FOREVER BELOVED (Billionaire Love Series) (23 page)

*****

Beau:

I didn’t know how to be with Marla.

I had spent so many years walling myself off,
I didn’t know how to share my life with anyone, least of all her. I
hated the way I shut down anytime we disagreed about something. She
kept reaching out, but I secretly wondered if she would get tired
and stop.

At the same time, hardcore rage was rocking
through me faster than a speeding train. I was still reeling from
discovering what really happened when Marla broke up with me. To
know my father was a true asshole, who cared nothing for my
happiness, destroyed any connection or love I had for his sorry
ass.

For a while, I avoided my dad, too consumed
by anger to confront him.

But fate had other plans.

One afternoon, I was coming back from lunch
with Marla, when Donna scurried over to me before I got to my
office door.

“Your father is in there,” she announced
quietly.

I inhaled sharply. “Does he have an
appointment?”

“No, but he insisted on waiting for you.”

I made an about face. “I’ll be right
back.”

How dare he fuckin’ show up to my office? The
man who had never bothered to come see me at any other time. He
probably thought I wouldn’t make a scene in my place of
business.

He was sorely mistaken.

I went into the men’s room as rage made my
blood run ice cold. Standing in front of the sink, I splashed water
on my face and geared up for the ugly confrontation I was about to
have. With no hesitation, I was going to cut my father out of my
life. For good.

I took a deep breath and walked back to my
office. I tore open the wooden door, startling my father, who had
been sitting on the couch.

He stood up abruptly. “I wanted to come in
and talk,” he offered with an awkward smile as I strode directly
toward him.

“Let’s talk.” My rage was barely concealed as
I confronted him. “You blackmailed Marla? You threatened to take
Emma away from her?” I shouted as I made a beeline for him.

“Bubba, it wasn’t like that. Everything I
did, I did for you.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Nothing
was ever about me. You were only interested in making sure my life
turned out the way you wanted. What about what I wanted? Did you
ever think about that?” I asked, grabbing his lapels and pulling
him close.

For the first time, I saw fear enter my old
man’s eyes. He was finally showing his age as he paled, making the
few wrinkles he had, stand out around his cold eyes.

“Bubba, I was trying to protect you. She
would have ruined your future. You would have never been as
successful if you had stayed together.”

I let him go of him as brokenness blasted
through me. “She was the love of my life,” I hit the center of my
chest with my fist. “...the love of my life, Dad, and you took that
from me.”

He ignored my feelings as arrogance filled
his gaze. “At the time, Bubba, I was trying to get you the best
shot to go after your dream. Look at all you’ve accomplished. You
own the goddamn team, now. Thanks to me.”

Anger blinded me. It was always about him.
“So, you thought my best shot was taking Marla away?”

“She’s trash, Bubba. You need a woman who
matches your class.”

“Ugh!” I grabbed him by the collar and pushed
him up against the wall.

“Bubba!” he yelled wildly, glancing around
for help.

My eyes were naked with heartbreak. “I was
fucked up for so long. I was broken after she left me. How could
you do that to me?”

“I did what I thought best, Bubba,” he said
quietly.

“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?
You just had to shit on everything that didn’t follow your plan.
I’m done, Dad; I’m done. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a
father. You are no longer family and you are not welcome in my
life, my son’s life, or Marla’s.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“You did this to yourself and I don’t ever
want to see you, again. Get out of my face and my life.”

My father’s proud face fell into shock.
“Bubba, I’m your father. You can’t mean that.”

“I absolutely do.”

He sucked in a breath, a tear sliding down
his face. “I did this all for you, son,” he whispered brokenly.

I wasn’t buying his bullshit anymore. “Don’t
call me son. Stop the manipulations. You mean nothing to me and I
don’t need you. I have plenty of power, old man, and I won’t
hesitate to use it, if you do anything to harm my family. Are we
clear? Do you understand?”

