But over the past couple weeks things between Lucy and her father had been strangely...silent. Nice, almost. Her father had to know where she'd been spending her nights, and he hadn't complained, hadn't tried to insinuate his opinion on the matter, hadn't said or done anything, as a matter of fact. Maybe he was finally resolved to the situation. Lucy was calmed by the peace between them, so she was afraid to rock the boat.
Yes, she was a coward. Besides, she really didn't know what her situation was with Jake. It was too new, too...private. They were enjoying their time together. It was blissful and perfect and she wasn't ready to share that with anyone. Not even if it meant telling her father that from now on he'd have to butt out of her personal life.
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Besides, she figured he'd probably already gotten the idea that her relationship with Jake was off limits, so why beat a dead horse? If things continued on as they had been between her and Jake, and maybe in the future, if they decided to move in together...
The idea gave her chills of excitement. Living with Jake. She'd really like that. A lot.
It was a step toward her future, a future that included Jake in her life. She couldn't imagine one without him now. The past couple weeks had been so incredible. Just being with him calmed her and thrilled her at the same time.
She loved him so much her heart ached.
"Lucille. Are you paying attention?"
No, she hadn't been. Not at all. She'd been thinking about Jake. The thought made her smile. "Sorry, Father. What were you saying?"
"I said on the Macarthur versus Langton Industries case, I think we should bring in a couple of the new associates. Let them get their feet wet."
She nodded. "Good idea. I suggest Keller and Chen. They're both extremely bright and would handle the details well."
"I'll let you decide on that one. Now on Sanderson versus Idea Technologies--"
The sound of shouting outside the boardroom interrupted her father. Lucy quirked a brow. "What's that?"
"I don't know." Her father stood and turned just as the door to the board room was thrown open. Jake stalked in, his hands curled into fists, a murderous expression on his face. He pointed to her father.
"You!"
Lucy stood and hurried to insinuate herself between Jake and her father. "Jake, what's wrong?"
He spared her only a brief glance before skirting around her and heading toward her father. "Get out of my way, Lucy. I need to have a conversation with your dad."
Lucy's secretary, Maggie, and several of the employees craned their heads through the doorway. Mortified, Lucy shooed them out and shut the door, whispering for them to 136
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get back to work. It was embarrassing enough that they'd seen this much. She turned back toward the room. "Jake, what's going on?"
He whirled on her. "Your father is what's going on. He pulled the permits on my project."
"What?" Lucy turned to her father.
Her father held his hands in the air. "I have no idea what he's talking about. You are out of line, Mr. Dalton."
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about." Jake advanced and her father backed up until he hit the wall. "You are the only one I know who has the muscle to plant fake safety violations, faulty building materials and shoddy engineering specs."
Could it be true? Her gaze shifted from Jake to her father. "Did you do this?"
Her father went pale. "Of course not. I'd never--"
"Bullshit!" Jake slammed his fist against the wall right next to her father.
"Now see here." Her father made a move toward Jake.
"No, you see here." Jake's voice was filled with fury as he grabbed a handful of her father's shirt and pushed him back against the wall. "Quit lying to cover your ass, Fairchild. I want my permits restored by the end of the day, and I want you to stop interfering in my business. It's bad enough you stick your nose into my personal life, but if you try to ruin me I will lay you flat."
Sweat poured down her father's face, and his paleness turned pure white.
Not good.
"Jake, stop. My father's not well..."
Jake, still pinning her father with a forearm across his chest, shot her a glare. "And you're even worse than he is, automatically taking his side. You're so blind to your daddy's every fault you can't see him for what he really is--a lying, manipulative bastard who'd do anything to keep you shackled to his side."
"Lucille," her father croaked, reaching for his chest.
Oh, no. Couldn't Jake see what was happening? "Jake. Stop this now." Lucy moved toward them. "Father."
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"Oh, that's just great," Jake said. "I knew when it came down to it you'd take his side."
Panic filled her as her father began to slump. "Jake, let him go. I mean it. He's hurting."
Jake pushed away from her father and, with disgust, turned around. "I don't know why I even bothered."
Lucy reached her father just as he fell to the floor.
"Lucille, please. The pain. Oh, God...it's my...heart. It's...really...my heart...this time. Get...help."
He could barely speak as he sucked in great big gulps of air in between words. She heard the panic in his voice and it ratcheted up her own. Her father was breathing fast.
Too damn fast. Lucy dropped to the floor and grabbed her father's wrist. His pulse was so fast, so erratic. Oh, God.
"Maggie!" she screamed.
Her secretary flew through the door.
"Call 9-1-1 now!" she ordered.
Maggie's stricken look said everything. She nodded and grabbed the phone.
Lucy cradled her father's head in her lap, loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. It didn't slow down his rapid breathing at all. "Relax, Father. Take slow, even breaths. We'll have an ambulance here shortly."
She shot a look to Jake. "You. Get out of here. Now."
