The Billionaire's Fake Marriage: A Single Dad Next Door Romance

by Sarah J. Brooks

  Garth pulled his laptop bag open and handed out the small souvenirs that he’d picked up for everyone.

  “That was so thoughtful,” Alyssa gushed. She turned to me, a smile spread over her lips, and she padded over. “Did you enjoy your trip?”

  “Yes.” She actually sounded like she cared, and it took me off guard. “Thank you, I hope you had a relaxing time while we were gone.”

  “I actually … was quite busy.” Her smile widened. “I was thinking, I’ve acted out of line to you way too much. Come get dinner with me tonight? Let me make it up to you, please?”

  I stared at her, my jaw tightening again so it didn’t fall open. Oh, God no. There was no way in hell that I wanted to go out to dinner with her. Like, it was the last thing I wanted to do right now. I’d rather find a dead body part. That’s an option, I thought dryly.

  “That sounds great,” I forced myself to say.

  I didn’t want to start shit with her. I didn’t want her to get mad if I said no. If I said no, she’d take it personally.

  She beamed.

  “That’s great!”

  No, no it really wasn’t. I didn’t want to go out to dinner with her. What was she playing at? I swallowed dryly and forced myself to smile. “I can’t wait.”

  Of course, it was a lie. I caught Garth staring at me. He didn’t look happy.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It’s not like I was happy about it either, I don't know why he looked so mad—he wasn’t the one going out to dinner with her. Oh God, is this going to count as a date? I really hoped not. I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to react to going out on a date with Alyssa. I shivered as I stood, my computer shutting down for the day. I’d gotten all caught up on my emails—it actually hadn’t been all that hard.

  Alyssa joined me in the elevator as we made our way down to her car.

  “It must have been nice to spend so much quality time with Garth,” she said. I nodded, not sure what I was supposed to say. “Er, he’s okay, right? I mean … with everything going on. That’s why you guys went away, right? To get a break from it.”

  “Yes,” I admitted. There was no point in denying it. Everyone knew why we went away. What I was trying to figure out was why Alyssa wanted to be nice to me all of a sudden. I didn’t dare flat out ask her, though. Something’s going on here, I thought. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket.

  I don’t trust her for a second. I’ll keep you updated and see you later. Love ya.

  It wasn’t hard to type those last two words. Not like I thought it would be. He didn’t reply right away. It wasn’t until Alyssa and I slid into her car that my phone beeped.

  Be safe. You can always call if you need to. <3

  I tucked my phone into my purse, catching her watching me, and forced a smile over my lips.

  “So, did you get up to anything when we were away?”

  “I … went on a couple dates.” It sounded like there was more to tell there, but I didn’t push her. I smiled.

  “That must have been so nice! I hope he treated you.”

  “He’s giving me something I’ve always wanted,” she said, again, there was something off about the way she said it. She gunned the engine, and we were on our way.

  My heart raced, my gut turned. I felt like I was going to puke. This was a bad idea, I thought.

  How was I going to get out of this? You need to get out of this car, I thought.

  “Oh, I hope you don't mind, we're going to meet up with a friend of mine real quickly.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  We turned down the street and headed to the end of the block. She pulled into the driveway, switched the car off and then turned to me and smiled.

  “Come on.”

  “It’s okay, I don't mind waiting in the car.” I smiled. My gut tightened. No. It told me. I wasn’t getting out of the car.

  I saw the smile fade from her lips. “Really, you should come in.”

  “It’s okay,” I repeated. I reached into my purse for my cell phone.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Really,” she said. “You should come in.”

  “I’ll wait here.” God, please just go. Get out of here. I took a deep breath.

  I could see the anger blaze in her eyes.

  “But, I mean if you really want me to.” I shrugged, trying to make it look like I was totally relaxed and dismissive. Taking a deep breath, I unbuckled myself. If I can get out of here, I can run. I can scream. I can get away. I took a deep breath. Why did I agree to do this? I should have just turned down her dinner invitation.

