by Alice Ward
I rose to my feet and crossed the living room, stopping just inches away from Rebecca. “Look here you heartless, conniving bitch. You can have whatever opinion of me you want. But you don’t get to stand there in your overpriced shoes and act like I’m the one trying to ruin Drake. I know what you did to him in Denmark. What I don’t know is how Drake grew up to be a good man being raised by the likes of you.”
Rebecca smiled at me, completely unfazed by my anger. “You poor, foolish girl,” she said, her voice dripping with her usual blend of sweetness covered condescension. “You’re still under the impression that Drake’s a good man. I guess you haven’t learned all of his secrets.”
“I know everything, Rebecca. I know about the DUI and the possession charge you paid to have buried. Tell me, which of these ‘deliciously scandalous secrets’ cost the most to hide? I bet none of them compare to the hit you’re going to take if you can’t convince Alex to sign that post-nuptial agreement. How’s that coming anyway? What do you have, three days before the deadline? Or are we down to two now?”
“I don’t think that will be an issue,” she assured me. “I still have faith that Drake will come to his senses and realize that he doesn’t want a divorce at all.”
I dropped my voice and spoke with exaggerated concern. “You know Rebecca, the more you talk, the more concerned I become about your mental health. Have you ever had a psych evaluation? You know, in some states it just takes two family members’ signatures to commit someone to an institution. Once Drake and I are officially married, I might have to suggest that the three of us take a little trip together. I think he’d be more than willing to go along, don’t you?”
She wasn’t fazed. Her smile only seemed to get bigger. “You’re the one who’s delusional, my dear. And I’m bored with you now. I’ll just get the print and be on my way.”
Rebecca stomped down the hallway and I paced the floors, trying to calm my anger. I wasn’t sure if Drake would be okay with her taking the print, but I decided to let that be his problem.
I have to talk to him about having Rebecca banned from the building. The penthouse is in his name only; she has no right to be here. This is where Drake and I are going to become a family. My innocent niece will be one floor down. I won’t have that woman and her toxic energy anywhere near us.
I had no interest in seeing Rebecca again on her way out of the penthouse, so I took off for the kitchen. I set a kettle to boil and tossed a chamomile tea bag into an empty mug. I found a plate of cheese and smoked meat in the refrigerator and settled down at the small table Drake had recently added in the back of the kitchen.
“I’m leaving now.”
Startled, I looked up and saw Rebecca in the doorway.
“Wonderful,” I replied, my voice dry. “In the future, Drake and I would both appreciate it if you’d call before stopping by. After all, this isn’t one of your family’s properties. It’s mine and Drake’s.”
She didn’t speak, but sneered down at the table. I knew she saw it as just another sign that I was turning her son into a ‘commoner.’ Finally, she looked up at me and frowned.
“I’m willing to admit that you’re not the gold digger I first thought you were. And I truly believe that you think you love Drake…”
“I know I love Drake,” I interrupted.
“You couldn’t possibly love him, not really, because you still have no idea who he is. Drake’s my son, Chelsea. And he’s more like me than you could ever imagine. I’m going to do you a favor because I think if we’d met under different circumstances, I’d actually like you.”
“I can’t say the feeling is mutual,” I said with a scowl. I took her statement as an extreme insult.
“Be that as it may,” she growled. “I admire your backbone. Before you make the worst mistake of your life and legally bind yourself to Drake, take a look under the false bottom of his left desk drawer. I think you’ll find what you see… enlightening.” Rebecca spun on her heel and left the kitchen. I sat at the table, my heart racing.
She’s either bluffing, or she’s planted something in there that she knows will upset me. I’m not playing her game. Drake’s proven that I can trust him. But he did say I’m always welcome to check things out for myself. I’ll just take a peek.
I set off for Drake’s office, one of the few rooms in the penthouse I hadn’t spent much time in. Like the rest of the apartment, it was elegant and refined. Polished oak bookshelves had been built into one wall and an antique Oriental rug covered the matching oak floors. Drake’s desk sat in front of a wall of windows that looked out into the courtyard.
I moved quickly, tugging the drawer open. I pulled out stacks of files before finally reaching the removable wooden plank. A single, thick file lay beneath it. I pulled it out and spread the paperwork on the desk, my heart sinking more with each page I saw. My heart raced and the room started to spin. I collapsed into the desk chair to keep from hitting the floor.
That mother fucker. I said something about this the first night we met and he laughed it off as a silly rumor. There must be a hundred pages in that file. Rebecca was right. I don’t know Drake at all.
I straightened the papers and stuffed them back into the manila folder. I put everything else back in the drawer and shut it just as Drake burst into the room. A wad of paper was balled in his fist and the veins in his face jutted out in anger.
“What the fuck is the meaning of this, Chelsea?” he demanded, throwing the wad on the desk. I unraveled it and read the first few lines.
“It looks like an injunction to stop you from knocking down The Albergo,” I replied, my eyes still on the court document. My name was listed next to Pete’s as co-petitioner.
With everything I’ve had going on, I forgot to make sure Oliver had taken care of this. Pete never got the message that I didn’t want to be part of the campaign. This couldn’t have worked out better. I’m going to hit Drake in the only place that hurts.
