Wicked Rich

by C. Morgan

  “Nothing,” I spat, my knuckles going white from how hard my grip on the glass had become. “Leave it alone, Dad. It doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

  “On the contrary,” he said, voice still completely calm and even. “She’s not only a guest in my house, but I’m the one who those allegations were made against. It might not have been my fault, but there’s a measure of responsibility that belongs to me. If I’d cooperated instead of insisting that everything went through the lawyers…” He sighed, shaking his head as his eyes fluttered closed for a moment. As his jaw hardened, he looked at me again. “The point is that I know something is going on here, and I’m going to keep picking at you until you break. What are you doing with her, Dax? Why bring her here?”

  “Her father testified against you,” I murmured in a much harsher tone than I’d meant to. “Have you forgotten that he took the stand on behalf of the state?”

  “No, I haven’t forgotten. I haven’t forgotten a thing from those days.” When he brought his gaze to the side to meet mine, I realized his eyes had gone dark with something that looked like worry. I couldn’t know for sure, though. Worrying about me wasn’t something he spent a lot of time doing, so I wasn’t very familiar with the signs.

  “Have you forgotten that he was subpoenaed to do so?” he asked when I didn’t say anything. “Maybe you don’t quite realize what that means, but it doesn’t leave a person with a choice.”

  “Bullshit,” I grumbled. “He could’ve contested it.”

  This time when my dad laughed, there was a definite edge of humor to it. “Contested it? What for? Jesus, Dax. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I do actually.” My eyes narrowed until I was looking through slits. I even saw my lashes as I ground my teeth. “I looked it up, Dad. There are ways to get around a subpoena.”

  “There are ways to get around most things if you have enough money,” Dad said. “Why should Sage have taken out money he doesn’t have to consult with a lawyer he didn’t need in order to avoid giving evidence against a guy he didn’t have anything on anyway?”

  My father snorted softly. “The man doesn’t have a quarter to waste on a wishing well. Not that you’d understand that concept, but he wouldn’t have been able to afford an attorney even if he wanted to get out of testifying.”

  “There’s free legal aid available,” I retorted. I never expected to be having this argument with my father of all people, but that didn’t mean I was any less prepared for it. “His family could’ve come to us for help. They had options, Dad. They just didn’t use any of them.”

  “Don’t you mean ‘he’ had options, not ‘they?’” he asked, twisting in his seat to double check that we were still alone. “You don’t know shit about the position he was in, Daxton. I know you and Hadley used to be friends, but that didn’t give me a free pass when it came to her father. He was subpoenaed, and the evidence he gave helped me, or have you conveniently forgotten that part?”

  “I haven’t forgotten anything from those days,” I echoed his earlier statement.

  Dad let out another heavy breath, his gaze capturing mine with an intensity and seriousness in his expression I hadn’t seen in a long time. “You weren’t there for the trial. Maybe I need to add some details for you that you haven’t heard. Rodney Sage testified at length for the state, but his testimony was all about what he didn’t find.”

  He drew the word out, emphasizing it. “He specifically mentioned that he had unrestricted access to many of our computers while repairing them and that he never saw anything suspicious or that would indicate suspicious activity.”

  “So?” I looked my dad right in the eyes. “He wouldn’t have anyway. He’s not in cyber security or anything like that. He still testified for the other side, and even if he hadn’t, she still publicly humiliated me. There’s nothing you can say to change what she did.”

  “Which brings us full circle,” he said. “What are you planning on doing about it?”

  Something inside me burst, bringing to the surface all the rage I still felt toward Hadley. I’d been trying to keep it close, but I hadn’t planned on letting anyone else see it. My father’s picking had achieved exactly that, though.

  Shoving my chair back, I jumped up and downed the rest of my drink. “I’m going to leave her here. On Sunday, after the weekend is said and done, I’m going back without her. I’m going to make her feel what it feels like when somebody you think you can trust abandons you.”

