The Chauffeur Read online

  My jaw hits the floor when I hear my father say, “Grace, can I see you in my office for a moment?” I palm my face when my mother squeals.

  I jerk open my door and see my giggling mother scurrying after my father to his office, and cringe when the door slams.

  April’s tinkling laugh comes from the other side of her door, and I shake my head, wondering what in the world has happened to Rowe’s corporate structure.

  After returning to my desk, I smirk when I find her small piece of blue lace on the floor at my feet.

  Picking it up, I lift it to my face and inhale deeply. There’s a heady mixture of April’s perfume and musk. It’s a deadly combination.

  I tuck the souvenir into my pants pocket and inwardly grin at the addition to my already growing collection.

  Chapter 17

  ~April~

  I can’t help but laugh when Grace squeals and I hear her Manolo’s clicking down the hall. I can’t believe I’ve been busted having sex with him at work…twice.

  Pushing off the door, I return to the table to put the final touches on my grant application.

  My cell begins to vibrate on the table, and Paul’s name lights the screen. Considering how unusual it is that he’d call me, my blood starts to rush to my head.

  “This is April,” I answer.

  “April, it’s Paul, do you have a few minutes?”

  “Yes, how are you, Paul? Roger said you had a good time at the party. I’m glad you came. You made Roger’s day,” I say cheerfully.

  “I did have a good time. Thanks for inviting me.”

  “So, what’s up?”

  “Listen, we here at the Guild want to thank you for your efforts in obtaining that generous donation from The Rowe Foundation. We were flabbergasted by the amount.”

  “What do you mean? I don’t know anything about a donation.”

  “Um, well, we received a wire transfer into the Foundation account of one hundred thousand dollars this morning. Are you saying you didn’t campaign for it?”

  “No. I didn’t ask the Rowes for a donation. My God, Paul, that’s a lot of money. Do you know how you’re going to distribute it?”

  “Yes. One of the caveats to the donation is that you get everything you need for your classroom. You will get ten new computers, an additional table and chairs, and supplies. I would ask that you shop around for the best deal on a discount for the computers if you don’t mind. No sense in spending good money on pricey computers when you can get a quantity discount.”

  “Oh, Paul, this is the best news. Thanks so much for calling to let me know.”

  After we end our call with a promise to join him and Roger for dinner, I head toward Jason’s office.

  “Is he in, Sue?” I ask, blushing as I recall my hasty retreat.

  “No, he’s down at Grace’s office. I’m sure you can catch him there. Um, April, I think he might need to go to MileHigh today. Do you have any other plans with Mr. and Mrs. Rowe?” she asks, looking down at her schedule.

  “No, not until tomorrow morning. Do you know when he needs to leave?”

  “He didn’t say specifically, only that he needed to go there.”

  “Okay, I’ll ask him since I need to talk to him anyway. Thanks, Sue,” I say, smiling as I head down the hall.

  “Hey, Emily. Sue said Jason is in with Grace? Are they in a meeting?”

  “No, they’re just winding down. Knock and go on in,” she says, nodding her head toward the door.

  “Thanks. I love that suit on you by the way. That shade of yellow looks good with your hair.” I open the door to Grace’s office.

  “Knock, knock,” I say, finding all five Rowes sitting around the conference table.

  “April, good,” Carl says. “Come in, we were just talking about you.”

  Oh, God.

  “I just got a phone call from Paul at the Guild. He said a donation was made from The Rowe Foundation. I wanted to thank you all so much. You don’t know how much this means to us,” I say, trying not to get sentimental. Their generosity warms my heart. “I don’t know who was responsible for initiating the donation, but I want you to know it will be put to good use.”

  “We had our Board of Directors meeting the other day, and Grace brought the donation to the table. It was voted on and unanimously approved,” Carl explains.