  I knew it was fake. I knew she was fake. I took a deep breath and popped my door open.

  Cold fingers tightened around my wrist. I turned to see her staring at me.

  Then everything went blank. I felt pain, pain in my stomach. Burning. A whimper passed through my lips.

  That was the last thing I remember.

  “She was a pain in the ass to get here,” the assistant bitched. “I hope you’re right about this.”

  “You don't want her in the way, right?” I reminded her. “Now, you know what you’re going to do, right?”

  “Yes, yes. I know. I call the cop from the park. I say we were walking to a restaurant and that someone got hold of her.”

  “You do realize, I’m going to have to hit you.”

  “I know that.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not stupid.”

  How desperate was she to get with Garth? Desperate enough to kidnap a girl, get hit, and even risk getting charged with murder.

  I shook my head. She was unbelievable.

  “So, what are you going to do with her? I mean, how are you going to make sure she doesn’t tell anyone about us?”

  “How do you think?”

  Her jaw dropped. She stared at me with wide eyes.

  “You said we weren’t going to hurt her.”

  “I lied.”

  I picked the girl up. She was light compared to the last girl I’d picked up. I carried her down to the basement. The street was pretty well abandoned. I’d made sure to insulate the place, though. It was actually a good place to keep her. I dropped her on a mattress. I was going to go with a chair, but I figured this would be easier. I was right.

  I grabbed the cuffs I’d bolted to the floor and tied her up. It was a shame she’d gotten in the way like this. If she hadn’t, well, she wouldn’t have to die.

  But she hadn’t been willing to turn against Garth. She should have. She should have left him ages ago. For her own safety.

  Black. Everything was black.

  I couldn't see anything.

  Eyes. My eyes weren’t open.

  It hurt to make myself open them.

  Not that it did me much good. The place was dark. I could hardly see anything. My body ached, and my stomach felt like it had been burnt. Taser? I wondered. I rolled onto my back. I felt like I’d been dropped on the floor. I could feel bruises forming on my body and did a quick check. All my body parts were there.

  “You should have just let me bring you in here easily. It wouldn’t have hurt so much.” She didn’t sound mad. Actually, she sounded defeated.

  “Alyssa,” I muttered. I forced myself to stand up, not willing to show her how much pain I was in, but I couldn't help wincing. What the fuck is wrong with her? Was she really this desperate to get Garth? Was she willing to kidnap me?

  Oh, God. I’ve been kidnapped. What was I supposed to do? My eyes were adjusting to the darkness. I could see her, leaning against a wall. She stared at me.

  “So, you just planned to watch me all night?”

  “I wanted to make sure you weren’t dead,” she said.

  I snorted. “That’s so sweet of you,” I said dryly.

  Honestly, it wasn’t that I was trying to be snarky, my mouth really was dry. I licked my lips and swallowed, trying to restore some moisture. I took a deep breath, trying to take everything in. What had happened to me?

  My head hammered as I thought about everything that we
nt on.

  Ringing.

  My heart skipped a beat as I watched her move.

  “Hello? ... Yes, I’m keeping an eye on her just like you told me to. I know. Yes … alright … of course …” She sounded defeated. “I won’t. Alright … Goodbye.” She hung up and tucked the phone back into her pocket.

  “So, you’re on watch duty, lucky you.” I bit my lip wondering how I was going to kick her ass. Wondering if I even could. I rolled my shoulder. Yup, that hurt.

  “Well, you are going to try to get away, aren’t you?”

  “Why?” I raised an eyebrow. “How the hell am I supposed to get away? There’s more than one of you; I know that much, but I don’t know how many more.” My guess was three, maybe four. It took more than one person to do all this—that much I knew. I just need to find out more.

  I looked around me. It seemed like I was in a basement, but I could be wrong. I bit my lip. Alright, think, I told myself.

