Bedding the Billionaire (Book 3) (Legacy Collection) (40 page)

Jake sought help from Victor Andrade. “Are they spiking the drinks with crazy at the party?”

Victor put a supportive hand on Jake’s shoulder and said, “Son, the only one who is crazy is you if you let
Lil
get away.
When you find a woman who is willing to
risk everyth
ing for family and then for you–
you marry that woman.
Go tell her that you love her before it’s too late.”

“But I don’t…”

The
truth hit him in the stomach like
a
sledgehammer.

Memories of their time together flooded his mind
.
Lil studying at her kitchen table.
Lil naked beneath
him.
Lil beaming with pride as she held up her daughter’s artwork.

His stomach twisted painfully.

Lil at the top of the stairs, easily the most beautiful woman in the room, and yet still anxiously scanning the room as if she weren’t sure she belonged.
And, finally, Lil’s smile when
she saw him waiting for
her at the bottom of the steps.
He wanted to spend the rest of his life with that smile, that woman.

I do.

I do love her.

Victor tightened his hand on hi
s shoulder.
“
None of thi
s is worth a damn thing if you
have no one to share it with. Go find her, Jake.
When you do, don’t let your pride speak for you.
Pride knows nothing about love.
Tell her you love her.
Tell her you need her.
Don’t leave until she believes you.”

Jake
turned to leave and paused.
He looked back at his parents
.
He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to say to them, but
i
t was difficult not to be moved by the tears he saw well in his mother’
s eyes.
She said,
“Go on, Jake.
We’ll be here when you get back.”

He nodded.

Jeremy said, “Hey, what about me?”

Without hesitation, Jake threw his best friend under the bus. “D
ominic is much better at that kind of
thing
than I am.
T
ell him t
hat I said he owes you a favor
–
a huge personal favor. Then tell him what you need.”

Just before exiting the door, Jake stopped and added, “You might not want
to mention the
part about accessing our mainframe. I’ll explain it to him later.”

A dead Jeremy couldn’t help anyone.

Now,
where
would
Lil go?

How could I have been such a fool?

Lil fought to hold back the tears that
were
surging within her. It wasn’t like Jake had ever lied to her.
He’d clearly said that he didn’t love her.
Why do women try to read
emotion into everything a man says when really the trans
lation was much less impressive?

“
I want you
,”
simply meant
“I want to have sex with you.”

“
Live with me
,”
meant
“
I want to have sex with you on a regular basis.
”

“
Marry me
,”
meant
“
I’m willing to share my stuff to have sex with you.
”

Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid.

“Lil?”
Her sister met her in the hallway, blocking her escape up the stairs.

Oh, great, Abby.
Lil tried to stretch her
trembling
lips into a smile and knew she failed by the concern she saw in her sister’s eyes.

Even
worse
, Dominic appeared behind Abby
.

Lil spoke to their shoes. “I won’t ruin your big night. I just need a few minutes to freshen up.”

Abby took her by the hand and simply held on until she looked up and met her eyes. “Lil, I don’t care about any of this if you’re not happy.
What happened? I saw you and Jake earlier and you both looked like you were having a great time.”

Lil sobb
ed her confession into one hand.
“I fell in love with him
, but he doesn’t feel the same
.”

Dominic
crossed his arms.
“This is why he has to marry her.
”

Abby shook her head.
“Not now, Dom.”

“You like seeing your sister like this?”

“No, but you can’t make people work out their issues.”
Abby’s reasonable tone was not mirrored by her fiancé.

“Watch me.”

Lil sniffed and
saw the love behind the tornado.
She’d misjudged Dominic.
He wasn’t a fantasy and he did love her sister.
That his love for Abby extended to her family was humbling.
Lil impatiently wiped away a tear and said, “Dominic, it will be a proud day for me when you marry my sister and I get to call you my brother.”

Dominic puffed up with pride.
He smiled down at his fiancé. “See, Lil agrees with me.”

Abby shook her head and hugged her sister. “What are you going to do, Lil?”

Lil lifted her chin up and said, “I’m going to compose myself and then I am going to go back into the party and enjoy hearing you formally announce your
engagement
.”

Abby pulled back a bit and looked her sister in the eye.
“And?”

Lil nodded as she made her inner resolution.
“And then I’m going to return to Boston and look for a job.”

Dominic said, “I own several companies in Boston. Name a job and you’ll have it.”

Lil smiled at her new protector, grateful for the millionth time recently that her sister
had found happiness. Maybe one day she would find the same for herself.
Rebellion was replaced by self-awareness.
Her words were simply said and held no anger.
“I don’t want your charity, Dominic.”

“There is no
such thing as
charity when it comes to family
,” Dominic countered.

“I don’t even know what I want to do, Dom. I might take an office job
for now and sign up for some art classes.
I have so much I need to figure out.
”

“How about an entry level position in a graphic design department?
I’ll tell people I don’t even like you.
You
could sink or swim on your own,” Dominic said.

“You would do that?”
Lil
asked, grateful that he understood.

Abby wrapped an
arm around her future husband’s waist and laughed up at him.
“You are so full of it
,
Dom
. I bet you couldn’t go a week without calling her department head and threatening to fire him if he
wasn’t
nice to her.”

“Woman, you sorely underestimate me.”

Watching the banter between the two of them removed the last of Lil’s resistance.
People found jobs every day by using their connections.
Lil held out her hand to Dominic.
“I accept your job offer.”

A wide
smile spread across his face as he shook her hand.

Lil added, “But I don’t need your help with Jake.
If we ever work it out, it will be on
our
terms, not yours.”

Dom
inic
started to say
something and Lil cut him off.
“I mean it. Promise to stay out of it.”

Dom
inic
promised nothing, but he did say, “You
and Abby
are so much alike.”

The two sisters smiled at that.

Abby hugged her husband
-to-be
again, “Lil, that means that he’s going to try, but he doesn’t know if he can help himself.”

“Do you translate everything I say because I’m not speaking
English?
” Dom
inic
asked with some amusement.

“
Exactly
, you speak some dialect of barbarian dictator most of the time,” Lil teased.

Dominic bent down and growled playfully at Lil, “Barbarian, huh? I know how much you like that.”

“Ok
ay
,” Lil interrupted with a laugh.
“I’m heading back into the pa
rty.
You two just follow when
you’re ready.”

She walked halfway down the hallway before turning slighting to check if they were following.

They weren’t.

And it didn’t look like they would be for quite a while.

Lil turned away with resolve.

I want to love and be loved like that.

I want the fairytale.

Jake spotted Lil the instant she walked through the door.
He cut through diplomats and royalty with neither
subtlety
nor etiquette.
He had to get to her side before she disappeared again.

“Lil,” he said, “we need to talk.”

She
nodded
calmly and allow
ed
him to guide her into a room across the hall.
He closed the door
and his concern grew when she didn’t fly at him with accusations.

She surprised him again
with a softly spoken words
. “Jake, I am so sorry for everything I’ve put you through.
I was looking f
or answers in the wrong places.”
He went to take her in his arms, but she moved away from him and continued. “No, I need to say this.
I shouldn’t have said what I did in front of your parents.
I’m the last one who should judge anyone
for
how they deal with their family.
I
can’t believe mine is still intact after what I’ve put it through. I
–
”