His to Keep: A Billionaire Romance (His to Have Book 3)

by Hayes, Piper

  Blake laughs. “In my car, we argued about you taking your father’s offer. I wanted to apologize.”

  I look down at the box. “And this is your way of apologizing?”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t react well,” he says. “I will support you in everything you do. This is just a way to show you.” He grabs the present and slides it across the table.

  “Now I have to know.” I walk up to the table and pick the present up. It’s heavier than I expected, and it feels solid. I pull the bow and then slip a finger under the wrapping paper. A smile breaks across my face as I realize what it is. “Business cards?” I ask.

  “Your business cards,” he says. “I figure you’ll need them.”

  Catherine Carlisle. Capitalist. Crisp black text on a white background. I look one of the cards over. It feels good in my hand. “Capitalist?” I ask. I can’t hide my smile. “For a second there, I think you were going to propose to me.”

  “I have another set that says Director since you have a seat on the board,” Blake says. “I can have ones made up that say Wife, if you’d like.”

  “Director will do for now,” I tell him.

  “In that case, would you like some lunch, Ms. Director?”

  “I’d love that,” I tell him.”

  Blake has lunch brought in, and we eat there, just him and me at the enormous conference table. “I want you to get used to this place,” he says. “The board can be daunting. It’s like a dozen Richard Carlisles haranguing you at once.”

  “Well, I’ve been dealing with my father my entire life, how much worse could another eleven of him be?” I ask. I want to tell Blake about the plan, but I know it would ruin the mood. “As long as you’re there, I’ll be fine,” I tell him.

  “I love you,” he says. “I’ve been thinking about that other thing too, by the way.”

  “Which thing was that? It’s getting hard to keep track,” I tell him.

  “Italy. You’re right, we should go. I could take a few weeks off once this all Jacob stuff blows over. It will probably be a few months from now, but it would be good to get away, just the two of us. Maybe we could go somewhere a little further south, somewhere warm and sunny. What do you say?”

  “It sounds great,” I tell him. He gets up and walks up behind me. He places his hands on my shoulders and starts to rub. It feels wonderful. I close my eyes and try to imagine myself relaxing by the pool in some Italian villa. “I can’t wait.” I can picture it so clearly, the blue sky above, the water beyond my feet, Blake lying next to me. It all seems so real. I just can’t picture what it will take to get to that point.

  CHAPTER 17

  CATHERINE

  By the time Friday morning arrives, I’m a nervous wreck. All I can think about is the hundred ways this could go wrong. I ask Blake if I can borrow the Porsche when he’s on the way out the door, and he agrees without hesitation. I feel like I’m betraying his confidence, and he just seems thrilled that I like the car. I tell him I’m planning a surprise for him. It isn’t a complete lie, but I feel awful not telling him the whole truth.

  Ben and I get to my father’s house early. I’ve gone over the plan with him ten times. He tries to tell me that everything is going to work out, but all I can think about is how I want Blake by my side for all of this. I just know he’d never go for it. He wouldn’t let me go out on a limb for him like that. I know that it isn’t about trust. It’s about pride. He thinks he has to do this all himself because he thinks the whole thing is his fault.

  I hate not telling Blake. I’ve tried to assure myself that I’m doing the right thing, but I don’t know. I’m in a fog as my father welcomes Ben and me into the house. I barely notice where I am as he leads us to his study. I hope that my apprehension will disappear as soon as we have Jacob on tape breaking the law.

  I don’t know why, but when Ben opens his briefcase to reveal the recording device, I’m caught off guard. I guess I thought he’d have my father wearing a wire. I expected a microphone wired to a box with some tape to hold it in place. I feel foolish when Ben places two small devices on a bookshelf and hands my dad a cellphone. “Put this in your pocket, and talk to your daughter. I’ll make sure everything is working in the other room.

  My father looks at me carefully. I know he can tell how nervous I am. “Having any second thoughts?” he asks. “Now would be a good time to let me know. There’s no going back.”

