“So that’s it?”
“Doesn’t it have to be? Do you think your father is going to never mind his investment?”
Ryder’s use of the word investment made her cringe. He couldn’t have known it, but he’d nailed his assessment of her father.
“And it’s not just him. It’s you.”
She jerked her gaze to his. “What do you mean?”
“I did my research. You’re a highly respected attorney, and right now people are sympathetic. Even if your relationship with your ex was more of a mutually beneficial business arrangement than it was built on love, people are going to feel a lot less sorry for you if you tumble out of my bed two weeks later.” He took a step closer and reached for her, but stopped midair and frowned, then shoved his hand in his pocket. “You can’t help what he did, but you can help yourself here. If this gets out, what happened between us is going to be billed as some kind of steamy, forbidden affair. Your credibility will be shot. I imagine your clientele is comprised primarily of big names with bigger secrets. If you can’t handle your own business, they won’t have much faith in your ability to handle theirs. Think about it, Zoe. You’ve built everything for yourself in DC. This thing with us is a blip. It’s a damn good one, but it’s a blip. It doesn’t matter that I’m willing to risk my fortune to be with you, because the bottom line is I’m not willing to risk yours.”
“And you think you have the right to make that decision for me?”
He met her eyes. Steady. Unfettered. “I’m not the one who took it from you.”
She blinked back…what? Anger? Tears? He was right. He hadn’t taken it from her. Her father had. It had happened ten years ago.
It wouldn’t happen again.
“I need some time,” she said. When he didn’t respond, she tossed the paper on the bed and walked out. Back in her room, she grabbed her phone and then left the cabana, opting to head for the beach. No backward glance.
No escape.
It hurt like hell, but it didn’t take away what they shared. It didn’t take away the risk. She had to wonder if any court would award her father all of Ryder’s assets, but far more ridiculous things had happened. There was a good chance her father would get something substantial. And even if he didn’t, pursuing the case would paint them all in an unfavorable light. Ryder wouldn’t want to risk that with his new business just starting up, so he’d just planned on giving her up instead.
Convenient.
Ryder may have lied to her by omission, but everything else between them had been real. It had to have been. That he’d give it up so willingly was a painful, bitter pill to swallow, but he didn’t owe her anything.
But her father…that was another situation entirely.
One she would remedy.
She woke her phone and dialed her father’s direct line. She wasn’t surprised when the call was immediately answered. “Zoe, where the hell are you?”
Despite her anger, his biting tone intimidated her. No more. “I told you I was on vacation.”
“Your mother is beside herself, and your clients’ cases are suffering. If you were just any associate, I’d fire you.”
Oh, hell no. Despite her anger at his threats, she forced an even tone. Coming across as hysterical or furious would just give him more ammunition. “Associate or not, I’m entitled to vacation time. And my clients are all taken care of by other attorneys—every single one more experienced than me, which you would damn well know if you were as all-powerful as you thought yourself.”
A telling silence straddled the connection. Zoe almost smiled. Very few people or situations ever left her father speechless, but she knew he wouldn’t stay that way long. “You need to change your tone and amend your word choice,” he said. “I demand an apology.”
“I don’t want to work for someone who doesn’t respect me.” Father or not, there was no way in hell she’d subject herself to that.
Dead silence followed. Then, “Young lady, this is more than a place to work. This is your legacy. Your law firm.”
“No, it’s not. I’ve been there three years, and it’s a job. I did that because it was what you wanted, and I wanted to live up to your expectations. Everything has to be your way. It’s always been that way, hasn’t it?” The words surprised her even as she said them. She never realized she was going through the motions and doing what was expected of her more than living. She did enjoy some aspects of her job, but not playing dirty. She didn’t want to be her father, and she knew that now.
“What are you talking about?” he demanded.
“Ryder Nash.”
“Who?” But it didn’t sound like who. It sounded more like what. Like he wanted to know what she knew before he spoke. Classic Edgar Davenport, Esquire.
“Ryder, from next door. You paid him to stay away from me.”
“That was ten years ago,” he said, fury barely restrained behind his words. “You were a kid. He swore he’d never touched you. If he was telling the truth, what difference does it make?” Her father paused, then added, “How did you know about that?”
“I just happened upon the contract you had him sign.”
“How the hell did you happen upon that? Are you with that piece of trash?”
Zoe’s gut twisted. “No. I’m at an exclusive resort in the Caribbean. I’m not sure you could afford it, so I wouldn’t worry about the trash, but I will say this. You need to rescind that contract.”
“Why the hell would I do that?” her father bellowed.
She swallowed hard and forced an even tone. “Because I am a grown woman who doesn’t need you to manipulate my life any longer.”
“Manipulate your life?” he roared. A nearby bird took flight, and with her father’s volume, she wasn’t sure it was a coincidence. “I’ve given you everything. Your future husband is headed for the White House.”
She straightened, fueled by anger. What father would want his daughter subjected to such treatment? How could he not want her to be happy? Rhetorical questions, she knew. There was no way he’d ever be able to explain his defense of her ex. Not well enough to convince her. She gritted her teeth, then spoke through the tension. “That man is not now and never will be my husband, and I wouldn’t bet on him making it to the White House anymore, either. Not unless he’s standing in line for the visitor’s entrance with the rest of the public.”
