Break (Billionaire New Adult Romance)

by Vanessa Waltz

  “I don’t care if you’re right. It’s worth it. I feel different, Natalie. I don’t know what it is, but he makes me feel better, even if it’s temporary.”

  Natalie’s voice was soft. “Well, he seems like a decent person,” she admitted grudgingly. “I’m happy for you, but at the same time I’m worried that this is going to blow up in your face. I don’t think you’ll feel so great when he ditches you.”

  I yanked my hair. “We’re not together. He can’t ditch me.”

  I could hear her rolling her eyes at me.

  “Yeah, whatever. The way you talk about him, you might as well be together.”

  Jerk. “Well, I’m flying to Chicago today.” After a beat, I added: “To meet his dad.”

  “Wow, your fake relationship is getting pretty serious.”

  I scowled at the humor in her voice. “I’m kind of losing my shit. This isn’t my territory. Do I stroke his ego? Should I be a yes-man?”

  “No,” she said emphatically. “Just be polite. Be yourself.”

  Wasn’t that what Luke had told me? Be yourself, Jessica. Try as I might, I couldn’t feel comfortable with the idea with Luke’s father. He was a bully and he reminded me too much of my foster parents. How would I handle it if he started bullying me? My face flushed with hot anger.

  “You can handle a cranky, sick old man. Like most men his age, he probably just wants attention.”

  But it wasn’t that simple. He wasn’t just a cranky old man; he was a cranky old man in charge of a multi-billion dollar industry. There were millions of dollars riding on this meeting. The fate of Luke’s finances depended solely on me. I wanted to laugh and laugh until I passed out. What if he didn’t like me?

  Natalie could sense my disquiet. “Just don’t think about it, or you’ll mess up. I don’t know what to tell you.” There was a slight pause. “By the way—I almost forgot to tell you this, but I’ve been keeping tabs on all the tabloids about you and Luke.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “They still have no idea who you are, but if you ask me it’s a matter of time before they track down who you are.”

  “You can’t tell the media anything. I’m serious, Natalie. It’ll put everything in jeopardy. Tell Ben not to say anything, either.”

  “I would never do that! Are you crazy?”

  “They might offer you lots of money.”

  “I don’t care. There’s no way I’d cave, but someone else who knows you might.”

  “Like who?” I said dryly. As far as I was concerned, there was no one else who knew me. I never talked about my personal life to anyone. If they asked my coworkers at the soup kitchen, all they would be able to get from them is the city where I lived. “Listen, I’ve got to go. The car will pick us up soon. I’ll text you when I land in Chicago.”

  “Alright. Good luck.”

  I hung up the phone and clenched it in my palm, wiping my other hand on my jeans. Luke kept a solemn silence the whole ride to the airport. I kept looking at him, wanting to confess my fear of meeting his father, but the whitened look on his face stopped me. I didn’t want to make him feel worse, so I kept my mouth shut.

  He barely spoke during the flight; he just sat still in his seat, his red-rimmed eyes staring straight ahead. I wanted to help him, but there was nothing I could say. So, I sat next to him and held his hand.

  We were both exhausted when the plane landed, but Luke told me we would head straight to the hospice. In the back of my mind, I thought that we were playing right into his father’s hands. Wasn’t it unreasonable to expect Luke and I to hurry over there after a ten-hour flight? Whatever, it wasn’t my call.

  My first thought was that it looked more like a vacation home than a hospice. There were atriums containing all different flora, regionally specific and temperature controlled. Workers pushed dying men and women in wheelchairs through them. The floors and walls exuded an aura of comfort, but underneath it all was the faint stench of cleaning supplies—of hospitals and death. Death lingered in this quiet place, and all of its cheery walls and colorful paintings couldn’t overshadow the dark gloom lingering in the halls.

  No wonder he’s miserable. No one wants to die in a place like this.

  I thought about it for a moment. Where would I like to die? Probably in the comfort of my apartment, with Natalie nearby. Yes, people wanted to be with their families when they died. Didn’t they?