Jake looked down at her with a frown. "He's faking it, Lucy."
Dear God, the man was certifiable. Anger mixed with panic, making her feel lightheaded and dizzy and nearly ready to lose it. She tried to keep her voice even, for her father's sake. "Get out or I'll have security escort you out. My father is having a heart attack, can't you see? Even I would know if he was faking."
But Jake just stood there, looking down at her, then at her father. His frown changed then.
"Lucy, I...I need you to understand what happened here."
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She couldn't hold back the tears any longer, even though she wanted to appear strong for her father. "I mean it, Jake. I don't want you around my father. Or me. Get out of here."
"Let me help."
"Get out now!"
He turned and left the room without another word. Her heart broken, she sucked in a shaky breath and turned back to her father, stroking his sweat soaked brow.
"The ambulance is out front and the paramedics are on their way up in the elevators, Lucy," Maggie said.
She nodded, focusing all her attention on her father. "It's okay, Daddy." She kept her voice low and soothing. "I'm here. I'll take care of you now."
Jake stood outside the entrance to the building and watched them cart Raymond Fairchild out on a stretcher. An IV tube was hooked up and an oxygen mask covered his face. He saw EKG leads on his chest, and the concerned looks on the faces of the paramedics as they hurried him into the ambulance.
He also couldn't miss the stricken look on Lucy's face as she followed them out the door.
Jake stepped back into the shadows, letting the gathering crowd swallow him up so Lucy couldn't see him.
What had he done? Had he let his anger send the old man into a heart attack? Jake didn't like Fairchild, hated what he'd done to his company, but he'd never forgive himself for causing harm
to the guy.
He walked back to the construction trailer and closed the door, laying his head in his hands.
He wasn't a violent man. But he'd completely lost it in the boardroom with Lucy's father. He'd let his anger overrule his common sense. He could have gone about this a completely different way, but instead he'd busted in and attacked a defenseless old man.
Now he'd have to answer for that.
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And the look on Lucy's face...
He'd lost her. And probably his company, too.
He couldn't think about that right now.
First thing he had to do was pray that Raymond Fairchild survived the heart attack.
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Chapter Twelve
Lucy sat at her father's beside, holding his hand while he slept.
His hair was mussed. Her father was always impeccably groomed, and his hair was a mess, sticking up everywhere. She reached up and smoothed it.
At least he had some color in his cheeks now. The doctor had no results yet, said they'd need to run more tests. But her father was resting, and that was good. They didn't even have him in the cardiac unit, since the tests they'd run in the ER indicated he was in no imminent danger. So they'd brought him to the general floor in a private room, which made her stress level reduce considerably. Now all they had to do was await the test results.
He was still alive, and for that she was incredibly grateful. They might butt heads every day, but she loved her father. The thought of losing him...
He was all she had. Her only family. The only one who loved her.
Besides Jake.
Jake. She let her chin drop to her chest.
She wouldn't think about him. Not now. Not yet.
"Are you sleeping?"
Her head snapped up at the sound of her father's voice. "No, not at all." She smiled.
"How are you feeling?"
"A little tired, but much better." He squeezed her hand.
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"I'm so glad."
"Thank you for being here, and for...defending me. I didn't want you to think I'd ever do something so heinous."
She patted his hand. "I believe you."
"I don't want to lose you, Lucille. I need you."
Were those tears in her father's eyes? He was blinking so rapidly she couldn't tell.
Overcome by guilt at how she'd treated her father the past couple months, she knew she was going to stand by his side no matter what. "I'm here for you. I'm not going anywhere."
"Thank you. It's just you and me, you know, just like it always has been."
She managed a grin. "Yes. The fearsome twosome. But you have to rest and get well so we can spread fear into the hearts of other law firms again."
He laughed. "I'll do my best."
They chatted for a bit, then Lucy said she was going to the cafeteria for something to eat, demanding her father get some rest. "The doctor said he'd be in with test results in a little while. I'll be back before then."
"I'm going to be just fine, Lucille."
She nodded and gave him a bright smile. "I know you will, Daddy."
She headed down to the cafeteria, but when she got in line realized she'd left her purse in the closet in her father's room. Rolling her eyes at her stupidity, she took the elevator back up to the floor, then hoping not to awaken her father, tiptoed toward his room. She stopped just short of the doorway when she heard laughter and low voices.
"You're a much better actor than anyone gives you credit for, Ray."
Lucy frowned. That was Alex's voice. She pressed her back against the outside wall and listened.
"Believe me, it's no easy feat feigning a heart attack. And being poked and prodded and stuck with needles was no picnic, either. But all worth it in the long run."
"Having Lucy's boyfriend storm in and throw you against the wall was perfect,"
Alex said.
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"Yes. And all I had to do was breathe in and out rapidly. Made me hyperventilate until I almost passed out. Lucille fell for it."
"Will you press charges against Jake for assault?"