“The story is old news,” he said, his tone dismissive. “When you come home, you’ll see he’s sorry for what he did—”
“I don’t care whether or not he’s sorry, though the fact that not one of my phone messages has been from him makes me suspect the latter. It’s over. I left the ring, and I’m not going back to him or that business arrangement of a relationship. Tell him he’s free to give it to one of his sluts.”
“Zoe Michelle—”
“No. I’m no longer a pawn for your beltway credentials.” She could practically see that vein on the side of his head going haywire, though she was grateful she wasn’t actually privy to it. It would be a little harder to stand her ground that way. To say what she needed to say. “And until you issue a legally binding document rescinding the contract you railroaded Ryder into signing ten years ago, I’m not coming back. You have my personal email address. Use it.”
“Zoe Michelle Davenport, you will be in my office first thing in the morning, or I will make sure you’ll regret it.”
She broke into laughter. “Regret what? Setting him up for you to steal his fortune? Not a chance.”
“If you know about that contract, then clearly you know it’s enforceable.” His chilling tone had her second-guessing her decision to give him an ultimatum. Her father clearly hated Ryder. “Do you really think your threats are going to keep me from following through?” he asked. “Although I’m not sure what the point would be. He can’t be worth much.”
If only he knew. “It’s not about him. It’s about me. I don’t want to be manipulated. I want to make my own choices.”
“Good. Here’s one fo
r you. If you don’t get your butt back here in your chair and do your job, I’ll find that boy myself. And if there’s any evidence that he’s been anywhere near you, I’ll follow through on the terms of that contract.” His voice actually softened. “If you want to be your own person, then prove to me it’s for you. Fight your fight, Zoe. Not his. That, I will respect. The choice is yours.”
In the echo of silence that followed, Zoe ended the call.
And shook.
Ryder stood in place, watching sunlight dance over calm water. Seeing Zoe in his arms and hearing her laughter. Tasting the salt of the sea on her lips. Knowing that in not one of his twenty-eight years had a woman looked past his surface—filthy rich or dirt poor—and seen him for who he was.
She had.
Or so he had thought.
Regret what? Setting him up for you to steal his fortune? Not a chance.
He replayed the words in his head over and over until he was blind to everything but the pain. He was never meant to hear them, of that he was sure. He’d only gone back to the cabana when he realized he’d left out the documents. He hadn’t wanted her to find them—hadn’t wanted them to change anything between them while he figured things out. And he hadn’t intended on overhearing her conversation with who he assumed was her father. He just hadn’t expected the answers to come so damn readily. And when they did, he could do nothing but backpedal, slipping away before he was seen.
Away from Zoe.
Why would she say she’d set him up if she hadn’t? She’d seemed genuinely shocked about the contract. It didn’t add up.
He’d risked everything because what they had been so right. Even then, even knowing she might have played his ass like a violin, no amount of logic could mount an argument to convince his heart. There was no way the chemistry between them hadn’t been real. It was impossible to think she’d simply endured while he made love to her. Fucking would have been an easy enough sell, but not the tenderness with which she’d loved him back.
Love.
Biggest bunch of bullshit to ever meet a shovel.
But he didn’t feel as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest because the sex was over. And he hadn’t gone into their affair without full awareness that it could cost him everything. He’d assumed they’d have a fling and go their separate ways, her father none the wiser. And, God help him, if Zoe had decided she wanted him more than her old life, he’d have dealt with her father and the fallout with a smile on his face because that woman would be his.
But he got neither.
It was over, and he hadn’t gotten a vote. And now, just when he realized how badly he wanted more, it was too late. The real world had infiltrated their little bubble, and things had gotten messy. Fast.
He was still standing there, dumbstruck, when she turned and saw him. For a long while, no one said anything. But he knew, just by looking at her, that Zoe wouldn’t use him, that it was his antipathy toward relationships talking. He broke the silence.
“I just heard you say something about not regretting that you set me up for someone to steal my fortune. I know you didn’t do that—not the way it sounds—so what were you talking about?”
Her mouth opened, then closed. And opened again. “Screw you, Ryder.”
“Just tell me the truth.”
“The truth is I just told off my father for what he’d done. And now I have to go crawling back because he’s right. Because he had a point when he said I need to make my decisions and move on despite what happened at home, not because of what happened here.”
Ryder frowned. Not because he disagreed, but because he didn’t. He’d want the same thing for Zoe. “He’s right.”
She stared at him for a moment before she spoke. “Then I guess that’s that. Can you have someone…ready the plane?”
He sighed. “Stay for the gala. It’ll be good press for you. You’ll have time to prepare your answers and deflect any you want to avoid.” When her forehead furrowed, he elaborated. “A lot of big name politicians will be here, but no reporters. Or, rather, just one. Chloe Lochlan.”
Her eyes lit, then narrowed. “Knox Hamilton’s wife? Senator Knox Hamilton? The reporter who outed his father as a crook?”
