Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 80

*Shelby*

I got into the black SUV, and the new driver shut the door behind me. It was strange to see someone other than Lance, and I hoped to myself that he was okay. I found out at the hospital that his surgeries had gone well, but he would need to stay in the hospital a lot longer to make a full recovery.

“Excuse me,” I said to the new driver.

“Yes, Miss Hatton?” he responded. I noticed the little gray wisps of hair sneaking out from under his hat.

“I was wondering if Bruce told you anything about the security team keeping an eye on my roommate while I’m gone. I don’t like leaving her alone,” I said.

“Bruce always has someone on watch out here,” the driver said with a smile through the rearview mirror. He reminded me slightly of my grandfather.

“Thank you,” I said in response.

I was slightly startled by the news. I didn’t know that Bruce had our apartment guarded still. It made sense now that whoever sent the get-well card didn’t just tape it on my door like the other threats had been.

I busied myself by looking into the Hastings family business. It was an engineering firm that often worked with Michael’s company. From what I could replace on their website, it seemed like they had a pretty extensive legal department.

I searched through the legal team’s pictures, and I was pleasantly surprised at their impressive backgrounds. Most of them had graduated from Ivy League schools, and all were extremely decorated with accomplishments. The idea of doing my internship at Hastings Engineering started to seem better and better.

I was still bitter about Lauren getting the internship I’d wanted over me, and I reminded myself to say something to Michael about it when I saw him. My stomach twisted at the thought.

It was no use, I had no idea how I would really feel when I saw him again, and no matter how much planning I put into what I was going to say, I knew all my words would be forgotten as soon as we were face to face.

The sun was setting by the time I could make out the New York skyline in the distance, and my stomach felt as though it was dancing nervously inside me. I couldn’t sit still, so I settled for anxiously fixing my hair and making sure I remembered everything.

Michael would be meeting me at my hotel, where we would have dinner and discuss everything that’d happened since our breakup. I didn’t know if he would be waiting for me when I arrived, but I wanted to be prepared if he was.

“Excuse me? I think you may have missed the turn. The hotel I’m staying at was a street back,” I said, gesturing behind me.

“I was told to take you directly to the Express Air building, Miss Hatton. There was a slight change in plans. I’m sorry you weren’t made aware earlier,” the driver said as he continued driving into the city.

I sighed, “I’m getting used to being kept in the dark.”

My heart was pounding as the driver pulled to a stop in front of the towering building. However, it slowed as a familiar smile caught my eye. As the car pulled to a stop, he opened my door for me and offered his hand to help me out.

“Reggie!” I said enthusiastically.

His smile widened even more. Reggie and I had met while on Michael’s yacht during the summer. He and I became fast friends as I was hiding away from Lauren’s horrible guests. Reggie had spent that summer as Michael’s intern, but we hadn’t seen each other in months, since I moved to Cambridge.

“Shelby, you look amazing. It’s been way too long since we’ve seen each other,” Reggie reached both arms out as though he was thinking about pulling me in for a hug before changing his mind and opting for an awkward handshake at the last second.

“It’s good to see you too, Reggie. I’ve missed you,” I said, trying to ease some of the awkwardness out of the situation.

“Let’s get inside the building; this street is always so crazy,” Reggie said, gesturing toward the entrance.

I led the way, with Reggie only a few steps behind me. As soon as the doors closed behind us the noise of New York faded and was replaced by the bustle of the downstairs lobby. Reggie led me over to a private elevator, and I was relieved when the doors slid closed behind us.

“So, what’ve you been up to since I last saw you?” I asked Reggie, now that we were able to hear each other again.

“Well, I’m no longer just an intern. I finished my master’s degree in business, and Michael hired me on as his full-time assistant,” Reggie said proudly.

“That’s great. I’m so happy for you,” I said with a slightly forced smile.

I wasn’t used to people bringing up Michael in conversation yet. Sure, Lin made passing comments, usually negative ones about him, but I hadn’t been around anyone who just talked about him like normal since the breakup.

Hearing his name in conversation stung a little. Reggie must’ve noticed because he gave me a sympathetic look.

“Shelby… I’m…” he trailed off.

“It’s okay. So I’m guessing you know about everything?” I asked.

“Yeah, I do,” he said, suddenly replaceing the buttons on the elevator extremely interesting.

“Well then, do you know why I’m meeting him here? Bruce told me that Michael would be meeting me at the hotel, but the driver brought me straight here instead.”

“You do need to know before we get up there,” Reggie said with a sigh. “Shelby, the FBI are upstairs waiting to question both you and Michael.”

“Oh,” was the only word I could get out of my mouth.

I wasn’t prepared to see Micahel alone, and now I was getting the added pressure of seeing him for the first time after our break up in the company of FBI agents. This added a whole new level of stress.

We rode the rest of the way to the top floor in silence while I worked out a plan in my head. I was grateful that Reggie gave me that time to think rather than try to make small talk.

We walked into the large hallway getting off of the elevator, and I started to recall the top floor of the building where Michael’s office sat. I was used to coming off the main elevators, which led straight into the waiting room. However, before we made it to Michael’s office, Reggie turned me down a different corridor to a large conference room made completely of floor-to-ceiling glass walls.

My heart sped up as soon as I saw Michael again. His eyes immediately locked with mine, and I saw something in them I never had before.

Was it regret or guilt?

He gave me a half-hearted smile, which I didn’t return. I couldn’t return it even if I wanted to. I stood frozen in the hallway, not sure how to proceed or even how to breathe. I didn’t know how to feel. In ways, he still felt like my Michael, but the distance between us made us feel almost like strangers, all at the same time.

Reggie put a hand on the small of my back and led me further down the hallway to the entrance of the conference room.

“Hello, Shelby,” Michael said, his voice slightly cracking as Reggie held the glass door open for me.

“Hello, Michael,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Please take a seat, Miss Hatton,” Agent Gatlin said, breaking my trance-like state with Michael.

The other agent was the same one that visited me with Agent Gatlin the first time I was questioned. I looked at the table, unsure of where to sit. The two FBI agents sat directly across from Michael. I didn’t know if I should take a seat next to him or a few down from him instead. I didn’t know how to act around him at all, so instead, I stayed standing by the open door.

“What’s going on? I don’t remember anything more about the car accident. I’ve already told you exactly what I remember,” I said.

“You’ve already questioned her about this? Then I would prefer to leave her out of all of this. She’s gone through enough because of me already,” Michael said hotly.

I offered him a small smile. It was nice to know that we could have a civil relationship after our breakup. I didn’t want the tense relationship I’d witnessed between him and Marmie. I still deeply cared for and loved Michael. I didn’t think that was going to change any time soon.

“Yes, we have questioned Miss Hatton previously. However, as more evidence comes to light, we are concerned that large pieces of information have been withheld from us. I need you both to come clean, and we figured having you both here today may make it easier for you to share what you know,” Agent Gatlin explained.

“What would we be withholding?” Michael asked.

“We know you are being blackmailed, Mr. Astor. We need you to tell us who and why,” Agent Gatlin said with force.

I stared at Michael, realizing that he hadn’t mentioned anything about Blaine and how he’d been blackmailing us. Dark circles lined the undersides of his eyes, and his forehead was bunched together tightly. Michael looked incredibly stressed.

I made a snap decision. I pulled the get well soon card out of my bag and set it on the table in front of the two FBI officers. They looked confused but opened the card addressed to me, and the picture slid out from inside and landed face up on the table.

“I’m done with this.”