FOREVER BELOVED (Billionaire Love Series) (20 page)

She relaxed a little as she smiled. “Sure,
come back to my office.”

I followed her back to a cheery office and we
sat on some bright red chairs in front of her glass-top desk.

“What’s up?” she asked, her hands in her
lap.

“So yesterday, after you left, my granddad
gave me several boxes of Charlie’s stuff.”

Her doe eyes grew wide. “Did you open
them?”

“I did. I went through everything.”

She sucked in her breath, looking like she
was going to faint. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“I can’t believe you catalogued Charlie’s
childhood. The time and care you put into documenting his life is
phenomenal. I almost feel like I was there witnessing his every
move.”

Her face softened as she let out a big sigh
of relief. “Really? Because that’s what I was going for.”

“Thank you for raising our boy right.”

Her eyes grew watery and her cheeks flushed
with embarrassment. “I don’t know what to say to that, Beau. But
you’re welcome. I wanted to do right by him and by you.”

“Well, you did more than right by both of us.
You took a shitty situation and you made the best of it.” I studied
her kind eyes brimming with hope. “None of this makes sense, Marla.
Why would you keep such amazing records for me when you didn’t want
me in your life?”

She held my earnest gaze as she charmed me
with a dazzling smile. “Because I always hoped you would come back
to us and I wanted to provide the next best thing to actually
watching your son grow up. So I wrote down and videotaped
everything I could think of.”

“I know. I saw it all. That was a labor of
love. One that boggles my mind. Why didn’t you just tell me about
Charlie?” I asked for the umpteenth time.

Fear crept across her face. “Do you really
want to know?”

“Yeah, it’s killing me. Charly’s telling me
things I don’t want to believe are true, but I’ve got to hear it
from you.”

She took a deep breath and blew it out. “It’s
hard to talk about. I don’t want to hurt you any more than I
already have. God, Beau, I’ve been carrying this secret around for
twenty years and I don’t know if it’s my place to tell you.”

That could only mean my father really did
have something to do with this. The reality was too horrible to
contemplate. But I forged ahead, determined to get to the bottom of
this awful mess. “Did my dad have anything to do with you breaking
up with me?”

She stayed silent for a second, her doe eyes
flickering with pain. “Yes, he did. He was very determined to break
us up and he got his way by being very nasty.”

“I don’t understand, Marla. What did he have
over you?”

“He threatened to take away Emma from me and
throw her into the foster care system, if I stayed with you.”

“So, he blackmailed you?” My blood pressure
was ready to go through the roof.

She closed her eyes and nodded yes.

“That fucker.”

“I understand your rage. Talk to your dad,
Beau, and see what he says.”

“You’re damn right I’m gonna talk to
him.”

“He’s probably going to deny it, but he had
everything to do with why we broke up.”

Beyond my rage, my heart was heavy.

I wasn’t looking forward to this
confrontation with my dad.

She grabbed my arm as I turned to go. “Beau,
whatever you find out, I’m here for you. I want you to know
that.”

I nodded curtly and left, too upset to even
consider the consequences of what I was about to find out.

I slowly drove the Porsche in the direction
of my dad’s house, not in any hurry to see him. When I pulled up to
my father’s mansion, I sat in the driveway for a long time, trying
to find the courage to confront him.

I didn’t want to be right about this.

I didn’t want to believe he was capable of
such duplicity.

My cell phone vibrated mercilessly on the
passenger seat, letting me know I was neglecting my business and my
life.

It didn’t matter.

I ignored it as I opened the car door and got
out. I made my way to the front door, my feet moving as if they
were weighed down by two tons of lead.

Hudson, my father’s long time butler, greeted
me just as stiffly as he did twenty-five years ago when he was
hired. “Master Bubba, good to see you.”

“Good to see you, too,” I replied
automatically. “Is my father in?”

“Yes, he’s in the study. Let me see if he’s
receiving visitors.”

