Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 10

Beck

A tall lanky man with silver hair stood behind the desk. I inhaled at the same time he did, and we eyed each other in recognition of one another. He glanced at Adelaide in front of me, and I shook my head no when he glanced back at me. She eyed us both, but said nothing.

“Miss Anderson, my condolences,” he said, nodding for us both to take a seat.

We took our seats in the 90’s-era office chairs in front of the desk before he sat down behind his desk.

“Your uncle and your mother both came to me to draw up their wills to ensure there would be no mistakes,” he said, pushing a few piles of papers across the desk in Adelaid’s direction. “However, rest assured, you were the only beneficiary to all of their assets. There is no contest against your claim on the property and funds within their wills.”

“What exactly did they leave me? My mama was a poor woman. They took her house. I finished school by living out of my car.” The old man shook his head. So she’d been through more than just this rejection.

“Miss Anderson, you should have come to see me sooner,” he murmured, turning a page. There is a savings account in your name for 50,000 dollars, along with the contents of a safety deposit box that is located in Colorado. For a poor woman, she left you a lot.” Adelaide took a sharp intake of breath. She was quiet with the emotions that obviously overtook her.

“How exactly do I access these…funds?” she asked, resting her elbows on the desk and cradling her hooded head in her hands. I should have made her take more medicine before coming here, I told myself.

“Once the papers are signed, I will give you an affidavit to take to the bank across the way and you can have the funds deposited into an account of your choosing.”

“What if I want it in cash?” she probed, his look of question, in response to her, made her sigh.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush, Mr. Monroe, but I don’t need a paper trail. I'm in a situation where I do need money, but I also need to fly under the radar. Any accounts I open can be tracked. I have to be careful, and if my Mama saved all that money for me, I'll be damned if I let someone else put their hands on it. 

“I suggest you request the money upfront then. There is a fee of course, but once the funds are in your hands, then it will be untraceable,” he let her know. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Your uncle, however,” Mr. Monroe went on, not missing a beat, as if the notion was commonplace to want cash instead of the appreciation it could build within a savings account,“Has left you his full estate, including a residential property in Colorado. Everything has been completely paid off. All you have to do is keep up with the taxes and maintenance. There are no liens on the property.” He opened a drawer and slid an envelope across the table. “He asked that I provide you with this to open at your own discretion. In addition, Mr. Anderson has left you several acres of land. There are a few structures on them and a small business, that was doing quite well up until his untimely death, to attend to. Adelaide cocked her head. 

“Colorado?” she questioned.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “He also left you funds in several accounts and a hefty savings account,” the lawyer went on, but she wasn’t listening anymore. He had already left her more than enough to start over. Her mind seemed to be whirling.

I was about to ask him to give her a moment to digest the new information when she looked at him squarely and asked.“How can I claim this? Is it untraceable, because I'm in a pickle.” She pushed back her hood, exposing the full extent of her marred face beneath the makeup, and the bruises around her neck. The lawyer cocked his head and smiled grimly.

“Because I knew your father, and he was a dear friend, child, it will be done. There are ways to make it more difficult for names to be traced, but I must admit, they are not foolproof. Eventually, a man of means can dig deep enough, if he is truly determined to find something,” he warned.

“It’s the best I can hope for. Maybe he will just forget me, if I am too much trouble for him to find,” the lawyer gritted his teeth, silencing himself, and the growl of my own that wanted to escape me was cut short. This man knew more than he was willing to tell. I’d circle back to him and make him talk, if that's what it took, but first, I had to get Adelaide out of here to safety, far away from whoever this shithead was.

Next came an hour-long signing of papers. The lawyer's jargon was lost to me, at least, but she just nodded along and signed carefully along each line. At the end of it all, he picked up the phone and dialed. “I need a favor, Joey, it’s for Jake Anderson's heir. I need papers that change her name in the next hour, but then you need to make the connection disappear. The voice murmured on the other end and grunted in agreement. “Come back in two hours, I’ll have it all set up by then.” I followed Adelaide as she stood.

When we exited the building, she took a deep inhaling breath. “Pizza!” she exclaimed. I let my senses loose, and yes, as we began moving side by side following the mouth-watering scent, we found a hole-in-the-wall pizza place that emitted the most amazing aroma of pepperoni, melted cheese, and crispy crust that I had ever scented. We groaned together. 

“Deep down, my spirit animal is a fatty,” she joked, stepping inside and I followed her. She ordered two pizzas, insisting I pick the toppings on one. We settled at a table, sipping at the ice cream floats she had insisted on for celebrating, as we waited for the food. She had ordered a small banquet. It was a good sign, like some weight had lifted enough she could relax, and maybe not have to choke down every bite of food she ate.

“Creedon Rothas MacAllister,” she said, tugging her hood further forward before sipping at the thick delicious concoction in front of her. This place should be outlawed, then my brain realized what she was giving me. I typed the name into my phone and pushed it across the table for her review. She nodded, pushing it back before looking away, as if she couldn’t stomach the sight of him. If this was a rejection, then she was fighting it tooth and nail. Many women, when faced with a photo of their mate, were happy to go groveling back; Adelaide, however, went ice cold and wanted even his name out of her sight. Interesting, coming from someone who didn’t present as a wolf. Her situation was strange, but this mother fucker was going to be a challenge to get too. I needed to do a lot of homework.

Garlic bread knots and salad were placed on the table and we both dug in.

“What’s your plan?” I asked. She shrugged, her mouth full.

“Suppose I see whatever my uncle has left me and go from there.”

“You trust this lawyer?” I asked, groaning, as I bit into a buttery garlic knot.

She sighed, before moaning slightly, biting into one of her own.

“They trusted him, so why shouldn’t I? They both chose the same guy.” Her eyes dragged across the other patrons watching them for any cues of anyone listening in. Satisfied, she added, “Sometimes fate tosses you a bone, who am I to question that?” she asked. I had no answer for that. I had been riding fate’s curtails for so long, that I could only nod in agreement. This was the best outcome for her; a new life.

The pizza was served as she added, “I need you to do one last thing before we part ways.” I looked up at her face, shadowed by her hood, as she pulled a piece of her pie, winding and stretching the cheese with a deft finger until it broke off.

“What's that?” I asked, folding two slices on top of each other and doing the same.

“I need a phone and a laptop before my friend tries to burn the world down looking for me.” Ok, she had my attention.

“What friend?” I asked, biting into the pizza and stifling the sounds of joy it brought me.

She glanced about ensuring everyone around us was more interested in their pizza than our conversation.

“Misty, she will get bent out of shape if I don’t check in soon. She's a hacker,” she let me know. A ‘resource’ was all I heard. “She always did too much for me. I need to let her know I’m safe though, and that whatever lies he has spewed are falsehoods, and before she loses her mind and starts digging. I don’t want her caught up in this,” she added. Too bad. If I needed her, she already was, and I’d make sure she was just as safe as Adelaide would be. I punched a few words into my phone and pushed it across the table before folding over my next two slices, as she demolished her second slice. She eyed my phone as she chewed, nodding in agreement. She would get all that and a bus ticket.

We spent the next 30 minutes putting ourselves in happy carb comas, before we parted ways.