  “Yes, dear,” Grace interjects. “After hearing Paul’s speech at the Guild dinner, I felt what you do for the community would profoundly benefit from our involvement. Then, after seeing all the effort you were exerting into applying for that paltry grant, I was certain you were a prime candidate. I placed the nomination on the table, and the board voted to donate the sum to the community center.”

  “Oh, Grace,” I whisper quietly, tears forming and ready to fall. I quickly walk around the large conference table and pull her into a hug, thanking her. “On behalf of the Guild, we are grateful to you for the most generous donation in its history. You have no idea how much this means to me personally and to the Guild.”

  I look around the room and see five set of eyes on me. “Thank you all … very much. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get bids for ten brand spanking new computers.”

  “Go through our IT Department, April,” Nicole says. “We get a special discount because we purchase our hardware and software through a sole distributor. I’m sure you’ll receive an even greater discount with the number of computers you intend to buy.”

  “April,” Jason says in his buttery voice. I wonder if his family can tell the difference in his vocal tones as I can. Judging by their expressions, it doesn’t appear that they do.

  “Yes, Jason?” I say, blushing.

  “They’ve located my fuselage. I’d like you to drive me to the plant,” he says, then adds, “Would you join me for a quick lunch before we leave?”

  “Um, sure. I’ll go pack up my computer and meet you at your office.” I get butterflies in my stomach from the way he’s looking at me. Now, that, I know his family can discern.

  “I’ll be there in five minutes,” he says. I smile at everyone as I turn to leave the room.

  “Oh, April?” Carl calls out to me before I reach the door. “Our family is having a meeting this evening, and I’d like you to be there if your schedule permits.”

  “Sure. Is everything all right?” I ask, looking between Carl and Jason.

  “Yes, everything is fine, but I think it’s time that I fill you and the family in on what I’ve discovered. Come for dinner at seven o’clock, and we’ll meet afterward, all right?”

  “I’ll be there. I’ll see you in a few minutes, Jason,” I say as I leave the room.

  Once Jason and I are seated at our table in the company dining room, the first thing I notice is how crowded it is. This might explain why Jason isn’t holding my hand as he usually does.

  “So, about this morning,” I begin. “I’m so sor—”

  “Do not apologize for that, April.” He places his hand on the table mere inches from mine. “That was the hottest, sexiest, most wonderful thing anyone has done for me in my life, outside of the office supply room sex that is.”

  “But your family …”

  “Our family is based on love, April. You should know that by now. You and I remind me of my parents, and that fact gratifies me.”

  “Oh, Jason,” I whisper. Hearing him say that about us warms my heart.

  I see the love emanating from his eyes, and I know he wants to hold me, but not here. We can’t even allow our feet to touch under the table without bringing attention to us. I won’t do that to him. His peers respect him, and I don’t want to sully that.

  “I love you, Jason,” I say so quiet, I doubt he heard it.

  “I love you more,” he says, pretending to read the lunch specials.

  “I doubt that,” I argue, smiling down at my menu.

  “Really?”

  I look up from my menu and nod. I grin when he gives me a beaming smile.

  “Not possibl
e,” he says, shielding his face with the large menu to cut off our conversation so that he has the last word. I give it to him and laugh, checking out the daily specials.

  After lunch, we make our way to Romeoville. Jason’s on the phone the entire time arranging for the plant manager, the engineer, and a security detail to meet us at the plant as quickly as possible. When we arrive, a flatbed truck and forklift are ready, as well.

  So that we aren’t detected, our entourage follows us around to the back of the abandoned building near the MileHigh plant. It’s hard to miss a Maybach, a Range Rover and a flatbed eighteen-wheeler with a forklift trailing behind it. It’s quite a caravan, for sure.

  Once the security detail gets us inside, Jason guides us to where Farmer said the fuselage could be found. After getting his bearings, Jason points us in the right direction, and there it is, hidden behind a wall of camouflage netting. The rig driver quickly runs back to his truck, unloads the forklift and sets out to lift the material, piece by piece, gently placing it on the bed of the truck. It doesn’t take long to complete the task, and soon enough we’re safely ensconced back at the MileHigh plant.