“Is this why you agreed to give me another chance? You insisted that I take time away from work to focus on us. If I’d stuck to my original schedule, that damn hotel would have hit the ground weeks ago. Was this your plan the whole time?” he bellowed.
“Actually, no,” I confessed. “I told you that Pete was planning this.”
“You didn’t tell me you were helping him,” he snapped.
“Because I’d decided not to,” I explained, somehow managing to keep my voice even. “I thought Oliver was going to tell him. But we discussed it right before you and I left for Hong Kong. I guess with everything else that went on that weekend, he forgot about it.”
“You have to get your name off of this, Chelsea. I can handle Pete. But if the press gets wind that my own fiancé is protesting the development, they’ll have a field day.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that,” I told him, mimicking Rebecca’s signature tone. I lifted the folder from the desk and started flipping through it.
“You see, I’ve been reading some interesting legal documents today myself. And they’ve been incredibly enlightening. Tell me Drake, do you even remember who most of these women are? Or were they all fuck ‘em and forget ‘em types?”
“Chelsea, I can…”
“Explain?” I interrupted. “I’m sure you can. Only this time, there’s not a single fucking part of me that’s interested in listening. I’m fucking done, Drake. I’m finally fucking done. I’ll see you at the injunction hearing.” I slid my engagement ring off my finger and sat it on the desk before stomping towards the door.
“You’re wasting your time, Chelsea,” Drake called after me. “Hating me won’t magically make the building eligible for the National Register.”
“That may be so,” I agreed. “But I can make you look like such a bastard in the press that canceling the demolition will be the only way for you to have any hope of saving your reputation.” I paused and looked him directly in the eye. “Remember… unlike those whores in that file, I didn’
t sign a nondisclosure agreement.”
End of Part 3
To Be Continued in Part 4…
TAMING THE BILLIONAIRE
ALICE WARD
PART 4
BOOK DESCRIPTION
This is Part 4 of “Taming the Billionaire” – a five part Hot Alpha Billionaire Romance Series by Alice Ward.
Drake Waters convinced me he was the man of my dreams. But he was turning into the man of my nightmares.
Lies and more lies, then more lies on top of those. He wasn’t my happily ever after. He was my worst mistake and I was finally cutting him out of my life—for good this time.
Thankfully, the more time we spent apart, the easier it became to live without him. My life seemed to be getting back on track. Then tragedy struck, shaking my family to its very core. And when Drake stepped up to take care of us, I realized that the man who’d told me so many lies was also the only man I could truly count on.
Maybe.
This book is intended for a mature audience, 18+ only.
CHAPTER 1
e
“Chelsea, are you sure you want to do this?” Piper asked as I tossed another pile of clothes into a suitcase.
“Yes,” I insisted. “I don’t want to keep anything that reminds me of Drake Waters.”
She pulled a silk Prada blouse from the top of the pile and longingly fingered the fabric. “But this is all so nice…”
“It’s tainted with lies and I don’t need any of it,” I interrupted, nearly growling at her. “I called the resale shop we went to before my first trip to the Hamptons. Sheryl, the owner, is going to buy everything outright instead of making me leave it on consignment.” I sat on the suitcase and struggled to zip it closed. Three identical bags were lined up by the front door.
“I just want to get back to my old life, Piper,” I continued, taking a suitcase handle in each hand. “I want to pretend the whole ordeal with Drake was just a bad nightmare. The taxi’s downstairs. Are you going to help me with this? Or am I going to have to make two trips?”
“I’ll help you.” She frowned but rolled the other two suitcases out into the hall behind me. “Let’s get Vietnamese on our way home,” she suggested, changing the subject as the bags thumped down the staircase.
“That sounds perfect,” I agreed as we reached the curb. The taxi driver jumped out from behind the wheel and loaded the luggage into his trunk.
“Airport?” he asked, opening one of the back doors.
I shook my head. “Eleven nineteen Riverside Avenue, please.”
He climbed back behind the wheel as Piper and I buckled our seatbelts. I was relieved when Piper didn’t try to continue our conversation.
Three weeks had passed since the day I’d stormed out of Drake’s home office. I spent the first lying in my bed with my curtains drawn, too shocked and numb to participate in even the most basic life activity. As the numbness passed, an overwhelming sense of sadness and failure consumed me.
After Drake and I overcame his lie about Alex, I was certain we’d survive anything. But when I found the stack of non-disclosure agreements, I knew that our entire relationship had started with a lie. I wondered who the women were and what they knew about Drake that I didn’t. And how much they had been paid to keep their mouths shut.
“That’ll be eight-fifty, ma’am,” the driver announced as he slowed the car to a stop. I pulled a ten from my purse and told him to keep the change. He fetched our bags from the trunk and Piper and I rolled them into the store. A beautiful blonde in her early forties stood behind the counter.
“Sheryl?” I asked as we approached. She looked up from her computer and stared at me over the top of her reading glasses.
“Yes… Chelsea, I presume?” she countered, her eyes darting across my collection of suitcases.
