An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach) Mariah Stewart (best classic books to read TXT) 📖

make no mistake, Flynn Law is her home. But wait, make that almost ten years, and keep that thought in mind because it will be relevant in a minute. You didn’t care how she felt, Zach.” God, she even hated saying his name. “Once you realized this firm had not fallen into your lap—and thank God it hadn’t—there was no longer any reason for you to pretend to be in love with her. No reason to hang around if there wasn’t going to be a big payoff.”

“I didn’t think it would hit her so hard. And I didn’t think she’d act like a lovestruck kid who couldn’t let go, whiny and pathet—” The look on Maggie’s face told him he’d gone too far.

“I’ll tell you what I think. I think you had Amber in your sights for a while before my husband died. I think you stayed with Grace because you thought once he was gone, she would inherit the firm, and by ‘she’ you thought ‘you.’ That had been Art’s plan all along, by the way, that the firm would someday be Grace’s. That someday she would be the face of Flynn Law. But toward the end of his life, some little alarm began to ring. Something told him not to trust you. You, his brilliant protégé, the young man who showed so much potential. The man who wooed and married our daughter not for love, but for his own gain. You, who betrayed not only Grace, but the man who’d believed in you, who’d loved you like a son. Who welcomed you into his family and his business.” She had to stop and cover her eyes. Zach’s betrayal of her family—not only Grace, but Art as well—had been one of the most painful truths she’d had to face.

Maggie swallowed hard before continuing.

“So at the last minute, he left the firm in my hands to do whatever I thought best. And what I think is best is for you to be gone. You could wait until George calls you in, but I think you should be a man and leave on your own before Amber’s shit hits the fan.”

He flinched. Had she ever cursed in front of him before?

“Make some calls.” She straightened up. “You should want to get out in front of this whole Amber-hacking-into-Grace’s-computer story. Some people might suspect you put her up to it. A lot of them will believe that you did.”

“That would be a lie. You’re not going to tell people that . . .”

“Of course not. I won’t have to. They’ll come up with that on their own. There’ll always be people who will want to believe the worst, whether it’s true or not. It’s a good lesson to learn, Zach. One worth remembering.”

She started toward the door, then snapped her fingers. “Oh—and about that ten-year thing. You and Grace never made it to your tenth anniversary. Which would have been in seventeen days.”

“So?”

“So while Art was beginning to get bad vibes about you, he still wasn’t sure if he was really picking up on something, or if the meds he was on were messing with his head. So he had a clause added to his will to the effect that if you and Grace were still married on your tenth anniversary, the firm would belong to you both. Equally.” She opened the door and, without turning around, whispered, “Looks like you blew it.”

She closed the door behind her, proud of herself for not losing her temper or saying some of the really ugly things she’d wanted to say. It had taken every bit of her willpower not to. But the look on Zach’s face just before she closed the door had been priceless. The satisfaction she felt would go a long way toward making up for all the things she’d wanted to throw at him but didn’t. He was a lying, cheating snake, and he deserved to fall flat on his face.

Then again, Maggie wasn’t above a little lie of her own now and then. Zach would never know she’d made up that part about Art changing his will and the ten-year thing. She didn’t lie often, but sometimes you just had to make sure your opponent understood that you’d gotten in the last punch.

“I can’t believe you left him standing,” Natalie said when Maggie called her from the train. “Didn’t you want to kill him?”

“I did, almost as much as I wanted to slap Amber’s smirking face. But we both know that’s not my style. I thought I’d get the point across better if I just laid it all out there calmly. Doesn’t mean I liked doing it that way, but I felt the room needed an adult. Besides, I don’t think I would have been able to rein myself back in once I’d lost it. And I must say, my instincts were right. I was very effective.”

“Sort of like when Grace and I were little. When you stopped yelling and got really quiet, we knew we were in trouble.”

“Something like that.”

“Calling the FBI was brilliant. Bless George.”

“Hacking into someone else’s computer is a federal offense. I honestly don’t know how it’s going to play out. They may look at it and think it isn’t worth prosecuting because there was no money involved.”

“Of course there’s money involved. Grace lost her standing in the community and doesn’t feel she can be taken seriously ever again. She’s leaving her job over this. That has to be worth something.”

“I agree, but I don’t know how such things work on that level. I’ve never dealt with the FBI before. But the look on her face when the two agents showed up to talk to her was . . .” Maggie paused, then smiled. “It was a thing of beauty.”

Later, after Maggie awoke from her much-needed nap, she repeated the story for Grace.

“You think they’ll put her in prison for such a small offense?” Grace asked.

Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know. They could. I have no idea. I called