  “Kate is going to be livid when she sees we’ve stolen our stolen material,” Jason chuckles. “I’m afraid this is only going to start another shit storm with her.”

  “Yeah, she’ll most likely take it out on me.”

  “Not going to happen, baby,” he says, taking my hand, playing with the bracelet he gave me. “Why don’t you sit in the coffee room? Make yourself a cup of tea or something. I need to talk to Mr. Scott. I’ll be right back unless you want to come with me?”

  “No, I’ll make a cup of tea and meet you back here,” I reply, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek.

  “Okay, don’t go anywhere, all right?”

  “I promise.” After Jason leaves the room, I rummage the cupboards in search of coffee cups and tea bags. After finding everything I need, I make a steamy cup of tea and stand in front of the window that looks out into the plant area. I can see Jason talking to the plant manager while the workers position the stolen fuselage in a storage bay.

  As my eyes roam the plant, I spot someone who looks vaguely familiar. Our eyes meet, and he nods slightly, then turns back to his task.

  Jason is so attractive, standing with his arms crossed and feet spread shoulder width, paying strict attention to what Mr. Scott is saying. He has a presence and commands respect wherever he goes. Oh, there goes the hand through the hair. Something must be upsetting him. Uh-oh, now he’s standing straight with his arms to his side, and his head is tilted. Something’s up.

  When I see him snap his phone from his pocket to make a call, all hell breaks loose. I’m glad I decided to come into the break room. I wouldn’t want to be anyone down there on the floor.

  I set my cup down when he heads my way and wait by the door for him. When he marches in, I don’t say anything, but wait for him to speak instead. As soon as we’re alone, he gets on his phone again.

  “Sue, what did you come up with as far as the files? Were you able to determine if anything was missing?”

  I watch him pacing the room as she speaks.

  “From the hot file or the cold file?” he asks. “Fuck! Okay, thanks. We’ll be back in about an hour.”

  I take a sip of my tea while Jason listens to Sue and wonder if he’d like a cup just to calm his nerves.

  “Well, someone called United Technologies posing as me and canceled the fucking contract over a week ago. They were instructed to return all proprietary data back to me.”

  I sit at the table and wait for him to speak, but he only walks back and forth, running his hands through his hair again.

  “I know there’s a termination clause, Sue. I want to read the Intellectual Property clause too. Just send me the whole fucking contract. United said they removed my file from their server five days after they shipped the data to me.”

  He hangs up the call without saying goodbye and continues to pace the room. I’ve never seen anyone this angry before.

  “It looks like the information that was pilfered from my file was used to contact the company that builds my engines. The order was canceled, so I don’t have any engines even being built,” he says through his teeth. “At this rate, I’ll never get this project off the ground.”

  “Well, I guess we can figure out easy enough who the culprit is,” I say, pointing the finger at Robin.

  He paces even more rapidly, stopping at the window to scan the people milling about below. “This keeps getting worse. I can’t keep up. Between what’s going on with you, Kate, Robin, this plant, and now this.”

  I can see he’s about to snap, so I walk into his arms and wrap myself tightly around him.

  His expression clears. “There’s a leak inside this plant.” It startles me when he quickly pulls away and gets on his phone. I know exactly who he’s calling.

  “Farmer, I’m dealing with internal corporate espionage. I’ll fill you in on what I found out, but it points toward at least one spy inside the plant” “Can you set that up?” “With a pro?” “How quickly?” “Perfect. Let me know when that’s done.” Then he quickly dials another number.

  “Sue, would you email Farmer the list of every employee on staff at MileHigh? As soon as possible, okay? Forward me a copy of the email, too, thanks,” he says, stopping in front of me.

  “I love you,” he says, pulling me against him. Our arms wrap around each other. “Thank God there aren’t a lot of employees. There are only about twenty-five right now. Farmer is setting up a polygraph test for each one of them. It will be random.”

