Defying Dorian: Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (23 page)

“That’s great, Dad, I…”

He cut me off. “Listen, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to say ‘‘yes’ to your deal. I didn’t mean to be a disappointment.”

I placed my palm on top of the envelope. “You could never be a disappointment to me. I love you more than anything, Dad. I’m proud to have you as my father.”

He smiled at me while I continue to speak. “When will you know if the community service is going to help with your sentence reduction?”

“I don’t really know at this point, but once I do you’ll be the first to find out.”

With our time nearly up, I lifted my hand and pressed it against the glass. My dad did the same. It had become a custom.

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, Temp. Take care of yourself.”

Not long after, a guard approached my dad, taking him away. I watched until he disappeared from sight and then turned, standing and looking at Dorian. He stood against a wall across the room, relaxed as always, staring back at me.

I
watched
her walk in my direction.

In her hand, she carried the envelope. I wondered what her old man said about the deal. By the lack of emotion in her expression, my guess was he hadn’t gone for it. Still, Tempest had a pretty good poker face. I couldn’t get a read on her one way or the other.

“How’d it go?”

She stopped walking, pausing to look back over her shoulder.

“Um,” she shrugged, looking at me again. “It went about as well as can be expected.”

I pointed at the envelope. “And?”

She shook her head, passing the envelope to me. “It’s like I figured. He didn’t want anything to do with it. He’s determined to get out of jail on his own terms.”

Nodding, I took the envelope from her. “That doesn’t surprise me. Any man who went to the lengths your dad did for your mom has a lot of pride, integrity, and grit.”

That comment brought some sunshine back to her expression. Tempest smiled.

“Hey, what about the ring?” I asked.

“Oh right, I forgot,” she said, reaching into the front pocket of her jeans and pulling it out. “He changed his mind about it.”

I frowned at her. “So he doesn’t want it?”

Tempest looked at the ring, pinching it between her thumb and index finger. She looked at me. “No. I don’t know what to do with it now.”

“Have you ever tried to put it on?”

She shook her head. “No. I thought about it once or twice but, you know, it just never felt right.”

Reaching towards her, I opened my hand. “Give it to me.”

Tempest hesitated for a moment and then dropped it into my palm. I really hadn’t taken the time to look at it yet. After she handed it to me, I held it up to the light, examining it.

“Well…” I began, bringing it closer to my face. “It’s a nice ring, modest. Nothing like you at all.”

Looking away from it, my eyes met hers. I winked.

“Jerk,” she said, a smile coming to her lips.

Before I could respond, Tempest took a swing at me, like she was going to hit me in the arm. I reacted, snatching her by the wrist and yanking her close. The move caught her by surprise.

“Dorian!” she gasped. “What are you doing?”

By now, I’d positioned the ring over her finger. I locked on her eyes with mine, never blinking. The realization hit her. She swallowed hard.

“Let’s have a look,” I said, starting to slide the ring down over her finger. “Who knows? It might be a perfect fit.”

I’d only gotten past the first knuckle when her body tensed. “Dorian, no. Please, I…”

But by then, it was too late. I’d already slipped the ring down the length of her finger. She froze, just staring at it.

“How does it feel? How do you think it looks?”

She didn’t say anything, just kept staring at the goddamn thing. I cleared my throat, trying to get her attention again. “Babe, do you like the ring or not?”

Her eyes darted between it and me. “I don’t know, I mean yes. I mean, I’m not sure.”

I chuckled at her. The reaction was even better than I hoped it would be. Of course, there was no way in hell I’d never ask a beauty like Tempest to marry me in a shithole like this. But in the meantime, there was no reason not to have a bit of fun with her. On the other hand, I’m not a dick, either. She’d had a long goddamn day.

“Tempest, baby, that ring is absolutely beautiful on you. Perfect. Now, take it off. I’ll have it cleaned and kept in the safe for you at the estate.”

Tempest didn’t say anything, just looked at me with an awkward smile on her face.

“Come on,” I began, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“
D
orian
!” I yelled, for the third time in the last fifteen minutes. “Hurry up! We’re going to be late!”

“Be right there, babe!”

He’d been wrapped up in a conference call for at least an hour. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but today was visitation day with Dad. If we didn’t get out of Vegas and do it soon, we’d never make it in time.

My dad and I were closer than ever. Not a month had gone by when I wasn’t able to see him. He’d continued to get more and more involved with his community service, but whenever I asked him about it, he downplayed the impact it would have on him getting out of jail. I knew he was just trying to keep me from getting my hopes up. Even though I wanted to at times, I decided not to force the issue with him. It just wasn’t worth it.