"Oh I don't know. I think putting a halt to his construction project was more than enough. And with Lucille bound to my side for the foreseeable future, I think we've driven the stake in quite deeply enough, don't you think?"
"It's never enough, Ray," Alex said with a smug laugh.
"It's only a matter of time now. Lucille will come to see the benefit of sticking with me, and eventually she'll see you're the bright spot in her future. Be patient."
Lucy put her hand to her rapidly pounding heart. She wanted to sink to the floor in frustration and utter rage.
She'd been used! Jake had been right all along. About everything. About her father, about the construction permits. Her father had used her, had used Jake.
Dear God, the man was a monster. All these years she had stood by him, hoping that somehow he would see her...that he would love her. That somehow he would wake up and be the father she had always wanted, had always needed.
It would never happen. She had made a critical mistake.
He didn't love her. Her father didn't love her. No man who loved his child would do this.
She was shaking so hard she almost couldn't remain upright. She wanted to run, down the hall, down the elevator and out the door, not face this. Never face him again.
But she couldn't. She was a Fairchild. The thought made her shudder, but she couldn't hide from who she was.
The frightened child craving love was pushed aside, replaced instead by the angry woman who didn't need anything from the man inside that room.
She had to pull it together. Fury gave her focus for what she had to do. Taking in a shuddering breath, she shored up her strength and pivoted, stepping into the room with a smile plastered on her face.
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"Oh, Lucille. I didn't expect you back so soon," her father said, making sure his voice sounded weak and pathetic.
"I'm sure you didn't, Father." She nodded to Alex. "Alex."
"Lucy. I just came by to--"
"Celebrate?" she finished for him. At her father's shocked look, she said, "Oh, I heard everything you and Alex said, Father, so don't bother playing the innocent cardiac patient any longer."
She turned to Alex. "I would sooner marry a monkey than marry you, Alex. Your touch makes my skin crawl. Don't ever darken my door with your presence again." With a tilt of her head, she said, "Get out of my sight before I start screaming."
Alex made a hasty exit and she turned her attention on her father. "As for you.
Today, I'm embarrassed to call myself a Fairchild. You are mean, manipulative and a vicious bastard, Raymond. No, I will never call you father again, because the term is an endearment and I've lost all heart for you. To treat Jake, and to treat me, like pieces on a chessboard that you can move at your own pleasure, is vile and despicable. You are lower than the scum in the gutters.
"I love, Jake. I know you don't understand that because the word love is foreign to you. I don't deserve him, because he's better than me. Better than us. You'll never get that. But now, thanks to you, and thanks to my blind stupidity, I've lost him. The only man I ever loved. And I can't even really blame you for that, because it's my fault."
"Lucille, I--"
"Do not ever speak to me again. You are no longer my father. Or my business partner. I'll send someone for my things at the house. I will not live with you, and I will not work with you. I do not in any way wish to be associated with a man who is so utterly heartless. You make me sick."
She went to the closet, grabbed her purse, and walked out, ignoring the stricken, pale look on her father's face, along with the
tears she was sure had been manufactured for her benefit.
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Fake. It was all fake. The man didn't have a genuine emotion to spare for her. He never had. He never would. That realization hurt much more than she ever thought it could.
She had spent her entire life doing everything she could to earn his love, his attention. And for what? So he could manipulate her, treat her like a commodity?
Her eyes were open now.
Had she hurt him by what she'd said, by walking out on him? She doubted it. Maybe irritated him because his scheme didn't work and he hadn't won. And that made her sad.
Why had her father turned out this way, so devoid of emotion, of caring?
Not her problem. She shouldn't care. He would reap what he sewed, and she would feel no pity for him. She'd sided with him for far too long, bought into his manipulations, and it had cost her everything.
Everything that had been so important to her.
Including the man she loved.
Jake was hoping he wouldn't run into Lucy when he came up to Raymond Fairchild's room. He wasn't going there to see her, anyway. He was going to see Raymond. And he wasn't going to beg for leniency. He didn't deserve it. Not after what he'd done.
But he did need to face what he'd done head on, and offer an apology.
Though he wouldn't be surprised if Lucy's father didn't throw him out on the spot.
Or have him arrested for assault. In fact, he was surprised that hadn't already happened, considering Fairchild's connections.
The floor was quiet as he walked toward the room. He paused, listening for the sounds of conversation. There weren't any. It was late afternoon so he figured maybe Lucy was seeing to things at the office. He peeked around the corner. Raymond was in there by himself, so he stepped in.
Fairchild's eyebrows raised, but he didn't look angry.
"Mr. Dalton."
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"Mr. Fairchild."
He looked good. Had color in his face, and there were no IVs hooked into him or any other machines. That was a good sign.
Lucy's father laced his fingers together and laid them in his lap. "Have you come to gloat?"
What did he mean by that? For putting him in the hospital? "No, sir. I came to apologize. I let my temper get the better of me and I went off on you. I'm sorry. I should never have done that. I didn't mean to hurt you."