  Fury ripped across my father’s features. Then he was in my face. “You will do no such thing. You’re messing with a young woman’s life here, Dax. Haddie doesn’t have access to money like you do and neither do her parents. Who would help her?”

  “It’s not my problem,” I spat. “She sure as shit didn’t care about who was going to help me when she abandoned me, did she?”

  “No son of mine would ever treat a woman this way,” he growled.

  My eyes widened as I scoffed at him, my brows shooting all the way up. “Don’t pretend like you’re better than me, old man. I know about all the affairs you’ve had. Mom knows about them, too. You have no right to talk to me about how to treat a woman.”

  I stormed away from him before he could utter another word. His concern over me ruining Hadley’s life was laughable after everything he’d done. All I was doing was leaving her to find her own way home. At worst, she’d have to dip into some savings or get a loan.

  Whoop-dee-doo.

  The damage my father had caused was way worse. It couldn’t be repaired, and now he had the audacity to lecture me? Fuck him.

  Thankfully, I’d neither asked for nor did I need his permission to go through with my plan. Nothing was going to stop me, not even his pathetic attempts to make me second-guess myself.

  Chapter 28

  HADLEY

  The Breyer’s house was enormous. After I’d told Dax I’d meet him downstairs, I finished getting ready and then spent longer than I was proud of trying to find the deck. I’d been looking forward to having a drink outside, watching the sun set with him while also possibly getting the chance to speak to his parents.

  All of that had flown out the window when I’d finally found the lounge with the door leading outside. Tucked into an alcove before rounding the corner to where he was sitting with his dad, I’d heard every word exchanged between them.

  My heart was racing in my chest as I fought to hold back tears. How could he do this to me?

  Or no. Maybe that wasn’t the right question to be asking. How could I have made it so damn easy for him to do this to me?

  For weeks now, I’d fallen into his not so carefully woven trap. All it had taken for him to get the ball rolling was a nice smile, an apology, and the promise of wanting to make it up to me. I’d taken those few scraps he’d offered me and fucking ran with them.

  As I replayed the last few weeks in my head, the blood drained from my face. That first night we’d slept together, the night he’d taken me to dinner, I was the one who’d kissed him. God, what a laugh he must’ve had at my expense after that.

  Repulsion rolled through me. I’d slept with him time after time. Hell, I’d nearly had sex with him on the plane and then we’d almost done the deed again while we’d been out swimming earlier. The only thing that had stopped us was not having protection. If it had been up to me and protection hadn’t been an issue, I’d have let him make love to me right there in the ocean. In public. Nausea bubbled in my stomach as I thought about it.

  I’d given myself to him in every way, and all the while, this was what he’d been planning. Everything that had happened between us had been a big fat lie from his side. I’d fooled myself into thinking that what we had was real when he’d been plotting against me all along.

  The more I thought about it, the more my anger shifted and built until I was more angry with myself than I was with Daxton. Ruby and my father had warned me about him, but I hadn’t listened to either of them. I’d thoug
ht I was in control. I’d thought I knew him better than anyone and that I’d have known if he was playing me.

  What a joke. I’d never been the one in control. Not for a single darn second. As for knowing him better than anyone, maybe that used to be true but it clearly wasn’t anymore.

  It was obvious to me now that he was just an injured boy who hadn’t had the support system he’d needed when his whole world had fallen out from under him. He’d become his fury, and I’d never known his fury. He’d been gone before I could get to know it. As a result, there was no way I ever could’ve known who he’d become.

  He wanted revenge more than he wanted to heal. That much was clear to me now.

  Yeah, it’s a bit late now, don’t you think?

  A scream lodged in my throat when I thought back again, remembering every time I’d made myself vulnerable to him and trying to see the moment through his eyes. He must think I’m such an idiot.

