The Billionaire's Will (26 page)

“Mr. Steel, I don’t know. Perhaps she sent you an email.”

“We are not communicating well these days.”

Clint frowned. “Nick would not be happy to hear that.”

“I know
, that’s why I came. I was hoping she would let me talk to her.”

“Maybe she will let you talk to her in Florida.”

“Maybe she will.”

What Austin found in the dining room of the Tampa Hotel completely took him aback. Not only were Georgia and her Mother seated at a table, Jackie, Michael, and Carl were with them.

“Austin,” Laura said, quickly rising up to hug him. “We weren’t expect
ing to see you here.”

“I wasn’t expecting to be here.” He looked directly at Georgia when he asked, “May I join you?”

“Of course you may,” said Laura. “Sit by me. Have you had dinner?”

Georgia barely looked at him, so
Austin didn’t wait for her permission before he sat down. “Thank you. I ate something on the plane, but I could use a drink.” He motioned the waiter over and ordered coffee. “Jackie, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“
We had a little unfinished business to take care of after we left Denver. Perhaps Carl will fill you in. He is quite proud of himself.”

Carl cleared his throat. Wearing jeans and a cowboy hat, he looked right at home
in the country western setting, and his eyes danced as he spoke. “Remember I asked you to get me into the country club?”

“Yes,”
Austin answered.

“Well, Mathew was there playing handball. I broke into his locker and put a GPS tracking chip in the lining of his billfold.”

“Really? Isn’t that illegal.”

“
Some PI’s do it all the time,” said Jackie, “but we need not tell the authorities that part.”

Austin chuckled. “Your secret is safe with me. Did you track Mathew to Tampa?”

“Yep,” Carl answered. “I followed him to Amanda Black’s apartment and took pictures of him going in. About an hour later, he came back out acting like a man with something to hide. I took pictures of that too.”

“The next morning, her murder was in the papers,” Jackie added.

“We knew we had him then,” said Carl. “I sent the pictures to the authorities and said I’d be here anytime they needed me to testify.”

“That’s why we’re
all here,” said Laura. “The Grand Jury meets tomorrow.”

“Will you
have to testify?” Austin asked Laura.

“I
can’t wait to testify. Amanda came to see me. I warned her not to tell Mathew, but…” Laura hung her head and when she did, Georgia took her hand. “Mother, it is not your fault.”

“If anyone is to blame,
I am,” said Carl. “If I had gone up to check on her, I might have been able to save her life. I feel bad about that…real bad.”

“No one is to blame
but Mathew,” said Austin. “He is a lot more dangerous than any of us knew.”

When Georgia stood up, all the men stood as well. “If you will excuse me, I am tired. Good night.”
She only slightly glanced at Austin before she walked away.

He
watched her go and then sat back down. Austin tried to pretend her leaving so abruptly didn’t matter, until he noticed Laura watching him. “What is she upset about?” he asked.

“Why have y
ou distanced yourself from us?” Laura asked. “You haven’t come to the house since I got out of rehab.”

“I
haven’t distanced myself. Georgia is doing just fine. She no longer needs me.”

“Of course she needs you. She’s worked very hard t
o take the burden off your shoulders, and the least you can do is take some it off of hers.”

Austin wrinkled his brow.
“What burden?”

“You told her if she accepted the inheritance she would be lifting a great burden off your shoulders.”

Austin closed his eyes for a long moment. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Perhaps not, but that’s the way she took it.
She works long hours to learn and understand what is required of her. She would do anything for you.”

“Except let me apologize.”

Laura shook her head. “She doesn’t want you to apologize – she wants you to forgive her.”

Michael
raised an eyebrow and looked at Jackie. “He’s more stubborn than you are.”

“I’m not stubborn, Michael, I am just…”
Jackie tried.

“I know
what
you are just,” Michael interrupted. “You’re just afraid to admit that I’m the lovable, short guy you secretly adore.”

She
dropped her gaze and stared at her dinner plate. “If I take off my shoes, will you ask me to dance?”

Both of Michael’s eyebrows shot up
. “Really?”

“Well, if you don’t want to.”

