by Nicole Snow
I lift the bottle from the table and top off my glass. “Yeah, well, no happy endings here.” I grab the remote from the arm of the couch and turn on Netflix. “What’s a good break up movie?”
“Something funny. You’ll feel better if you laugh.”
My phone rings.
It’s on the couch between us.
Brina picks it up and glances at the screen. “Liv?”
“My cousin.” I sit up and break from drinking my weight in wine, holding my hand out.
She nods and hands me the phone.
“Hello?” I say.
“Paige, are you okay? You sound funky.”
“I’m fine, my throat’s a little dry,” I lie, hoping her author spidey-sense doesn’t lead her to interrogate me.
“You sure? You’re not sick?”
“Nah,” I say. “What’s up?”
“Riker got your dirt and the okay from the big boss to keep things nice and neat legally. He’s going to email you pictures and documents. But I thought I’d just give you the rundown, so you know what you’re looking at.”
“Awesome,” I say, wishing I were brave enough to slam the door shut on helping the man who took a chisel to my heart.
“You’ll find bank statements and stock options for Victor. If you know what you’re looking at, it shows enough insider trading to buy some major jail time. And if it’s not, that’s okay. Because his investment in a shady biker bar in Florida that went down a few years ago in Federal RICO drug dealing charges will definitely mean prison.”
Ouch.
It’s almost anticlimactic hearing this now, but excitement flares through me before I remember my stake in this is gone.
“Wow. That’s crazy interesting. What else?” I ask, fighting to keep my voice level.
“Check out the pics of Giselle Simms in the car. She’s driving a vehicle registered to her boyfriend. She goes everywhere she wants in that ride and parks it at her house at the end of the day. Here’s the fun part: she lost her license years ago after hitting a pedestrian.”
“What the crap?” I gasp.
“I hope you know this guy well. Because if he’s anything like his parents...whoa, mama. I’m not sure you’ll enjoy what you’re getting yourself into.”
I hold in a sigh, ignoring Brina’s look of concern over her glass.
“Don’t worry about that. We’re no longer a...thing.”
Long pause.
“Oh, Paige. So that’s what’s wrong, huh?” She pauses, waiting for an answer I don’t give. “If he’s being an asswipe, do you still want the info?”
I hesitate. Brina slides a finger across her throat, encouraging the little devil on my shoulder who’s dancing around with his pitchfork, telling me to bury Wardhole alive. Let him suffer. Check out of this human circus for a warm beach and a chance to get drunk from a coconut.
Too bad it means a lot to Beatrice, Nick, and everyone at Brandt Ideas. Plus, his parents are actual raving monsters, and a legit menace to society.
“It’s not just about him. His parents hurt people, Liv. There’s no point in letting that continue, so yeah, please send it over.”
“You care about him,” she says quietly.
My throat tightens.
“I care about my coworkers, his brother, and their elderly grandmother. Why should they suffer just because he’s a selfish prick?”
“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere. Do you want to tell me about the prick?”
“Another time. I promise. It’s been a long day. Right now, I kinda want to overconsume alcohol and pass the hell out until morning, but if you send that email, lovely.”
“It will give you an excuse to talk to the selfish jerk, you know?”
“Ha. Nice try. I’m blocking him as soon as I hit forward.”
“Okay, lady. Riker just sent it! Look for a summer flower special. Gotta keep it low-key so it can’t be traced.”
My phone pings with a notification from an anonymous florist address that definitely has nothing to do with a dozen red roses. “I see it. Thank Riker a hundred times for me and tell him I love roses. Oh, and say hello to Milah!”
“Will do. I’ll have her call you at some point if you’re up for her yakking your ear off about her latest tour and the lavish gifts she’ll probably want to dump on you. Talk to you soon. Watch out for hangovers,” Liv says.
“Later.” I cut the call and shove the wine to my lips in a long, satisfying sip of triumph.
At least my agony with one very huge bosshole wasn’t all in vain.
“What was that all about?” Brina asks as soon as I sit back.
“Loose ends. You remember how my cousin married that hot bruiser guy from the big security firm? Well...” I continue with a quick summary, and fill her in on why I brought Liv in to help secure the dirt that could finally end a lot of people’s misery.
“Dang. Total cloak and dagger territory.” Brina sits up straighter. “What are you going to do with it?”
“Just what I said. Forward it to Ward when I finish this drink.”
“You’re sure you want to help him after what he did to you?” Sabrina cringes.
“It’s not just for him. It’s for Beatrice, Nick, and everyone else who works at Brandt Ideas.”
“...you’re sure you aren’t hunting for a reason to talk to him? If you really need to get him the info, maybe I could have it delivered?”
Oof. She has a point.
“Brina, I’m big enough to talk to my ex-fake fiancé all by myself,” I say with mock-pride.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to. Talking to him might make you feel worse.”
I shake my head. “I’m just going to unblock his email, forward Riker’s message, and reblock. Easy-peasy drama-squeezy over for tonight.”
“Go for it,” she tells me.
I polish off my wine and pull out my laptop. I unblock Ward on my personal email and hit forward on Riker’s message.
