Billionaire's Blackmail Bride: Billionaire Brothers Kent - Ridge's Story (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (2 page)

“Let’s just say I’ve got my reasons.” He spoke calmly, not giving
away the fact that she’d just pissed him off. There would be time enough to get
his revenge for that transgression.

“But I don’t get it.” As he walked back to his desk her eyes
followed him, boring into him, never letting him go. He definitely had her
attention now. “Ever since we met,” she continued, “we’ve been at loggerheads.
In fact, I wouldn’t even be in your office right now if I weren’t desperate.”

Ridge smiled. “That, little Lani, is the operative word. The question
is, how desperate are you?” He made sure to put emphasis on the word just so
she didn’t miss the point.

Lani’s breathing was growing more and more agitated by the minute.
Nostrils flaring, she got up and out of the chair and stood there, hands
clenched at her sides. “You’re sick. You know that?”

His smile deepened. “I may be,” he said, his tone relaxed as ever,
“but you’re the one who’s going to make this decision. Not me.”

With a shrug he sank back into his chair and looked at the seething
woman standing in front of his desk. “My condition is on the table, Lani. Take
it or leave it.” 

***

Lani couldn’t believe the pickle she was in. Worse, she couldn’t
believe her only way out might be to consider Ridge Kent's insane proposal.
Marry him just so she could get funding for her research? He must be mad.

When he’d laid down his condition she’d stormed out of his office,
slamming the door shut behind her. Then she’d gone straight to the research lab
and put in six more hours of work even though that had her leaving at minutes
after ten o’clock. She’d been so worked up she couldn’t have slept even if
she’d tried and so she’d worked into the late hours of the night. By the time
she quit and went home she was exhausted.

But if she’d thought making herself super tired would ensure a night
of deep sleep she was sadly mistaken. After a long night of fitful sleep she
dragged herself out of bed and readied herself for another busy day. And thanks
to Ridge she felt as beat up as an old jalopy. Great.

After a quick shower and some cereal Lani grabbed her bag and a
clean lab coat then headed for the elevator. She’d just exited the underground
parking garage and was driving away from her apartment building when her cell
phone rang. “Lani, where are you? I stopped at The Breakfast Klub and got you a
Katfish and Grits meal. You’re gonna get here soon?”

“Just heading out,” she said as she turned onto South Heights
Boulevard. “Be there in fifteen minutes.”

As she hung up from her assistant Lani sighed. Chris was as good as
it got when it came to assistants – dedicated, focused and always ready to go
the extra mile. She only hoped she wouldn’t have to let him go. But if they ran
out of money what else could she do? She was the only one who knew it but the
research lab was this close to being closed down.

When she got to the lab Chris had already set up the test tubes and
Bunsen burners and was busy washing beakers in the sink. As she came in he
turned. “Hey, boss. What took you so long? Your food’s getting cold.” Then he
frowned and a look of concern crossed his face. “You don’t look so good. Are
you all right?”

She grimaced. “I’m okay. Just tired, that’s all. I didn’t sleep so
good last night." She shrugged out of her jacket and donned her lab coat.
“And the traffic this morning didn’t help, either. Why is traffic always so
tight in Houston? I hate Westheimer Road.”

Chris grimaced. “I avoid it like the plague, especially at this time
of year. Don’t you know March is the worst month to want to be on that road?
Too many tourists in town for the rodeo.”

Lani rolled her eyes. “Now he tells me.” Then she walked over to
look at the Petri dishes on the long table against the back wall. She stared at
her specimens for a while then, growing thoughtful, she put her finger to her
chin. “We haven’t made much progress with these cultures,” she said to no-one
in particular. “I just hope we haven’t wasted the last three weeks.”

“But we can’t go any further until you get some more plant samples,
remember?” Of course, Chris had to remind her about something she already knew,
so his stating the obvious didn’t help her any.

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “But that comes with a price tag.” It
was a price they couldn’t afford. She didn’t bother telling him that part.

As lead researcher and director of Allied Labs it was her job to
worry about where the money was going to come from to pay for plant supplies,
the equipment, the salaries and all the overseas trips that would be required
to source the supplies. Beside herself, she had Chris and Minerva to worry
about. Even though Minerva was part-time her wages were still a strain on the
already meager budget. But right now she didn’t even want to think about that.
She had a long day ahead of her and she was already depressed. There was no
sense in making things worse by dwelling on the problems.

“Okay, young man,” she said with forced cheeriness, “let’s see what
we can do to save this experiment.”

At her words Chris smiled and Lani knew why. Even though she called
him young man, at twenty-nine she was not much older than Chris. In fact, when
they attended meetings people often thought he was the one in charge. With her
short boy haircut and her penchant for shirts and trousers she could pass for
his little brother. And the fact that he was on the heavy side made him look
older than his twenty-seven years.

Instead of taking offense at the frequent misunderstanding Lani just
laughed it off. It was always so comical when they realized she was the one
with the doctorate degrees in botany and neuroscience. It never failed to crack
her up when the serious-looking corporate heads did a double-take when they
found they wouldn’t get answers to their questions unless they talked to her.

But now the sad truth was, all her qualifications didn’t mean a
thing if she didn’t find a way to continue conducting her experiments. She
could feel that she was heading for a breakthrough. In her research on
degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s Disease and multiple sclerosis
she had the unusual advantage of an extensive knowledge of the diseases as well
as the possible treatments that the plant world could provide. She wanted to
use her training in botany and neuroscience to explore alternatives to the
current treatment options, many of which came with serious side effects.

