by Dawn Doyle
Emily’s rage hit her full force and she couldn’t suppress it.
“You helped him!” She growled. “You helped his business! You helped that fuckin’ bastard. After what he did to me, you go and do this…behind my back!” She almost screamed.
Emmy, no. I didn’t…”
“I can’t believe you!” She said, not letting him finish. “I told you I never wanted anything to do with him, even if it meant not seeing that money again!”
“Emmy, let me explain. That guy, Gavin, he looked into his business. I didn’t help him.” Nick tried to plead with her.
Emily wasn’t having it. She was far too angry with him to listen to what he had to say. She’d trusted Nick and he’d gone and done business with the guy who’d used her and treated her like a disposable object.
Not wanting to stand there anymore, Emily tore up the cheque and threw it; turning around and storming out of Nick’s office.
“Emmy!” He called after her.
His voice sounded strained, like he was in pain but she couldn’t listen. She was livid and listening to the crap that was about to fall from his mouth would only make things worse.
“Come after me and I’ll fuckin’ smack ye!” She said, pointing at him.
Her stomach churned again and she felt like she was going to throw up. The look in Nick’s eyes, like he had no clue what just happened, only infuriated her further.
He had to know what he’d done. Going behind her back and doing business with the biggest fuck head she knew.
I can’t believe he’s done this to me. Nick, my Nick.
Diane just stood, open mouthed, at what had just happened, but Emily wasn’t about to stop and explain.
Tears fell down her face as she got into the lift.
She was going home. Home to her parents.
Emily got to her apartment and grabbed some clothes, roughly stuffing them into her case. She didn’t have time to fold them neatly because there was a chance Nick would show up and she didn’t want to see him.
She couldn’t. She was distraught and felt like her insides were twisting in agony and she couldn’t stop it. The feeling of hurt overpowered her and she cried loudly.
“Emily stop!” She chastised herself. “Crying isn’t going to solve anything.”
Emily’s phone started to ring.
It was Nick.
She pressed ‘decline’. She was in no state to talk to him and there was no way we would anyway. All she could think about was that Nick had betrayed her by helping Jeff.
He called again, and she rejected…again.
Taking a deep breath, to calm herself, Emily tried to clear her head. She replayed the conversation over and over and something didn’t add up. What she couldn’t understand was that Nick said he didn’t help Jeff, yet he had her money.
Wouldn’t he have given money to Jeff?
Unless he’d already invested and the cheque was the returns he’d made. It didn’t make sense because she would’ve seen it in the company reports.
Something else didn’t make sense. The fact that she blew her top without letting him explain. It wasn’t like her to do that. She would’ve at least heard him out first. She hadn’t with Jeff because she caught him red handed and there were no words to explain that little ‘situation’.
The jumbled thoughts in her head made her feel worse and her stomach swirled. She felt salt water in her mouth and her throat relaxing.
Emily ran to the bathroom and made it to the toilet just in time to throw up.
Sitting in front of the bowl, Emily took her phone out of her pocket when it beeped.
N: Emmy, please let me explain. I didn’t help that asshat!
Fresh, hot tears ran down Emily’s cheeks.
E: I don’t want to hear it.
N: Please, baby. I don’t want to text. Let me talk to you.
E: I don’t want to talk to you.
Emily vomited again. Her stomach heaving until there was nothing left.
N: Emmy, I love you. I wouldn’t hurt you.
E: I love you too but I don’t want to talk to you right now.
She did love him, that much was true. She couldn’t help it. Even after what he’d done she couldn’t imagine being without him and that hurt even more.
Emily knew she would calm down, eventually, but the way she was feeling it wouldn’t be any time soon.
Turning off her phone, Emily got up and brushed her teeth. She picked up her case and drove to her parents house.
“Whoa, what the fuck Em?” Holly said when Emily walked into the kitchen. “What’s the matter?”
“Nick. He helped Jeff… I think. Hol, my head is up my arse and I can’t think straight.” She replied, sitting down.
“I’ll make you a cuppa.” Said Alex.
“Ta. Could you make coffee though, please? I’ve gone off tea. I could use something stronger though. Like a bottle of whisky.” She said with a snort.
“Tell me what happened.” Holly said, taking her hand.
Emily told them everything that had happened after Gavin had left. Even what she’d said to Nick. She felt terrible when she thought of how he looked when she’d turned exorcist on him. That was usually what happened when Holly lost her temper.
“Em, you can’t possibly know everything if you didn’t give him chance to explain.”
“Whose side are you on?” Emily snapped. “He produces a cheque, for me, and says it’s from Jeff. How else can you explain it?”
Her own reasoning had gone out the window with another burst of temper.
“Calm down, Em. I’m on your side, always, but you’re not thinking straight. I don’t know what’s going on with you but I’ve never seen you act like this before. Even when the gob-shite screwed you over, you weren’t like this. We all know you love Nick, Em. I know he can be irritating at times; just look at Ryan. I know Nick wouldn’t hurt you though. He loves you so much.”
