Chapter 14 - THE FIRST DATE WITHOUT A UNIFORM
Nicholas waited thirty-one days before asking Audrey out.
She counted.
She would never admit that.
By then, she had officially left the estate.
Her final paycheck cleared.
Her employee health coverage had been transferred.
The outside investigation into Graham's treatment of staff had concluded.
Audrey rented a tiny office in White Plains.
She started a residential estate-services company with Maria and two former household employees.
Housekeeping.
Staff coordination.
Property care.
But with one rule written into every employment contract:
No employee could be forced to remain silent about mistreatment because a client was wealthy.
Nicholas read the contract.
“You wrote this because of me.”
“I wrote it because of Graham.”
“Inside my house.”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
No defensiveness.
Audrey noticed.
Her company won three clients in the first month.
Nicholas offered his estate.
She refused.
“You're a terrible businesswoman.”
“You'd be a conflict of interest.”
“I have twenty-two bathrooms.”
“You also have feelings.”
He nearly choked on his coffee.
That had been enjoyable.
Liam returned to school.
No bodyguards followed him through hallways.
Instead, Audrey worked with the school, attorneys, and law enforcement on practical security measures.
He complained mostly about having to write a college essay.
The $180,000 Helen had preserved was divided according to her instructions.
Liam's education fund was secured.
A large portion went to organizations helping threatened workers and domestic violence survivors.
Audrey kept enough for emergency savings.
She had spent too much of her life believing survival required refusing help.
Her mother had taught her otherwise.
Then, thirty-one days after Audrey resigned, Nicholas called.
“Dinner.”
She smiled into the phone.
“Is that an order?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“A request.”
“Better.”
“Would you have dinner with me?”
“Why?”
Silence.
Then:
“Because I have rewritten that sentence six times and I'm apparently bad at this.”
Audrey laughed.
“Yes.”
They ate at a small restaurant in Tarrytown.
No private room.
No twenty-three business associates.
No security director hovering nearby.
Nicholas had one discreet protection officer outside.
Audrey accepted that.
He still had enemies.
Reality did not disappear because romance began.
“You look different,” Nicholas said.
“No gray uniform.”
“That isn't what I meant.”
“I know.”
“What?”
“I'm not afraid you're going to fire me if this goes badly.”
He became serious.
“I hate that you ever thought I would.”
“You were my employer and a mafia boss.”
“Former mafia boss is apparently not a legal title.”
“Pity.”
He smiled.
Then said, “I owe you an apology.”
“For?”
“The first night.”
Audrey frowned.
“You helped me.”
“I locked the estate before I asked whether that would make you feel safer.”
She hadn't expected that.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You were.”
“But I still decided for you.”
Audrey looked at him for a long moment.
“Thank you.”
They talked until the restaurant began stacking chairs.
Not about Graham.
Not about Victor.
About normal things.
Nicholas hated jazz.
Audrey loved terrible reality television.
He had once tried to bake bread and created something his housekeeper used as a doorstop.
Audrey laughed until her stomach hurt.
Then he drove her home.
He didn't kiss her.
He stopped outside her building.
“I want to.”
Her heart hammered.
“Then why aren't you?”
“Because you spent a year around men who treated what they wanted as permission.”
Audrey looked at him.
Then stepped forward.
She kissed him.
His hands stayed at his sides until she touched his wrist and pulled him closer.
That mattered too.
Months passed.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Nicholas underwent his own kind of rebuilding.
The legitimate businesses were audited and separated completely from the old organization.
He cooperated with investigators.
Some charges against old operations reached people he'd once considered friends.
He didn't interfere.
Then, eight months after Victor's arrest, Audrey received a call from the Westchester County property office.
A piece of real estate had been recovered during asset forfeiture proceedings.
The old Fallon family house.
Audrey stared at the paperwork.
“What does Nicholas have to do with this?”
“Nothing,” the attorney said.
“Victor's shell company acquired the mortgage after your father's death. The transfer was fraudulent.”
Audrey stopped breathing.
Victor hadn't merely threatened Helen.
He had secretly controlled the debt on their home.
The property legally belonged to Audrey and Liam's mother's estate.
They could reclaim it.
Audrey cried when she told Liam.
Then she discovered something inside the attic wall during renovations.
A small metal box.
Her father's handwriting covered the lid.
FOR MY KIDS - WHEN THIS IS FINALLY OVER.
Inside was one last letter from Thomas Fallon.
May you like
And the first line made Audrey sit down on the dusty attic floor.
If Nicholas Rainer is alive when you find this, don't hate him for what his family did.