  After he receives Sue’s email, Jason and I go back out to the plant and search for Mr. Scott.

  “I’m leaving, so if you learn or hear anything, please let me know, won’t you? It’s vital to learn where my data is.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find out what’s going on.”

  “As usual, Scott, this is confidential.”

  “Of course, sir,” he says, his brow furrows as if he’s offended that it even had to be said.

  “Keep in touch.” Jason smiles and shakes his hand as if nothing is wrong. I believe that’s what he wants all the prying eyes to think.

  “I sure will,” Mr. Scott replies, returning Jason’s smile.

  On the drive back to the office, Jason is silent and pensive while he reads the contract. After he calmly turns off his computer, he stares out the window.

  “Let’s go home, April.” My insides nearly scream at how good that sounds.

  After I drop him off at the front door, I get out of the car to open the door for him, but he beats me to it. He cups my face, giving me a gentle kiss.

  “You go rest for a bit. This day’s been pretty hectic considering it’s your first day back. I don’t want you to overtax yourself, all right?” he asks, as he runs his thumbs over my cheeks. “Why don’t you take a nap before dinner?”

  “Yes. A hot bath and a nap sound wonderful. I’ll see you at seven then.”

  He nods, giving me another soft kiss and watches as I slip behind the wheel of the Maybach.

  After I park the car and sign in the keys, I do as I promised. I start a bath, pour a glass of wine, shed my clothes, letting them fall to the floor and slip into the steamy bubbles. Afterward, I don’t even get dressed; I just crawl on top of my duvet and sleep in my bathrobe until the alarm on my cell phone wakes me. I now have thirty minutes to get ready and head over to the Rowes’.

  After braiding my hair in a French plait, I apply very little makeup, then put on a pair of khaki-colored capris that are trimmed with red piping. I coordinate with a short red cotton blouse with the three-quarter-inch sleeves. Twisting Jason’s bracelet while I look over my shoes, I select a pair of red canvas wedges and make my way to the main house.

  “Ah, there she is,” Carl says to everyone in the room. Although I’m early, everyone is already present with cocktails in their hands.

  “What would you like to drink, ba
by?” Jason asks, kissing my temple just below where my stitches once were.

  “A martini, please,” I reply. After he expertly mixes my drink and hands it to me, we all sit around the living room chatting about the day until Rita calls us in for dinner.

  After an excellent dinner of baked ziti, homemade garlic bread, and Caesar salad, I’m too full for chocolate mousse.

  Once the table is completely cleared of dinner dishes, Carl opens several bottles of Pandora’s finest, making sure there’s enough on the table for everyone.

  “All right, kids, I’ve called this meeting because, as you know, Jason is in somewhat of a mess. We’re all aware of what’s happened with April,” he looks straight at me from across the table. “April, my family will protect you with our lives. I request that you do what we ask of you so that none of us gets hurt. Can you do that?” I look around, and everyone is watching me, waiting for my answer.

  “Well, yes, of course, but I don’t understand why you’re saying that.”

  “We’ll answer all your questions,” he replies, smiling. Grace places a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. “The question and answer period is after the meeting.

  “Today Jason had a bit of a setback in that someone has penetrated MileHigh. Kate has been working with someone—we don’t know whom, but I will find out soon enough. The information Robin took from Jason’s files was relayed to someone on the inside of the plant. Jason’s test engine has been compromised.” I look around the table, and everyone is focused solely on Carl. I am the first to move and take a sip of wine as he continues. “The data is missing, and we suspect Robin took it since she was seen exiting Jason’s office with a file. We can assume Robin relayed the contents of that file to someone within the plant. They, in turn, informed the manufacturer of the engines that the project has been scrapped and that all documentation about the project needed to be returned. Those documents never came back to Jason and are now deemed missing.” He pauses and looks around the table. I do the same and see four unresponsive faces.