Leave it to my father to stand on formality.
His house hadn’t changed at all. Everything was in the same place
as it had been when I was growing up, from the ornate mirrors to
the cold marble floors. Suddenly, it felt morbid and
claustrophobic.

“How’s the hotel coming?” my dad asked,
coming forward to shake my hand.

“I’m not here to talk about the hotel,” I
said sternly, ignoring his hand.

He nodded, a serious light in his blue eyes.
“Let’s step into my study.”

I followed him back, getting madder each step
of the way.

As soon as he shut the door to his airless
study, I got straight to the point. “I want you to tell me what
happened when Marla broke up with me.”

He flinched a little, his blue eyes extra
guarded. “How would I know about this Marla?”

“Oh, cut the crap, Dad. I know you did
something.”

“Did that bitch put you up to it?” he
snarled, his eyes filled with hatred.

Whoa. He definitely remembered her.

“What do you have against Marla, Dad?”

“She was never good enough for you, Bubba.
Never.”

“Again, I ask, did you have anything to do
with why she broke up with me?”

“I don’t know what lies she’s feeding you,
but I had nothing to do with it.” He glanced away too quickly.

My father was lying to me...lying to me as
though I was one of his business cronies he was trying to
bullshit.

“So when you offered your sympathy the night
she broke up with me, you didn’t know anything?”

He jutted his jaw out as if he was steeling
himself to act indignant. “I don’t know anything, Bubba. I don’t
know what you’re talking about.”

“I gotta be honest. I don’t like your story,
Dad. I think you’re lying to me.”

He clicked his tongue over his teeth, his
gaze flashing with anger. “Who are you going to believe? Your
father or some little hussy, who tried to take you away from
me?”

I shook my head. “Don’t talk about Marla like
that. Besides, we were never close. You never wanted anything to do
with me unless it involved a chance for you to be in the
spotlight.”

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, really? Name one time we spent together
that didn’t have to do with a photo op, hockey, or a business
dealing.”

Caught off-guard, he sputtered, “Um...there
was the time we played catch in the backyard. Don’t you remember
that?”

We had played catch exactly once in my life.
“You mean the time when the newspaper was here taking pictures for
some article?”

“Well…no…uh...let me think of another.”

Dizzy, my world spun. “Don’t bother. I gotta
go,” I said, watching my father try to come up with more bullshit
lines to feed me.

He was guilty as sin and I didn’t need to
know anything more. I staggered out the house, desperate to get
away from him.

I had lived a lie for twenty-two years.

A fucking lie.

My father had threatened Marla so horribly
that she had broken up with me and never contacted me about
Charlie. He was a despicable man, who only thought of himself. I
hated what he had done to Marla, to me, and worst of all, to
Charlie.

Motherfucker.

It hurt to breathe as I clicked the fob to
open the Porsche and walked down the steps of the porch.

I stopped walking, the crushing blow causing
me to stagger under the weight of betrayal running through my
blood.

The pressure in my chest exploded as I
screamed, “NO!” for all I was worth in my father’s driveway.

I almost dropped to my knees, the pain was so
great. The blinders fell from my eyes as I revisited those final
days with Marla. She’d been extra sweet, whispering she loved me
every other minute. At the time, I didn’t know what to make of it,
but now I knew.

She was trying to soften the blow that was
coming.

The fuckin’ blow that would destroy me for
years.

I shook my head, recalling how her
heartbreaking words had been so calculated, so cold. I had never
seen her act like that. She must’ve been scared to death, dealing
with my father’s threat while I walked away from her, full of
bitterness and blame.

My heart split wide open as I remembered how
good she’d been to me, how kind and compassionate she had been and
still was. She’d been grace under fire dealing with everything I
had thrown at her this time around.

And I repaid her kindness with cruelty.

Fuck me.

I was so wrong about her.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Marla:

Relief coursed through my veins as I
experienced life, for the first time in a long time, without
secrets and lies leading the way.

Beau knew everything.

There would be collateral damage for sure,
but it was all out there.

Come what may.

Beau’s reaction was my biggest concern. This
was a big blow for him and a betrayal of the worst kind. I hurt for
him all day long, wondering if he actually confronted his dad.

