Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 225

*Michael*

Thomas and Amelia sat on my lap swatting at each other and babbling incoherently. I had been staring at the clock ever since Shelby texted me and told me she was on the way home from her meeting. I needed to make sure she allowed our driver to bring and take her from now on, at least while she was dealing with a company as dangerous as Henderson Chemical. I didn’t want her going anywhere alone.

The two little ones in my lap were getting restless, so I stood up and started walking around the house with them. We had recently begun to notice the differences in the babies’ personalities: Thomas was more energetic and adventurous. He was closer to crawling than Amelia was, ready to explore our home on his own. Amelia, on the other hand, was more cautious and measured in her approach to her surroundings. She had no interest in crawling yet and preferred to be held by either Shelby or me most of the time.

Both babies were beginning to fuss, no doubt missing their mom, so I began to sing while I bounced them. I successfully managed to change the words to “My Girl” to “My Babes,” even managing a rhyme or two.

The verse ended with Amelia giggling and pinching my cheeks, and that’s when Shelby walked in. She looked stressed, her blue eyes were squinted, her eyebrows drawn together and pinched.

She walked with her shoulders slightly hunched, and when she spoke “Hello, my loves,” she sounded downtrodden, and the words were rushed like there was a lot on her mind.

Shelby reached over and kissed both babies before she took Thomas from my arms, then sat down and kissed his face, and asked him how his day had been. I gave her a few minutes to decompress, and I could see the tension drain from her body while she played with our babies.

“So, how did it go today?” I asked her, my voice laced with concern.

Shelby paused before answering. She put Thomas down on a blanket laid out on the floor and crossed her legs, then rested her clasped hands in her lap.

“It went as well as can be expected. The fear in our client’s voice was evident, and he’s already lost so much. Once he finished telling us about the threats and his house burning down, the team and I had a long talk, and we decided that we needed to take more precautionary measures against Henderson.”

She took a deep breath and continued. “We discussed possibly obtaining injunctions or restraining orders from the court if necessary, or changing legal venues multiple times, to ensure no further harm would come to them. We also talked about coordinating with local law enforcement to provide more protection if needed. It was a difficult process, but we needed to put together an effective strategy that would protect our clients and give them a chance at justice.”

I could see Shelby shaking off some of the anxiety she must have been feeling after such a tough meeting today. I admired her strength and resilience during such an unfortunate situation–she truly was an inspirational woman.

I leaned over and kissed her forehead, conveying my admiration without words.

“It was hard,” Shelby said, turning around so she could look me in the eye. “But I know we’re doing something important here, something that will make a difference in people’s lives.” Her voice wavered, and I felt my heart swell with pride for all that she had done–even though it had been exhausting for her.

“We still have plenty of work to do, and we discussed the possibility of moving some of the plaintiffs into protective custody, should it come to that.” As she finished talking, her shoulders slumped, and she bit her l*p. Her gaze darted around the room as if searching for something but finding nothing. I could tell there was still more on her mind.

I was tempted to tell her how I had called Delaney but paused when I realized she was getting ready to speak.

“Do you think you can help me? Normally I wouldn’t ask you to call your hacker, but this case isn’t ordinary. I need you to see what he can find, every detail about every player involved.”

I was taken aback because what Shelby was asking was illegal, and she would not normally even consider this kind of tampering. I know that with how volatile Henderson Chemical had been proven to be, she was scared and wanted justice by any means necessary.

“Well, I was going to talk with you about Delaney.” I paused to gauge her reaction, then continued. “I already called him.”

“Oh, Michael,” Shelby’s voice broke as she spoke, clearly emotional. “Of course, you called him. Sometimes I love your meddling and eager overbearingness, you know?”

Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes as she lifted her face to look at me. Her gratefulness was clear, and I felt my heart fill with joy that I could make such an impact on her, even if only through a small gesture like this.

Reaching over, I took Shelby’s hand in mine and squeezed it gently, conveying my thoughts without words. She smiled softly before wiping away the tears and stood up from the couch and wrapped me into a tight hug while murmuring, “Thank you,” against my shoulder.

“It was nothing, Shelby. I didn’t want to get involved with your work like that, but I called the night you got the call about that man’s house being burned down. I just needed information about the people my wife was going up against.” I recollected how I felt after she took the call from her client, and those conflicted emotions rushed back to the surface. Surely, Shelby understood that I would be damned before I ever let any physical harm come to her.