  But I could hardly move, let alone think.

  “So,” I cleared my throat, trying to get her talking. “You actually think this is going to win you Garth? What, you’re going to go over there and tell him that you’ve kidnapped me and that you’re going to take my place?” I tried to see her reaction but couldn’t see anything. “I mean really, you think he’s going to go for you? You think he would ever go for you?” I snorted.

  I hated admitting it, but my best chance out of here, which meant I needed to play her. I just hope this works.

  I mean, it always did on TV—right? Maybe now it would be the same.

  “You don’t get it.”

  “You’re right. I don’t. Please, please explain to me how you thought kidnapping his girlfriend was going to do you any good. How was that going to make him want to fuck you?”

  She turned away from me, letting out a huff.

  I watched her walk away from me and heard stairs creak under her. So, I am in a basement. That was good to know.

  If crime drama had taught me anything, it was that the more you knew about the situation, the better. And to never let them take you from one place to the next. Well, I’d already failed that. I heard the door open, light shone through for a fraction of a second before it closed, and I was left alone.

  I wonder if Garth realizes I’m missing yet. I bit my lip and felt tears sting my eyes. Now that I was alone it hit me—I had just been kidnapped.

  My stomach ached from where she’d hit me, with a taser or whatever it was. How am I going to get out of this?

  I’d have to wait and see if someone rescued me.

  This was all going according to plan. We’d kill her and frame him. Alyssa would testify that she saw someone who looked like him when she had been kidnapped. It would be just enough to make it look like he was guilty, but she could say she believed him. She could hire him a good lawyer. She could make her move, and I’d be done with her—if I decided to keep her alive. It might not be a good idea. I knew that was true. If she were alive, he could convince her to tell him the truth, and that wouldn’t do.

  I rushed to where the police stood, talking to Alyssa.

  My heart raced. Where is she? Alyssa hadn’t said anything, all she had said was that I needed to come here as soon as I could; so I got in my car, and I sped the entire way here.

  The police officers turned to me. The woman’s face tightened, and she stared at me. Rebecca, her blonde hair pinned back.

  “Where’s Ally?” I asked breathlessly. Please, please don’t tell me …

  “That’s why we're here.” I could tell she was trying to sound professional. “Your … girlfriend … was kidnapped while out with her friend.”

  They're not friends.

  I turned to Alyssa. There was a purple bruise forming around her eye. She refused to meet my eye as she talked to another officer.

  “What do you mean?” My heart raced. No, this wasn’t possible. This was a joke. A dream. Something. Not real. It couldn't be real. I couldn’t let it be.

  “Exactly what I said. Now, let’s talk.” Rebecca motioned for me to follow her over to a table.

  I sat down at it, staring blankly at the ground. No. She couldn’t be. She had to be safe.

  “This … this can’t be real.”

  “Sorry to tell you otherwise, but there are clear signs of a struggle.” She paused looking at me, studying me. “So, tell me what happened the last time you saw Ally?”

  “I … we got off the flight from Japan, and we went to the office. She wanted to get a little bit of work done today, so we went in for an hour. Everyone was happy to see us; Alyssa asked Ally if she wanted to go out to dinner ...” I paused and looked at Rebecca. The worry was clear on her face. She cared about Ally. She might listen to me.

  “And that was the last time you saw her?”

  “Yes.”

  She didn’t sound like she believed me.

  “What?” I snapped. “Why are you so determined to have it out for me?”

  Her jaw shifted, tightening. Her brow furrowed as she stared at me. She pulled out a picture from her jacket and handed it to me.

  “Do you know this woman?”

  I stared down at it. You already asked me that, I thought. I’d seen her … when she was dead. My stomach turned thinking about it. I felt like I was going to be sick and swallowed the feeling back, trying to keep myself relaxed enough to help find Ally.

  “No,” I said handing the photo back to her. “You already asked me that.”

  “She had your business card in her pocket.”

  My heart dropped.