If he did, I was sure it wasn’t pretty. I
doubted James Shepard gave Beau the answers he so desperately
wanted.

But that didn’t stop me from hoping.

Beau deserved to hear the truth from his
father’s mouth.

That night after eating dinner, I tried to
relax by reading an article on the properties of healing essential
oils when the doorbell rang.

My heart leapt in my chest as I bolted up. I
ran to the door and threw it open. To my utter delight, Beau filled
the doorway, reminding me of the boy I knew so long ago. His blue
eyes were soft, the bitterness missing in his glance.

“Beau?” I asked, wondering if I was seeing a
mirage.

His chiseled face broke out in an easy smile.
“Hey, Sunshine.”

The familiar loving way he said my nickname
made my toes curl inside my pink bunny slippers.

I smiled back warmly. “What are you doing
here?”

“I needed to see you.” He stepped into the
house as we stood inches from each other.

“You did?” I whispered.

“Yeah, I’ve been missing you something
fierce, Sunshine.”

I gasped, his words moving through me like a
warm summer wind after a long brutal winter. That was the best
feeling, ever. I closed my eyes for a minute, savoring this moment
of vindication.

When I opened them again, he was still
standing in front of me, so dreamy and handsome, I couldn’t help
but gush, “I’ve missed you too, Beau.”

“Let’s do something about that. Come here,”
he growled softly and pulled me close by my T-shirt.

I didn’t resist. Our lips locked softly as
his kiss infused soul deep goodness into me. I melted into his
arms, craving what he was offering.

Heat.

Comfort.

Seduction.

His cock surged against my stomach and things
were suddenly moving too fast. Before our passion consumed us, I
broke from our embrace.

“What’s changed?” I asked, breathing
hard.

“Everything.”

“I want to hear about it. I’ll fix you some
coffee and we’ll sit down and talk about it,” I said, backing up a
safe distance.

He followed, stalking my movements. “I don’t
want coffee. I want you.”

I stopped in my tracks, my heart in my
throat. “What exactly do you want from me?”

His blue gaze filled with a smoldering heat,
which was hard to deny. “I want to feel your body against mine as
your soft skin melts into mine. I want to bury my face so deep in
your pussy, I’ll find Heaven, and I want to fuck you so hard, I
feel you come around my cock.”

Holy Shit.

He wasn’t messing around.

I tried to ignore the way his words unlocked
the desire in my body as I swallowed hard. “Wow. That’s a lot to
handle.”

“I want us to be like we used to be. My world
was right when you were in it, Sunshine,” he offered freely, his
eyes bright and shiny with affection.

It was too good to be true.

My common sense suddenly got the best of me.
“Are you playin’ me, Shepard?”

“After all this?”

“I need to check, Beau. You’ve been playing
this game for a long time and I need to know you’re for real.”

His blue gaze flickered with regret. “You’re
right. I wanted to hurt you and make you pay for what you did to
me.”

“Here’s a newsflash: I was already wounded
and broken where you were concerned.”

“I know, but I didn’t believe it when you
first told me.”

My glance pooled with vulnerability. “How
about now? Do you believe I’ve suffered enough?”

“Three months ago, I didn’t want to see your
pain or question the past. Now that I know the truth, I know you’ve
suffered plenty. I’m not going to pretend everything’s okay, but I
think we have a chance to get to know each other again.”

I smiled. “I like hearing that, Beau. It
gives me hope.”

“So can’t we just put everything aside and be
together tonight?”

“And then what?”

“Then I’ll figure out where I’m at.”

That was code for I’m not making any kind of
commitment.

“I get that. But I’m not looking for a
one-night stand. I can’t do that with you. You have a million girls
you could call for that. I need to know we are more than a quick
lay.”

“I can’t promise that.”

“I know.”

“So where does that leave us?”

“I think we should have that cup of coffee
and talk. We haven’t actually had much of a chance for a decent
conversation. I want to know what happened with your dad.”