There was Holly being the voice of reason, again. She had a point.
Nick wouldn’t hurt her, not intentionally anyway, but he looked like he didn’t understand what was wrong. He had to. He knew what Jeff had done; he’d gotten so mad about it himself.
She needed space. Space to calm down and think about how her happy day had turned into a big pile of shit.
“Ryan just texted me.” Alex said as Emily got out of her chair. “He said Nick has been banging on your door.”
“Tell him it would be in his best interests to leave me alone for a while.” She said quietly, and walked upstairs to the spare room, taking her case with her.
Chapter 22
Emily wouldn’t speak to him and Nick was beside himself with grief and exhaustion.
His parents had called asking him what had happened. Of course, Diane would have told Ryan and then he would have told his parents.
Explaining to his Mom that the love of his life was angry and ignoring him, was horrible. Especially after she was so happy that they were together.
Nick was tired.
He hadn’t slept that night because he felt like he was going to lose her and he had no idea why.
He thought she would be happy, getting her money back, but she’d taken off on him with such anger that he didn’t recognize her.
Sure, he’d seen her pissed at him but what he saw wasn’t just that. No, it was real fury flashing in her eyes.
He hadn’t helped Jeff’s business but Emily wouldn’t let him explain. He had gone behind her back, but it was with the best of intentions.
He’d called non-stop, but her phone was off. He’d even gone to her apartment, not caring that she didn’t want him to. He needed to tell her what had happened.
He paced up and down his living room, his knuckles red from punching the hell out of his bag, stressed out from another day without Emily.
His phone beeped and he hurriedly picked it up to see if she was contacting him.
It was Gavin. He’d sent a link to him and he clicked on it.
&n
bsp; Shit had hit the fan, in England, and the media were all over it.
Nick smiled. He had something to show Emily. Something that would make her talk to him… he hoped.
I need you, Emmy. I miss you so much.
Knowing her phone was still off, he sent the link to Emily and a text to Holly.
N: I miss you. Please talk to me. It’s not what you think. Click the link, it will give you an idea of what happened.
N: Holly. Please ask Emmy to switch her phone on. I’ve sent her something she needs to see.
Nick waited and waited for Emily to reply. He hoped that she would listen to Holly and switch on her phone.
It was an hour before he got his reply.
E: What did you do?
Nick was relieved that she’d asked a question, meaning that they would have even just a short conversation.
N: Please talk to me and I’ll explain everything.
E: You should have told me.
N: I didn’t know all of the details until Gav told me what he’d found.
E: You still contacted him behind my back.
N: I didn’t. I need to see you!
Nick was going crazy. He called her phone but she hung up straight away. She still wouldn’t talk to him.
E: How the hell did he pay you then?
N: Through Gav. Emmy, Please.
E: I don’t feel too good. This whole thing has made me sick. I need a few days.
N: A few days? I’m going crazy without you!
No reply, and Nick knew she’d turned off her phone again. He had no choice but to do as she asked of him. He didn’t like it but he had to.
Nick called Diane and asked her to cancel all of his appointments for the next two days. Not a chance would he be able to concentrate with the hell that he was in.
“How are things, sweetie?” She asked. “Is she speaking to you yet?”
Nick closed his eyes as a wave of pain ran through his chest.
“No, Di. She isn’t.” He said into the receiver. His voice low and barely audible.
“Oh honey. I’m sure it’ll work out. That girl loves you more than anything. I can tell by the look in her eyes when she sees you. Everything will be fine.” She assured him.
“Di, I hope you’re right.” He replied before ending the call.
Nick spent the next two agonizing days with no word from Emily. He’d dressed for work that morning, to take his mind off things, but couldn’t bring himself to leave his home in case she called him or showed up.
Wishful thinking.
He’d sent text messages, tried to call, even tried calling Alex to see if she was ok. He couldn’t tell him anything only that she wasn’t coming out of the room and she’d thrown up a few times; putting it down to stress.
That just made Nick worry even more.
He’d had enough.
He wasn’t going to sit around and wait for her to be ready. She was going to listen to what he had to say whether she liked it or not.
Picking up his keys, he left his apartment.
He was going to her.
“Emmy, I’m not leaving until you hear me out.” He said, knocking on the door again. Only Emily’s car was there so he knew she was alone.
“I need to tell you what happened. There’s too much to say for a text and the news article doesn’t tell the whole story. Baby, I need you. Please listen to me. I didn’t help him at all. I made things worse for him and I didn’t give him anything, I swear.”
“You made it worse?”
Emily’s voice sounded hoarse on the other side of the door but it still made his chest ache with happiness to hear it.
“Emmy, please open the door.”
The front door opened and Emily’s appearance shocked Nick. He felt bad at he sight of her pale face and dark circles under her eyes.
