist, I’ll have my security men carry you out of my office.”

  Shayla held his gaze, the look on her face furious. “I’d like to see them try. Call them, and see how big a scene I’ll make. Then I’ll leave here and go to the authorities and claim sexual harassment. You’ve slept with me a number of times, and you can’t deny it. Just think what the price of your stock will look like in the morning after such negative publicity.”

  Nicholas stilled. His face hardened. His anger deepened. He was so mad he could have strangled her.

  But, amazingly, a part of him wanted to make love to her, instead.

  He drew back. The woman had him crazy, demented, foolishly in love. From the very beginning she had found a vulnerable chink in his armor, and now she was using it. He dragged in a deep breath, feeling hopeless against her. Her pull on his heart was too strong, too tight. But still, he refused to weaken, refused to let emotions get in the way of common sense and self-control.

  “Say what you want to say by way of explanations. Then I want you out of here. After today I never want to see you again. And if you’re ever seen on these premises for any reason, you’ll be arrested.”

  Shayla swallowed hard, and part of her composure almost slipped, but she stopped it from happening. She would not let Nicholas bring her to tears, at least not in his presence. “Fine, and if you still feel that way after I’ve explained things to you, then you won’t have to worry about seeing me again, because you’ll be the last man I’ll want to see.”

  Nicholas watched as she slowly walked over to the window as if to collect her thoughts. He wondered if he was making a mistake by letting her remain in his office and listening to her.

  He was going through a slow burn as he watched her, feeling tightness in his groin area. Exhaling slowly, he allowed his gaze to move over her when she reached the window and stood with her back to him. Her pose gave him an ample view of her soft curves and her shapely backside, which the skirt she wore couldn’t hide.

  Just looking at her curvaceous backside made him recall the wee hours of the morning, right before dawn, when he’d passionately kissed her awake before easing her onto her stomach then settling his body over hers, lifting her hips with his hands and then smoothly easing into her, finding her moist and ready. His body had fit hers snugly as it spooned her backside and then after they’d established their rhythm, the primitive sounds of their mating had driven them to frantically increase their pace. The only sound in the room had been the slap of flesh against flesh as he repeatedly smacked against her backside with the hardness of his thighs, plummeting into her with a desperation that bordered on mania. The force of their climax when it followed was gripping, compelling, overwhelming, and had left them gasping, luxuriating in the aftermath of such perfect and profound lovemaking.

  Nicholas snapped out of his thoughts when Shayla turned around to face him. Her features were a mask of remorse and regret. Her voice was menacingly soft when she spoke.

  “Thomas Jordache is not my lover, Nicholas. He’s my father.”

  Chapter 29

  Nicholas blinked twice, thinking he had not heard Shayla correctly. “Come again?”

  He knew those two words were a mistake the moment they had left his lips. They were the same two words he had passionately whispered in her ear last night while making love to her, coaxing her into a second climax.

  “Could you repeat that?” he quickly clarified, dragging in a deep ragged breath.

  “I said, Thomas Jordache is my father.”

  That’s what he’d thought she’d said. Did she actually expect him to believe that? His lips pressed together, still hard and untrusting, he looked at her and said, “That’s a good one.”

  Shayla flashed him a look of irritation, then paused. Liquid gold eyes held hers in a challenge, but she refused to let him bait her. She owed him the full story. “I need to start from the beginning.”

  Nicholas leaned against his desk as if bored. “Then by all means please do, Ms. Kirkland.”

  Hauling in a quick breath, Shayla began. “My mother used to work here, for this company, over twenty-seven years ago.”

  Raising an eyebrow, Nicholas said nothing.

  “I found her diary a week or so after her death, while going through her things. While working here she met Thomas Jordache and began dating him, not knowing that he was one of Chenault’s biggest competitors.”

  Shayla looked down for a second, remembering the words her mother had written and how they had affected her after reading them. “During that time someone was spying on Chenault for company secrets to pass on to Jordache, and when my mother’s involvement with him became known, it was erroneously assumed that she was the one doing it. She got fired because of it.”

  She lifted her head and boldly met Nicholas’s eyes, forcing him to see the similarities in her and her mother’s situation. “She was innocent. She also discovered a week or so later that she was pregnant. The one night she had slept with Jordache had resulted in that. When she told him about her condition he told her to get an abortion. Instead she left Jacksonville and went to Atlanta and married her childhood sweetheart, who willingly agreed to accept the child as his.” Shayla looked down again, to retain her composure.

  Straightening, Nicholas frowned as he pushed away from his desk. Something in the tone of Shayla’s voice was compelling, almost believable…but still. “Go on,” he said stiffly.

  Lips compressed, Shayla met his gaze, then continued. “After reading her diary I became furious at the humiliation my mother suffered from the false accusations at Chenault Electronics, and from Thomas Jordache’s total disregard of her. So I decided to make Chenault and Jordache Electronics pay for what they’d done to her. I was going to ruin both companies.”

  Nicholas’s eyes flashed with anger. “Is that why you came to work here?”

  “Yes,” she replied honestly. She drew herself up, clasping her hands in front of her. “I had intended to succeed at my goal until I met you. Until I really got to know you.” And she added, in a soft voice while his gaze was heavily on her, “Until I fell in love with you.”

  “Really? How touching,” he snapped sarcastically.

  “Yes, it was touching. Actually, Nicholas,” she said in a near whisper, her gaze still locked to his, “it was more than touching. It was everything I ever thought true love would be.” For one instant, Shayla thought she saw some emotion pass through Nicholas’s eyes but when his expression didn’t soften she thought she had imagined it.

  “Once I realized that I’d fallen in love with you, knowing that I had not been completely honest with you about my reason for seeking employment here, I knew I couldn’t work here any longer. That’s why I gave you my resignation. But you wouldn’t accept it.”

  That much, Nicholas thought, was true. He hadn’t accepted it. He had wanted to keep her around, and had been willing to break every rule he’d ever put into place to do that.

  “One day I received a phone call from Thomas Jordache requesting to meet with me,” Shayla said. “The first time I’d ever laid eyes on him was at the Mings’ dinner party. As far as I was concerned, he and I didn’t have anything to talk about. In fact, I was surprised he’d figured out who I was, since the truth about me not being Glenn Kirkland’s biological child had been a closely guarded secret.”