The Screwup: A Billionaire Fake Fiancée Romance (The Holbrook Cousins Saga Book 2)

by Alina Jacobs

  "Stop it, Carter," Jack said. "You know I don't like it when you do that. You're going to burn the house down."

  "No, I'm not," Carter retorted and tossed a napkin in the fire. "You're just mad because Allie cut you off."

  Walter snickered. Jack glared at his brother and walked over to the drink cart.

  "Maybe you have had enough," Nancy said, pursing her lips.

  Jack ignored his wife.

  "I hate coming here," Carter muttered under his breath.

  "What was that?" Jack growled, rounding on him.

  Carter slowly stood up. Grant positioned himself between the two men.

  "You're almost out of the military, Carter," Grant said.

  Carter could tell he was trying to change the subject.

  "What are your plans?"

  "Find a girl, settle down, make babies, then become a horrible father and drink through their entire childhoods."

  "You ungrateful prick," his father sputtered at him. "After all I've done for you."

  Walter grabbed his brother and hauled him away from Carter. "Settle down, Jack."

  "Don't you dare, Walter," Jack spat. "After everything you did, the myriad ways you've wronged me. Stealing my company, turning my sons against me."

  Walter rolled his eyes. "Carter's trying his best."

  "No, he isn't," Jack said. "He needs to grow up. Look at that tramp he brought in here!" He motioned to Allie, spilling part of his drink in the motion.

  "She's standing right there!" Carter shouted.

  "She is unsuitable to marry a Holbrook, and I will disown you if you marry her, Carter," Jack said.

  Allie looked down her nose at Jack.

  "You're a disgusting, horrible woman, and I will not let you marry my son," Carter's father said, his eyes narrowed in rage.

  "And why should you be the judge of that?" Carter said.

  "Let's calm down," Walter said. "There's nothing wrong with Allie."

  Carter knew that Allie was just his pretend fiancée, but still. It rankled him that his family was treating her like a second-class citizen.

  "You all think I'm going to end up like Uncle Walter," he said in a low voice, sweeping his gaze over his family's guilty looks. "Allie's not like Danielle."

  "I know you still miss the kids, and you're just making a rash decision," Nancy said soothingly.

  "I'm not making rash decisions!"

  "Could you please go somewhere else?" Nancy said to Allie, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Maybe take that animal outside?"

  Margot was half-huddled under a chair and was letting out high-pitched whines. Allie scooped her up, and Kate stood as well, smoothing her skirt.

  "I'll come with you," she said.

  "Be careful," Grant said.

  "It’s fine," Allie said. "I have a gun."

  Grant seemed impressed in spite of himself.

  "Does she have a license for that in Connecticut?" Jack asked.

  "It doesn’t matter if no one finds out," Allie replied.

  "Come on," Kate said, grabbing the corgi. "We can walk the dogs."

  "Margot doesn’t like walks," Allie said as the door shut.

  "What is the meaning of this?" Jack demanded of Carter. "Why did you bring her here? Why are you marrying her? How come we've never heard anything about this until now?"

  "She’s not that bad," Walter said, sitting down in a chair. "You're just mad because she isn’t kowtowing to you."

  "No, I’m mad because she’s just like your now-dead wife. She’s going to bring ruin to this family. Mark my words."

  Walter mimed shooting a pistol at his head. "She’s not anything like Danielle," he countered.

  "You're just saying you approve of her because you know it will make me angry," Jack said.

  "That’s just an added bonus," Walter said with a smirk.

  "You are a terrible judge of character," Jack hissed. "Grant almost died because of your poor judgment. Am I the only person in this family who doesn't want any more of our kids to die?"

  "Allie’s not a psychotic killer," Carter said.

  "We don’t know that," Grant said, pouring himself another drink.

  "Screw you, Grant!" Carter said. "Stop acting so high-and-mighty!"

  Stefan cleared his throat in the doorway. "The elder Mr. Holbrook is here."

  "My favorite child!" Carter's grandfather exclaimed as he walked into the room and wrapped Carter's uncle Walter in a bone-crushing hug.

