Stolen:The Billionaire Deception(27)

"Yes. Suddenly he owned the company and I've never really been able to   find out exactly how that came about. I promised myself that I would   though. I worked and studied and did little else until I had my MBA. I   excelled at all things business, just like my dad. My plan was to get a   job with Hunter Corp., prove that James Hunter had committed some kind   of fraud in order to take the business and cause me to be left with   nothing. I was angry. For over ten years it sat inside of me and   smoldered. Every time I picked up a paper or a magazine and they talked   about your father or showed a picture of him, the rage would flare up."



"So you got the job with our company with the intention of bringing it and my father to its knees?"



"Something like that. I never intended to do anything that would hurt   the company. I wanted it back, more than I've ever wanted anything. It   was my legacy. My father intended for it to be mine. I took the job   thinking that once I was inside I could find something that would help   me in that cause. I didn't bank on falling in love with James Hunter's   son."



Seth was staring at me, looking into my eyes and I was dying to know   what he was thinking. I was going to let him speak when he was ready   without pushing it though. I could tell that he was processing all of   what I told him. After a few beats I said, "When I started dating you, I   was using you. About that, your father was right. But it only took me a   few weeks to realize that I was falling hard for you. After that,   getting back the company became a secondary goal. Being with you was the   primary one. I do love you Seth. I love you so much. I'm not faking   that part, I swear."



He nodded. His blue eyes were watery as he said, "I hired a private investigator."









CHAPTER TWENTY









"You hired a private investigator to check me out?"



"Yes. The other night after you left I questioned my father. I knew then   that I wasn't going to get a straight story. I wanted to believe you,   but I had to hear it myself from a neutral party."



"What did he tell you?"



"Almost exactly what you did right now."



"Almost exactly? What was different?"



"You told me the story of your life and you didn't once mention the   struggles that you and the lady who raised you had financially. You   didn't tell me about the room you had to rent in an elderly couple's   house while you were in college because it was all that you could   afford. You didn't tell me that you worked two jobs on campus to help   pay your tuition or that on the weekends you volunteered in a shelter   for kids who had lost their parents. All hiring the investigator did for   me was to reaffirm that I was in love with an exceptional woman."



I was stunned. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't that. I sat   there with my mouth open I think for a solid minute before I finally   said, "So …  are you saying … "



He smiled then. That warm, genuine, sexy smile that made my heart speed   up to about a thousand beats a second. "I'm saying that I love you,   Erin …  No, Adele. I love you Adele Louise Morgan. I wish that I had your   strength and your courage. I was given a job …  it was handed to me, just   like everything else in my life was handed to me, and that job wasn't   even his to give away. While I was living the good life you were  working  and struggling towards yours."         

     



 



"That's not a hundred percent true. You're excellent at your job. Your   numbers are amazing. Your employees love you. You may have been given   the job, but what you did with it from then on is all about your   strengths and your determination, and most of all, your heart."



"Thank you for saying that," he said. "I love you. I'm so sorry for what my father did to you."



"None of that was your fault."



"I know. But I knew that his business practices were less than ethical. I   should have questioned him more or done some research of my own before   now to find out how he had achieved his "success." At first, I just   didn't care. I was reaping the rewards and as long as he left me alone, I   thought I was enjoying life on his dime. I fell in love with the   lifestyle and I let myself believe like he did, that I somehow deserved   it. I like to believe that had I truly known how it came to be …  that a   young girl's life had been permanently altered because of it and not  for  the better …  that I would have objected. I can't honestly say what I   would have done then. I know that no business and no amount of money  is  worth that. After I took over as CEO and I started finding things  out  here and there that he'd done that were questionable in terms of  ethics  and morality …  I was just too afraid of him to stand up. I  thought if I  just did things right from there on out, I could make it  right."



"You can't be held responsible for the sins of your father. That was a   lesson I had to learn myself. Once I learned it I fell deeply in love   with you."



"I missed you. Can we go back and start over?"



"Can you forgive me for my lies?"



"I completely understand them and the only problem I'm going to have   with any of it is remembering your name," he said with a laugh. "Can you   forgive me?"



"There's nothing to forgive. You were a victim of your father and me both."



Seth grinned and said, "The difference is I like being your victim." Then turning serious he said, "I want to help you."



I felt the first real hope I'd had in a while slip back into my soul. "You want to help me take back my company?"



He smiled again and nodded. "Yes, I want to help you get back what is   yours. I'll do whatever it takes, including standing up to my father. I   want to make up for what he did to you, as much as I can."



"What about your own job?"



"I don't care about the job or the business or the money. I love you. I   want to be with you and I want you to be happy and have everything you   ever wanted …  everything that you deserve. I admire you so much for  going  through all that you have and still holding onto your spirit and  your  good heart. You make me want to be a better man."



It was strange. You hear people say they felt like a "weight" was lifted   off of them …  I never thought of it in literal terms before that  moment.  I hadn't realized just how heavy my burden had been until right  that  second. With another person to help me carry it, it suddenly  didn't seem  like such a daunting task.



"Are you sure?" I asked Seth. I knew what he was offering to do would upset life as he knew it from then on out.



"Absolutely," he said. "Tell me what I need to do."



"I will," I told him. "Thank you. First, there is something else I would   like to do, if you're up for it." He looked confused for a second,   until I smiled and then he suddenly knew exactly what I was talking   about. He slid over towards me and positioned himself up against the   head board next to me with our arms and knees touching.



"How's this?" he asked with a grin.



"It's a good start … "



He smiled broader and slipped his arm around me. I realized then that I   had even missed his scent. He always had a fresh, crisp smell like an   ocean breeze. I put my arm across his chest and relaxed into him. God,   he felt so good. We just sat there like that for a long moment, enjoying   the togetherness, comfortable in the silence.



I realized after another minute or two that he was waiting for me to set   the pace and tone of our reunion  . I lifted my head and  straightened  out so I could look at his face. Seth smiled and with his  free hand he  ran the back of his fingers down the side of my cheek.  Then he drew his  thumb across my bottom lip causing me to shiver almost  violently.



"You're so beautiful," he said. "I've thought so since the first second you walked into my office that first day."         

     



 



"You're beautiful," I told him with a grin. "I've thought so since the   second you spun your chair around that day. I almost fell into the floor   when you looked at me with those sexy ice blue eyes. I never meant to   hurt you in any way. I realized very quickly that I wanted to do the   exact opposite. I love the sound of your laugh and your gorgeous smile   always looks so much better knowing that I put it there."