Liesl entered Isaias’ home and grinned at the sound of loud music pumping from the kitchen. She followed the noise, leaned against the wall, and watched as he danced to the music thumping while he prepped dinner.
She cleared her throat, and he looked over his shoulder and grinned. He danced over to her and grabbed her hand and danced her around the kitchen, spinning her under his arm and dipping her deeply before pulling her upright and kissing her. He then lifted her up and sat her on the counter next to where he was working.
“You’re in a good mood.”
“I’m in a fantastic mood. I was gifted a painting today and within the frame, I found five USB drives and the information contained in them is ridiculously valuable. My goal at the beginning of this year was to gift myself the McGrath company for Christmas. I might be able to do it by the weekend now. I’m stoked.”
“Really?” she reached for a piece of carrot he was chopping into sticks.
“Liesl, you have no idea how detailed Merlin was in his notes. I was able to confirm the veracity of his information on multiple levels. What blows my mind is the fact he would simply use your personal laptop for this. He was conducting business from your laptop. It wasn’t remotely secure. Anyone with half a brain could have been sitting near him in any airport, café, restaurant while he was using your computer and hacked it without difficulty. Corporate espionage is a very real threat. My cell phone has top of the line security on it and my laptop is so heavily encrypted the guys from my IT unit call it Mission Impossible level of security. I wouldn’t download or even stream a movie on my work computer, and he was bouncing between his computer and yours as if it were no big deal.”
“To him it wasn’t. I think in his head, the only thing I used my computer for was watching movies or checking my personal emails. Even then most of those things I did on my cell phone.”
“One of the things I found interesting in reviewing the information today is you didn’t tell me you,” he nudged her, “are a shareholder.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.” He was holding a knife in his hand as he paused, “how do you not know you have a five percent interest in the company?”
She wrinkled her nose up and then shrugged, “maybe it was part of my prenup to ensure I was provided for long term. Elsie read my divorce papers and prenup and compared them to make sure everything was accurate, but I didn’t pay much attention to anything other than I got the house, my car, and my spousal support.”
“They’re worth five million. If you want to sell them,” he tilted his head with a smirk.
“Can I?”
“They’re yours to do with as you want. It’s a publicly traded company.”
“Five million though?”
“Yes.” He resumed prepping vegetables. “If you want to sell them, I’ll happily buy them from you. You can have Elsie talk to my legal team and they’ll sort it out. Today I secretly purchased shares from two board members, one of them is Trent’s brother. He’s in the UK with his lover.”
“His lover? Do they all cheat on their wives?”
“Not sure but this one uses his wife as a beard.”
“No.” She stopped chewing her carrot stick, her mouth hanging open.
He lifted her chin shut grimacing at the mouthful of chewed food, “Yes. It seems Trent and his father have ordered him to maintain a certain appearance which does not include coming out.”
“This has to be Toby.”
“It is,” he made wide eyes at her. “My CFO met with him an hour ago and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. I personally met with Trent’s aunt who wants to retire. She told me the entire situation involving you made her sick. She wants to walk away but Trent refused to buy her out of the company. We signed NDA’s and she’s going to act as a proxy for me until we get more. Right now, I have twenty percent of the company’s holdings.”
“Twenty-five if I sell you mine?”
“Yup. No pressure though. I don’t mind letting you keep yours. If you choose to keep your stocks, I will ensure titles transfer to our company.”
“Are you kidding? I didn’t even know I had them. If it’s going to make my bank account flush, I’m in. I’ll have Elsie reach out.”
“You sure?”
“Definitely.”
“What did your prenup offer, can you recall?”
“Monthly spousal support until such time I get remarried. My car. The house I sold and the entirety of the contents excluding any company owned items which may have been on site at the time of the marriage dissolution. Jewellery purchased for me during our marriage as well as my entire wardrobe.” She grimaced, “I have to be honest. I didn’t really pay much attention to it. I signed the prenup thinking it was moot because we were never going to split up. When he told me we were getting divorced, I was in such shock I could barely think. I simply signed and was done with it.”
Isaias was quiet as he began putting together a stir fry.
“What are you thinking?” she asked as she watched him add the strips of beef to the hot pan.
“I’m realizing the depths of the pain this man and your sister have caused you. Merlin didn’t deserve the love you gave him, Liesl. He squandered it like a fool. It pisses me off to know, not only did he hurt you and make you cry, broke your heart, but he has such little regard for his actions he would think you would take him back no questions asked. He keeps telling you he wants you back uncaring of how much agony he has put you through because he couldn’t balls-up and tell your sister to fuck off.”
“I had a talk with my Granny today. She told me things about my sister when we were kids. I always knew she was a bit off but according to my Gran, she is deranged. I think my dad kept me and Fred sheltered from her insanity and then he died when we were teens. I think there is a very valid reason why Merlin can’t tell her to fuck off. She’s probably threatened herself, the baby and probably even me, based on what Gran said.”
“What did she say?” He continued to cook their dinner.
“Apparently, she put me in the hospital with a concussion when we were small. I don’t remember the concussion or even the events around it, but I do remember my dad taking me and Fred to stay with my grandparents for a long time. Gran told me today Dad left Mom over the way she handled the situation. He left her home with Sandy and took me away and remained concerned for my safety for years.”
He turned to face her, “are you safe from her?”
“I’m not afraid of her, if it’s what you’re asking. We don’t get along. We never have. She likes to take what is mine. She always has. If I have anything, she wants it.”
“Well, I know one thing of yours she will never get her mitts on.”
“Yeah? What’s that.”
“Me,” he grinned at her. “I can promise you, if she and I were the last two people left on the planet, I would go looking for a knot hole in a tree before even considering her.”
Liesl giggled at his words. “Good to know. I like thinking you’re mine.”
“I am yours,” he waved around. “I’m even being domesticated and cooking your dinner.”
She leaned sideways and kissed his cheek, “I’m yours too, Isaias.”
“I know.” He smiled softly at her. “I can promise you this much, I will never hurt you the way he did. I will never leave you crying from betraying your trust. I’m finding the more time we spend together, the angrier I become at his callous treatment of you. You can trust me Liesl and know I will never cause you the kind of pain McGrath did. What he’s done to you is mind boggling. You are by far the sweetest, most loving person I’ve ever met and he’s the world’s biggest jerk.”
Her chest squeezed at his words. “Thank you, Isaias. It means a lot to hear you say this to me.”
“I mean it, love. Now, why don’t you set the table for me. We can have dinner together and you can tell me all about how it felt to photograph your Granny naked. You must need at least an hour of therapy.”
Her giggles carried all the way through dinner.