  Carter's grandfather, Harris Holbrook, looked good for a man in his seventies, Carter thought. His hair was a salt-and-pepper gray, and he had the same strong jaw and deep-blue eyes of the rest of the Holbrook men. He also had notoriously bad taste in women.

  "And Jack!" Harris exclaimed, releasing Walter. "How's it going?"

  Carter's father gave him a sour look. "What are you doing here, Harris?"

  "I can't come visit my family?" Harris said, motioning Carter to the drink cart.

  Carter made his grandfather an old-fashioned. He probably didn't do it as well as Allie did, though.

  "Thank you, my boy," Harris said and took a long drink. "See, Jack, this is why I came! To visit my favorite grandson!"

  "What happened to your… oh, what was it, fifth wife? Sixth wife? What was her name? Tiffany?"

  Harris looked chagrined. "We decided to part ways."

  "So the twenty-five-year-old stripper you married is divorcing you and taking what little is left of your money," Jack said. "Glad we cleared that up. You see, Carter? Look carefully, because this is your sad, pathetic future."

  "Stop being so mean," Walter said to Jack.

  "See, Jack? This is why Walter's my favorite. He's always in my corner!" Harris downed the rest of the drink.

  Carter looked over at Grant. His cousin had never met Harris, and now he was going to experience the full Harris Holbrook experience.

  "Is that Grant?" Harris practically shouted and bounded over to Walter's son.

  Grant held out his hand to shake Harris's. "Nice to meet you."

  "Is this the boy you gave up?" Harris asked Walter.

  "The son he abandoned, you mean?" Jack said. "Yes, he is."

  "Well, it all worked out, didn't it?" Harris said. "You know…" He motioned to Carter to make him another drink. "I was thinking about having another child. Tiffany didn't want one, though."

  Nancy almost choked on her drink, and Carter handed her a glass of water while she coughed delicately.

  "I'm surprised you're able to get it up," Jack said.

  "I have no problems. Speaking of bedrooms, where is your new wife?" Harris asked Grant.

  "Out," Grant said tersely.

  Grant seemed off-put by Harris's behavior, Carter thought. He knew Grant didn't like people who disrespected women.

  "Don't take any marriage advice from him," Jack cautioned Grant. "Your grandfather runs through wives like candy."

  "Why do you always have to marry them?" Walter asked, leaning back in his chair. "Why can't you just have a girlfriend? It would be much cheaper."

  "Yes, I'll do that next time," Harris said, swirling his drink around in the glass.

  "No, he won't," Jack said. "He's lying. He's telling you what he thinks you want to hear."

  Harris sighed and asked, "So when are we going to have another little Holbrook running around? I’m not growing any younger, you know."

  "Grant was thinking about adoption," Carter said.

  Grant looked at him askance.

  "Adoption!" Harris snorted and downed his drink. "You can't do that."

  "I can do whatever I want," Grant said coldly.

  "It's a bit hypocritical for you to complain about adoption considering you helped orchestrate the relinquishment of Grant for adoption," Jack said.

  "No, I didn't," Harris countered.

  "Yes, you did! Stop lying! Why is he even here?" Jack demanded of Walter. "You need to send him somewhere else. He cannot stay here."

  "Why? You don't live here," Carter s
aid snidely. "You don't want some quality time with your father?"

  "Shut up, Carter," Jack warned.

  "Don't speak to him like that," Harris said to Jack. "Carter, why don't you and I find an apartment in the city together? We can be roommates and chase women. I know a great website for finding younger ladies."

  "You are not living with Carter," Jack hissed.

  "It's okay, Harris," said Walter. "I'll find you a place to live in the city. It's not a problem."

  "Find Carter a girlfriend too," Harris ordered.

  "Carter already has a fiancée," Nancy piped up.

  "Get out! You do? Let me see a picture."

  "She's here, actually," Nancy said.

  "Here? I've never met one of your girlfriends, let alone the woman you're going to marry," Harris said. "Bring her in!"

  9

  Allie

  "It's freezing out here," Kate said to Allie.