Normally, I made these trips alone. That’s the only reason I waited for Dorian. He insisted on going with me this time. The last time he and I were there together, he wasn’t able to speak with my dad. Now that Dorian and I were together all the time, he wanted to change that. He wanted to be part of my life in every way.

That came at a price, of course. Dorian was extremely busy, like, all the time.

Picking up my cell phone, I glanced at the time again, doing the math in my head. We had to get on the road and soon. I licked my lips, just about to yell for him again when Dorian appeared from his office.

“Sorry about the delay, couldn’t be helped.”

“That’s okay,” I began, slipping my bag over my shoulder. “We’ve still got time but we’ve got to hurry.”

Dorian’s limo driver, Thomas, walked through the front door. “Everything is ready, sir.”

I snapped my head towards Dorian. “What’s he talking about?”

“I have to make one quick stop…” Dorian began, slipping into his suit jacket. “It won’t take long. I promise we’ll still get to visit your father.”

Clenching my jaw, I glared at him. “There’s no way, we’ll never make it in time!”

Dorian slipped his hand around my back, pressing his palm against it. “I don’t have any option here, babe. I’ve got a good friend of mine making a speech at a convention downtown, and I promised him I’d be there. I’m not backing out on the commitment.”

I exhaled, shaking my head in disbelief. “Well, I understand that, but you never mentioned it to me. If you had, I would have driven up to see him on my own. Why do I have to come with you to the convention center? Can’t you just meet me up there when you’re finished?”

By now we’d started to walk towards the foyer. Thomas stepped to one side, holding the front door open for us.

“Stop being difficult,” Dorian began, keeping a steady pressure on my backside. “Who knows? You might even find the speech interesting.”

I scoffed. “Even if I did, there’s not enough time! Dorian! Please!”

After closing the front door, Thomas caught up, walking ahead of us, reaching the limousine and opening the door. The entire time, Dorian basically ignored me until we slipped inside the vehicle.

“I know you’re going to love it, especially when you hear the title of the speech.”

We are never going to get there in time.
That’s the only thing I kept thinking about. The last place on Earth I wanted to be was at some boring business speech. I reached for the handle, thinking I might jump out and take one of the cars.

Dorian locked the door. “Risk Management and Its Impact on Profitability.”

I swiveled my head towards him. “What? What are you talking about?”

He leaned back in the seat, stretching an arm behind me and smiling. “That’s the title of the speech. Awesome. Right?”

Resting my elbow on the window I dropped my head into my hand and started to shake it.

Ugh.
Resigned to my fate, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.

“Okay,” I muttered. “Is there any way I can just wait in the casino? That sounds truly… awful.”

Dorian reached for my hand and pulled it towards his lips, kissing it and winking at me. “Nope.”

Fast-forward a couple of hours. Dorian and I sat in the front row of a jam-packed auditorium. The speaker walked out onto the stage, applause echoing in every direction. I glanced at Dorian. He looked serene and content, like this was the greatest place in the world.

I am not kidding.

Taking one last look at my cell phone, I groaned. We’d never make it.

The applause died down. The speaker took his place behind a podium directly across from where we sat. He started droning on and on and on about God knows what.

My eyes started to flutter. There was no way I’d make it. I thought for sure I’d be asleep in a matter of minutes.

I looked at Dorian again. While I needed toothpicks to keep my eyelids open, he had a look of complete focus on his face. Every word coming out of the speaker’s mouth had Dorian’s utter attention.

Even though it had just started, I wondered if the speech would ever end.

To my surprise, the speaker stopped talking not long after. I hadn’t paid any attention to a word out of his mouth. I still had no idea why we were there, what the subject was or when it would be over. Just then, the man turned his body, looking offstage.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, our featured speaker… Mr. Michael Rain.”

I snapped my head towards the stage.

Michael Rain? Dad? What the hell?

Dumbfounded at the sound of his name being called, I nearly fell out of my chair when he walked out on the stage. After shaking the hand of the man who introduced him, he looked straight at me, like he knew right where I’d be sitting.

I couldn’t believe it. It was really him! What the hell was he doing there?

I swiveled my head, looking at Dorian. He continued to clap like everyone else in the auditorium, his gaze fixed on the stage. Eventually, he turned, grinning from ear to ear. “I said you were going to love this speech.”

“What? How?” I stammered, dumbfounded. “I don’t understand…”

Dorian raised his index finger to his lips. I looked from him and towards the stage once more. Over the next hour, I watched in disbelief while
my dad
gave a speech to a room full of insurance executives on the criminal’s view of insurance fraud. Aside from what he did to save Mom’s life, sacrificing his own freedom in the process, I’d never been prouder of him.

The speech ended to another thunderous round of applause. My dad thanked everyone and exited the stage. I still couldn’t believe it. I turned and looked at Dorian.

