Settling the Score (The Summer Games #1)(98)

“No need to justify, Fred. I think it’s a brilliant plan. I’ll be there.”

She seemed too eager.

“Georgie. I’m serious. No actual daggers at the coffee shop,” I warned.

She smirked. “I wouldn’t dream of it. We all know justice is best served hot and foamy.”





CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO


Freddie




FIRST THING THE following morning, I walked into my lawyer’s office in Hanover Square. He was already set up in a large conference room on the first floor. He took up nearly half of the large oak table and my PR team was spread out across the other half. Together they made up my brain trust, responsible for both legally extricating myself from Caroline’s grasp regardless of the baby situation and minimizing the collateral damage Andie would feel. It was early, but it looked like everyone had been there since the crack of dawn.

I slid a coffee in front of Dave and he barely looked up from the pile of work in front of him. I had no bloody clue what he was up to, but he had files and papers and two empty cups of coffees spread out before him. At the very least, he looked busy.

“Could I get you a coffee or a cup of tea?” his assistant asked me from the doorway.

I held up my half-full cup. “I’m good, Kathleen. Thank you.”

I felt rather useless standing there, watching them all work. I pulled out one of the chairs closest to Dave and waited for someone to take a break and fill me in on what they’d been doing all morning. Truly, it wasn’t necessary for me to be there, but I wanted to be as close to the solution as possible. For too long, my focus had been elsewhere, but with the games finished, it was time to show Caroline that playtime was over.

A few minutes later, Dave finally glanced up from his work.

“Fred, first of all, you’re a hell of a swimmer.”

I nodded in thanks and pulled my chair closer to him.

“That being said, you’ve worked yourself into a shite situation here.”

“I know that. Have the PR people worked out how to get me out of it yet?”

He shook his head and rifled through a few papers to get to a yellow legal pad buried underneath. “It just doesn’t look good. You see, if we ignore the fact that Caroline has behaved criminally and present the separation as a result of irreconcilable differences, you come out looking like an ass, and Andie is sure to receive more vitriol than ever.”

“And what about the stuff Georgie found?”

“Up against the story of the cheating father of her unborn baby? Nobody will care. Like you mentioned on the phone, she’s likely to pass it off as a charitable donation, or as paying the premium for top obstetrical care.”

I shook my head and fell back into my chair.

“We’re working on it, Fred, but without evidence of Caroline’s extortion, we can’t weaken her position in the public eye. And if we can’t reverse this perception, any pain we inflict on Caroline will inexorably pale in comparison to the hurt Ms. Foster will endure in the aftermath.”





IT WAS NEARLY lunchtime before I got a chance to step out of the conference room and check my mobile. I’d gone over every detail of Rio with my PR team. They’d listened and shaken their heads, more than convinced Caroline was a lunatic, but they agreed with Dave that there wasn’t enough objective evidence to bring her down.

I was knackered and hungry, but Georgie had already called four times that morning, the last of which had only been a few minutes earlier.

“Georgie, you there?” I asked as soon as the call picked up.

“FRED.”

She sounded out of breath and excited. I shoved against the hallway wall, giving space to the lawyers flooding out of the building for lunch.

“What is it, G? Have you gone to the coffee shop yet?”

“Yes! I’ve been sitting at the table right behind Caroline and her dopey doctor for the last fifteen minutes and she hasn’t even noticed!”

“How is that possible?”

“I’ve got a red wig on and everything. I think I look quite cute. Might have to give it a go one of these nights when I’ve the time.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Georgie, have you heard anything?”

She practically squealed. “SO MUCH! I can’t tell you everything right now. I’m in one of the bathrooms and someone’s already knocking on the door. But Fred, get this—the doctor went to university with Caroline, and he’s obviously in love with her. I just know he’s been helping her falsify the pregnancy! It makes so much sense.”

“Has he said that?”

“They only just started talking about it when you called.”

“Get back in there Georgie, and call back on my lawyer’s conference line so I can have him record their conversation. I’ll text you the number.”

The chance that Caroline would say anything incriminating in a public setting was slim to none, but regardless, I ran back into the conference room and explained the situation to Dave as quickly as possible. Just as I finished, the phone rang in the center of the conference table, and for the next thirty minutes we were all privy to Caroline’s conversation. We sat, stunned as Caroline spoke with her friend, Dr. Dunn.

I didn’t care that my stomach was growling with hunger; I hovered over that conference table and listened to Caroline’s voice through the speaker. She was laying on the charm like I’d never heard before, sweet and innocent and disgustingly pleasant as she droned on with her friend.