by Cher Carson
She threw her head back, laughing. “Look who’s talking.”
She was right; he was acting like a jealous, insecure jerk, but he didn’t give a shit. She was his, and he wanted the whole goddamn world to know it, especially the single guys fixated on getting into her pants, like Billy boy. “We’re going to have define this relationship soon, sweetheart.”
Frowning, she asked, “What are you talking about?”
He glanced at her bare hand. “I’m thinking I may need to put a big-ass diamond on that finger so guys like Billy the bonehead get the message.”
“You’re crazy,” she said, slipping a key card into the waistband of her shorts.
“What the hell’s so crazy about wanting you to wear my ring?”
She paused at the door to the bathroom. “Don’t you think this conversation is a little premature?”
No, he thought it was long overdue. He was ready to propose to her a year ago, the night he first laid eyes on her at that Christmas party. Now that may have been premature, but since then he’d spent hundreds of nights lying in his big bed alone thinking about her. He was ready to put an end to his misery already. Frowning at the closed bathroom door, he considered his options.
A few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom. “Okay, I’m on my way. You want something to eat?”
“No, I’ll grab something later.”
“Okay, see you in a few,” she said, wiggling her fingers at him.
He would prefer another kiss, but that had to wait. He got up, put his jeans on, and walked into the adjoining living room. Glancing at the phone, he decided there was no time like the present to start putting his plan in motion. He dialed the familiar number and waited for his sister to pick up.
“Yes?”
Good morning to you, too,” he said, smiling. His sister, the legal eagle, believed in cutting to the chase, claiming she didn’t have time to waste on social niceties. He took the chair facing the walk-out to the balcony as he braced himself for the fight he was sure would follow his announcement.
“Hey, I didn’t expect to hear from you. Mom said you went away to some wedding in the Caribbean.”
“Yeah, I did, but I need to talk to you about something important.”
“Sure, what is it?”
Squeezing his eyes shut, he pinched the bridge of his nose, mentally preparing for the barrage of questions he wasn’t ready to answer. “So here’s the deal: I want to buy a Porsche dealership.”
She laughed, pausing when he didn’t share the joke. “You can’t be serious. What the hell do you know about running a car dealership?”
“Nothing, but I’ll hire a manager to run it. How hard can it be?” He winced when he realized how that sounded. “Listen, I don’t want to get into the details right now. Let’s just say that the family has fallen on hard times, and I happen to know they’d love to have someone take it off their hands.”
“Okay, what’s in it for you?”
“Come on, we both know it’s only a matter of time before things start to turn around. When they do, people will start spending money and the dealership will start making money again. In the meantime, I can probably get it for a steal.” In reality, he’d happily pay more than market value to help Alana’s family out of this financial bind, but he wasn’t ready to share his motives with his sister yet. Too many times over the years she had lectured him about all of the gold diggers he spoiled with expensive gifts and trips. He didn’t want his sister to think that Alana was just using him for his money.
“I don’t know about this,” she said. “It sounds risky and a little impulsive. You like to play it safe with your investments, real estate…”
“Listen, I’m not asking your advice about this, Lorna.” Feeling like a heel for snapping at her, he said, “I’m sorry, I know you’re just looking out for me, but I know what I’m doing, honey. This has been in the works for a while. I’ve had my financial advisor do a little digging so I know what I can get it for if…”
“At the risk of having my head bitten off, I feel compelled to ask again, are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m not making this decision impulsively, trust me. But here’s the thing, the family who owns the dealership can’t know that I’m the one making the offer.”
“Why the hell not?”
He didn’t want them to think of this as a handout, especially Alana. He would tell her, when the time was right, but first he wanted to make sure all the pieces were in place. “I’ll fill you in on the details later, but I want to make the offer under the corporation’s name.”
She paused. “You want to use the name of your numbered corporation on all of the legal documents pertaining to this sale? You don’t want your name to appear anywhere, is that correct?”
Finally, she had put on her lawyer hat and shed the protective big sister hat. “That’s right. No one, except for you, can know that I’m doing this, okay?”
“Whatever you want, kid. Good thing you’ve got money to burn.”
He didn’t care if he took a financial hit on this. Giving Alana the freedom to pursue her dream would be worth it. “Okay, so I’ll email you the details in a bit. Thanks for doing this for me, hon.”
“Anytime. I know you think I’m sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong, but I love you and I just don’t want to see you make a stupid mistake that you’ll live to regret.”
“I love you too, Lorna.”
“Your niece and nephew miss you, by the way. They want to know when Uncle Ryan is coming by to take them to the waterpark like he promised.”
He grimaced, berating himself for letting that promise fall through the cracks. “Tell the kids I’m sorry. I’ll be by to pick them up next Sunday, and we’ll spend the whole day together, I promise, okay?”
“I’m going to hold you to that, and so will they, little brother.”
“You got it. I’ll see you then. Thanks again.”
