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But would he understand the worst? Pulling her hand free, she leaned back to put space between the with the lawyer and head accountant, had been given power of attorney over Dad’s companies and personal assets’

See where I’ with this?

‘I gave up my hospital job to nurse Dad, and when that becaht in other nurses to help , but seeing my once fit and active father turn into a s’

‘You were distraught, unable to cope with anything else’ The guy got it on every level Scary Didn’t mean she could trust him yet

‘Peter seized his opportunity He already oversaw all business decisions, but he kindly read docun theive me more time with Dad, you understand The accountant wasn’t any less helpful either Between them they ell qualified to run the business, whereas I was too easy to fool’ She held theinto the ht finally find so herself ‘I let the from us I let them’

‘Itwith your dad’s situation and keeping tabs on a huge business, which, as you said yourself, you weren’t qualified to do Did you have grounds to doubt Peter’s loyalty to your father? To you?’

‘None No one did He was always so willing to help, to be there whenever Dad asked for him, even when Dad couldn’t reht up until the end, Peter would turn up every , despite Dad not co a word’

‘How did you find out what he’d done?’ Still nothing but concern and care radiated out at her fro?

Taaze fro up inside her Instead, she stared at the tabletop, focusing on that awful day that had cul face, as clearly as if it had happened yesterday, today even How had she been so stupid not to see what he was doing? How?

‘Tam?’

‘Don’t,’ she whispered

‘You’re Tae that’

Hadn’t he heard everything she’d said? Or not understood it fully? Finish the story, get back to work Work where all her colleagues would be watching her, even when it was old news to h of that, didn’t want another round of feeling like a fruit loop ‘We’d been home from Dad’s funeral less than an hour when the fraud squad arrived and all hell broke loose’ Flashing caet in her face

‘The ed

Maybe she did have another friend in this world ‘They’d been at the funeral, and followed the procession to the cemetery, then on to our hoossip about, and appeared to be very knowledgeable on things they couldn’t have had a clue about Even led whisper ‘I was to blan the papers that shifted funds offshore into bank accounts that did not have Washington Enterprises in their name’

‘Your hts?’ Conor asked

‘Now, there’s the irony Dad knew she’d be forever signing papers without a clue what they were about As long as there was enough money in her accounts to keep up with the lifestyle she adored then everything was fine in her world Besides’ She hesitated, suddenly feeling disloyal to her mother, a woman who’d not often shown her any loyaltyinvolved with for his child’s sake ‘Mum is a bit of a loose cannon, never stops to think of the consequences of anything she wants to do’

‘Where is she now?’

‘Living with a distant relative in a small town in Australia’

Conor rose and came around to her, held out his hands to haul her to her feet His hug was gentle and reassuring He wasn’t about to trash her for her past If only she could truly trust hiht But, no, there was tooout the future for their child

‘You want to take the rest of the day off?’ he asked, still holding her close

Yes Hoht now Close the curtains, turn on the TV, though not the news channel, and pull a blanket up to her ears But she’d done that too often Straightening out of his ar before the end of the shift’

‘Go, you’ His sot your back all the way’

Unease slipped in ‘Why, Conor?’

He looked taken aback at the question He was certainly thinking about it ‘I just do, that’s why’

She nodded The best answer in the world He was accepting her for who she was, despite not knowing her too well When was the last time that had happened? Yet she still didn’t fully trust him Because of Peter

Another reason could be that her world was righting itself Then her sto herself And Conor