The Billionaire's Private Scandal

by Jenna Bayley-Burke

  “Aren’t you going to answer me?”

  “I don’t have to,” she said in a sing-song tone meant to drive him crazy. It worked.

  “It is four in the morning, Megan. Do you have any idea what has been running through my head?”

  She spun on her stiletto heel and lifted her chin at him. “More lies, perhaps? Is that why you’ve been working out? Trying to get more blood to your brain to help you solve the problem of spinning a tale I’ll actually believe?”

  “I haven’t lied to you.” But she was right on about the work out. A bout of intense exercise usually helped him solve any problem that came his way.

  But this time there were no options.

  “Right,” she drew the word out. “Your definition of ‘nothing happened’ is just different than the one everyone else uses.” She turned back around and stormed into the guest room.

  He followed, not about to let her get the last word, especially if it was one against him. “You’ve got to let this thing with Gemma go.”

  “Wouldn’t that be convenient for you?” She set the bag with Cash on the bed and slid the others to the floor. Money jumped back as the waterfall of purses tumbled to the ground. “We’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one.”

  “No.”

  “You don’t get a vote.” She sat on the bed and Cash crawled out of the bag and over to her lap as she undid her strappy sandals.

  Her bare legs were paler than he’d ever seen them, but they still held the sexy toned muscle and elegant curve of her calves that always distracted him. He’d love to spend an hour just running his hands up and down those legs. And after having her feet in heels that high, she’d do almost anything for a foot rub. It would be a great way to get her to sit down and listen for a change.

  “Nice, Brandon.” She tilted her head towards him as she rose from the bed and went into the closet.

  He blinked and looked down, realizing he’d risen to the occasion as well. He grit his teeth against the physical reaction and stalked into the closet. “Would you just be reasonable? You have to stop running away like this. You could be pregnant.”

  She turned slowly, holding two tiny clutches in each hand. “I don’t want you to think you can hold that over me as some way around your indiscretions. I am not pregnant.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Yes, I do. I haven’t had a period since this whole mess started. I’m not exactly the goddess of fertility right now.”

  He felt his eyes widen at the shock. His mind spun back a year and a half to the only other time she’d been late. They’d both sat outside the bathroom, holding hands and waiting for the longest three minutes of his life. He knew they’d both been disappointed at the negative result.

  His entire perception of Megan and their future together had changed that day. It was in that moment that he went from sure to absolutely certain he would marry Megan, to have her be the mother of his children. In his mind, it was as if it had already happened.

  The sweat still clinging to his body chilled his skin as he stared at her. “You’re three months late? My God, Megan, have you taken a pregnancy test?”

  She closed her eyes and rolled her lips in as she huffed a breath out her nose. When she looked up at him, fire lit her blue eyes. “Four, thank you very much. I’m not pregnant, just under a lot of stress, and not sleeping or eating enough.”

  “But now you could be.”

  “I’m not.” She held his gaze with such determination it snuffed out the part of him that wanted to believe she was.

  He held up his hands. “I give, Meg. I’m done.”

  “Hallelujah.” She tossed the clutches out of the closet and grabbed more handbags from the shelf and did the same.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I thought you were done pestering me.” She continued until she’d cleared off all three shelves.

  “I’m done fighting with you. I’ve spent all night trying to think of a way out of this hole, and the only thing I can think of is to stop digging it.”

  She let out a bright peal of laughter before she swallowed her smile and gave him a serious look. “That is the smartest thing you’ve said in months. Now go take a shower and leave me alone.”

  “You should get some sleep instead of playing with purses.”

  “I’m organizing them.”

  “Yeah, it looks like it.” He stepped out of the closet and had to duck to dodge a Berkin he knew had been meant for his head. “For what that bag cost, you shouldn’t toss it.”

  “Crap, you bought that one.” She snatched it off the floor and stuck it on the highest shelf she could reach. “That was the only one, right?”

  “What are you doing?” He leaned on the doorjamb and peered into the closet once more.

  “I’m working. Since you had me fired, twice, I had to find a new job.”

  “Purse throwing is lucrative?” She shot him a glare that should have made him turn tail and run, but he couldn’t help the grin. This spitfire was his Megan, and God help him, he found her determination and tenacity as sexy as ever.

  “Ava really believes this handbag rental company she’s launching is going to hit big. But don’t worry your pretty little head, there aren’t any shares on the open market, so there’s nothing for you to buy up.” She emerged from the closet and placed her hands on her hips as she stared at the handbag mountain.

  “So you’re selling these to Ava?”

  “No, just adding them to her collection.” She wrinkled her brow like she was thinking hard about something. “I need to borrow your camera.”

  His eyes widened as she marched out of the room as if he wasn’t even there. “Wait a minute.”

  He caught up to her and gripped her arm, spinning her around. “We’ve been up all night, and I am willing to table this so we can sleep on it. But if you’re going to work, then we’re going to talk.”