  “Are you talking about this plan or my relationship with Blake?” I ask.

  “Why can’t it be both?” he says. He smiles. “I was talking about this plan of yours. Did Benjamin give you anything in writing? I’m supposed to apologize to him, aren’t I? Benjamin, if you’re listening, I apologize for the way I treated you in the past. I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.” The apology is less than heartfelt, and Ben isn’t even in the room, but I guess it’s progress.

  “Apology accepted,” Ben says as he steps back into the room. “We’re good to go. Remember to bring him back to this room. The phone will allow you to roam if necessary, but the other microphones are much clearer.”

  “Well, Mr. Fletcher should be here any moment now, and I’d hate to keep him waiting. If nothing else, I pride myself on being a courteous host.”

  Ben and I slip into the next room and wait for my father to give some signal that Jacob has arrived. Ben hands me a pair of headphones. They’re connected to a small box that is in turn connected to a laptop. Through the headphones, I can hear my father talking to himself, practicing his elocution. He runs through half a dozen tongue twisters again and again until clearing his throat and announcing, “I believe our man has arrived.”

  We hear a muffled greeting as my father meets Jacob at the front door, but by the time they get back to my father’s study, the sound is crystal clear. “I know you’re a busy man, and I don’t want to waste your time, so let me get to the point. I want you to help me take down Blake Bennett or as you know him, Blake Warren,” my father says.

  “So you know about that?” Jacob asks.

  “I know many things,” my father says. “For now, let’s work under the assumption that I know what I’m doing and that you know what you’re doing.”

  “That sounds good to me, but why are you doing this?”

  “The nature of my grievance is personal,” my father says.

  “He’s fucking your daughter,” Jacob says. “And now you want to fuck him back.” He laughs. His laugh is deep and hard, and it makes my skin crawl.

  “I see an opportunity to settle a score and make a fortune in the process. Blake Bennett helped ruin me, and I want to return the favor.” I can hear the clinking of glasses. My father is pouring drinks. That must be a good sign.

  “Why do you need my help?” Jacob asks. “If you’ve got some vendetta against him, there’s no need to involve me.”

  “From what I gathered this weekend, you and Blake are already involved in some kind of dispute. I don’t care what it is or who did what. All I know is that your arrival has given me an opportunity to twist the knife in young Blake’s side.

  “You could just sell me your stake in the company. I could be a thorn in his side for years to come.”

  “I don’t want to annoy him,” my father says. “I want to ruin him. I assumed you shared this sentiment.”

  “That I do,” Jacob says. I can almost picture the grin on his face.

  “Then you’ll help me?” my father says.

  “It depends on how,” Jacob replies. “I’m not exactly altruistic,” he says. “I take care of myself. I settle my own scores.”

  “As do I,” my father says. “Months ago, I encouraged several government officials to start an investigation into Blake. That investigation is now coming to a close. The findings have been less than conclusive. I intend to change that.”

  “Encouraged?” Jacob asks.

  “Financially,” my father says. “I paid them and gave them a few ideas of how Blake might have run afoul of the law. Thi
s whole fraudulent identity thing was better than I could have dreamed of, but I have more in store for him. I plan to take him for everything he’s worth.”

  “And where would I fit in this plan?” Jacob asks.

  “Two places,” my father replies. “Blake will be arrested next week during a board meeting. It will be a scene. His offices will be raided, and it will make national news. The ensuing scandal will come close to breaking his company. Its value will plummet. Do you follow so far?”

  “Yup,” Jacob says, “but why do you need me?”

  “To twist the knife,” my father says. “If he hates you as much as I think he does, your involvement will only make the moment that much sweeter.”

  “Enough said,” Jacob replies. “That’s one reason, what’s the other?”

  “I need someone flexible enough to take on the second part of the deal.”

  “Flexible?” Jacob asks.