Alana felt nauseous. She slipped back into the room because she forgot to ask Ryan how he took his coffee. She hadn’t expected to overhear a conversation with his wife or ex-wife, whoever the hell Lorna was, about his plan to “steal” the dealership her father had spent his lifetime building. She couldn’t believe the man she’d given her heart to would do this to her.
Ryan set the phone back in the cradle and got up, re-tracing his steps back into the bedroom when he spotted her. The color drained from his face, and he suddenly looked as sick as she felt. “Shit,” he said, raking his hands through his hair. “I didn’t know you were there, baby.” He glanced at the phone. “How much of that did you hear?”
“Enough to know that you’ve been planning this all along.” She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her fall apart again. She would save her tears for later, when he was long gone. “I want you out of here, now.”
“Honey,” he said, taking a step toward her. “Listen to me…”
She stalked through the suite, toward the outer door. He couldn’t say anything that would explain this away. She knew what she heard, and now she knew what kind of man she was dealing with: a liar, a cheat, and the worst kind of predator. Gripping the doorknob, she slowly opened the door. “I want you to go before I call security.”
He blew out an exasperated breath. “If you would just give me a minute to explain…”
“I’m not interested in anything you have to say.” She was dying inside, but he had already seen her at her most vulnerable and he abused that trust. “I want you to be on the next plane out of here.”
He reached for the t-shirt she’d practically torn off of him last night. “Your brother is counting on me.”
She felt the crack in her shield when she said, “I was counting on you, too. I guess we’re both going to be disappointed, aren’t we?”
He took a step toward her, but she backed up into the wall. “You can get out of here now, or I’ll scream bloody murder.”
Dropping his head, he cursed. “Fine, but this isn
’t over.”
“Yes, it is. If you ever try and contact me again, I’ll take out a restraining order against you. How would it look for a prominent Beverly Hills doctor to have something like that on his record?” she asked, wishing she could say something that would hurt him as much as he’d hurt her.
“Sweetheart, I love you. I did this…”
“I hate you,” she whispered, blinking back the tears. “I hate you so much. I can’t even stand the sight of you.” Gripping the door knob until her knuckles turned white and her hand trembled under the pressure, she said, “The day you walked into my dealership was the worst day of my life, bar none.”
He paused, searching her face as though he prayed to see a glimmer of hope. “I’m sorry you feel that way,” he whispered.
Chapter Twelve
Alana was surprised when her father claimed the seat next to her on their return flight. Smiling, she asked, “Had enough of Mom?”
Instead of the smile she expected, her father looked saddened by her offhand comment about his wife. “Sweetheart, your mother and I both want what’s best for you. You know that, don’t you?”
She wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but after being gutted by Ryan, she didn’t think she could handle any more emotional upheaval right now. “The wedding was nice, wasn’t it?” She prayed he would take the hint that she wasn’t in the mood to discuss anything heavy today.
Sighing, he leaned his head against the headrest and closed his eyes.
She looked at him for a long time, trying to find the man she once knew beneath the pale, wrinkled mask he now wore. He looked tired, defeated, as though every day was a journey without a destination. Taking his hand, she asked, “Have you been feeling okay, Dad?” She was so busy trying to keep the dealership afloat that she didn’t check in on him as often as she should. Yet another reason to feel guilty.
“I’m okay,” he said, failing to open his eyes. “Just tired. I’m still so damn tired. I keep hoping that one day I’ll wake up and be the man I used to be…” He opened one eye, tilting his head to look at her. “But we both know that’s not likely to happen, don’t we?”
“Don’t say that,” she said, her heart breaking for him. She and her father didn’t always share the same views, but she knew his concern for her came from a place of genuine affection, whereas with her mother, she wasn’t always so sure. “Look at how far you’ve come in such a short time. This time next year…”
He patted her hand, the ghost of a smile on his thin lips. “You can’t slow down the aging process, honey. I’d be dealing with that even if I hadn’t had the stroke.”
“What do the doctors and physical therapists say?”
“That I’m damn lucky to be alive and I should quit complaining.”
She smiled. That was her father, never satisfied with the status quo. “They’re right, you know. Every day is a gift, Dad. We need to learn to treat it as such.”
He chuckled. “Is that what you’ve been doing? Holed up in that damned office every day from sun-up ‘til sun-down, shutting yourself off from the rest of the world?”
She felt the sharp blade of his recrimination pierce her heart. She was doing this to save his business and help her family. She was sacrificing her life, her dreams, for him. How dare he scold her! “It’s not like I have a choice.”
“Everyone has a choice, angel,” he said, quietly. “And I’ve decided to exercise my right to choose.”
“What the hell does that mean?” she asked, withdrawing her hand from his to fold her arms over her chest. She suddenly felt the need to protect herself. She knew her father well enough to know when the proverbial shit was getting ready to hit the fan. “What have you decided?”
“Ryan came to see your mother and me before he left.”
The mere mention of his name made her gut clench. She had thought about him endlessly since she kicked him off the island and out of her life, berating herself for being taken in by yet another con artist. “I know Justin wasn’t happy that I asked Ryan to leave. Even after I told him what he’d done, he didn’t want to believe it. He thought there must be some explanation…”
Her father touched her arm, effectively silencing her. “Your brother was right, Alana.”