  I looked at Luke, who strode through the place with a look of perfect indifference. It was plain that he could care less about his father. Who would he want to be with?

  He gave me a quick smile and my heart did a backflip.

  “Don’t look so nervous, Jess.’ It’ll be okay.” The smile evaporated. “Well, actually, it might not be.”

  Thanks for the vote in confidence.

  We were meeting with the nurse charged with Giacomo’s case. I imagined that she would be strung out with stress at all the unreasonable demands Luke’s father made of her, but she turned out to be a chipper forty-something year old woman.

  “Mr. Pardini, it’s great to finally meet you.”

  He nodded. “How is he?”

  “He keeps us busy,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes. “Visitors keep him in good spirits.”

  “Visitors?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes. His nephews visit every month. Sometimes twice a month.”

  I tried not to whimper as Luke crushed the bones of my hand. What did it mean?

  “He’ll be so glad to see you. He talks about you all the time.”

  Probably to complain about him.

  “Oh, I’m sure.”

  The nurse’s smile faltered at the tone of his voice, but she quickly recovered. “Well, it’s this way.”

  She opened the door for us and I swallowed hard as I walked through first.

  A venerable man sat upright on a hospital bed. He was so thin that deep round bruises covered his arms like a dark disease. I stood in the room, slightly breathless as I took in all the tubes and instruments quietly humming, keeping him alive. I was astonished at how similar they looked. Though his body was wasted, his face held the vestiges of great looks. His icy eyes, sharp and alert, cut through me as if he could see through my disguise. I trembled as his thin lips pulled into a grin, his eyes skull-like.

  “Hi dad,” Luke said tonelessly as he approached the bed. “This is my girlfriend, Jessica.”

  Somehow, my lips spasmed into something resembling a smile. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Luke tells me that your parents are dentists. Do they approve of you flying around with a man you barely know?”

  So, he was getting right to it. Fine. Bring it on.

  “Dad,” Luke said in a sharp voice.

  I held up a hand. “No, it’s fine. Your dad is just trying to protect you. It’s a valid question.” I smiled sweetly at Giacomo. “The answer is, I don’t know. I don’t talk to them anymore.”

  “Ah!” he yelled in triumph. “I see. My son is the same way; he only talks to me when he wants more money—or when he wants to discuss work.”

  Why would he want to call you? All you do is make him feel like crap.

  Despite himself, Luke’s cheeks flushed pink. “What do you think all these visits from my cousins are for? Do you think they’re doing it out of the kindness of their hearts?”

  I wanted to kick Luke’s leg. Why is he antagonizing him? He gave a hollow laugh as his father’s face purpled. I clenched my hands into fists and watched the volley of insults back and forth like a tennis match. This couldn’t be going any worse.

  “At least they don’t treat me like a checkbook,” he spat. “Do you think I can’t see through you and that bitch standing over there?”

  My leg twitched and I glanced at Luke’s white face. Shit. It was too late; Giacomo had noticed the exchange and his eyes narrowed.

  “Dad—apologize now,” he said through his teeth.

  “Or what?” He grinned maniacally, knowing full well that he alone
held all the power, that his son could do nothing. “You’re pathetic. I knew from the second I saw those tabloid photos that this was a fraud.”

  Oh, shit. It was all unraveling. I turned to Luke desperately in a voice that I hoped was innocent. “What’s he talking about?”

  Giacomo gave me a nasty look. “So, how much is he paying you? I don’t think he ever paid any of the whores he left with in those clubs.”

  “Shut the hell up!” Luke’s head looked like it was going to explode.

  His father looked slightly startled at his son’s outburst. “You’ll never get what you want from me. I won’t allow it!”

  I wanted to bend over and throw up on the pristine floor. His whole body trembled as he stood over the bed. I sprang forward, convinced that he was going to reach over and strangle his father.

  “Go to hell, dad.”