Wardhole,
This should help settle matters with your parents. I don’t want to hear about how it turns out. If you ever contact me again, I’ll get a restraining order. -P
My fingers hurt when I even think about signing my name for him.
He won’t reply, though, not after I block his address. Threatening him with a restraining order was just bitter.
I close the laptop and sink into the couch.
“Who was worse—Ward or Austin? Can’t believe I fell for this crap again.”
But I don’t need Brina’s vote.
This is worse, hands down, because Ward wasn’t trying to be malicious.
Also, I fell for my bossman far deeper than I ever cared for Austin.
Ward never lied. He never said he loved me. He told me this was a hoax to woo a client and he paid me to go along with it. I shouldn’t have gotten sucked up in the emotional twister and carried far, far away from the Kansas of my boring little life.
“Tough call, honestly,” Brina says, curled up on the other end of the couch. “You heard him tell his brother he didn’t love you or anyone else, right? Did you talk to him about it?”
“Well...I may have locked them on the balcony, packed my stuff, and left with a lot of screaming when he touched me.” I look away with a quick shrug.
“So you!” Brina laughs again. “Uh, you trapped them on the balcony?”
“I figured I’d get out of the building with less drama if they were stuck. Didn’t work. He must have had a key on him. He managed to get back into the penthouse and raced down the hall in time to catch me before I got to the elevator.”
“What was his explanation?”
I curl my knees over my stomach and hug them, so I’m in a ball, deep in sad thought.
“He was honest. He made it crystal freaking clear he was done and insisted I keep his money. At least there’s that.”
“Seriously—get paid. But I’m confused, if he didn’t explain the crap he said earlier, then what was he honest about?”
�
�He just...he said he didn’t want things to end so messy and I should come back so we could finish the contract. I told him to go to hell and he said he’d pay me anyway.”
“Take. The. Money.” She claps her hands between words. “If you’re off the studio idea, go to Maui, find a hot pool boy, and send Wart lots of photos.”
“Wart,” I snort. “Like he needs more nicknames announcing how big of a dick he is? And you know me, I don’t go back on my word. I already told him I didn’t need his money and left.”
“Listen, Paige.” She fishes a water bottle out of her bag and takes a sip. “I’m a romance writer’s daughter. I always thought I was good at reading these things, but maybe I’ve been around Mom too long and see happy endings where there are just dead ends.”
“Like this one,” I say, rubbing another lump in my throat. It just doesn’t stop.
“It’s funny. At the charity thing that night, I had your bossman pegged for enchanted. Totally smitten with you. But apparently, I was wrong.” She sighs. “At least it’s over now. You never have to see his nasty heart-breaky face again.”
Oh, God, she’s...she’s right, isn’t she?
Never.
I burst into tears.
“Oh, Paige, I’m sorry! What did I say?” Brina flails her hands like something’s on fire—and that fiery mess is me.
“Nothing.” I wipe my eyes, but the tears won’t stop.
The thought of never seeing Ward again hollows me out. Mostly because it’s not even true.
I’ll see him every night when I close my eyes.
I’ll know I fell for his trap.
And yes, I’ll be distraught over every insufferable lie, every war of kisses, and every sexy memory.
What does that say about me?
Brina moves to the couch arm beside me, grabs me, and gives me a savage hug. “He’s not worth the tears. Mark my words, one day you’ll meet someone who makes you forget all about this jackass, and when you do, you’ll be glad things ended so you could find him.”
I look up, staring at her through red halos for eyes.
“What if I don’t believe in soulmates anymore?”
“Don’t do that! You can’t let him take that away from you.” She clucks her tongue. “God! I hope I end up at a flipping gala with Wardhole again and a whole bakery case. He’ll leave sterile if he doesn’t drown in pie-goo first.”
“Maggot might be upset if you murder him. I think they rub shoulders, don’t they?”
“Mag will shut up and post my bail. No woman deserves a man who values money over her.”
Right. Ward definitely did, even if the Winthrope deal was about dreams as much as it was dollar signs. Still, it should have been a wake-up call.
This was always a game, and I got played dirty.
I played with teal-blue fire, I flew too close to Orion, and I lost everything except these awful puns.
Shoot me.
26
Coming Clean (Ward)
Nick drives the rented Jeep through the Everglades, heading for Key Largo, blasting the most obnoxious heavy metal in the universe.
Yep. It’s a goddamned breakup song.
“I’m still confused about one thing, bro. Why would a girl who hates your guts want to help us?”
Good question. The material Paige sent from that security firm helped pinpoint the jackass here. He’s been hiding out in the condo Grandma left him as a parting gift after she hacked him out of her trust.
“I don’t know. Grandma’s sake, maybe,” I say.
“Are you sure she hates you? You could try talking to her like a human being.”
Grinding my teeth, I turn, dumbfounded he even asks.
“Doctor Phil, you were there the day things blew to shit. How is it a question? And as much as I’d love taking relationship advice from a guy who’s screwed his way through half a modeling catalog, it’s safe to say Paige hates me. Forever. She threatened to whack me with a protection order if I ever contacted her again.”
Nick flips the blinker on and turns the corner, biting back one of his insufferable smirks.