“Don’t tell me he managed to convince you that he’s sincere? Dad, I heard him on the phone. He was talking to his wife, or ex-wife, who’s apparently a lawyer...”
“It was his sister.”
“His sister?” She let that piece of information sink in. So he hadn’t been cheating, just lying. “What about the kids?”
“His niece and nephew.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“I spoke to his sister myself. She explained how you had misunderstood and wanted me to convey the message to you, when you were ready to listen.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, wringing her hands as a deep feeling of dread began to wash over her. “Why didn’t Ryan tell me the woman he was talking to was his sister?”
“He said he tried, but you wouldn’t give him a chance to explain.”
He was right, of course. She hadn’t even considered giving him the benefit of the doubt. She felt like she was transported back in time, to that day when she’d walked in on Todd with other women. Grimacing, she asked, “What about his plan to buy the dealership?”
He heaved a gusty sigh. “He was trying to help us out of a bind. He knew if we didn’t get a buyer soon, we would lose everything.” His expression was pained as he said, “Everything I’d worked my whole life for…”
“Dad,” she said, gripping his knee, “that’s not going to happen. I won’t let it happen.”
“You’re right; it’s not going to happen. I’ve sold Ryan the dealership, honey.”
“What are you talking about? Why would you do that without talking to me first?”
“It was my business, my decision.”
Knowing that her contribution meant so little to him after all she’d sacrificed to try and help him hurt. “If that’s the way you feel, I guess there’s nothing left to talk about, is there?”
He took her hand, bringing it to his lips, and her heart ached when she saw his weathered hand trembling. “I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done. We all are.”
She glanced across the aisle to see her mother watching them. Her eyes were soft, filled with un-shed tears.
She cleared her throat, trying to find her voice. “I hope he made you a fair offer?”
“More than fair. In fact, more than the dealership is worth right now.”
“Really? Why would he do that?”
For the first time since he sat down, her father smiled. “Isn’t it obvious? He did it for you, because he loves you.”
She looked out the window, considering his words. Was it possible she misjudged him, jumped to all of the wrong conclusions because of her own past? What other reason was there? A doctor of Ryan’s stature wouldn’t suddenly wake up one morning and decide to buy a car dealership unless he had a strong motive, like love. Covering her face with her hands, she wished she could turn back time and re-live their last meeting. “I wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to see me again,” she whispered.
“He wants you to be happy, free to pursue your dream of building your own business.”
Looking at him, she asked, “He talked to you about that?”
“He let us have it was more like it.”
She sat staring at her father, stunned. Even in his present condition, her father was still a force to be reckoned with, and her mother hadn’t earned the title among her friends as a “prima bitch” without just cause. “Are you serious?”
“Quite serious.” Chuckling, he said, “He told us we were blind not to recognize your incredible talent. He said we should be ashamed of ourselves for trying to quash your spirit.” Looking her in the eye, he said, “We are ashamed.”
Tipping her head back, she closed her eyes. In spite of how she treated him, he sti
ll took it upon himself to champion her cause and put her parents in their place. No one, aside from her Cici, had ever cared enough to defend her choices. “I can’t believe he did that,” she whispered.
“He’s a remarkable young man.”
“Probably too good for me,” she muttered.
“Don’t say that,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “You’re beautiful, smart, talented, and so very brave.” He coughed as though he were trying to clear a lump in his throat. “I love you, honey, and I’m so proud of you.”
She looked across the aisle to see her mother leaning forward, tears sliding down her cheeks, marring her perfect make-up. “Ditto,” she mouthed, smiling.
Her parents had never said those three little words aloud before, and she suddenly realized she’d waited her whole life to hear them. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she whispered, “I love you too, Daddy.”
“Oh God, that feels so good,” Ryan moaned. “Yeah, that’s it, Jen, right there. Fuck, that’s amazing.”
Jen slipped her hand under his towel and giggled. “Right about there, boss man?”
Since she was one of his best friends’ wives, he knew she was just trying to get a rise out of him to amuse herself. She and her husband, Steve, owned a wellness clinic and had leased space in one of his medical buildings for years.
“Remind me again why I don’t look for another massage therapist?” he said, struggling to sit up while gripping the towel at his waist.
With a saucy grin, she planted a hand on her hip. “Because we both know I’m the best. Besides, I’m the only one stupid enough to enter the lion’s den these days.”
Grimacing, he swung his legs over the side of the portable massage table. Unfortunately, Jen was right. He was miserable with everyone who dared to cross him, and his temperament had only worsened since Alana told him she was through with him. He hoped her father had talked to her by now, but he hadn’t heard a word from her, not a phone call, not even a lousy text message, in the weeks since she returned from Aruba.
“You want to talk about it?” Jen asked, wiping her hands on a towel. “Steve said you were in to see him for an adjustment a couple of days ago and he’d never seen you so unhappy.” She placed a hand on his leg. “We’re your friends; we love you. If we can do anything to help, just say the word.”
