the door behind her.
Arms folded across his chest and gut, camouflaged in an expensive suit, Tanner faced Salim. “How dare you!”
“How dare I what?”
“You come barging in here when you obviously knew I was in a meeting.”
“You said you wanted to see me. You had Diane call.”
Salim looked directly into the eyes of the man he’d been told he was the spitting image of. At thirty-three he refused to be intimidated. They looked nothing alike. He favored his mother, not this arrogant man with the overinflated ego.
“And you informed Diane you were too busy and couldn’t make the time to meet with me. You said you were jet-lagged.”
“I was. I still am.”
“But you made the time to see your mother.”
“I always have time for my mother.”
Unlike you. The unspoken words hung between them.
“Have a seat,” Tanner said, waving Salim toward a huge black leather couch.
The casting couch.
He’d be damned if he sat down on that thing. Who knew what disgusting things lived in that sofa?
“I prefer to stand,” Salim answered, arms also folded, mimicking the man who had given him life. “What’s so urgent that it required me being here? We haven’t spoken in months.”
“That was your decision,” Tanner reminded him quietly.
Yes, indeed it had been his decision. He was sick and tired of watching this man hurt his mother. Their lifestyles were so very different anyway. Tanner loved living large and enjoyed the glitz and glamour that came with the television business. Salim despised it. He much preferred to do something useful like help change lives. His money was used to make a difference in other people’s circumstances. That’s why his last jaunt to Africa had been so satisfying. He’d enjoyed seeing what a little money could do to enhance lives. This upcoming trip would be even more rewarding. The clinic in Haiti badly needed staffing and money for medical supplies. He’d managed to get some substantial contributions.
A few years ago Salim and a partner had started a foundation that helped promote safe sex globally. Their ultimate goal was to educate and stem the transmittal of the HIV virus, particularly in some African and Caribbean countries.
The good thing about having a trust fund was that it gave him the freedom to travel and donate funds as he saw fit. A nine-to-five job would not allow him to pick up and leave whenever he wanted to. Of course he preferred not to remember that TSW Studios made his way of life possible.
“Perhaps you had better take a seat,” Tanner repeated, his expression serious. “What I am going to say will take some time, and then we’ll need to meet with the lawyers. There’s some paperwork to go over.”
Since it sounded serious Salim sat. He would strangle the old bastard with his bare hands if he told him he was going to divorce his mother and replace her with a younger model.
Kennedy Fitzgerald to be exact.
Kennedy had a lot to think about. Tanner Washington’s job offer had come out of the blue, and at the perfect time. But it sounded as though she would be a glorified babysitter. Tanner wanted to hire her to groom his son, who appeared to be a handful. Kennedy was to get him ready to take over Tanner’s position as studio head.
The television mogul had admitted to already having three heart attacks. He was now being scheduled for bypass surgery. His doctor had advised him to get his affairs in order, and this was where Kennedy came in. Tanner Washington was being forced to think of his mortality.
Kennedy still hadn’t heard word one from Marna. Now Kennedy needed every penny she could get. First there was the matter of transportation to get her around. Her car could very easily be on its way to an auction block, which meant buying another. She’d already used a sizeable chunk of the money earned in Japan to get her bills current, and she dreaded thinking of how that delinquency would affect her credit.
She could kill the woman. Maybe Lincoln, her brother—named after Abraham Lincoln—knew of Marna’s whereabouts. He still lived in eastern Washington where they’d grown up. Kennedy put in her earpiece and punched in the programmed number on her cell phone.
Lincoln’s deep voice brought a smile to her face.
“Hey, baby girl. I bet you’re glad to be home?”
“It was nice of you to call and check on me,” Kennedy said sarcastically.
Linc’s deep laughter rang out. “Don’t get attitude with me. I’m a family man and plenty busy with the new baby. What’s up?”
“Have you heard from Marna?”
“Was I supposed to? The last I knew she’d taken off to Alaska after some guy.”
“What! She was supposed to be house-sitting for me.”
“Yeah, I’d heard something about that. She’s got this friend Betsy you might want to call.”
After an extended hold Linc returned with Betsy’s number. Hanging up, Kennedy called the number and became even more frustrated when she was kicked into voice mail. Having no choice, she left a message. Next on the agenda was the towing company.
“A silver Honda?” the stressed employee repeated while several phones rang in the background.
“Yes, yes,” Kennedy said impatiently, giving her license plate number and mentally ticking off a dozen things she needed to do.
“Sorry, ma’am, but that vehicle is no longer here. When cars are repossessed they get wholesaled out to dealers. Yours could be on any number of trucks heading anywhere.”
Seconds from losing it, Kennedy hung up the phone. She couldn’t believe the mess her life had become.
Chapter 3
“I’ve decided to accept the position but on one condition,” Kennedy said to Tanner Washington two days later.
“I’m delighted. What’s the condition?”
“Your generous offer has to come with a company vehicle.”
Tanner’s rich laughter rang out. “All of my executives have company vehicles or at the very least they receive a car allowance.”
Yes! Kennedy covered the phone’s mouthpiece before she could say the word out loud. She exhaled the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Things were definitely looking up.
After doing a little more digging, she’d learned her vehicle had been wholesaled out. Gone was the forty-eight hundred dollars she’d shelled out over the past year in car payments. The rental she was now driving was costing her a fortune, and to add insult to injury she hadn’t been able to use a credit card, and that meant more money coming out of her bank account.
“There