  Kate was wearing some sort of asymmetrical designer coat. Allie was in her worn leather jacket, which was not warm enough for the November Connecticut chill. Gus, the corgi, was happily walking along a path. He didn't seem to mind the cold.

  Margot took a few steps then sat down.

  "She’s lazy," Allie explained. "After living on the streets, she finally has people to spoil her, and she just doesn’t want to do anything."

  "I can’t figure you out," Kate said, giving her an odd look.

  "I’m just a trashy marine hunter," Allie replied.

  "A what?" Kate asked. "I don’t know the lingo."

  "Oh, just women who know a bit too much about the Marine Corps and target officers to marry. They suck the money out of them then divorce them and move on to the next guy."

  "And that’s you?" Kate asked, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

  Allie resisted the urge to touch her own less nice eyebrows. "Yep, that’s me."

  "Hm," said Kate.

  "How can you walk in those heels?" Allie asked her.

  "It's easy," Kate said. "I can walk for miles in these."

  After a brisk circuit around the garden, they went back into the house.

  "Is that her?" an old man boomed.

  He looked similar to the rest of the Holbrook men. He was tall, blue-eyed, and had the same mischievous glint in his eye that she often saw in Carter's, Allie thought as the man walked over to them.

  "Is this the beautiful Kate Holbrook? Harris Holbrook. So glad to finally meet you."

  He hugged her, and Kate gave Grant a look over Harris's shoulder. Grant hurried over.

  "This is my wife, yes."

  "Good man," Harris said. "And who is this lady?"

  "That's my fiancée," Carter said, holding up Allie's hand to show off the ring.

  "Interesting choice. I bet she's banging in bed," Harris said with a laugh.

  "Dad," Walter admonished.

  "Why don't you all go upstairs?" Jack said. "We need to talk to our father."

  Allie returned to the room with Carter.

  "Guess who didn’t want to walk," she said.

  "Margot!" Carter said, flopping down on the floor next to the dog.

  She hesitated then gingerly walked over to Carter and licked his shirt.

  "My family is so not happy with you," Carter told her with a grin. "I thought my father was going to have a stroke. It was great." He jumped up, grabbed her around the waist, and whirled her around the room.

  "You know, you still owe me my kiss," he said.

  His face was dangerously close to hers, and the warmth of his arms chased away the lingering chill from her walk outside.

  "Kissing wasn’t part of the deal," she said, looking up at him, "and besides, how do you know you would have won?"

  "I know from the way you looked at me," he said, throwing her on the bed and jumping to lie beside her.

  "You know what would make my parents really upset?" he said after a moment. "Really loud sex."

  "I’m not sleeping with you," Allie said, sitting up.

  "Just pretend," Carter pleaded, grabbing her arm.

  He pushed her back against the bed, straddled her, and started yelling,

  "Yes, yes! Allie, take it! Take my big—"

  She put her hands over his mouth. "Stop it," she said as Carter collapsed on top of her.

  He grinned and touched their noses together. "Now you made me really horny."

  "Sorry, too bad. This is not happening." Allie tried to struggle out from under Carter's weight, but he held her down.

  "How much am I paying you?" Carter said sharply.

  Allie gave him a sour look. He rolled off of her and started rocking the bed.

  "We need to start a rhythm and make it seem like we're, you know, bumping uglies."

  Allie inwardly groaned. She stood up on the bed and channeled her inner Stacy. She had heard her roommate having loud, rambunctious sex enough times to know what it sounded like. Jumping on the bed, she let out a serious of high-pitched moans.

  "Yes, Carter, yes! I need you! Oh! Oh! Oh my God, that feels so good."

  Carter watched her, stunned. He didn't seem as if he was going to hold up his end of the performance, so she reached over and grabbed the back of Carter's head. He looked at her as if he were about to kiss her, but instead she ran her knuckles hard over his sternum for the big finish.

  "Argh!" he yelled in pain.

  "Oh my God," she said loudly, "that was so good, Carter."

  Laughing and moaning in pain, Carter huddled on the floor as Margot stumbled over to him to offer comfort.

  "Ow!" Carter said, clutching his chest. "What did you do to me?"