Michael nearly knocked his chair over getting up. “I want to, I want to.”

Jackie
giggled, slipped her shoes off, took the hand he offered her, and walked with him to the dance floor in the next room.

Austin laughed and then turned to Laura and asked, “Should I go up and talk to her?”

“Not tonight, dear. She has a splitting headache. Let her rest.”

*

The next morning, Austin slept later than he intended, and by the time he called the desk, the rest of them were gone. It was apparent Georgia wasn’t going to talk to him in Florida either, so he took a taxi to the airport and caught a flight home.

*

Inside the Tampa jail, Laura sat on the visitor’s side of the thick, bulletproof glass that separated her from her husband of over twenty-five years.

“Did you kill
my father too,” Laura asked after she picked up the phone.

Mathew
frowned. “How could you ask me that? Your father meant the world to you, and you meant the world to me. I have always loved you, Laura.”

“How odd to hear you sa
y that now…after all these years.”

“I did say it, you just never listened.”

“You took my baby from me? What kind of love is that, Mathew?”

“Laura, you have to help me get out of here. You can afford it, and with the best lawyers, I
can beat…”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you love me too.”

Laura shook her head. “I never loved you, Mathew. I loved the man I thought you were.”

“You are my wife, you have to help me. I’ll do anything you ask.”

She smiled her sweetest smile. “Good bye, Darling.”

He looked positively pained as Laura dropped the phone and rose up out of her seat. “Laura!” he screamed, but she couldn’t hear him and simply walked out the door.

It was early evening when Austin drove up in front of the Gladstone mansion and knocked on the door. Clint let him in, and led the way up the stairs to Georgia’s favorite room – the room she converted from Nick’s bedroom to a sitting room for her and her mother.

S
he was standing on the balcony and saw him arrive, but she didn’t go down to meet him. Nor did she turn around when she heard him enter the room. Instead, she waited to see what he would do.

A moment later, s
he could feel him standing next to her, but he didn’t say a word, so she finally glanced up at him. “Mathew accepted a plea bargain. The judge will give him life in prison without the possibility of parole.”

“
I am surprised. I thought he would fight it tooth and nail,” Austin said. “How do you feel about him now?”

“I don’t feel anything. I never knew him.
”

He put his hands on the railing and watched the water in the fountain.
“How is Laura doing?”

“She hasn’t had a drink, if that’s what you mean.”

“Good for her.”

“
Mother says she doesn’t have a reason to drink now.”

He couldn’t stand their small talk and decided to get right to the point.
“Georgia, if I forgive you, will you forgive me?”

She bowed her head. “My forgiveness has no such stipulation
these days. I forgive you whether you forgive me or not.”

“I do forgive you.
”

“But not really?”

“No…really. I let my hurt feelings keep me from seeing what you needed, more than you needed me.”

“I
needed you. I will always need you.”

“I’m not sure you do. Y
ou are a lot stronger than I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

“I thought I would have to hold your hand every step of the way and do everything for you.” He paused when he noticed a woman in the garden watching them, but he ignored her. “I
wanted
to do everything for you, but you are quite capable of doing it yourself.”

Georgia
shyly smiled. “I am not as capable as you think. I am lost in all this paperwork.”

“You signed
everything.”

“Because I trust
you. Half of the time, I have no idea what I am signing.”

“You didn’t ask, so I thought…”

She turned to face him. “You thought wrong.”

“
Can we be friends again now?” he asked.

Georgia
frowned. “You only want to be friends?”

“No, I want much more than that, but
you frighten me. I’ve never known a woman with your courage.”

She
laughed. “I have no courage at all. My best friend in school called me Sissy all the time.”

“
That’s how you chose your chat name?”

“
Yes, but I think I have grown up since then.”

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
“Perhaps I have too.”

“There, that settles
it. We have both gotten old in the last few weeks.”

“Has it only been a few weeks? In that case,
it’s about time for our second date.”

She put her hands on her hips.
“Not without Jim’s permission.”

“I already have it. He gave me permission the day I hired him to run
GSTS.”

“That bum, he never said a word to me about it.”