“That’s the one. You can trust her, and you can spin it however you like.”
Zoe didn’t appear any less dubious. “Does she know she’s coming here to work?”
“She’s a reporter,” he said wryly. “They’re not prone to turning down good stories.”
“I guess,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “Okay, make the arrangements. I’ve got to face it sooner or later. I’ll have to go back and…start over.”
“You’ll be fine.” God, he sounded like an idiot. You’ll be fine? He wanted her to be his. But he also wanted her to be happy, and that happiness existed in her career as an attorney. She’d already said she wanted to go home. She wouldn’t have to ask twice.
He looked for a long time. Memorizing her and the way she looked in his place. Probably no need of that, though, because he wasn’t sure he’d ever forget.
Then he simply turned his back on her and left, walking along the shore until he couldn’t see her. Unfortunately, that put him closer to the resort, but that felt like the easier option. He needed to get involved with something. He needed to do something.
Easier said than done.
He lost himself to the solitude, but not for long before he heard someone approach.
“Good heavens, boy, there you are.” Aggie and her staggered breaths. The woman could clean like no one’s business and never break a sweat, but she had no endurance whatsoever for sand.
He didn’t turn to greet her. Didn’t want her on his beach. Didn’t need her sympathy.
“You have about fifty employees fidgeting in the ballroom,” she said, her voice drawing closer. “Hector is threatening to take them up in that biplane and barrel roll, and I think that little one is about to wet his pants.”
He didn’t turn around. Didn’t look at her. “What are you doing out here?”
“It’s hard to get piss out of good leather,” she said of the communal furniture. “Soaks right in.”
“Not funny.”
“What burnt your biscuits? And why aren’t you in there? You’ve worked too hard and wanted this too long to miss it.”
He hesitated, but quickly decided there was no point. He crammed his hands in his pockets. Still with his back to Aggie, he said, “The day I graduated high school, Zoe’s father paid me to leave town. The catch? I was never to touch his daughter. The penalty for defying him was ten times the face value of the check or my entire net worth, whichever was greater.”
“I knew there was something to you and that girl,” Aggie threw back, seemingly unfazed by his confession. “Don’t know why you wasted your breath trying to tell me otherwise.”
He bit back a retort, primarily because there was nothing he could say. Aggie was right, and he was pretty sure she’d never been convinced otherwise. “There wasn’t anything then,” he said. “I never touched her. I wanted to, but you know how teenage boys are.”
She pinned him down with an accusatory glare. “Not too discriminating is how they are. But you’re not eighteen any more. And you love her, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t matter. Her father has that contract.” He fiddled with the contents of his pocket. The jangling invaded the soothing wash of the sea, irritating him, but he didn’t stop.
The older woman shook her head. “I’m not taking her father’s side on anything, but he was probably just trying to protect his daughter. You’ve told me a time or two about how you were close to going down the wrong path. You’re not now. He has no reason not to approve of the man you are now.”
“Approval isn’t the problem.” He looked down as Aggie put a hand on his arm, silencing the noise. With a sigh, he removed his hands from his pockets. “The problem is that, doting father or not, he’s an asshole. He’s a power-hungry piece of shit who puts
his own agenda ahead of everything else, including his daughter’s right to make her own choices. And in DC, money equals power. If he thinks he can get his hands on any portion of my assets, he’ll pursue this contract.”
“So what is he going to do? Take you to court?” Aggie waved her arms around like she was shooing birds. “That’s nonsense.”
“Well, considering he’s reportedly one of the shrewdest attorneys on the east coast and he had me sign in front of a notary,” he said, the sarcasm thinly veiled, “he might well take me to court. I’ve already talked to my lawyers.”
“And what did they advise?”
He sighed. “Not to touch her.”
Aggie looked skyward, aggravation etched on her face. “Why’d you ask if you had no intention of listening?”
“Because I thought she was worth it. What is this—what is any of this—without someone to share it with?”
“So share it with her.”
He shook his head. “Did you not hear me? It’s not that easy. I’ll lose everything.”
“If you love her and let her go,” she said, “then you already have.”
His sharp look earned him one in return.
Aggie waved her hand again. The way she threw her arms around, she’d be right at home on a runway directing aircraft. “I don’t mean to get into business that isn’t mine,” she said, “but you think about it. You’ve kept that wall up for so long. There’s a reason she got through.” She poked him in the chest. Hard. “You’re the closest thing I have to a son, and if I thought for one minute this was wrong, I’d tell you. But I don’t. If you don’t believe me, find her and ask her right out. Find out how she feels about you. Don’t go throwing everything away because your head is too far up your ass to ask a question.”
He didn’t say anything. Just stood there.
Loving Zoe.
“You are one stubborn ass,” Aggie said. “Let me rephrase. According to what you just told me, you lost her, and you’re about to lose everything else you have. You look at me, Ryder Nash. What else do you have to lose? Don’t stand there and tell me you love her but not be willing to fight for her.”
One Night With the Billionaire (Men of the Zodiac) Page 12