He nodded, his elegant face crushed with
defeat.

“Good. I never want to see you again. Now,
get the hell out of here!” I screamed, walking away from him.

*****

I wasn’t about to stay in the office for the
rest of the day after that ugliness. All of my employees probably
heard me yell at my father, but I didn’t care. It needed to be done
and I was happy to cut his miserable existence out of my life.

Walking out into the sunshine as I walked to
the Bugatti, I had a sudden need to see Charly. I hadn’t left
things in good shape last time I saw him, but it was time to make
things right.

I drove over and surprised him with a chili
hot dog.

“Bubba!” he cried, throwing his arms around
me after he opened his door.

How could I ever be mad at him?

“Hey, Pops.” I hugged him back, grateful he
was still in my life.

“What brings you by?”

“Two things: My dad came to see me today at
the office and I brought you a treat.” I showed him the bag from
his favorite chili dog place.

“Thanks, Bubba. Come on in.”

I followed him to the kitchen, where he
opened the bag and got out the chili dogs. After putting them on
plates, we sat down on the bar stools in front of the granite
island.

“How did it go with your dad?” he asked after
he finished his first bite.

“I don’t know what to think, Pops. I can’t
stand the fact that he made this whole mess.”

“I understand. Your daddy doesn’t feel like
the rest of us. He’s been that way his whole life.”

“I know all that, Pops. But this hurts like a
motherfucker.”

He patted my arm, his blue eyes stark with
pain. “I know, son.”

“I just feel so lost...so goddamn lost.”

“Take some time, Bubba. You’ve had so much
success in your professional life, but your personal life has been
a mess since Marla broke up with you all those years ago. You have
a chance to make this right and be with her for the rest of your
life.”

“Maybe. I don’t know about anything,
anymore.”

“You have a second chance, Bubba. Don’t blow
it. Marla has loved you fiercely since the day you brought her home
for dinner.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course. How could I forget the first and
only girl you ever brought home?”

“God, I love her, Pops. I always have. I just
don’t know if I can be with her while all this is going on.”

“You’ve spent enough time hiding out and not
living. Go love that girl. Live the life you were meant to.”

His words reverberated within me, but my
consuming desire to annihilate my father was stronger. I wasn’t
content to cut him out of my life; I needed to bury him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Marla:

I ran my hands through Beau’s short-cropped
brown hair. He was lying on my couch, his head in my lap. He was a
total wreck and in need of some serious TLC.

He had shown up about thirty minutes ago,
looking tired and worn out as he filled me in on the whole sorry
story of confronting his dad.

“How do you feel after cutting your father
out of your life?” I asked gently as I massaged around his
temples.

He sighed. “I thought it would feel good, you
know? Like I cut out some disease, but instead I feel shitty and
lost.”

I found some trigger points on the back of
his head and pressed. “Yeah, there is no clear cut sense of victory
here. I know you’re hurt and feeling betrayed by your dad, but
maybe someday, you’ll wanna talk to him again. I think you need to
give yourself permission to be okay with that.”

“Yeah, maybe. I’m just so damn pissed
off.”

“You’re such a strong man, Beau Shepard.
You’ve survived a broken heart, built an empire, forgiven me, and
stood up to your father.”

“I don’t feel strong.”

“I know, but I’m gonna trust you’re going to
work through your grief and come back stronger for it.”

“How did you get so wise, Marla
Matthews?”

“Oh, I had a lot practice soothing many the
wounded heart.”

He sat up and cupped my face, the pad of his
thumb rubbing my cheek softly as his blue eyes melted with love. “I
can see that about you. I know you soothe me.”

My eyes mirrored his affection. “Do I?”

“Yes, you do. You climbed into my heart and
never left. No matter how many times I wished you weren’t there. I
have to say I fell in love with you when I watched you take on
Jeremy pickin’ on that poor kid, Jonathan. I had never seen
anything like it. You showed no fear and stuck up for him without
any regard to your own safety.”