  “This is when I work, Brandon. My shift at the coffee shop starts at four in the morning. I am wide awake. If it bothers you, Cash and I can leave.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “Fine. You don’t have anything to say I want to hear, so leave me alone.”

  “That’s not happening, either.”

  “Then you’ll have to launch your diatribe while I’m working.” She shook off his arm and climbed the stairs to his office with a determined sway to her hips.

  He followed, more than happy to watch her climb the stairs. When they reached the top he held back, watching as she walked to the closet and opened it as if she knew everything inside. It seemed she did because she emerged with a pocket-sized camera moments later.

  He cocked his head to the side and caught her gaze. “What are these pictures for?”

  “The website.” Megan tried to move past him, but he stayed in her way.

  “Then you’ll want a better camera, a tripod, and natural light if you’re not going to do them in a studio. Which means you need to wait until the sun comes out and normal people are awake.”

  “I’ll make do.”

  “Don’t be stubborn for sport. This is Ava’s chance. She needs every advantage she can get to make this work. Her website photos need to look as professional as possible, or this will flop, trust me.”

  “I don’t trust you. You’re just trying to stall me so you can brainwash me into becoming some Stepford girlfriend. No thank you.”

  “Megan, you know how many times I’ve been able to turn a company around with an image facelift. You can be as annoyed with me as you want, but my business instincts are spot on. The other images for her website were done professionally, so yours need to be on par or she’ll wind up having to redo them and you’ll be wasting your time and effort.”

  She quirked a brow. “How do you know what her website looks like? It’s just a coming soon page.”
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  “I met with Jack when I was in New York.”

  Her eyes widened and blazed with fury. “Tell me you are not invested in Ava’s business.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Brandon’s gut tensed as he fought the urge to tell Megan what he’d promised to say. It was a white lie that wasn’t supposed to hurt anyone, but white lies had turned their entire lives into a gray area.

  He rolled his shoulders and decided to trust Megan with Jack’s secret. “I agreed to let Ava believe there were investors in her idea, and that I wanted to be one. She got to turn me down.”

  “What do you mean, you agreed?”

  “Jack asked that I not tell Ava he’s bankrolling her idea.”

  Megan gasped, her mouth dropping open.

  “It’s a good idea.” He moved his hand to reach for her, but clenched his fist and opted to talk faster. “After what she’s been through, he didn’t want her to be open to failure. This way, if it doesn’t work, she’s not ruined financially.”

  “Just completely beholden to Jack Sullivan. No wonder you agreed to lie for him, you both think trapping a woman with money is the only way you can hold on to her.” Megan tried to push past him, but he held his ground.

  “Jack has complete faith in Ava. He’s just trying to protect her. I get that.”

  “He’s lying to her, making her think other people believed in her idea enough to put up their own money.”

  “And bolstered her confidence, which is why you can’t tell her right now. When the business is running smoothly, he’ll tell her.”

  Her shoulders sagged. “I’m not going to go running to her, but that doesn’t mean I agree with the tactic.”

  “Good.” A breath of tension left his body. “As long as we’re agreeing, let’s talk about the real issue.” He moved past her, walked to the far side of the office loft and pulled open the drapes to see the twinkling lights of the city below. The dark haze of evening still clung to the sky.

  “If you’ve thought up another story about Gemma Ryan you want to run past me to see if I’ll buy it, don’t waste your breath. I’m broke Brandon. I’m not buying any of your lies.” The tremor in her voice punched him in the gut.

  He turned to face her. “You want a play-by-play of what happened with Gemma, fine. If you won’t throw it in her face, I don’t have a reason not to tell you.”

  Megan stepped to the sofa and began straightening the golden fringe of a tapestry pillow. “I don’t want to keep rehashing this. I’m not going to change my mind. If nothing really did happen, it wouldn’t have done nearly so much damage if you and Gemma had been honest with Danny from the beginning.”

  “There was nothing to tell, Megan.” He fisted his hands to keep from screaming. “If you promise you’re not going to use it to hurt her, I will tell you every minute detail.”

  “Why? Are you afraid I’ll compare stories and find they don’t match?”

  He ran his hands through his hair, resisting the urge to pull it out. “What is it you want to hear? I’m trying to do what you want, what you’ve asked for. And it’s still not good enough.”

  “The only thing I want is for it to have never happened.” Emotion made her voice heavy and thick.

  “What you think happened didn’t.”

  “If that were true, you wouldn’t have tried to lie about it.” She lifted her gaze to his and her pain seared through him.

  “I am sorry it hurt you. But it wasn’t the kind of kiss you think it was. She asked me to marry her, and—”

  Megan swayed on her feet. “She proposed to you?”

  “It was a business proposal. She needs to get married without a pre-nup or her grandfather’s estate goes to some Antarctic exploration foundation.” Megan stared blankly at him, so he chose his words carefully. “I told her we couldn’t, that we were like brother and sister and she kissed me to prove me wrong. It was awkward and sad. There was nothing there to even warrant pushing her away. So I let her in and we talked over some options.”