“Yes, thank you so much for agreeing to do this for me,” I said, extending my hand. “I’d much rather take a discounted price for everything instead of waiting for it to sell, piece by piece.”
Sheryl stared at me for a moment with a look of deep understanding etched across her face. “I saw your engagement announcement in the paper a while back. I’m… sorry that things didn’t work out for you.”
Her face reflected the same silent sentiment I’d been getting for weeks: “I don’t know why you ever expected him to settle down in the first place.” The look was easy to recognize. In the past three weeks, I’d seen it on the faces of everyone I knew, save Oliver and Stacey. They were the only ones who’d been just as shocked as I was about Drake’s new secret.
“Thank you,” I replied to Sheryl with a stiff smile. “Should we unpack these here?” I gestured to the suitcases and she shook her head.
“We’ll take them to the back stockroom. Carol!” she bellowed. A small red headed woman appeared from the back room.
“I’m going to take Ms. Tyler and her friend to the stockroom. I need you to watch the counter,” she instructed.
“Of course,” Carol agreed, her eyes fixed on me.
My breakup with Drake had been publicized twice as much as the actual relationship. As my heartache turned to anger, I became determined to destroy Drake’s career, the only thing that really mattered to him.
At my request, Stacey had called a local tabloid and spoken off the record about our split. Reporters flocked to Drake’s penthouse and my apartment. As usual, Drake refused to comment on their questions. But I’d been more than happy to answer them.
I cited the planned demolition of The Albergo and Drake’s overall disrespect for any work other than his own as the main reasons for our split. I explained that I felt a moral and intellectual responsibility to ensure that the rich history of our city wouldn’t be leveled to the ground by one man’s ego. I also announced that anyone who’d like to help in my quest to stop Drake and other developers like him could sign up at The Manhattan Historical Society. At Pete’s last update, we’d had over three hundred people join the cause.
“Let’s do these one by one,” Sheryl instructed, gesturing to a large, empty folding table. I heaved a suitcase onto it and she unfastened the zipper.
She pulled piece after piece out of the bag, staring at each garment in wonder. Her face flushed with a hint of embarrassment, but she recovered quickly, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
“Are all of the items in the same league as these?” she asked, her tone serious.
I nodded and she continued.
“You do realize that most of these still have the tags attached? You could return them to the store for full refunds…”
“Which would be credited to my ex’s account,” I explained without an ounce of guilt in my voice. “You look like a woman who keeps up with current events, so I’m going to speak frankly. If Drake Waters had only broken my heart, I’d return everything to the stores. Hell, I’d have it all wrapped up and delivered to his apartment so he’d know I’d gotten rid of it. But he didn’t only break my heart. He put my professional reputation in jeopardy. Saving it is going to cost money and…”
“It may as well be his,” Sheryl finished. “You’ve spoken frankly, so I’ll do the same. I’m not quite in the position to pay you a fair price for everything you’ve brought in. But I have several contacts with other shops in the city. If you’d like, you can leave this here and I’ll get as many people over to look at it as possible. It’ll be like a consignment trunk show. I feel pretty confident I can get rid of all of it by the end of business tomorrow.”
“That sounds great,” I agreed, shuffling through my purse. I pulled out an envelope and passed it to her. “This is a list of everything in the suitcases. I’d like to get rid of them, as well. I understand that you can’t pay anywhere close to retail, but I’ll be happy to take what I can get.”
Sheryl nodded, scanning the list. “I’ll explain your unique circumstances and see if I can get everyone to pitch in for your cause. I’ll get as much for this as I can,” she promised. Her determined tone hinted that she
’d been in my shoes before.
“I appreciate that,” I said as Piper and I followed her back into the store.
“No problem,” she assured me. “We women have to stick together.”
***
The next morning, Piper and I stepped out of the subway at the Manhattan station and followed the bustling crowd onto the sidewalk.
“Are you ready for this?” Piper asked as we set off for the office.
“Yes,” I replied with a determined nod. My transition from numb shock to overwhelming sadness had been short lived. My tears were replaced by vengeful anger and a fierce hate for Drake Waters and everything he stood for. I clung to the hate like a life raft. It was the only thing keeping me from sinking back down into my heartache.
I’d spoken with Pete and he was more than happy to hire me back at the society. Upon my return, my only responsibility would be spearheading the campaign to save The Albergo. Once that goal was accomplished, Pete promised that I could finally move to the museum side of the society and follow my true passion.
“Have you gotten anymore deliveries lately?” she pressed, dropping her voice.
“A courier stopped by while you were in the shower this morning,” I confessed. “He had a big cardboard package, but I refused to sign for it.”
“I can’t believe Drake thinks he can buy his way back into your life,” she said with a scowl.
“Piper, please, I don’t want to talk about this… not today,” I insisted.
Drake had gone to great lengths to explain the nondisclosure agreements I’d found in his desk. He flooded my phone with calls and texts until I had my number changed.
Then, the emails started. I immediately marked his personal and business email accounts as spam and hoped that I could make my memories of him disappear as quickly as his messages.
But Drake wasn’t so easily detoured.
Deliveries started showing up at the apartment; I’d turned away flowers, jewelry, and countless unknown gifts wrapped in brown paper packaging.
