I take a step back for my fathers own safety. With every sentence that tumbles out of his mouth, I get angrier at the audacity of my father to feel that he can command my every move. I realize that things are never going to change, I’m never going to be free of this oppressive regime that is my own family.
“I’ve also told Ms. Hanes that I disapproved of your relationship the first time around, and so I’m hardly going to have changed my mind on the matter.” He scoffed as he said this like the idea was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.
My head starts pounding, things have moved so fast all of a sudden with Rosie that I haven’t been able to explain what happened at college, it just never felt like the right time. I desperately wanted to tell her that I had no choice to break off our relationship and that it was either that or my father destroyed her parents business.
I did it for her, I did it because I loved her, but there is no denying that my life was never the same after her. I felt lousy, and I’ve regretted it every day since that I didn’t man up and stand up to my father.
I’m older and wiser now, and I won’t let Rosie out of my life again, I won’t ever make the same mistake.
My father smiles like he thinks he’s won this battle, but he hasn’t. I haven’t even got started yet, this is just the beginning.
“I want to thank you, father, for sending me here actually," I tell him before swiping a champagne flute from the tray of a passing waiter.
“You do?” My father says suspiciously.
“Yes, it’s made me realize that I don’t want to inherit the family business. I don’t want to lead a miserable, shallow life where our family uses money to control everyone around us. It’s pathetic, and I want no part of it. You think what I get up to is scandalous? That’s nothing compared to what you do father or our bank for that matter.” I take a large swig of the champagne.
“Oh really Gavin, and so how exactly is it you think you are going to get by without the family wealth. If you do this, I’m cutting you off from the family money, everything. You won’t get a single penny more.”
My father thinks that he is victorious, but he forgets one detail, and that is the fact that I have a very sizeable trust fund set up by my grandfather.
“I’ll cope without the business thanks if you taught me one thing it was to always check your facts and so I’ve spoken to the appropriate people, and there is no problem accessing my trust fund now. I think I’ll be just fine, don’t you?”
My father's eyes widened, it was the moment he knew I’d outplayed him. He’d lost this battle of wits and could do nothing about it. It’s unusual that he has nothing to say for once. I’m sure my siblings won’t object either, it means they get a bigger share of the inheritance.
I have no idea if any of this has been worth it though. Thanks to my father, Rosie has found out things that I never intended for her to find out that way. At this point, I don’t know exactly what my father has said to her. The damage could be worse than I even imagine.
I want to give up everything to be with Rosie, but it might have all been for nothing. I don’t know if she will ever forgive me, let alone tell me why she ran out like she did. I need to find her fast to make sure she knows how I really feel about her.
11
Rosie
The tears finally start uncontrollably cascading down my face as I run down the country club entrance steps - or at least as much as I can run in these heels.
My mind is a confused jumble of thoughts and questions, it dawns on me that I feel like I’ve been a pawn in the wealthy and arrogant Wolfe family’s game. I don’t know what’s going on between Gavin and his father, but I know that I don’t want to be part of it.
Was Gavin just pretending to date me so he could piss off his father, what kind of twisted shit is that?
As I make my way towards the road, by the strange glances I get from assorted on-lookers, I know that I must look a wreck. My perfect makeup is probably now a horrible mess, but I just don’t give a shit right now. I’m not only angry with Gavin, but I’m mad at myself for letting him back into my heart when I told myself I never would do that again.
Why did I let him hook me in and get close to me again? Now it looks like I have to suffer the heartbreak all over again. Didn’t I learn the first time?
I just need to get home, I want to get away from everyone. I don’t want to talk to anyone, let alone Gavin. I hope he’ll have the decency to stay the hell away from me and not try and come up with some bull shit excuse to make his own conscience better.
I stand on the sidewalk desperately trying to hail a taxi, not one cab stops for me. No doubt a girl crying on the side of the road with mascara running down her face looks like too much of a high maintenance fare. I look behind me back up to the country club entrance desperately hoping that Gavin hasn’t tried to follow me.
Finally, a black taxi pulls up, and I jump in without a moment's hesitation. I just need to get out of here as soon as I can.
“143 Summer Street please," I say to the driver slightly breathlessly now the sobs have subsided. “I just need to get out of here as quickly as possible please.”
“Sure thing doll.” the man replies, and the doors lock.
That seems odd, I think to myself. Taxi drivers don’t usually lock the doors like that, it’s not like we are in some dodgy part of a city. I look at the drivers' eyes in the rearview mirror, and he looks back at me. Something makes me feel nervous, the hairs on the back of my arm stand up.
I look around inside the car, I can’t see anything that connects this with being a taxi, no radio, no ID badge. My heart starts pumping fast, I need to get out and get out quickly.
“I have no idea who you are, but I need to get out right now. I think there has been some kind of mistake here.” I tell him hopefully. I’m trying to not acknowledge the fact that this guy is some kind of weirdo who now has me trapped in his car and god knows what he is planning on doing with me. The car pulls away from the sidewalk, he appears to be completely ignoring me.