“I know,” Shelby said quietly, her voice almost muffled against my chest. I felt her body relax against mine as she continued. “You did what you had to do, and I have no doubts about that. Delaney is a powerful asset, and he can help us find all of the answers we need. And if anyone can get us intel to out these bastards—it’s him.”

“Delaney actually called while you were at the meeting today.” I massaged Shelby’s back, trying to show through actions how much I cared for her.

“Did he find anything?” she asked, almost completely relaxed into my touch.

“Yeah, he did. He found a wealth of information on each of the clients involved in the class action suit. From what I can tell, it looks like most of them were employed by Henderson Chemicals and its subsidiaries. It seems as if whatever is going on at Henderson has been going on for quite some time.”

I explained to her how Delaney had uncovered photos and social media profiles of many of the people involved in the case. He’d also got financial documents that showed an increase in payments to certain employees showing clear attempts at bribery and corruption by Henderson Chemical’s executives.

Other data included records of suspicious activities such as frequent visits to shady locations associated with criminal activity and large cash payments made without any documented source or purpose. This proved beyond a doubt that Shelby had stumbled onto something much bigger than she initially thought, and my worry for her safety increased exponentially.

“Delaney said if he easily found this information, Henderson could find out that someone was looking for it, too. They could try to hurt the people involved in the case even more if they find out we’re sniffing around,” I warned Shelby.

“They’d have no reason to think we were investigating them that way, though would they?” Shelby asked, trying to reassure me that everything would be okay.

“That may be true,” I replied, “But these people are capable of doing some pretty terrible things. I don’t want to take any risks with your safety.”

Shelby nodded in understanding, her body still pressed tightly to mine.

“I know you will keep me safe,” she said, her voice strong and full of confidence. “But it’s the innocent victims that I’m worried about. We have to make sure they are okay too.”

I pulled back from the embrace and looked into Shelby’s beautiful, sky-blue eyes. “I’ll help however I can,” I promised. I grabbed the babies and started walking to the kitchen, my stomach growling loudly. I thought about the rest of the conversation I had had with Delaney earlier today and decided to bring it up after we had both had something to eat.

“Do you want to cook, or would you like me to? I don’t care either way,” Shelby said as she opened the fridge. She moved things around and pulled out a pack of chicken breasts and a few other ingredients.

“I’ll keep the babies entertained, and we’ll all keep you company,” I said as I bounced a baby on each of my knees, both of them watching their mom move around the kitchen.

Shelby smiled at us while she chopped mushrooms, onions, and garlic, then seared the chicken perfectly before putting it all into a large baking dish. She sprinkled parmesan cheese on top of the mixture and poured homemade sauce over the top. Shelby placed the dish in the oven and set a timer for 45 minutes.

We chatted about how the babies were while she was gone today, both of us careful to keep the topics light, avoiding talking about Henderson Chemical and anything scandalous. The aroma of Italian spices filled our kitchen as the timer got closer to going off. With the babies in their highchairs, I took out plates from one of the cabinets as Shelby mixed ingredients for a side salad.

I set our places at the table, and Shelby took out a pot and boiled some angel hair pasta to mix with the chicken, a la chicken tetrazzini. I pulled the babies close to the table so they could watch us eat as they sucked on teething cookies.

They were almost to the age where they’d be allowed to try a wider variety of solid foods, so we gave them baby utensils to hold for practice.

We ate relatively quietly, and I complimented Shelby’s cooking. She always said she was horrible in the kitchen, but she did fine when it was something she knew how to make.

“I’ll clean up the kitchen while you nurse the babies and get them to bed,” I offered when we had finished our meal.

“That sounds great. Thanks, babe,” Shelby said as she took the babies out of their highchairs and headed to the nursery.

I went through the motions of putting away leftovers and loading the dishwasher. I knew my job would be much quicker than Shelby’s, so I planned on meeting her to help her finish the bedtime routine. I started the dishwasher and headed for the nursery.

As I walked through the door, I heard Shelby singing to the babies. They were both freshly changed into matching pajamas, sleepily nursing. I took my phone out of my pocket and snapped a candid photo, then added it to an album that I had started the day Thomas and Amelia were born.

Once the twins were asleep, I helped Shelby get them settled in their cribs, and we headed to our bedroom. Now that things were calm, and our nightly routine was finished, I needed to talk to her.

“Hey Shelby, I didn’t tell you everything about my conversation with Delaney. You may want to sit down for this.” I grabbed her hands and led her to the bed, prepared to drop a bombshell on her.