Read Online Having Jay's Baby (Having His Baby #2) by Fran Louise - Free Book Online Page A

down,” I told him. “There are plenty of ways to ruin a company like mine if you can appeal to the greed of the stakeholders. I figured, worst-case scenario, that he might try to persuade the board to sell out to one of our larger clients. What that does is effectively turn us into an in-house lobby group.”
    Fueller thought about this and nodded.
    “But I have the feeling he might have done something a lot more stupid,” I said.
    “Like what?”
    I swallowed a mouthful of the whisky. “When he purchased controlling stock, he transferred us under his own group: Fitz Corp. It’s an old trick; he and Harry did it before. Once the share price levels, they start transferring assets to other, more profitable companies within the group.” I ran a hand across my face and sighed heavily. “It’s asset stripping, basically. I should have noticed earlier. I saw the stock price fall again right after the rumour got out about him joining the board, and I knew it was wrong. It should have gone up, not down.”
    “That’s illegal as hell,” Fueller said, stating the obvious with a dry laugh.
    “No shit,” I agreed. “The market knew what he was up to, even if I’ve had my head up my ass.”
    I shook my head. “Now, two weeks later, I find out they’re investigating Harry. He’s been involved in just about every accounting transaction my father’s ever made.” My heart beat was a noticeable thud in my ears, but I kept my breathing even. I refused to panic, not yet. “So, what do you think, Bull? On a scale of one to ten, how convincing will I sound if I tell the FBI that I had nothing to do with my father and my father-in-law stripping assets from my company? Before, I might add, dismantling it at the expense of our shareholders and at a massive profit.”
    Fueller let out a low whistle. “Well, now … when you put it like that…”
    I breathed out slowly. “You get my drift, anyway. I need to know what the fuck he’s been up to. I need to know what’s coming.”
    “If you want my advice – straight up, this is not a good time for you to be divorcing Elizabeth Benson,” Fueller said.
    An abrupt laugh escaped me. “You’ve got to be joking. You were all for it last month!”
    “That was before you told me about the share price,” Fueller said defensively.
    “Yeah, well – too late, buddy. That horse has fled the stable.”
    “Not yet,” Fueller said. “The papers haven’t been signed, have they?”
    “No, but they’ve been submitted,” I said.
    “Listen, until those papers have been signed, that stable door can still be bolted.”
    My stomach complained loudly in the bucolic silence, whether due to hunger or the sheer notion of staying married to Elizabeth, I wasn’t sure. When I’d finally recovered the will to speak, I said. “Are you seriously telling me I have to call this off?”
    Fueller shrugged and said, “Mightn’t be the worst idea. Unless he’s a completely irredeemable son of a bitch, I don’t think Harry Benson’s going to take you down with him if you’re still married to his daughter.”
    I sat stock still, staring at Bull in the suddenly stifling silence. Call off the divorce? Every fibre of my being struggled against the idea.
    Could I go back to that life?
    The answer was no; I couldn’t; definitely not; no way. In the midst of the all the shit hitting the fan right now, this divorce was the only light glimmering at the end of the tunnel. Removing Elizabeth from my list of responsibilities was not simply putting an end to our shared misery, it was about a new future, starting afresh. It was a way of getting free from my family – their innate inability to live decent lives. I had to start living honestly.
    “It’s not forever, kid,” Fueller added quietly. “You can file the papers again once the investigation is over, but it’d save you a lot of trouble in the meantime.”
    The prospect of Harry Benson dragging me into his legal issues out of sheer spite was a