The Heart's Domination (Touched By You 3) (7 page)

I have a full report in hand.
It looks like she’s having me followed. That’s how she got the photo of me coming out of the restaurant the other night. But, two can play at that game. I have her under full time surveillance.

It’s turned out to be quite interesting. I’d describe her lifestyle as unsavory. She’s not the type of woman that should have money. But,
I’m going off on a tangent. Let me get back to the point.

What she’s had over me all these years is my alleged attack of Salina Wells, the woman who pressed charges. You remember that, I’m sure. My father kept it out of the papers. He didn’t want the scandal.

Salina was attacked. There was no question of that. She got a tidy sum from my father and we never heard from her again. Back then, my father had no reason to question Gabriella’s story. No one did.

But my investigators have been thorough.
I couldn’t believe it at first…but it was all a lie.” Tanner stopped and looked off to the distance, still trying to assimilate the depth of his stepmother’s depravity.

Anatoli
looked across at his client. All these years working together, they’d become friends. He knew Tanner well. The accusations from Gabriella had never made sense. Now, the picture was becoming clearer. “What did you find out?”

Tanner delayed another moment
before continuing to outline the truth, as he now knew it. “What my father didn’t know is that Gabriella was having an affair. William was a very trusting man. That was too his credit. He was good to Gabriella, but that wasn’t enough for her.

It seems the man she had an affair with, Dustin Martin, a name I only recently became familiar with, was the real culprit. I
verified the dates. Everything checks out. Salina was admitted to the hospital, for injuries as a result of being beaten, the day
after
I was rescued from my crash. The day
after
….”

Anatoli
didn’t miss the significance of that fact. “Tanner, you were admitted with head injuries from that car accident. You were in no shape to be out beating women, or otherwise. So, you’re saying that this Dustin fellow beat up Salina and hung it on you? This is getting interesting.”

“Yes, a little too interesting. I now have the hospital records showing the date of admittance of Salina and the doctor’s note on time of injury. I was admitted the day before. Interviews of staff turned up
information that a tall, muscular fellow came to see Salina while she was being treated at the hospital. Someone remembered the name, Dustin.

He took a risk being there. If the truth had been discovered then,
everything would have blown up. Again, there was no reason to suspect Gabriella’s story. And William, being the loyal husband he was, never thought to disbelieve her.”

Anatoli
shook his head. “So, Dustin escaped assault charges. Gabriella took advantage of the situation and encouraged Salina to press charges against you - changing the date of the incident, of course.

Salina needed the money, so she certainly wouldn’t refuse a golden opportunity
like that, and Gabriella was always looking for an angle to discredit you with William.

Her goal was to inherit everything and cut you out of the picture. Well, William would never have gone for that.

You were his son, in every sense, as far as he was concerned, and he was proud of you. He groomed you to take over his business. You made him a happy man, Tanner.”

Tanner’s face tightened. “She’s gone
too far. Her lies go deep. She’s affected my life and I don’t appreciate it.”

“Well, as a press agent,”
Anatoli said, “it would seem that Gabriella’s deceit is the real story here. I wonder how she’d feel, seeing
that
in headlines?”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to ask her. It’s time for a confrontation. I’m having her brought to me,
right after our meeting. She’s pushed me too far. It’s time to rein her in.”

Gabriella looked like a wealthy woman, dripping with gold and diamonds and f
launting her designer wear. Tanner wasn’t impressed.

Maybe yea
rs ago she was beautiful. In spite of her expensive skin care and plastic surgeries to make her look younger, her vengeful nature seeped into the very pores she sought to beautify, giving her the appearance of an declining older woman, unable to hold on, despite extreme methods.

Her worst fears were realized when Tanner began to speak. Gabriella sat in the chair still warm from
Anatoli’s visit and raised her chin in arrogance.

“I’ll get to the point, Gabriella. I know you’d like to find a way to strip me of my inheritance, as ludicrous as that idea is. You’re more ruthless than I thought. I’ve been looking into things, and what I found, surprised even me.

I know you’ve always hated me. It irked you that my father adopted me and treated me as his son. And I have been a good son. But, the fact that you were barren and never able to have a son with William has driven you crazy, if you weren’t already crazy before.”

Gabriella shifted in her seat and glared at Tanner. Her body stiffened.

Tanner continued,
“I’ve discovered that you attempted to have the press publish a story about me today. It was interesting reading, all about a young billionaire taking an innocent woman to Paris complete with photos of Natalie and I leaving Vefour after dinner.

It sought to reveal my dark side, my abusive nature. It was well-written and would have sent a shard of fear into the hearts of Parisian women.

But, it will never see the light of day. My press agent just left. Do you really suppose a respectable newspaper would print such rumor without giving me a chance to confirm?”

Tanner’s blue eyes turned dark and pierced into her
.

Yet
, Gabriella maintained her dignity. “Unsuspecting women have a right to know. With your wealth and power, you think you can just do whatever you want,” she spat.

“I’ll tell you what people have a right to know,” Tanner began to raise his voice. “The truth, that’s what. And you can start with me. I’ve had enough of your lies.

Salina Wells, remember her?”

Gabriella’s cheeks flushed
but she said nothing.

“Lost your voice, Gabriella?” Tanner had regained control
, but continued in a stern commanding tone.

