Chapter 53 Joseph In The Harrington Team
"Why are you going through my desk, Sarah, I told you to wait for me on the sofa," Alex said, his voice dropping into a low, level tone.
"I was looking for my keys, Alex, but I found this instead, and I want you to tell me why you are planning to take my company away from me, and why you think I should be happy with a salary and no power in the business I built from nothing," Sarah said, and her voice was shaking, but she didn't look away from him, she held the folder out so he had to look at his own handwriting on the page.
"It is a protection plan, Sarah, and if you would just listen for one minute you would see that I am trying to save you from the board, because they wanted to liquidate your firm entirely, and the only way I could stop them was by making it a Harrington subsidiary where I can control the budget and keep the reporters away from your door," Alex told her, and he reached out to take the folder from her, but she pulled it back, her fingers clenching the cardboard.
"You are not saving me, Alex, you are buying me, and you didn't even have the respect to ask me if I wanted to be owned by your father's group, you just went behind my back and signed a paper to turn me into an employee," she snapped, and she tossed the folder onto the desk where it hit the marble top with a loud thud that echoed through the quiet office.
"I am the one sitting in this chair and taking the heat so you don't have to, and I am the one who is losing my soul in this building every day to make sure you have a career left, so don't you dare talk to me about respect when I am doing everything in my power to keep you standing," Alex yelled, and he slammed his hand down on the desk, the sound so sharp it made Sarah jump, and for a second she didn't recognize the man standing in front of her, because he looked like he belonged in this gold cage, and he looked like he enjoyed the power he was using to make her submit.
"You are becoming exactly like Richard, you think you can just decide what is best for people because you have a checkbook, and I told you I didn't want to be a Harrington project, but that is exactly what you have made me," Sarah said, her voice sounding hollow and tired, and she turned to walk toward the door because she couldn't stand the way he was looking at her, like she was a problem he could solve with a legal document.
"I am nothing like him, and I will prove it to you," Alex growled, and he didn't follow her, he just stood there behind the desk.
Alex didn't go after her, instead he sat down and picked up his private phone, the one Richard didn't know about, and he called the lawyers who managed the Vane inheritance his mother had left him. He spent the next three hours in a dark corner of the building, his voice quiet as he moved millions of dollars into a shell company, and he authorized a massive investment into a new waterfront development that was a direct rival to a project Richard had been planning for months. He felt a grim sort of joy as he signed the digital forms, knowing that while he played the loyal son by day, he was using his maternal grandfather's wealth to cut his father’s legs out from under him by night.
He drove to Sarah's house late that night, and when he walked into the kitchen, he saw her sitting at the table with the lights off, and the distance between them felt like a canyon, but he didn't know how to bridge it with words anymore, so he just walked over and pulled her out of the chair, his grip on her arms firm and a little too tight.
"Don't look at me like that, I told you I am fixing it, and I am doing things you don't even know about to make sure he loses," Alex whispered, his voice sounding raspy and desperate, and he pushed her back against the kitchen counter, his body pressing into hers with a dominant, heavy intensity that spoke of all the anger and fear he was carrying from the office.
"I don't care about the money, Alex," Sarah said, but her voice was muffled because he was already kissing her neck, his mouth hot and demanding, and she felt her resolve melting because she still adored him, and she still needed the heat of him to block out the cold reality of the Harrington name.
They moved to the bedroom in a blur of motion.
He was simply Alex again, making love to her with all that intensity that her body had gotten used to.
Alex’s phone buzzed on the nightstand at two in the morning, and he groaned as he reached for it, thinking it was an emergency at the firm, and he saw his father’s name on the screen.
"I’m at the office, Alex, you need to come back here now, something has come up with the legal strategy for the Veridian project and I want your input before we move forward with the morning filings," Richard said, his voice sounding smooth and pleased, and Alex looked at Sarah, who was watching him with wide, worried eyes.
"I’ll be there in twenty minutes," Alex said, and he got dressed in the dark, feeling the suit go back on like a layer of armor, and he kissed Sarah’s forehead before he walked out, leaving her alone in the big, empty bed.
When he walked into his father's private study at the headquarters, the room was dimly lit and smelled of expensive tobacco, and Richard was sitting in a leather chair with another man whose back was turned to the door.
"Alex, I’m glad you’re here, I wanted to introduce you to the newest legal consultant I’ve brought on to help us handle the background research on the Hayes family assets," Richard said, a small, mean smile touching his lips as the other man stood up and turned around.
"Alex, this is Joseph Hayes, Sarah's ex-husband, he’s going to be working very closely with us from now on," Richard said, and Alex felt the world stop turning as Joseph reached out a hand, his face looking polished and smug in the lamplight.