  “My money is tied up in real estate and my stake in Blake’s company. I’ll need almost every penny I have to buy up a position in the company. I need a partner with liquidity to make a few payments. I can contribute a small sum, a token that binds our fates together, but I need someone else to provide the real muscle.”

  “What kind of muscle are we talking?” Jacob asks.

  “Not much, a few million dollars. 3.5 to be exact. A payment to a judge, and smaller payouts to the three prosecutors on the case to introduce evidence as necessary. We’ll wash the money through the Caymans to hide our tracks. It’s a pittance really. If I had the money in cash, I’d do it myself.”

  Jacob laughs. “Not much?” he asks. “Where I come from, that’s a sizable amount.”

  “Once this plays out, we’d stand to make a hundred times that in the first year,” my father says. “Beyond that, it could be even more. Meanwhile, our friend Blake will be rotting in a jail cell wondering where the hell things went wrong.”

  “Safely away from your daughter,” Jacob says. “I like the sound of it.”

  “I can even arrange for you to be there in the room,” my father says. “You’d get to see the look on his face when he realizes he’s lost. That kind of thing is hard to place a price tag on, don’t you think?”

  “I’d gladly pay five million to see that look on his face,” Jacob says. “3.5 is a bargain. You have a deal.” I hear the clinking of glasses. “When do you need the money?” he asks.

  “Mid-week,” my father says.

  “I’ll place it in escrow,” Jacob says. “When I get my seat at the board meeting, you can disburse the funds.”

  “A man who knows how to get what he wants,” my father says.

  “He has it coming,” Jacob says.

  “May I propose a toast?” my father replies. “It’s the same thing my wife told me when we finally settled on our divorce. I’ve considered it my mantra ever since, and I feel like it’s especially appropriate today.”

  Jacob laughs hard. “And what might that be?”

  “Here’s to getting what you deserve.”

  “Amen,” Jacob says. I hear the glasses clink again. He doesn’t know how right he is.

  We wait another hour for Jacob to leave, and then we come out from the other room. “Did you get everything you need?” my father asks.

  “As soon as he makes the deposit, we’re set,” Ben says. He holds out his hand, and my father hands him the recording device. “I’ll pack everything up,” Ben says.

  “Dad, is that true?” I ask, “Is that really what mom told you when you got divorced?”

  “Absolutely,” he says.

  “What happened between the two of you anyway?” I ask. “I mean I know things didn’t go well, but they weren’t any different than when I was a kid, were they?”

  “We weren’t honest with each other. Eventually the half-truths and whole lies became too much for her to bear. She left, and I let her leave. If you give a damn about being happy, try to live truthfully. If your boyfriend gives a damn about you, he’ll do the same.”

  “Thanks, dad,” I say. I know what I have to do. I’m about to throw all my careful planning out the window. I’m going to tell Blake the plan. If he’s too stubborn to let me help him, that’s his problem, but I’m not going to lie to him about this anymore. If I expect to give us a new start, he needs to know, too.

  CHAPTER 18

  CATHERINE

  There’s something I need to tell you. Nothing good ever starts with those words. It’s like telling someone they need to sit down before giving them the news. There must be some better way to tell someone something you’re not sure they want to hear. I spend all weekend trying to come up with the right way of telling Blake, but nothing works. I just keep letting opportunities pass me by.

  I’m afraid. That’s what it really boils down to. I’m afraid that when I tell Blake, he’ll flip out. I’m afraid he’ll tell me that I’ve completely betrayed his trust, and I’m a big fat hypocrite for doing exactly the thing I told him not to do. But if I’m given the choice between going behind Blake’s back or watching as he puts himself in harm’s way because of his sense of pride, I’m going to choose going behind his back. Now I just need to figure out how to explain it to him.

  Monday comes and goes, and I still haven’t told him. Tuesday. Wednesday. I’ve been ignoring phone calls from my father and Ben. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to break the news to Blake. When he gets home on Thursday, I know I can’t wait a moment longer. There’s something I need to tell you. It’s simple enough to say, but I can’t force the words out.