  She smiled at him. "It’s a sternum rub. If you're unconscious, that’s what the doctors use to see if you're brain-dead or still responsive."

  "Oh wow, ow," Carter said with a wince.

  "Stop being such a baby," she told him. "Where's my tough marine?"

  Carter lay on the floor, trying to keep his chest from spasming. "He's a figment of your imagination."

  "I'm taking a bath," she said, stepping over him.

  "Another one?"

  "You should always wash after sex. Surely they covered this in the safety briefings."

  Allie shut the bathroom door on Carter and drew another bath. It felt so decadent to slip into the steaming water. Carter was a good sport, she thought. She looked around at the luxury surrounding her and let herself imagine what it would be like to have a beautiful house with a nice bathroom and a balcony. A handsome guy would be a bonus. She really just wanted the real estate, the money, and the whole lifestyle. She sighed as she let her mind drift off into another reality in which she didn't have to scrape and fight for every little thing.

  10

  Carter

  Carter flipped through his phone while Allie bathed. It didn't look as though he was missing much at Les DesChamps. Tyler had been bitten by a cockroach attracted by the mountain of pizza boxes he had stacked up in their room. Carter grimaced. He was not looking forward to returning to the base.

  He looked up as Allie came out in an old T-shirt and shorts. He tried not to let his eyes wander away from her face, but he couldn't help giving her a once-over.

  To try to disguise it, he pulled off his shirt and said, "Are you done with the bathroom?"

  She nodded, and he watched her as she grabbed a blanket and pillow and headed for the couch.

  "What are you doing? You can sleep on the bed, you know," he said, following her.

  "Nope. Goodnight, Carter," she told him and shut the door between the bedroom and the seating area.

  After his shower, Carter wasn’t tired. He lay in bed and thought about Allie. She wasn't like anyone he’d ever met. The girls who were after the Holbrook fortune had never treated him the way Allie did. He appreciated her sardonic nature and her no-nonsense personality.

  Restless—he had slept on the car ride up, after all—he eased out of bed. Margot was pacing around the room.

  "Are you confused, girl?" he whispered to
the dog. He picked her up and snuggled her to his chest.

  "You’re fattening up," he told the dog as he slipped out of the suite.

  He took the dog outside and saw Walter sitting alone on the low stone wall separating the upper terrace from the rest of the garden.

  "Hey, Uncle Walter," he said. "It's freezing. What are you doing out here?"

  His uncle put down his glass. "Just thinking."

  "About what?"

  Walter sighed. "Mistakes. Regrets."

  "Yeah," Carter said. "I miss the kids."

  "You were a good cousin to them," Walter said, reaching up and pulling his nephew to sit beside him. "You’re a good man, Carter."

  Carter looked down at his feet and dug the toe of his shoe into the light snow that had fallen to the ground.

  "I don’t know. My dad doesn’t seem to like me."

  "He doesn't mean it," Walter said to Carter. "But for what it's worth, I like you."

  "I know."

  "And I suppose your fiancée does? Seemed like you two are pretty into each other, after that display." He glanced meaningfully to their bedroom window, which overlooked the back garden.

  "It doesn’t mean anything," Carter said. "Don’t tell my dad, though."

  Walter gave him a bemused look. "So you aren't planning on marrying her?"

  "I don't know," Carter said. He knew his uncle was extremely smart. He might have already figured out the game Carter was playing.

  Walter shook his head. "Fine, but don’t break her heart. I like her; she has spunk."

  "My mom thinks she’s rude."

  "I think she was just pulling your mom’s leg. Look at people’s actions, not what they say."

  Carter studied the snow. It was close to the time of year when his cousins were killed in the Christmas Eve fire.

  "Your dad loves you, you know," Walter said to him.

  "I guess."

  "He does. He just has a hard time of showing it. I’ll talk to him," Walter said, clasping Carter on the shoulder.

  "So Grandpa is back."

  "He just wants money," Walter said. "Then he'll go away."

  "He seems really…" Carter trailed off. He didn't really want to say anything bad about Grandpa.