“Look, I don’t know what your game is here, I need you to let me out right this minute…or…” I search for some words that will compel the stranger to do what I ask.
“Or what?” He says with a smirk.
He’s right, I’m not in the position of power here, and we both know it. I’m locked in a car, and I can’t get out. I look around the car, wondering if there is something I can use to smash the window to grab a passer-by’s attention. I look around the seats trying to find something that can help me, and then I see it; a familiar camera with a long lens.
I look back at the man's eyes in the rearview mirror, and he again meets my gaze. I realize that this is the mysterious guy who’s been following us around for the past few weeks.
“It’s you,” I say weakly, still not yet knowing what threat this guy poses. “You’re the guy that’s been taking pictures of us.”
“Yes, I am. That’s correct. Do you want to know why?” He asks me quite matter of factly.
“I guess so,” I say, although I’m not entirely sure if I do.
“Well, I am a private detective in the employ of Mr. Wolfe senior. He hired me to keep an eye on his son, but when you started appearing in all of the pictures I was sending, it naturally alarmed Mr. Wolfe.” I felt the car suddenly accelerate faster.
“What do you mean he was naturally alarmed?” I don’t want to play into this guys game, but I feel like he knows something I don’t.
“Mr. Wolfe doesn’t want you dating his son. It’s clear you are a gold digger, as it was when you were both at college. So I’m telling you right now, you need to end whatever you have going on with Mr. Wolfe Junior. I can tell you now, his father will never allow it.”
The car accelerates even faster now, and we start weaving in and out of traffic. I find myself putting my hand on the door handle just to steady myself from the sudden jerking around of the car as the driver swerves between other vehicles.
&
nbsp; “Why do I keep hearing about what happened at college? Why do I feel like there is a part of the story I don’t know?” I ask the man.
“All you need to know is that Mr. Wolfe junior was advised that he needed to end the relationship with you or there would be consequences. He very wisely chose to do just that. So imagine his father's irritation when he found that you two were an item again. If that is what you really are.” The car continues to swerve in between traffic, faster and faster. I can’t say I even know what we really are. The lines between our fake dating and real intimate moments feel very blurred.
“Seriously though, you need to slow the fuck down," I shout, while trying to process this new information, and still trying to steady myself from the sudden movements of the car. I become aware of cars around us beeping their horns angrily at this maniacs wreck-less driving.
So Gavin was told to break up with me, he didn’t do it because he wanted to. Maybe he did love me after all, I feel my eyes start to water again because I feel so guilty now at being so angry with him.
“I won’t stop dating Gavin, I love him, and I want to get out. You can’t keep me here, this is kidnap. I’ll tell everyone about the Wolfe family scare tactics.” I yell at the man, thumping at his shoulder as he drives. I can’t believe that I just blurted out the fact that I love Gavin. I haven’t dared to acknowledge that fact either to myself or to him, but here I am telling a complete stranger who may or may not want to kill me.
“Trust me, You will stop dating him, and you’ll tell no one about this. It’ll be very bad for you if you do.” He replied before pushing down hard on the accelerator and car lurched forward even faster, my seat belt throws me back hard against the back seat. He weaves faster and faster in between the traffic, narrowly missing cars as we go.
If he’s trying to scare me. It’s working.
12
Gavin
My head is buzzing, I can’t deal with being part of this fucked up family anymore. My father's behavior now has only persuaded me that I was right to try and make an exit plan. I don’t need the big money, and my father is nothing more than an anchor holding me to a family I have never really belonged to.
“I have to leave now, I have to go and try and find Rosie and fix this mess,” I tell my father as I start to scan the area outside of the ballroom doorway.
“Gavin, you need to just leave this girl alone, she isn’t like us. You have a bright and wealthy future ahead of you. Don’t throw it all away for this woman, but in any case, I do believe that she has left already. I’m sorry, but she doesn’t seem to feel the same way about you.”
He’s right, I can’t see her anywhere, but I don’t believe that she doesn’t feel the same. I leave the room without uttering another word to him, it would achieve nothing other than more anger. I push the door open to the outside and the cool evening breeze hits me. I scan the groups of people standing idly by the country club building, but she isn’t here anywhere.
My heart starts thumping harder, I need to find her. I need to put everything right, she needs to know the truth and how I really feel about her.
I start to pick up the pace and run down to the street where there are more groups of people waiting for taxis. She isn’t here, she really has gone. I must look desperate as a kindly older lady catches my arm as I pace up and down the sidewalk.
“Are you ok dear, you look troubled?”
“Well, I’m looking for my girlfriend, we had a bit of a...umm. I just really need to find her. Have you seen her down here? She was wearing a long red silk evening dress.”
“Oh yes, I did. She’s a very beautiful young lady, it was a very striking dress she was wearing. Anyway, she got into a black car, I thought it was strange because she seemed to be trying to hail a cab, but then got into the car. I’m not sure if it was a taxi or not...”
“What way did they go?” I ask the woman desperately.
She pointed towards the freeway. “Out of town, I think.”