  “What is it?” Blake asks when he notices how weird I’m being.

  “I need to tell you something, and I need you to promise me that you won’t react.”

  Blake’s eyes widen. “Is your father going to try something tomorrow at the meeting?” he says. “Is that what’s going on?”

  “No. Well, in part, yes,” I say.

  “What does that mean?” Blake asks.

  “He’s doing something for you,” I tell him.

  “Why would he do something for me?” Blake asks.

  “Because I asked him to. Him and Ben.”

  “Ben?” Blake asks. “Cat, what is going on? You’ve been weird all week, and I’ve tried to tell myself that you just needed me to respect whatever you’re going through, but now you’re not making any sense.”

  “Something is going to happen at the meeting tomorrow, and I need you to go along with it. Can you agree to that?”

  “What is going on?”

  “Jacob is going to be at the meeting tomorrow,” I tell him. I watch his eyes dilate and his jaw clench.

  “What are you talking about, Cat?” Blake asks.

  I explain everything, the fake takeover, the dummy accounts and the bribe money. I explain how all we need is for Jacob to show up at the meeting, and we’ll have him. I explain how my father and Ben worked together to help me with this and how Blake’s preexisting deal with Ben will still stand. I expect that he’ll be mad for a moment, but I hold out hope that he’ll see that I did this all for him.

  “How could you?” Blake says.

  “What was I supposed to do, sit by and watch as you tried to play the hero?” I ask. “Show up tomorrow. Play your part, and we’ll be free of this. You should be happy.”

  “That isn’t how it works,” Blake says. “You don’t go behind my back and put yourself at risk and expect me to be happy about it.”

  “I did this for you,” I tell him. “I did this because you were going to do something stupid to protect me. Well, guess what, that isn’t your choice.”

  “No, it’s our choice,” he says. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

  “You’re not listening!” I shout. “Would you have allowed my father to help you? Would you have allowed Ben to help you? Would you have let me put myself out there for you? No, you wouldn’t have. You would have put it all on your shoulders. I don’t want a hero, Blake. I just want you.”

  “This is a
hell of a way of showing it,” he says. “You lied to me. You went behind my back.”

  “I did it for you,” I tell him. “I’ve done all of this for you.” I can feel tears welling up inside me, and I know I need to leave. I just need to get away and think. I need a minute to myself, but Blake won’t let it go.

  “What the hell do you expect me to say, Cat?”

  “Thank you would be a start. Acknowledging that I can help you would work, too.” I clench my jaw as I try to hold back the tears. I’m so mad at him. I can’t even put words to it. I pull on a trench and a pair of boots, and I start toward the elevator.

  “Where are you going?” he asks as I press the button.

  “Anywhere I want. Don’t come after me. Don’t decide how wrong you were after I step out the door. Take the night. Sleep in your bed by yourself. Think about what you want out of this relationship.” I tell him.

  “You’re kidding me,” he says. “You’re mad at me right now? This is unbelievable.”

  “Goodnight, Blake,” I tell him. I shove my hands in the jacket’s pockets. In one of them, I feel one of the business cards Blake gave me. I crumple it up and toss it on the floor. When the elevator doors open, I step inside, and I don’t look back. As soon as the doors shut, I start sobbing.

  This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. This isn’t how I planned it at all. When the doors open again, I hold my head up and step out into the night. I walk three blocks and hail a cab. When the cabbie asks me where I’m headed, I struggle to find an answer. “The Plaza,” I finally say.

  I get a suite and curl up in bed as soon as I get inside. I cry until I can’t cry anymore, and I fall asleep with the TV on. I wake up to the sound of an infomercial. The room is bathed in the blue/white light from the television. It’s still dark out, but I can’t fall back asleep. I struggle to find my phone to check the time. It’s five in the morning. Blake hasn’t called. I know I told him not to, but I feel myself wishing for at least a text or anything.