Austin finally opened his arms to her. “Come here.”

When she
quickly went into his embrace, he held her close and closed his eyes. “We have some unfinished business.”

“What’s that?”

“I didn’t get to kiss you goodnight after the ball.”

“Then you’ll have to take me to another one.”

“Or I could kiss you now.”

She leaned back to look into his eyes. “Yes, you could.”

He slowly lowered his lips to hers and felt her melt in his arms
– at last. That is, until he heard someone on the lawn whistle and opened his eyes.

“
Georgia, is that who I think it is?” the woman coming out of the garden shouted.

“Who’s that?” Austin asked.

Georgia nodded to her friend and took his hand. “Come with me, Mr. Steel, there is someone I desperately want you to meet.”

By the time they got
downstairs, the woman had come inside and Laura was with her. Georgia reached for her friend’s hand. “Austin, this is my best friend in the whole world – Sharon Connelly.”

Austin
was taken aback by the name, but he nodded, “Sharon, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Otherwise known as Teresa Douglas,” Laura added.

He looked at Sharon and then at Georgia. “Has anyone ever told you how much the two of you look alike?”

“I don’t think so,” said Georgia.

Sharon wrinkled her brow. “Neither do I.”

Laura slipped her
hand around Austin’s arm. “Sharon’s mother was married to Mathew too. Sharon pretended to be my maid, found Georgia’s birth certificate in Mathew’s safe, and then wiped my darling Mathew’s bank account completely out.”

Austin studied the delight on
Sharon’s face. “Really, I am impressed beyond words. I can’t wait to hear how you managed that.”

“Mathew killed Sharon’s mother in London,” Laura continued, “and she was there. In fact, she took pictures of him doing it.”

“S
he was there?” a shocked Austin asked.

Laura moved away from Austin and looped her arm through
Sharon’s. “She is such a dear girl and very brave.”

Georgia giggled at the confounded look on Austin’s face. “
It was Sharon who convinced Mathew to take the plea. She went to see him in jail and told him if he didn’t take it, she would use
his
money to hire detectives and dig up all his other crimes. We think he killed the first Georgia Marie James too.”

“
Really?” Austin asked. “Jackie’s report said they found her obituary, but her death was ruled an accident.”

“That’s not all,”
said Laura. “Sharon told Mathew that she would especially be interested in crimes in states that had the death penalty. That’s what convinced him.”

“W
ait, if you saw Mathew kill your mother, why didn’t you turn him in?” Austin asked Sharon.

“We had something else in mind,”
Sharon answered.

Laura giggled.
“The biggest mistake Mathew ever made was putting half-sisters in the same boarding school.”

Again, Austin looked at Teresa and then at Georgia.
“The two of you planned this whole thing?”

“Not all of it,” said Georgia. “You
were not part of the plan.”

Austin narrowed his eyes. “But you did plan to take the inheritance all along.”

“No,” Georgia argued. “When I saw Sharon come in at the ball, I knew we had Mathew’s money. That was enough. I intended to leave as soon as…”

“
She’s telling the truth,” Sharon interrupted. “I bought her a ticket home while I waited for my flight in New York, but her phone service was cut off and I didn’t have any way to let her know.
You
talked her into taking the inheritance.”

Georgia
gently stroked the sleeve of his suit jacket. “You see, it all started when I was six. My first day at school, Sharon socked me in the eye.”

Sharon
giggled. “‘Tis true. Her English was deplorable and she deserved it. Besides, I was the oldest.”

“By two months,” Georgia scoffed. “For years
, we hated each other, and then one day…” She stopped when she saw the disturbed look on his face. “Austin, whatever you are thinking, you are wrong.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Tell me this, at least.”

“What?”

“Do you love me?”

Georgia tipped her head to the side. “Most of the time.”

Sharon
giggled, and walked Laura toward the dining room. “Let’s see if we can find something to eat. May I call you mother too?”

“Of course you may. I
loved having you at the house.”

“I
loved being there, Mother.” When Sharon looked back, Austin was kissing Georgia and holding her so close, she doubted anything would ever come between them again.