  I’d been falling for him, and though I hadn’t said anything, it had been painfully clear from the way I’d been with him. All the laughter and the secret smiles. The flirting, opening up in more ways than one, and the times I’d run as soon as he’d snapped his fingers.

  All of it had been to get here. All of it had been devised to hurt me. To make me feel what it felt like to be abandoned.

  Well, I hoped he’d be happy when he found out I knew—because I knew what it felt like now and it fucking sucked. But I also knew now what it felt like to have been used, played, and deceived.

  For all my guilt about the way I’d treated him in the past, my betrayal hadn’t been preconceived. It hadn’t been planned or done with the intention to do maximum damage. This, what he’d done, was all of those things.

  What was worse was that I knew now that he’d used my attraction to him against me. He’d slept with me only to further his cause. What kind of sick monster does that?

  Bile rose in my throat when I wondered what he’d been thinking all those times we’d gotten together. Did he think about what he was going to do to me with each thrust? Had he been disgusted to have to touch somebody he so clearly hated?

  Sobs wracked my body, but I didn’t let them out. Clapping my hand over my mouth instead, I ran for the nearest bathroom and locked myself in. As it was, I was stuck here. In his house. With his parents. Possibly without a way to get home.

  At least now that I knew what his plan was, I could make sure he wasn’t successful. I didn’t know what it would take yet, but I’d glue myself to his side to make sure he didn’t get the opportunity to leave me here. Not only because I couldn’t afford the ticket back, but also because I refused to be his punching bag.

  Maybe if I had money, I would have taken the hit. Made him believe he’d won and then called things off with him when I finally got back to campus. I didn’t want to do that, though. I didn’t want to hand him this win, even if I could make another plan with a ticket.

  There was no other plan to make, however, so I supposed the point was moot. I had to catch a ride back with Daxton, or I was screwed. If I dipped into my savings to pay for a flight home, I’d never make it through the year without getting another job.

  If I got another job, there was every chance that my studies would take a knock. My grades would suffer, and my very place at Edgewater could be in jeopardy. That was why my parents were so dead set against the idea even if they desperately needed the help. Deep down inside, we were all terrified that I’d lose the scholarship if anything affected my performance.

  And even so, I’d let Dax into my life because of what? A charming smile and a sweet apology?

  It was ridiculous, when I thought about it now, that I’d put everything on the line for him like that. Okay, so our relationship hadn’t started to affect my grades or my studies or anything, but still. In hindsight, it felt like it had been an unnecessary risk.

  An unnecessary risk I’d taken for what? For nothing. That’s what. To be used. To be hurt.

  The tears I’d been fighting finally broke free, running down my cheeks in violent rivulets that wouldn’t let up. I’d never felt as stupid as I did right then.

  I hadn’t even known it was possible to feel this damn stupid. Maybe if it had only been the stupidity, I’d have been able to deal with it but it wasn’t only that.

  Despite all my promises that I was being careful with my heart, I had to admit that it was bruised—at the very least. It wasn’t quite broken or shattered, but there was an ache in my chest that hadn’t been there before.

  When I thought about what it was going to be like to go back to Edgewater after this, I collapsed into myself. It was very likely that his whole house had known about his plans. What else did he have planned for me? Would they have spread the word all over campus that Dax had been about to break my poor little scholarship kid heart?

  God, I don’t want to go back. I knew I had to. There was no way I could throw away the opportunities for a future that would come with a degree from Edgewater for a boy, but I needed someone to tell me that.

  Breathing hard, I realized I needed someone to tell me what to do. I was stranded here at the Breyer house. It was a beautiful place, but nowhere felt safe when it was effectively a prison. I couldn’t go anywhere, which made it feel more like a jail than a mansion.

  Once I managed to control my breathing, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through my contacts. Eventually, I went back to my dad’s number. I’d been so focused on my studies and getting into Edgewater that I didn’t even have a best friend from back home to call. How sad is that?

