Andrea Laurence - From Riches To Redemption

At the moment, however, she was grateful for it. Having a mountain of wood between the two of them was almost enough to make her feel comfortable in his presence. Almost.

Comfortable or not, it was time to take control of this situation. She might not be a Steele, but she’d been raised like one, and she wasn’t going to let River get the upper hand today. She sat up straight at her desk, lacing her fingers together over her leather blotter and crossing her ankles. This was the pose that flipped the switch in her brain to work.

Then she watched River do the opposite. He unbuttoned his jacket and settled into the chair like he was at home on his couch. He made himself comfortable, sitting back and casually crossing his ankle over his knee as though he didn’t have a care in the world. Somehow, that didn’t seem fair to Morgan.

Time to make him as uncomfortable as she was.

* * *

“Before we get started, I have one question for you, Mr. Atkinson.”

“Mr. Atkinson is my father,” he noted with a sigh. Judging by Morgan’s tone, she was ready to finish their little chat from the party. He was glad he was at least in a comfy chair if she was going to lay into him first thing. This could turn into a very long or very short meeting depending on how the next few minutes went. “But ask away.”

“What exactly are you doing here?” Her gaze fixed on him with a pointed expression on her face.

“I’m here to talk about building houses for the poor. Isn’t that why you’re here?” He couldn’t help the sarcasm from slipping into his voice. It was one of the only emotions he had left where she was concerned.

She studied his face for a moment. “I’m serious, River. Why did you sign up for this whole thing? If you only bid on this job to get your chance to tell me off, then just walk away now. This charity project is important to me. If you’re not genuinely interested in helping the community, I’ll find another contractor.”

“Oh, I’m very serious,” he said. And he meant it. “This project is essential to me and my company’s five-year plan.”

“So you’re just using the Steele name to make a name for yourself.”

“I’ve already made a name for myself and my company, thank you, but I’d be a fool if I didn’t use the chance for some good press and free advertising. Hopefully, that will lead to great things in the future for me and my employees. But listen, I am fortunate enough to be in a position to do some good in the community. This was a great opportunity to do that and get the word out about Southern Charm. There’s nothing wrong with that. As the force behind this whole effort, Steele Tools does the exact same thing.”

“We do it to help others less fortunate.”

River watched her expression as she spoke. She really believed what she’d said. “Maybe you do. But your dad and his stockholders go along with it for corporate promotion and tax deductions, I guarantee it.”

“So you really just want to give back? Give your company a little boost?” She didn’t seem convinced of it as she spoke. “You’re telling me that this whole thing isn’t just a ruse to see me again?”

River laughed. Louder than he’d intended to. Enough to make Morgan wrinkle her nose up in irritation. That only made him laugh more. She really was full of herself. “I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’ve been over you a long time, Morgan. If I wanted to see you, there are easier ways than signing my company up for a summer of charity work for zero profits. So no, this isn’t about seeing you again.”

He couldn’t help but notice a painful flicker cross her face for a moment before she pulled herself back together. Was it possible that he’d hurt her feelings? After everything that had happened, he’d wondered if she had cared about him at all. There hadn’t been one word, one email, one text after she left him alone in that honeymoon cabin that night. Just an envelope a few days later with a wedding ring inside.

And for that half a second, he saw the face of the girl he’d once loved. The one overflowing with emotions and vulnerabilities. One that would’ve held out hope that her first love might still carry a torch for her after all these years. Then the poised, ice-cold princess returned.

“Of course, you’re over me,” she said. “I was thinking more along the lines of you wanting to give me a piece of your mind. Maybe tell my father off?”

“While speaking my piece might be therapeutic, no, it’s not about you, little girl. I didn’t even know that I’d be working with you when I started this process,” he lied. He couldn’t have her thinking otherwise or she might believe she had the upper hand in their situation. He might’ve been driven here out of revenge or even masochistic curiosity, but it wasn’t a pining for Morgan.

“I’m a professional. I couldn’t have built my company up from nothing if I wasn’t. Besides that,” River continued, “you seem to be a hell of a lot more upset with me than I am with you, although I have no idea why.”

She straightened in her chair, studying him with obvious disbelief. “Are you serious? You can actually sit there and tell me you have no idea why I would be upset with you?”

“Wait a minute,” River said, holding up his hand before she could go any further. “You really are. Why would you be upset with me ?”

That was certainly an unexpected twist on the situation. Especially since he wasn’t the one whose family broke up their honeymoon and wiped their marriage from the books. He wasn’t the one who dutifully packed up and went home the minute his father snapped his fingers.

“I’ve got a hundred thousand reasons to be upset with you, River Atkinson.”

Ah. That. River had known the moment he cashed that check that it would come back to haunt him. That money was tainted. Dirty. And yet, that same money had changed the trajectory of his whole life. He wouldn’t apologize for making the best of a shitty situation.

Instead, he smiled. He knew that would get to her. “What’s the matter, Morgan? Did you think you were worth more than that? Should I have asked for a million to keep quiet about our indiscretion? I’m sure dear ol’ Daddy would’ve paid anything to get his little princess out of that mess. Tell me, did you panic when you realized the consequences of what we’d done? Did you wait for me to fall asleep that night and call him to come get you?”

“Of course not,” she snapped. “I don’t even know how he found us, much less how he knew we’d gotten married.”

River shook his head. “I’m sure he tracked your cell phone and credit card records, knowing every step you took. You might’ve thought you were an adult living your own life, but he just let you believe that. Trevor had you on a short leash the whole time.” He chuckled to himself and looked around at her well-appointed office. “And now you work for Daddy. He probably invented this whole job just for you. You probably live in one of Daddy’s houses and charge up Daddy’s credit cards. Sounds to me like he’s still got you on that leash.”

Morgan’s eyes narrowed at him in anger. “You shut your mouth. You don’t know anything about the dynamic between my father and me.”

“Don’t I?” he challenged. “The woman I met at that bar by the university was confident and independent. She wanted to go out into the world and make a difference. The girl who crawled from my bed with her tail between her legs was someone else entirely. Would you care to explain that to me since you think I don’t understand what happened on our wedding night?”

Morgan’s pale skin flushed with a crimson undertone along her chest, throat and cheeks. It reminded him of his younger blushing bride. And their wedding night where the blush traveled lower than the low V neckline of the blue silk blouse she was wearing now. Then her jaw flexed tight to hold in the angry words she probably couldn’t wait to spew at him. She looked like she was about to blow.