All I wanted was to spend the day with Libby in my arms. But work didn't end with the merger's success. It was really all just beginning, and there was still Spencer to deal with. Bennett and Dad were working out the details of his severance package and I knew it would be generous, in spite of what he'd done. He'd given the company a hell of a lot of good years. I still had trouble believing his judgement had failed so badly.

I revved the engine, just as the light changed. No, it was hard as fuck to imagine what the hell Spence had been thinking… I turned the corner and headed into the parking garage. And all morning, there has been something else preying on my mind… something I couldn't quite place. Something just...wrong.

It was more than the growing concern I'd had ever since Libby had told me she wasn't pregnant. It's rare for a woman to conceive on the first try. And she was young and healthy. I wasn't worried about her… But since she'd told me the test was negative, a deep fear, an older fear had been growing inside me.

Elaine and I had tried for two years to have a child. She'd had frequent check-ups with her own doctor, always assuring me there was nothing wrong. No reason to think it had anything to do with her. She'd even demanded more in the divorce settlement as compensation because I hadn't given her the children I'd promised…

I'd just told myself it was because we weren't meant for each other. Because I'd been so busy with work… and she'd had so many separate interests of her own. Neither of us had had much time to devote to each other. And long periods of time had passed without anything between us at all…

It was all so different with Libby, from the very beginning. At first, it had been the most powerful attraction I'd ever felt in my life. But in no time, it had deepened into the kind of love I'd never even dared hope for. It was as if the feelings we shared were more than we could even contain within ourselves… that surely it was inevitable that it would blossom into a new life… a baby. The physical reality of our love…

But it hadn't happened. And in all those years with Elaine, it hadn't happened either. The cruel words she'd spit at me so long ago came back to me now, and they shook me to the core.

Did you ever think for one fucking minute that it just might be your fault…?

* * *

Spencer was due in my office by nine. I threw back the last of my cold coffee and paced the room. It was grey outside, the sky sullen. It matched my mood, at least. I hated this fucking kind of thing.

I'd looked over the severance papers, added a few notes of my own. I knew it was the only choice, to let him go, but something still nagged dully at the back of my mind. None of it made any sense. But Spencer had straightforwardly admitted to what he'd done. Forging a signature to meet a deadline. A deadline he'd already kept pushed back more than once…

I could still see his face, white and damp. How his eyes had darted around the room. We needed a little more time, he'd said. It was my mistake. Only mine.

And yet his eyes had rested on Elaine…

She'd looked cool, poised… Not at all like a woman who was concerned for her friend, or even her own selfish interests in my company. Elaine had worn precisely the same expression as the day she'd told me she wanted out of our marriage, and that she wanted what she'd earned by staying… She had looked cold, calculating… satisfied…

… We… needed more time, Spencer had said.

We...

* * *

He was sober, at least. And his suit was clean. But Spencer was still pale, and his hand shook as I handed him a cup of coffee.

"I think you'll find it more than fair," I said, pushing the stack of papers across my desk. "I think it goes without saying… how unfortunate it is, for things to end like this." I leaned back. "I trusted you like family, Spence. All those years…

In spite of everything, I can honestly say I'm sorry to see you go. I can't in good conscience offer you a reference… Hell," I dragged a hand through my hair. "It's only because I considered you family, that we're not pressing charges. That, and the fact that the merger went through successfully and neither company is in jeopardy now… But for Christ's sake, Spencer. What the fuck were you thinking? Where the hell did all those years of good judgement go…?

I trusted you. All of us did."

Spencer's hand shook until his coffee threatened to spill. He put it down and pulled awkwardly at his tie. I could see I was getting to him. So was his own fucking conscience…

"We spent years building Mason back up from the ruins, Spence. You and I. We saved it, made it strong enough to survive into the next century. For Fletcher… for Vivian. For all of us.

It made you a very rich man. With a secure future…," I paused, watching the nervous movements of his mouth. "You'd have never wanted for anything… I don't understand why, Spence. There won't be any consequences worse than you're facing now… I'm willing to do what I can to protect you…

But only if you tell me the truth…"