He knew Rinna’s announcement for the lie it was, calling her on it. He was religious about using protection. Every. Single. Time. Not once had he stuck his cock in a pussy and not been wrapped with a layer of high-grade latex.
Glaring down at the envelope Rick had presented, David felt a moment of relief—but only a moment.
“I will look through them tomorrow once I am on my flight to Shanghai,” he supplied. “Though I am curious to know what you think of what the PI has uncovered.”
Rick’s usually impassive mien sharpened, his smile similar to that of a shark on the hunt for that one drop of blood in an entire ocean.
“There’s enough proof in there to show that not only was Rinna lying about being pregnant with your baby but she planned the whole scheme right down to mourning the loss of the baby once her first child support check cleared the bank. At that point, she planned to sue for emotional suffering, citing that the fight for child support put too much stress on her already frail health.”
Black, boiling anger settled in his chest, the burn akin to consuming molten lava. He bit back a growl. “Her arrogance has cost her, and I will make her pay for all she’s done.”
Rick stood, buttoning this suit coat. “We will make her pay, my friend,” he corrected. “I am just glad you came to me for this.”
As David Brenner, Forbes Top 5 Billionaire Bachelors, and the owner of a billion-dollar tech empire, he had a harem of corporate attorneys, all eager to whore themselves out for whatever he needed. They were good at what they did, he couldn’t deny that, but when he was first served with Rinna’s paternity suit, he knew he couldn’t trust something that personal with someone other than Richard Ayers. He’d met Rick their first day at Oxford. He’d gone to the prestigious university to study business, and Rick had come in from the states to study international law. Now, fifteen years later, very few people knew that Rick was his old college roommate and rowing crew captain. The man had been one hell of a coxswain, and now he was an even better attorney.
Rick had always been one of the good ones, a stand-up guy in a world crawling with worms, despite facing his own divorce just two years ago. Rick and his then wife, Melanie, had agreed to part ways, having discovered that they had simply fallen out of love with each other after ten years together. Their divorce had been amicable, but that hadn’t stopped the vultures from circling, looking for any information they could use to turn Rick and Melanie’s lives upside down for profit. They’d picked Rick’s marriage apart, bringing up old wounds and heartaches, dragging family and friends through the mud, just for the inside scoop on something that wasn’t even a thing. They couldn’t believe that someone as high profile as Richard Ayers didn’t have skeletons in his closet.
Yes, Rick knew what David was going through, and that meant more to him than he could ever tell.
Reaching out, David offered his hand to Rick who ignored it and came around his desk to embrace him instead. A quick squeeze and then a clap on the back—the usual exchange between the long-time friends.
Their meeting at an end, Rick asked, “Where are you staying?”
“The usual place,” David answered easily.
“And when is your flight to Shanghai?”
“First thing. I fly out of Republic bright and early.”
“If I need you for anything, I’ll contact you directly.”
Leaving in the morning for the first leg of his two week-long “good press” circuit in Asia, David knew his PR people couldn’t have picked a worse time for him to be out of the country. With the mess going on in NY, he hated being so far away, unable to keep his eyes and ears on what was unfolding. But he knew he could trust Rick implicitly.
“Safe travels, my friend,” Rick said, grinning. “And when you get back to New York, hopefully, you’ll be one leech lighter.”
David grinned back, something like vindication coursing through him. It felt like lightning in his veins. “I look forward to that.”
“Don’t forget to have a drink for me before you leave, though. They don’t make Tennessee whiskey anywhere else as good as they do here.”
Chuckling, he agreed, “No, they don’t, though I do prefer a finger of Glenlivet over Jack Daniels.” Rick shook his head, a grin tilting his lips. “One whiskey for you and one for me. That’s a promise.”
Slapping David on the back, Rick replied, “Good. Enjoy your last night in New York.”
“I plan on it.”
Chapter 3
Back at their building, an edifice of steel and glass, with a stone wall cloaked in clinging ivy—the architects attempt at creating a “green space,” no doubt, Margie and Diana greeted the receptionist on the bottom floor and entered the elevators. Diana pressed the button for the 34th floor, and Margie leaned back against the wall, staring at the numbers as the lift began to ascend.
“We made it back, just in time—I even have time to come up and see who this mystery not-baby-daddy is,” Margie said, winking at Diana. That’s why the nosey attorney hadn’t pressed the button for her own floor. Diana couldn’t help the smile that tickled her lips.
“Uh-uh,” she chided. “Ayers was clear that he didn’t want this man’s identity getting out before the case was made public.”
“Who am I going to tell?” Margie parried. “I am a lawyer. I have ethics.”
Another snort burst from Diana’s chest and she grinned at her friend’s incredulous expression.
“Those two sentences rarely go together, Margaret,” Diana remarked, using her friend’s full, hated name, allowing her grin to grow.
Margie narrowed her eyes. “You know me, Di. I won’t tell a soul—I need to know. I promise not to go snooping. I’ll just get off on the floor with you, and if