“You have five minutes.” She said, walking away.
He followed her into the kitchen and she stood behind the counter, out of his reach.
“Emmy, I can only tell you that I’m sorry for not telling you what I planned. After what you told me, I wanted to make that son-of-a-bitch pay for what he did, so I asked Gav, a private detective, to check out what Jeff had been up to. He found out a lot more than you, or I, even thought.”
Nick took a deep breath in preparation for what he was about to tell her. He’d almost gone into shock when Gav had given him the details.
“Everything you told me about Jeff, what you thought he’d done, was true. Emmy, you might need to sit down.”
Emily slowly walked to the dining area and sat down. Nick sat in the chair next to her. Not reaching for her hand like he wanted to.
“Baby, I told Gav to pay people to spill any info they had on Jeff. Some people had a lot to say and Gav found a lot on his own. This is bad but I need to tell you everything so here goes… Jeff is the father of Rochelle’s baby.” He said, letting that information sink in. Emily’s eyes widened in shock.
“When you left Jeff’s company, he started losing money fast because he didn’t know what he was doing and he made a lot of bad buying choices.
He hired a graduate to take your place, but even they couldn’t fix it. Two more after him failed also. He knew you were the only person who could’ve saved him but he also knew that wasn’t going to happen after what he did.
So, after failing in the UK, he flew over here in an attempt to get international investors, thinking they’d jump at the chance of joining a British company. He was here for the Charity event hosted by Rochelle’s father. His idea was to con investors into giving him money, investing on the businesses he bought instead of his main company.”
Which was exactly what Jeff had talked to him about the day he met him in Amantes restaurant.
“He’d planned to say the business failed, ensuring that he didn’t have to pay anything back. The thought was that the investors would claim insurance for losses. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg.
He met Rochelle at the bar and they spent some time together that week. Thinking he was loaded, as he made himself out to be, Rochelle set herself up so she would be in his pocket. Nobody gave him the time of day, and he went back to the UK empty handed. A couple of weeks after he went home, she broke the news of her pregnancy to him. He wasn’t happy but there was nothing he could do about it. He told her he wasn’t as loaded as she thought and she went ballistic. He tried, again, to get backing but he had no luck.
When he found out where you were, he tried to get you back by coming to me for investment. Apparently, and these are the words he said…’I’d heard Emily moved with her family. I know somebody who’s friends with her Nan and they told me she’d accepted a position with Lake’s company. I couldn’t resist. You see, if Lake invests I get her too. A win-win for me, because if she tries to fuck me over, she’d essentially be fucking Lake over, and we all know Emily’s a good girl and wouldn’t do that’. That’s why you heard me shouting in my office. The way he said it… I would’ve strangled the fucker right there.”
Nick took a deep breath and ran his hands over his face to calm himself, and his anger, again.
Emily stayed silent as he continued but her expression showed that she was livid.
“When I turned him down, he went to Rochelle and told her he didn’t get anything. That’s when Rochelle mentioned that I’d ‘dumped’ her. They came up with the plan to say I was the father and to pay up or she would go to the press. It backfired, of course, because of you…” Nick reached for Emily’s hand and she let him take it, making him overjoyed with just the simple touch of her fingers.
“Jeff got desperate. It was pure luck for him that you turned up at the hotel for Cora’s party, and he took the opportunity to poach you. He saw it as his last chance to get you, making a fool of himself in the process. When Rochelle found out, she told him to ‘make it work’ and that she ‘wasn’t going to go running to Daddy after she’d told him she was going to be successful and marry a rich entrepreneur, like him’
.
The funny thing is, the person to give Gav this information about the plan was Rochelle herself. She was still trying to get money after all.
I didn’t want there to be any repercussions for the baby so her Dad somehow found out about her and Jeff, and has taken her in because of his grandchild.” He winked. Gav had let it slip that Jeff was broke.
“Anyway, I’d told Gav what I wanted to happen and he saw it through.
I told Jeff, through Gav, that I knew everything and that if he didn’t pay you back, I would be sending the full details to Rochelle’s parents, his parents, and to his local press. I didn’t care what happened to him, just that he paid you every penny that he owed, plus interest. To come up with the money, he had to go into administration. He had to sell his car and he’d already sold his apartment to pay Rochelle’s medical expenses and things for her baby. When his business details hit the public list, of course the media was all over it anyway. He was successful when you were there and then two years later, he’s out. They wanted to know why. It’ll only be a matter time before they find out the reason.”
Nick finished telling her everything he knew and he waited for her response.
“You did all that for me?” She asked, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.
“Of course, baby. I love you. I wanted to see him suffer for what he did to you.
“Oh my God.” She sniffled, reaching over and hugging him tight.
Nick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. Taking deep breaths of her scent.
“I’m so sorry. I should have let you tell me. I’m sorry.” She cried.