“Here’s how it’s going to be. I know the story about
how I got drunk and abused poor Salina was a lie you concocted. You went to a lot of trouble because William never thought any differently about me. He was just glad I recovered from my own injuries, sustained in the car crash.

Which, I might remind you, occurred
right after one of our fights - in those days, you could actually upset me. But now, you must realize, I have the upper hand.

So, you decided to have Salina press charges against me, falsely I might add, knowing William would never question you. He never did pursue DNA tests.

And, you knew that by the time I got to the hospital too much time had passed and any alcohol blood-level test would be invalid. It was easy to claim I’d been drunk, since nothing could be proved otherwise.

W
ith your money, you could pay off the bartender or whoever else you needed to, in order to support your allegations. Salina was the last person that would betray you. She stood to lose too much money, if she did.

You thought you had it all wrapped up, didn’t you?” Tanner stopped, knowing he had her trapped.

“Well, maybe you didn’t do it that time,” Gabriella attacked. “But, I’m sure you have other times, or would. Look w
ho your biological father was - a wife beater…a drunk and a wife beater. Your mother died as a result of his abuse.

And you are his son. You are
not
the son of William Sheldon Clarke. You are the son of Kenneth Cassel.” Satisfied, Gabriella sat back in the chair and smirked at Tanner.

“There was a day when you could upset me, Gabriella,” Tanner said in a deathly calm voice. “But that day has passed.

I know you are aware that part of your wealth is controlled by my lawyers in a special trust. William funded the trust to look after you, in a way, foreseeing that you might go through the money he left you too quickly. The trust is there to see to your needs. But you must submit a request for those funds.

Do you follow me, Gabriella?”

Gabriella seemed to deflate. Tanner had her where it hurt - the money.

“But, I don’t want your money, G
abriella. Here is what I want…the truth. You tell me now why you lied about Salina. I know there’s more to the story and I demand that you confess. If you do, things will continue as they have. You’ll have full access to your money.

Don’t try to bluff or lie your way out of this. You need to start talking.
And further, if you make more attempts to legally separate me from my inheritance, I will cut you off. Do you understand? I know you’ve blown through most of the money William left you directly and you’re in debt, trying to live the grand lifestyle. So, don’t mess with me.”

Gabriella was quiet. Her mind raced at how to outsmart Tanner, how to get an edge. But nothing came to mind. Tanner’s eyes squinted at her, threatening.

“Tanner…,” she started. “I was the one who suffered. Your father was home very little. I was lonely. Dustin Martin was one of our drivers. He paid attention to me. He was there.

I asked him to follow you to North Dakota. He was to feed me information about the business deal William sent you to do. I knew you’d mess it up, somehow. And, I wanted to let William know – to get leverage against you.

But…Dustin betrayed me. Unfortunately, he had his own drinking problem. He stopped in a bar and picked up Salina Wells, a woman ten years my junior. It infuriated me.

What he didn’t know is that I hadn’t trusted him for a while and was having him followed. I was getting weekly reports on his activities.

He was belligerent when drunk, and that night with Salina, he got out of control. He might have killed her, if not for my surveillance team. They have it on film…that is, up until the point where they broke it up, and rescued Salina. Doing the right thing, they didn’t immediately call the police, they called me. You know what happened after that.

We had just fought.
I knew you were in the hospital and had been unconscious. How would you know what happened? And Salina went along with my plan, for the money, of course.

Dustin had the nerve to go visit her in the hospital. I thr
eatened to reveal him and he knew I would follow through. He fled. I’ve not seen him since. I moved to Paris after that, as you know.

I was angry that he had an affair with Salina. Angry at William for taking you in, as if you were family and giving you rights to his inheritan
ce. And most of all angry at you, for winning over William, wheedling your way into his heart and taking the wealth that is rightfully mine.”

Tanner glared at her. Gabriella sought to placate him with some fake tears. “So, I’m the one that’s suffered,” she concluded.

Tanner said in a steady tone, “Leave my office, Gabriella. I don’t want to hear from you again. If you need anything, contact my attorneys. Your days of plotting against me are over.

You will
never again
attack me. I know the money means everything to you. And you will lose it, if you annoy me again. Now, get out.”

It had been quite a day. A huge weight had been lifted from Tanner’s shoulders. He’d never realized how much Gabriella had affected him. She’d always been there in the background, since the beginning. She was so ready to think the worst of him
, and never passed up an opportunity to crush his self-esteem.

Natalie was to meet Tanner. Between Place de la Concorde and the
Rond-Point des Champs-Elysees was an elegant French restaurant serving traditional cuisine. A couple of Tanner’s favorites were on the menu, including French scampi in basil sauce. But all Tanner could think about was telling Natalie the truth he’d discovered.

Natalie
appeared at the entry and took his breath away, wearing a charming little black dress with a single strand of pearls. She could do something to a classic look that made it the ultimate in seduction - only Natalie. He smiled a little to himself.

The waiter, dressed formally in black and white attire, escorted Natalie to the table. She noticed that Tanner looked a little disheveled which was uncharacteristic. She was so used to Tanner’s unflustered approach to life
, and his always perfect look.

Yet, even in minor disarray, he was gorgeous. The fact that he’d been running his hands through his thick, dark hair,
causing it to fall out of place was all the more endearing.

“What’s wrong?” She asked the moment the server had poured her wine.

Tanner’s eyes looked different, softer. Natalie’s heart melted. She loved this man.
What could have happened today?