  He spoke with such quiet venom that I flinched, afraid of the poison infecting his voice. I turned around as Luke stormed out of the room, indifferent to his father’s yells and my pleas.

  When the door swung shut, I slowly wheeled back to him, unable to keep the disgust out of my voice. “What’s wrong with you?”

  He pushed himself up on his pillows, giving me a look of justified anger. “I know what you’re both doing. What, am I supposed to be pleased that my son is trying to scam me with a hooker?”

  He was a bully, but he was still nothing compared to the abuse I had experienced. Giacomo Pardini was child’s play. I kept my face neutral, refusing to allow his insults to harm me.

  “I love your son.” As I said it, I felt my face grow hot. I hadn’t meant to say that—it just came out. There was a ringing in my ears and I licked my dry lips. Giacomo’s face was stony, but I forced myself to continue. “I fell in love with him because he’s the only one who really understands me. He gets it.”

  He eyed me beadily and his voice rose with contempt. “Are you really that stupid? He may have convinced you otherwise, but you’re just another broad for him to fool around with. What the hell does a middle class woman from suburbia have in common with my son?”

  I thought that rich people were supposed to be sophisticated. His barbs sunk deep inside my flesh, stinging me. “We met in a support group for children with parents like you.”

  I was pleased to see that Giacomo flinched, as though my words had truly hurt him. “Do you know what Luke thinks about you? He thinks you’re trying to make him commit suicide, like you did with his mother. Now, you’re trying to bully me because treating people like shit takes the edge off of hating yourself. You make me sick—”

  Suddenly, his eyes went wide and he grabbed the edge of his hospital bed, looking like he wanted to climb out of it so that he could kill me. “You shut your mouth about things you don’t understand.” He clenched his teeth and his thin arms trembled with the energy of keeping himself upright.

  I caught him by surprise at the mention of his dead wife and his voice cracked with emotion. I wasn’t quite feeling guilty, but he had definitely knocked the wind out of me. I couldn’t look away from the electricity rimming his eyes.

  For a moment his face purpled as though he wanted to scream, and then the words burst from his mouth as though he had been dying to say them for years. “I did everything I could for that woman. I paid for therapists and psychiatrists and all of that bullshit—Luke never knew. I hid it from him. Don’t you dare accuse me of trying to harm my own wife. I loved her. She wanted to die and there was nothing I could do to fix it.”

  Was this true? Was this a manipulation or did Luke really have the wrong side of the story? My heart thudded against my chest. “What about when you sent him away after his mother’s death to live with strangers? I suppose you did that to protect him?”

  He looked at me beadily. “You’re damn right, it was. Do you think I wanted him around my vulture in-laws? I didn’t want him to witness all of the fighting over the money and the disgusting lawsuits filed against me. When she died, their cash flow ended, and they weren’t happy.” Giacomo sunk into his pillows, looking very much like a tired, old man. “I just wanted him to grow up away from all this madness. I wanted him to be normal, but he turned out to be just like the rest of them.”

  What followed Giacomo’s voice was a ringing silence. I stood shock-still, unable to believe what I was hearing. I hated him before I even met him, and yet he said things that made me question what Luke told me. I couldn’t reconcile my strong dislike and the pity I felt for a man whose family fell apart.

  “He didn’t turn out like the rest of them. You damaged him. What he needed was his father, not to be sent over the ocean to a strange place while he grieved for his dead mother.”

  He sat up again with renewed vigor, spittle drizzling his chin as he screamed at me. “Everything I did was for my son—everything! You don’t know what it’s like to watch your own brother and your son fight over your corpse like dogs!”

  I refused to relent the attack, though Giacomo’s words had bothered me more than I would admit. “Instead of telling your son that you’re doing what’s best for him, you belittle him every chance you get. Why?”

  Giacomo’s fist smashed into bed. “Because he needs to grow up! He needs to treat me like a person, not a goddamn bank account.”

  “You’re going to die alone,” I shouted at him, hardly believing I could say something so horrible. “You will die alone if you don’t mend things with your son.”