  She plumped the pillow and set it back in place. “The best option you could come up with is pimping out your best friend?”

  Brandon held up his hands. “She’s trying to make sure the Alzheimer’s center at the family compound that her father and grandmother are in is safe. When I told her I was marrying someone else, she had to find an alternative. I think Danny has a thing for her, so it could be good for them both.”

  “But you’re not marrying anyone else. You can be her white knight. If you want to save someone, there’s your damsel.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “Am I? You want to slay dragons and she’s the one in the tower, not me. I climbed down all by myself.”

  “There is nothing between me and Gemma. Never has been, never will be. What do I have to say to make you believe that?”

  “It’s a matter of too little, too late, I guess.”

  “There is nothing I could have done differently. I’ve thought about this from every angle. You disappeared as soon as it happened. I didn’t see you for months, and what happened with Gemma wasn’t even registering in my mind anymore. It meant that little to me.”

  Megan shrugged, the bored look she’d perfected masking her features. “Can I go now?”

  He couldn’t contain the growl of frustration. “I don’t know what to do or say anymore. We are completely deadlocked on this. What makes me so good at what I do is my ability to change perspective and see a way out of any situation. But with you, it’s all too personal for me to look at objectively. I’m too in love with you to risk anything happening to you. So, no, you can’t go. Anywhere.”

  Megan plopped onto the sofa, her eyes widening as she stared blankly across the room. “You don’t love me. You love having sex with me.”

  “I have loved you from long before I wanted to, and will for as long as I’m breathing. Stop minimizing our relationship. I get that you want to make me feel as bad as you did that day, but you can stop now. I feel like I’m in the middle of a tornado, my feet aren’t on the ground and there are things coming at me from all directions.

  “I invested in Carlton International for you, bought out the company for you, and forgave you for abandoning me without a word the moment I saw you were safe. I’ve done everything to try and keep you happy and protected, and it was all wrong. I just want to get back to where we were, how we were. But I don’t know how to get there while you’re seeing everything through a haze of green.”

  Megan put her elbows on her knees and brought her head to her hands. Her forehead rested in her palms, so he couldn’t see her expression. He watched her for a moment, raw and mesmerized.

  “Say something,” he whispered.

  “I don’t know if I actually believe you, or if I just want to,” she replied without looking up.

  His shoulders relaxed with the relief that for once, she’d listened long enough to hear what he had to say.

  …

  How many times had her mother bought the same lines? Had a similar speech propelled her mother to abandon her life and her children?

  Megan wanted Brandon to be sincere more than she wanted her next breath, but she feared he’d just managed to find the right words to unlock her defenses once more.

  Her mind warned her not to be stupid, but she was so confused. She didn’t know if she’d be stupid to believe him after what she’d witnessed, or stupid not to after knowing him for so long. And loving him so desperately, she’d been willing to take only what he offered and ask for nothing more. She wasn’t that carefree girl anymore, and she worried he’d be disappointed to find the complicated woman that had taken her place.

  Megan pushed her fingers against her scalp, wanting there to be some way she could be sure either way. But she’d learned these last few months that there were no guarantees in life, no way of knowing if anything were a
s real as it felt.

  She’d have to trust again at some point, but she didn’t know if she wanted it to be now, to be Brandon. He had such power, not just over her financially, but the power to destroy her very soul by simply taking back those three words she’d waited years to hear him to say outside of the bedroom.

  The couch dipped beside her as he sat and an ache rolled through her body. Instincts warred in her confused mind. One part of her was so delighted by his words she wanted to reach for him, to take comfort in his touch the way she had so often before. But another part of her was absolutely terrified that now, even making love with him would be dangerous.

  He placed a hand on her knee and she drew in a shaky breath, willing away the tears prickling at her closed eyelids. Things were so much clearer when she could be angry at him, but now love and desire were washing away her anger, bringing her dangerously close to the shore she always washed up on when life got to be too much.

  It was always Brandon she turned to, he was always her safe place. And yet, when she’d needed him most he hadn’t been there for her. It was a lesson she’d learned, that she needed to depend more on herself and less on him. But was it a lesson that meant she could never again turn to him?

  Was what he’d done a mistake she could live with, or was it something that would stay between them forever?

  And would she even be sitting here considering it if he hadn’t said, “I love you”.

  Brandon cleared his throat. “Why don’t we go take a bath? Maybe it will relax you enough to get some rest.”

  Megan pressed on her eyes to make sure no wetness betrayed her before looking over at Brandon. “Sex would only confuse me more, not less.”

  The muscles of his shoulders bunched as he shrugged. “We used to sit in the tub until the water was cold. I was thinking about that.”

  “We haven’t done that in years.” She wiped her fingers under her eyes, remembering that she’d put on makeup trying to make Brandon think she was going out. “Why don’t we sleep on it. Separately.”