I don’t stop to listen to lady any longer, an uneasy feeling was creeping over me, and my blood started to run cold. This is my fathers doing, I just know it. He’ll stop at nothing to get his way. Rosie is nothing to him but another game to be won and more control to be had over me.
Without another moment wasted, I run to my car parked on the side of the road and jump in. There’s no telling what my crazed power maniac of a father has paid one of his goons to do.
I drive at speed on the road out of town, the traffic is heavier than usual, and although the road is filled with black cars, I know the exact one I’m looking for. I have a suspicion I’m looking for the private detective's car, I’ve no doubt he tricked her into thinking he was a taxi or some other low tactic and knowing my father he will be trying to scare her.
The cars ahead of me suddenly becomes a mass of tail lights breaking suddenly. Something has stopped all of the traffic, and I can see people at the front emerging from their cars, gawping at something. My instinct tells me I need to do the same and as I get out, I can see there has been an accident.
I walk slowly towards the front of the stopped cars before my walk breaks into a desperate run. I see smoke pouring from the car, a black car and I know at once it’s the car I’ve been looking for. It’s now a crumpled wreck, rolled onto its roof.
“Rosie!” I shout, I just know she’s in there, and I need to get her out quickly in case this thing blows.
“Someone call 911!” I yell at the crowd.
I search around the car, and sure enough, Rosie is inside. I call her name repeatedly, I’m scared when she doesn’t respond. The door is buckled, but I manage to wrench the door open cutting myself on the broken window. I barely notice the blood pouring from my hand nor the pain, in my desperation to get her out.
I unclip her seatbelt and drag her out, and lay her down. She’s cut all over and bleeding. Why isn’t she responding to me? I check her pulse, thank god she’s still with me.
“Rosie, please wake up. Please. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for any of this shit to happen. Please, just come back to me.” I grab her hands and bend down to kiss her, willing her to open her eyes. As if by some miracle, she does and kisses me back.
For a man who was raised to be tough and show no emotion, I could have broken down on this very spot.
“Am I dead?” She asks before a small smile emerges on her face.
“I can assure you, you are very much alive. But I might as well be dead if you aren’t in my life. I’m so sorry for everything, for my father and for my behavior back at college. I feel like I have a lot of explaining and making up to do...if you’ll take me back that is?”
“Hmm...well that really rather depends.” She whispers.
“On What?” I ask hopefully.
“Well. As long as there is no more of this pretending to date stuff. Either you are all in or all out. No more grey area or fake dating,”
I laugh. “I am so all in, and you won’t be able to get rid of me again so easily.”
“Don’t you believe it, I managed to do it once,” She laughs a little and then winces in pain.
“God Rosie, I have no idea what I’d have done if…if you’d have..”
“I’m fine Gavin. A little beaten up and bruised probably, but I’m still alive and kicking. It takes more than a car wreck to get rid of me,”
“I know, but I can’t really bear to think of losing you again. I love you, I didn’t tell you that before because I didn’t know how you’d react. But, I’ve told my father I’m giving up everything to be with you. We won’t ever be poor, very far from it, but I won’t ever inherit the billions from the family business.
“Gavin, I don’t love you for your money. It was never about that, I think you know that. We could be poor and happy for all I care,”
“Wait…so you love me too?” I smile at her.
“Maybe.” And she gives me a little wink.
I knew it.
The paramedics and police arrive, and rush t
o her side to give her medical attention. I need to give them room to work, but I can’t bear to ever let go of her again and I hold her hand all the way to the ambulance.
Epilogue
One Year Later - Rosie
It’s been a whirlwind year.
I stand at the French doors looking out into the grounds of our home at all of the people gathered at our garden party. I always wondered whether Gavin would regret giving up his family billions to be with me, but if he ever has, he’s never shown it.
I’m so glad I talked Gavin into building a life with me here in Greenwick. He didn’t take much persuading at all though, I know that he would do anything for me. Actually, though, this town was the perfect fit for his grand plans and today’s garden party is the culmination of all of his hard work.
His trust fund inheritance from his Grandfather would have been enough for us to have lived very comfortably without either of us ever needing to do a days work ever again. But he’s not wired that way, not working on some new project or other wouldn’t ever occur to him.
Besides, now my flower shop is flourishing, and in good profit once again, I’m not about to give up on that either. I don’t need to work, but now the financial pressures are gone. I even hired a shop assistant so I don’t have to be there every single day or work stupidly long hours.
I smile as I look out at Gavin holding court with local people and business owners all invited here to the official launch party for his new local enterprise business. I love that he’s going to be helping struggling businesses and those wanting to get started. If he can help me turn around my flower shop, then he can work the same magic for other people too.
He catches me looking as he’s talking and nods at me as if to beckon me over. I’m always happy to be in the background, but we are very much a team - Gavin always reminds me that we are ‘Team Wolfe’ which always makes me smile. As I approach him, he starts to ding his glass to catch everyone's attention until the chattering finally stops and he can make his speech.
Destiny_A Billionaire Second Chance Romance Page 5