  “My …”

  “Your personal one, with a cell phone number written on the back. I ran it. It was registered to you.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I don’t give out my cell phone number to potential clients.”

  “So she was more than that?” She sounded pleased as if she was getting what she wanted from me.

  “No,” I said again.

  I ran my fingers through my hair, blowing out a deep breath. She wasn’t getting it. She was looking to make me guilty.

  Rebecca stared at me as if waiting for my confession.

  “I don't’ normally date, and I sure as hell don't give girls my business card.” I liked it when girls didn’t know who I was. I liked it when they didn’t realize how much money I made. “I run a business; I don’t have time for relationships unless they mean a lot to me.” I saw the hurt flash through her eyes.

  “Yes, well thanks to your caring about Ally, she’s now been kidnapped,” she snapped. I blew out a deep breath, knowing she was right. I wish there were something I could do.

  I bit my lips. This was a risk. I’ll just have to take it.

  “Look, think what you want about me, but did you talk to the girl over there about it?”

  “Of course, we interviewed her.” Offence ladened her voice.

  “No, that’s not what I mean.”I bit my lip glancing at her. “Ally and Alyssa aren’t friends. Alyssa hates Ally.”

  “Then why the hell would they go out to dinner together?”

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “I’m not sure. We got home from Japan, and Alyssa was being all nice to Ally. She … when we left, she hated Ally.”

  “Why?”

  “Because,” I paused. I could feel my cheeks burning. “Because Alyssa wants to be with me. She has for a long time.”

  Rebecca stared at me, and I handed her my phone.

  “Here,” I said. “This is the conversation we were having.” Of course, Ally had stopped replying a while ago. Turns out I had a right to be worried. I wished I hadn’t. I wished I had just been paranoid about it.

  Rebecca stared down at the texts. “You could have easily duplicated these if you have her phone.”

  “Search my home, my office. Do whatever you want. Just find her. Please.”

  A soft smile touched her lips. “I’ll try my hardest.”

  I didn’t believe her. There was something off about her. There was som
ething she was hiding from me.

  Looks like I’m on my own, I thought. I’d have to find her on my own. I was going to save her.

  Chapter Twenty

  Okay, deep breath, I told myself as I heard the door open.

  “Alyssa?” I called into the darkness, hearing the footsteps on the stairs. “Is that you?”

  My heart raced the longer no one answered me. What was going to happen? Was I going to die down here?

  I saw the figure move towards me. It was her—I think. I don’t know, I admitted to myself, trying to pretend I wasn’t scared.

  My body still hurt like a bitch, and even if I wanted to take her out, I knew I wouldn’t be able to. She was in better shape than me. She was in much better shape. I’ll figure something out. If I could get to a phone.

  If I could take her out, I could get her phone. 911 had to come if they got a call. All I had to do was call 911 and then it didn’t matter. Almost sounds easy, I thought.

  “Here ...” She held something out to me. My brow furrowed trying to make it out. A water bottle.

  “Drink from it first.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I want to make sure you didn’t put anything in it.”

  “If you don’t want the fucking drink, then fine.” She shrugged, tossing it onto the ground beside me. I reached for it. I was thirsty. It felt like it had been days since I last drank. Days ago I was in Japan with Garth. I bit my lip. I couldn't believe it. That felt like such a long time ago.

  I took the risk, opened the bottle of water and took a long sip, draining half of it within seconds. I left the rest of it for later.

  “So you’re back on watch duty. Did you bring me anything to eat?”

  “Shut up.” She didn’t sound pleased and walked away from me, I watched her lean against the wall again.

  “Do I get a light down here? It’s kinda dark. Not sure what a girl's to do in the dark except get some beauty sleep.”

  I have to admit, I was impressed with myself. I sounded a hell of a lot tougher than I thought I would. I sounded a hell of a lot tougher than I actually felt.

  “Then fucking sleep, ” Alyssa spat.