  The nurse appeared at my elbow. “Miss, you need to leave. You’re upsetting my patient.” The breathy girlishness was gone from her voice.

  But the statement only served to further enrage the Pardini patriarch. “I’m allowed to be upset!”

  “For the record,” I bellowed over his voice, pushing the nurse aside. “I don’t care whether you put Luke in your will or not. I think it would be good for him if he cut you out of his life. At least, he would never have to deal with you anymore.”

  “Miss—”

  I ripped my elbow out of her hands. “I’m leaving.” I stumbled out of the room in a fog of rage, hardly knowing where I was going. Luke was nowhere to be seen. I was upset with myself and my heart was racing with all of the things he said—all of the things I said. I should have kept my mouth shut. I didn’t know what effect my words would have on Luke’s father. What if he took everything I said to heart, and cut him off like I suggested? You’re an idiot. You’re a moron. Luke paid you to do a job and you blew it!

  I stopped midway down the hall. It had been a quarter of an hour and there was no sign of Luke. Maybe he left. Ahead, I saw a sign for a restaurant and bar and followed it.

  I found Luke perched on a barstool. It was eleven in the morning, so most of the place was empty. The bar was deserted. He stared down the tiny shot glass, a small row of empty glasses beside it. I edged up to him as he stared morosely downwards, not even acknowledging my presence, playing with the glass with his long fingers.

  “Three shots at eleven A.M.? Must be some sort of record,” I said lightly.

  Luke shrugged and I placed my hand over his to stifle his movements.

  “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

  I blinked. “Why?”

  “You heard my father. I won’t be able to pay you anymore.”

  “Luke, I don’t care about the money.”

  He gave me a sidelong grin that looked uncannily like his father’s. “Right.”

  “I mean it.” My heart was beating in my ears as I stole myself to tell him. Luke’s father hadn’t been what I had pictured. Luke had painted a dark portrait of an evil, masochistic man, but all I had seen was man full of pain, bewildered by his son’s coldness. He was horribly misguided, but evil? I didn’t think so. Still, on the whole, Luke would probably be better off without his dad in his life.

  “I wish I had your dad,” I confessed.

  “Your foster parents must have been pretty terrible if you prefer him.” He looked at me and flinched. “Sorry.”

  “No
one ever gave a damn about me. If I died, no one would really notice. No one except Natalie. I don’t know what being loved feels like.”

  “Neither do I, really.”

  “Your mother loved you,” I said sharply. “And as mean as he is, your father still cares about you.”

  He laughed as he sipped the dregs of his drink. “How would you know?”

  “We had a—a talk.”

  “‘Bout what?”

  I took his hand and set it in my lap, nervously squeezing his palm. “Well, I yelled at him and he told me things about you—about your mom. Maybe if you knew them, it might change your feelings about him.”

  Luke slipped his hand out of my grasp, shaking his head.

  “No, listen. He said that he paid for psychiatrists and therapists and everything under the moon for your mom and he hid her depression from you. To protect you. He even sent you away to protect you from her in-laws, who were demanding more money and suing him. He didn’t want you to see all that.”

  Luke, who had been shaking his head harder the more I talked, slammed his fist into the bar table so that the glasses fell on their sides. “No! Everything he says is a lie.”

  “Luke, in all fairness, why would he lie about that? He could probably furnish proof if you asked for it.”

  He turned to me, anger thickening his features. “Then why not tell me about all this? Why did he make me think it was my fault she died?”

  “He probably didn’t know that you felt that way. I know it’s screwed up, but like I said, he thought he was doing the best thing for you. He told me he wanted you to become normal—not consumed with greed like your cousins and uncle. And you know what, it worked.” Even though I told his father otherwise, I believed it now. Growing up away from all that money and influence—wasn’t that a good thing? “I think you should go back there and talk to him about all of this.”

  He slammed a few notes on the bar table. “I don’t care about it. It’s too late for me to hear all of this. All I want from him is what I deserve—my inheritance.”