Thunder shakes his head. “Too far, Lightning. Too far. I need to get back to work.”
He walks out the door, and Lightning follows.
Thunder’s words repeat in my head. A lot has happened to her and in a short time. Her world was turned upside down. And instead of supporting her, I was making demands. Fuck, I’m an idiot.
“Son of a bitch!” Axel yells from the kitchen.
I walk across the hall and spot him at the sink with his head bent over, drinking straight from the faucet.
“What’s going on?”
He spits out some water and wipes his mouth with his sleeve. “I used some expired creamer in my coffee.”
“If it was hazelnut, it wasn’t expired. Lightning swapped it out.”
Axel’s eyes narrow. “Lightning.”
I nod, and Axel storms off. He’s not one to participate in the office shenanigans. Hell, he’s hardly ever here since he is on assignments more than any of the rest of us. But I have to wonder as he storms down the hall if he might just get Lightning back.
I find myself smiling, and I realize it’s because of Thunder’s advice. I have no idea if Delaney will consider dating, but I have to try.
Something crashes near the front of the office, and I run toward it. The guys are all standing near Reed’s door. I glance in, and on the floor are the pieces of Reed’s printer.
“What’s going on?” Axel asks.
Reed grabs some papers off his desk and holds them up. “Stacy. Just when you think she can’t cause any more problems, she pulls this.”
Axel takes the papers from Reed and scans them. “Holy shit. She claims she had another child with Hawthorne and that he is entitled to half of Reed Hawthorne Security.”
Lightning steps up to Axel. “Let me see.” He quickly scans. “There’s no way this is true. It says the son is twenty-two. Hawthorne was married to Alicia’s mom then.”
Alicia is Lightning’s girlfriend and the stepdaughter Stacy tried to kill.
“Well, it’s possible, but it would mean he cheated on his first wife,” Axel says.
Reed shakes his head. “No, he never would have done that. Besides, he didn’t meet Stacy until after his first wife died.”
“Regardless of whether the son is legitimate, why would he get Hawthorne’s share of the business? If it’s going to kids, then Alicia and her little sister would get a share, too,” Lightning says. “There’s no logic here.”
Reed falls back into his chair. “Exactly. But she’s representing herself so she can say whatever the hell she wants, and we still have to defend it. It’s bullshit. But by doing this, she’s not only wasting our time, but she’s also keeping the company in a negative media spotlight.”
“Let me guess, she’s willing to stop everything for a monetary payout,” I say.
Reed points at me. “Exactly. But I refuse to pay. If I do, she’ll just keep doing this.”
He’s right. “Okay, but how do you make her quit?” I ask.
Jerry Reed steps into the office. “Good morning, everyone. I couldn’t help but overhear. The way we are going to stop this woman is by asking for attorney fees. A lot of attorney fees. Once she realizes she’s losing money, not gaining, she’ll stop.”
Reed stands up and walks over to his dad and hugs him. Having Reed’s dad as the company attorney has been a godsend these past couple of years. We all know we can trust the man. Sadly, trust has been hard to come by with some of our associates.
“Thank you for handling this. When it comes to this woman, I can’t see straight. She’s taken so much already.”
“And that’s why we’re going to stop her,” Jerry says.
CHAPTER22
Delaney