  I could’ve called Ruby, but I just didn’t feel like she and I were quite there yet. When I got back to campus, I knew I was going to have to tell her but until I had to, I didn’t want to admit it to her. She’d told me she had a strange feeling about all this, and I’d not even just dismissed her. I’d run out to class early just to get away from her.

  “Hello?” Dad said when he answered my call. “Is that you, sweetheart? How’s Hawaii? We weren’t expecting to hear from you this weekend.”

  The truth I’d called to tell him died in my throat. Now that it had come right down to it, I just didn’t have the heart to do it. The last thing I wanted him to be worried about was me. Especially after I’d told him that he was wrong when he’d warned me that Daxton wasn’t a good man.

  Regardless of how badly I needed to hear someone telling me what I had to do, I knew what it was anyway. I had to ride out the rest of the weekend, stick myself to his side so he couldn’t leave me behind, and then tell him to go to hell as soon as we landed.

  So, instead of telling Dad what had happened, I lied. “Things are going well here, Daddy. Hawaii is amazing. I wish you guys were here with me.”

  “Those pictures you sent this afternoon made me jealous,” he admitted. “The beach is beautiful. Heck, even the darn airport looked beautiful. Hang on, Mom’s here with me. I’m going to put you on speaker.”

  My mother started asking questions immediately and, as I answered them, I felt renewed strength seeping into me. I’d been through so much. I could handle a spoiled trust-fund kid. Sure, my chest ached, I was humiliated, and I was worried about what was going to happen when I got back, but that was nothing I couldn’t get through.

  When I eventually hung up the phone, I splashed some cold water on my face and headed back to my room. I wasn’t hungry anyway, so I wasn’t worried about dinner. I just needed some time to process all of this so I’d be able to get through the rest of the weekend.

  When I got to my room, however, Dax was waiting for me. He was lying on my bed in all his golden haired, blue-eyed, perfectly toned glory, and a lazy grin spread over his face when he saw me in the doorway.

  Jesus. He’s really good at that. I’d heard the rage in his voice downstairs but here he was, looking like there wasn’t anything in the world that could get to him.

  “There you are,” he said, practically purring as his gaze tracked me when I walked into the room. “Want
to close the door behind you? We’ve got at least an hour before dinner.”

  He’s putting the moves on me right now? Seriously? It flooded me with shame to even think about it because if I hadn’t heard him downstairs, I’d be locking the door behind me right now.

  “I’m tired, Dax,” I said, my voice a little hoarse with emotion. “It’s been a long day and tomorrow is the party. I’d like to just get some rest.”

  His brow furrowed, and again, I marveled at the fact that he actually managed to look genuinely concerned about me. “Are you okay? You look a little sick.”

  That’s because you’re a bastard I don’t even want to look at. I cleared my throat, forcing a tight smile as I headed for the bathroom. “I’m fine. I just need to get to bed early tonight.”

  “Okay,” he said slowly, still frowning as his gaze studied mine. Those eyes swept from one of mine to the other, and my heart contracted when he came closer to me. “I’ll ask them to send something up for you to eat. You sure you’re okay?”

  “Fine,” I repeated, backing away when he reached for me. “I’ll see you in the morning, Dax. Good night.”

  Spinning around so I wouldn’t have to look into his lying damn face anymore, I sped into the bathroom and flicked the lock into place just in case he thought about following me in. It took a few minutes, but eventually, I heard his footsteps padding away and the bedroom door closing.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed out a sigh of relief, even as tears pricked the backs of my eyes again. At least he was gone. That was one step in the right direction.

  After taking another long shower and getting into my pajamas, I ate as much of the soup and freshly baked bread that had been sent up for me as I could, but it was a pathetic effort. The food was amazing, as I would’ve expected it to be, but my appetite just wasn’t interested.

  Once I’d finished, I flipped off the lights, and then I spent my first night in Hawaii lying in my giant bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering what tomorrow would turn into now that I knew the truth.