She was even considering the ways in which her research could be of
benefit in areas such as mental illness. Current treatments provided some
relief to victims of the most serious of mental illnesses, schizophrenia. At
the same time, long-term use altered the brain in such a way that some patients
ended up with tardive dyskinesia, a disorder which had them making
uncontrollable involuntary movements such as facial grimacing and tongue
thrusting. Of course, this proved embarrassing and typically caused them
considerable distress. The way Lani saw it, if she could find an alternative for
such patients, one that would eliminate this condition, then this was one of the
many areas in which her painstaking research would be well worth it.

The thought had hardly settled in her mind when the door burst open
and Minerva, energetic as ever, bounced in. “Hey, Lani. Hey, Chris.” She sent
her shoulder bag sailing onto the low table by the entrance. “Here you go,” she
said, holding out a stack of envelopes to Lani as she dropped her aluminum
water bottle onto the nearby shelf. “I got the mail.”

“Thanks, Min.” Lani took the envelopes but it was with a heavy
heart. The chances were good that more than half of them were bills.

“No prob.” Minerva headed toward the sink where she began to wash
her hands. “I can’t stay late today,” she said as she scrubbed. “I’ve got a
doctor’s appointment.”

“You okay?” Chris looked up from the dish into which he’d been
peering.

“Yeah,” Minerva said, tossing her head to get the shock of jet-black
hair out of her eyes. “I just need to go get a shot. At my other job, apparently
you’ve got to have all your immunizations up-to-date or they’ve got a problem.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s like they think I’m going to infect them or
something.”

Chris gave a snort of a laugh. “I wonder if all those tattoos and
piercings have anything to do with it?”

Minerva jammed a fist on her hip. “It better not or else they’ll
have a lawsuit on their hands. That’s discrimination.”

While Chris and Minerva chattered away Lani was busy opening the
envelopes. So far so good. She was on envelope number three and all she’d seen
were a newsletter, a credit card solicitation and a bank statement that was so
depressing she barely spared it a glance. But envelope number four, that was
the killer. It was from the company from which she’d leased the building and
before she even opened it she knew what it would say inside.

Gritting her teeth, Lani went ahead and opened it anyway. “Pursuant
to my letter dated February 15, this is to advise that your rent is now two
months in arrears. If payment is not made within seven days of the date of this
letter proceedings will be instigated to regain possession of the property and
recover all outstanding amounts, including fees. In order to avoid this, please
make arrangement to immediately make payment in full.”

Despite herself, the hand that held the letter trembled. She’d
expected a reprimand, definitely a warning, but not this. Seven days to find
two months’ rent plus fees? Where in heaven’s name was she going to get that
kind of money?

She knew she was at fault for paying the salaries – excluding hers –
before taking care of the rent but Chris was a father with two young children.
How could she tell him she wasn’t going to pay him this month? And Minerva was
working two jobs to put her little sister through college. How could she dash
that dream?

Now, though, it seemed she would have to. She’d gone without a
salary for two months just to make ends meet but even that hadn’t been enough.
Without new funding the bank account had quickly run dry and even though she’d
promised the leasing company she would catch up on the arrears within three
months it was now obvious they weren’t going to wait any longer. And who could
blame them? When she’d made the promise she’d been sure something would have
come in. Now, over a dozen meetings later, nothing. Now she knew it had all
been wishful thinking on her part.

“You okay, boss? You don’t look so good.” Minerva had turned toward
her, a slight frown on her face.

For the second time that morning Lani found she had to explain
herself to a member of her team. “I’m… fine, Minerva. Just some business I have
to take care of.”

And as she said the words Lani’s mind crept back to her meeting of
the day before. Before he would give her any money Ridge Kent wanted her to be
his wife. But only for one year. She guessed she could manage…as long as they
had a little talk first and she'd laid down the rules of this engagement. Under
the circumstances she could see no other way out of her dilemma.

And so, that conclusion reached, she made up her mind. She would do
it. She would marry Ridge Kent. And, with all the wolves that were snarling at
her door, the sooner the better.

CHAPTER TWO

“So what do you think?”

Ridge watched Rafe’s face, trying to judge his reaction. His brother
was all of six years younger than he was, only twenty-eight, but he had a good
head set on his shoulders. More important than that, he was good at taking risks
and winning. He had the nose for that sort of thing.

Rafe cocked an eyebrow at him. “You’re asking me for advice? What
about Ransom? He’s the big brother, advice giver and everything rolled into
one. Why don’t you ask him what he thinks?”

Ridge gave him a cutting glare. “Because, dear brother, I don’t want
to ask Ransom. And I don’t want to ask Ryder either so don’t even go there.”
Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his desk. “When you were trying to get
Anya you asked me for help. Now it’s your turn to tell me what you think will
work.” Then he chuckled. “You’re the one who always prided himself on knowing
tons of women and how they think. So what should I do about Lani?”

“Oh, Jeez.” Rafe exhaled and put his hands on top of his head, his
fingers interwoven and his elbows sticking out to the sides. “I never tried
blackmailing a woman before. You got me with that one, Ridge.” He lowered his
hands and then he, too, was leaning forward. “And I’m a married man now so all
that talk about me knowing lots of women, just keep it on the down-low, will
you? That kind of stuff’s behind me now.”

“Yeah, sure.” Ridge shrugged. “Anya won’t hear it from me. But that
still doesn’t help me with my situation. Lani turned me down flat, bro. Walked
out the door and never looked back. Looks like it’s time for me to draw for
plan B.” He grimaced. “The only thing is, I don’t have one.”

“Hey, bud. Don’t you know you’ve got a wild card?” Rafe was looking
at him like he was slow. “You’re in the oil business. Tell her that. Money
talks. Don’t you know that?”