“It’s your life, Ward, but that sounds like a challenge to me.”
Is he for real?
“Is a rattlesnake shaking like a leaf a challenge too? Paige was only a tad more subtle,” I snap off.
He shrugs one shoulder. “If I wanted her, and that’s what she told me, I’d show up on her doorstep with a dumptruck of roses and a barbershop quartet.”
“So, she’d need that restraining order then?”
“You’re no fun,” he grumbles. “Any woman would be delighted.”
“She’d sic the cops on you,” I say, staring at the green line of marshy coast we’re darting down.
“Nah, see, she’d be impressed I risked a restraining order to beg for forgiveness. A good groveling session goes a long way. Let me tell you, I wouldn’t sleep at home that night.”
My eyes could cut him.
With an awkward smile, he holds up a hand. “This is all hypothetical, Ward. It’s not about Paige. Lighten up.”
“Why would I care if it’s about her?” I throw back. “I told you, it’s over, and after the shit I pulled...it should be.”
After a half hour silence, we’re closing in on a bank of newer beachfront condos that look like they were sprung from the sands.
He pulls into the lot, muttering under his breath. “Ward, you’re a dumbass.”
I’m not even sure I can argue with that one today, but I don’t have time to worry about it. I throw my seat belt off and open the door.
Nick starts to open his door when he stops and darts me a fierce look.
“Don’t start,” I bite off.
“What?”
“That look. You think I’m about to walk into trouble. I’m the oldest and the calmest—”
“That calm didn’t help you much with Paige, Buddha,” he says.
“Right. I’m also the most pissed off person in this car and getting madder by the minute, so if you don’t want me to take it out on you, let me deal with him. I’ve got this, Nick. Just wait here for backup.”
“You shouldn’t go in there alone, Ward. What if he’s—”
“He’s a wimp, a snake, and a pushover in that order. What’s he going to do?”
“Fucking mind games. You know that’s the worst. Or if he’s really desperate, who knows.”
“I’m immune to his crap and we’re both military men. Dad isn’t. I’d see him pull a gun before he knows he wants to.”
“You shouldn’t have to do this by yourself,” he says with a thick look.
“You’ll take care of Mom, remember? From me, she’d see it coming, but from my baby brother? No.”
His eyes sink to the wheel.
“I hate this shit.”
“Don’t we all. That’s why we’re splitting the work and taking our shots where they count,” I say, laying a hand on his shoulder. “This is my heart-to-heart talk with Dad, Nick. He took too much from me this time.”
Without his fuckery, I’d still have my girl, I think, blinking just a little too long.
Christ, if life had a rewind function, I’d have told her to forget about the contract and stay, signed over half my net worth, whatever she wanted if it bought me another chance.
Even if I was heartless and sporting the world’s dumbest mouth, I was still enough for her.
We were friends.
The deep, tight kind who only start to click after hating each other’s faces.
She fit in my world. We made sense. And we could’ve had it all if I’d had the courage to gird up my balls and tell her she did the impossible.
She made me fall in love.
Except, I couldn’t chain her to a life where two evil gremlins drop in whenever they want money and start raising hell.
I’m more pissed off than I realized, my blood roaring in my ears.
My thoughts propel me up the stairs and before I can blink, I’m beating my fist r
aw on the door of 3A.
Game show music plays from behind the door.
I’m ready to graduate to kicks in no time.
“Open up or I’ll knock the damn door down. Last warning!” I bark through the wood.
Three seconds later, the door opens narrowly, the chain still slung across it.
“What’s the big idea? Calm down. Shit, I thought someone was here to repossess the flat screen. Didn’t know it was you.”
My fist shoves through the open space and I rip the chain off, throwing it on the floor. My hands reach through, pushing the door wide open.
Dad staggers back as I come through the door, his lazy eyes wide and spinning.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Squaring my shoulders, I tower over him. He’s a small, rakish man, and it seems like he’s shrunken another inch every time I lay eyes on him.
I step forward. He steps back. Three more sprawling footsteps and he’s cornered, falling down into the leather sofa.
He cowers against the cushion.
“So, you’ve come to resort to this crude bullying now?” He makes a tsking sound. “That’s too bad. I’d expect this kind of thing out of your brother, but you? I always thought you were the smart one.”
“If you ever say anything about Nick again, I’ll fillet you like a fish.”
He’s silent.
I pull a black folder out of my jacket while his eyes flick with alarm. “Relax. I’m not here for violence. Yet. If you fuck my life up again—or Nick’s—I might reconsider. Hurt Grandma, and they’ll never find your body,” I growl.
He rolls his eyes, but I let him think I’m playing for another loaded second.
“I’m here to make a deal.”
“Deal?” he echoes, wrinkling his nose. “You’d actually pay me after...all this?”
I can see the greed, the dark hunger rising in his beady little eyes.
“No, old man. I have no heart, and most of the time my reactions are void of sanity. All of that, I get from you and Mother. Fortunately, I spent so much time with my grandparents, I learned how to be a functioning human being. I’m generous and overprotective. Mostly, I manage my anger well, thanks to them.”