“Well, he had no right—”

He put his finger over my mouth. “Shh. I know
you still feel the injustice of that moment, but I’m trying to tell
you something.”

“What?” I mumbled through my closed lips.

His blue eyes burned with love. “I came alive
when I met you.”

“You did?” I asked, taking his finger off my
mouth.

“Yeah, I’ve never gotten over you. I’m still
crazy about you.”

“I feel the same way. I love you,
Shepard.”

“And I’ve never stopped loving you,
Sunshine,” he said, his mouth claiming mine.

*****

Beau:

I wasn’t done with my father.

Not by a long shot.

I thought about it long and hard, but I knew
what I needed to do.

My father had probably ruined dozens of lives
with his manipulations.

It was time to expose his misdeeds.

I had Donna call the FBI and connect me to
Agent Albright. I was ready to negotiate my terms to help him out
with the Senator.

“I’m ready to help you,” I told Agent
Albright as he came on the line.

“Very happy to hear that, Mr. Shepard.”

“But I have some conditions.”

“Like what?”

“I want my father taken down with the
Senator.”

“That’s not something we’re after,” he
countered.

“My father’s been taking kickbacks for years.
He has his greedy hands in every deal in this city.”

“Like I said, we’re only going after the
Senator.”

“Then I will walk away and you’re on your
own.”

“Now, wait a minute. Let me talk to the
director. He may be open to it.”

After a few minutes, he came back on the
line. “Your dad is slippery. An indictment may not stick.”

“That’s all right. A conviction by the court
of public opinion will be more than enough to ruin his social
standing. That’s all he cares about, anyway. It’ll be enough to get
him disgraced as he endures all the media coverage.”

“You sure about this?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then you’ve got a deal.”

“Send over the paperwork.”

“I’ll send it by messenger.”

I knew James Shepard wouldn’t get hard time,
but after a lifetime of doing whatever the hell he wanted, my
father would be publicly shamed for all the pain he had
inflicted.

He had done enough damage for a lifetime.

*****

So, the FBI was involved now.

More importantly, they were ready to take my
father down.

“Did you wire the money in my name?” I asked
as they set me up in my office.

“The money is in play. Your phone is tapped.
All we need you to do is call Senator Blackwood and get him to talk
about the bribe.”

“No problem.”

It was easy.

The old guy was so arrogant he willingly
incriminated himself. “When you make a contribution to one of my
PAC’s, I’d be happy to help you out with your little problem with
the historical society,” he told me when I asked him about the
permits.

“You mean the bribe?”

He laughed heartily. “That’s the spirit, my
boy. Nothin’ like a little bribery to get the wheels of progress
movin’ in the right direction.”

I grinned, knowing we had him. “Look at the
National Political Action Committee account. I’m all paid up.”

He was gone for a minute and then came back
on the line. “I can see it right here. Consider your permits a done
deal. You’ll have them bright and early on Monday morning.”

“Thank you, Senator Blackwood. I appreciate
it.”

“Thank your daddy. He’s the one looking out
for you.”

I literally had to bite my tongue to keep
myself from going off on the bastard. “Oh, I sure will,” I said,
sugary sweet. “Does my dad do these kinds of deals with you
often?”

“You bet, son. Your daddy has supplied me
with a lot of business over the years.”

And there it was. A reason to investigate my
father.

Indictments were handed down the following
week. My father’s picture was plastered all over the newspapers and
local news. His face was purple with rage as he fought his way
through the media firestorm of reporters hounding him outside the
courthouse.

I knew his indictment probably wouldn’t
stick, but I experienced a sense of justice seeing him humbled and
mortified. It didn’t change anything, but I finally felt like I
could let him go. I still didn’t want my dad in my life. He was
despicable for what he had done to my family and, at the moment, I
hated him for it.

I couldn’t get back the time I’d lost with
Marla and Charlie, but I could make sure my son knew his
father.