“Did you have anything to do with this?”

He didn’t answer me, just shrugged.

“Dorian! Answer me!”

“A very small part,” he began, holding his thumb and index finger about a millimeter apart from each other. “Your dad deserves all the credit.”

“But I don’t understand. How? What’s he doing here? Is this part of his community service?”

“Kind of…”

Dorian went on to explain that once my dad made it clear he didn’t want to be involved with blackmailing anyone, Dorian decided to take a different approach. After all, he wasn’t going to give up on trying to reunite us.

Over the past several months, Dorian gained a majority stake in the insurance company that had put Dad in jail. In fact, he was one of the largest shareholders and now a board member. He convinced the board that the company could learn a lot from someone like my dad. If they hired a thief, it would be easier to catch them in the future.

“If it works for the casinos, why not them?” Dorian said, finishing the story.

I leaned away from him, frowning. “So that’s what my dad meant by doing ‘community service’?”

He nodded. “Sorry we had to keep it from you, babe, but there was a chance the Board of Corrections wouldn’t go for it. In the end, they did.”

“How long have you been planning this?”

“Um…” Dorian hummed, trying to remember. “I guess about six months or so?”

“Wait a second. Are you telling me the day I was in jail visiting him, trying to pass along the bribe envelope, that the two of you already had this plan cooked up?”

Dorian shook his head. “No.”

He sort of ticked me off. Once he told me he hadn’t, some of the anger left my body. I relaxed. Interlacing his fingers, he dropped them in his lap and looked at me, smiling.

“It was the day after that.”

“What!” I began, spinning in my seat and facing him. “I can’t believe you let me go through all of this time without knowing! I can’t believe my dad did it!”

Dorian’s smile widened. “I know, it’s scandalous isn’t it? Two men who love you more than anything in the world conspiring with each other to do nothing but make you insanely happy. We are the worst, aren’t we?”

What could I say? Do?

I just shook my head. “You are a jerk sometimes, but I love you. I love you!”

Dorian chuckled. “I know.”

* * *

H
e opened his hand
. “Come on, it’s time to go.”

Minutes later we made our way backstage. I saw my dad and ran towards him. We hugged for I don’t know how long but not long enough for my liking. At last, we separated. Pulling away from him, I remembered how angry I told myself I should have been. The problem was I was insanely happy at the same time.

“Okay,” I began, poking him in the chest. “First of all, I want you to know I’m really mad at you for keeping such a secret from me. On the other hand, I couldn’t be more proud of you. Mom would’ve been too.”

He beamed a smile across his face.

“I’m sorry we had to do things this way,” my dad said, looking past me towards Dorian. “But you know, it wasn’t all my idea. I had a partner.”

Dorian stepped forward and extended his hand. “Michael, you did a helluva job up there. Terrific work.”

My dad’s eyes never left Dorian’s face. My father was the proudest man I’d ever known. I’m sure that even though he’d done things in a way that he wanted, relying on Dorian for some help couldn’t have been easy for him. He wrapped his fingers around Dorian’s hand, shaking it with a firm yank.

“I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity. Without your help, it never would have happened.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Dorian replied, releasing his grasp from my dad. “After all, you are the father of the most wonderful woman on earth.”

My heart felt like it would leap from my chest, just burst out and fall to the floor. Excitement overwhelmed me. There was still one thing I had to know.

“Dad, what does this mean for your prison sentence?”

My dad glanced at Dorian and then looked at me. “Well, thanks to the opportunity I’ve been given, I’m going to have my first parole hearing next month – about five years ahead of schedule. I…”

Before he could say another word, I shrieked. Hell,
I squealed
and leapt towards him, throwing my arms around his neck.

“Oh my God!” I yelled, kissing him on the cheek before turning and jumping on Dorian, kissing him also. “Oh my God!”

I couldn’t believe it. Of course, it didn’t mean he’d be getting out of jail, but it was a massive step in the right direction, an incredible step. Eventually, my pulse calmed down.

My dad looked at me. “I don’t have much time left here, Temp. They’ll be coming to take me back to jail soon.”

Before I could say anything, Dorian interrupted, looking at my dad. “I guess we should get this taken care of then, right?”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

My eyes darted towards my father.
What the hell was going on?

“Whoa, whoa,” I began, holding my hands up. “The two of you aren’t going to fool me twice in one day. What are you talking about?”

It was nearly nightfall by the time we left the casino. After riding across town in Dorian’s limousine, the three of us arrived at his estate. Dorian hadn’t told me a thing,
like nothing
, other than I’d find out when we got there. We walked inside, entering the foyer. Ainsley, Kendrick and Oksana were already there, waiting.

Oksana smiled in Dorian’s direction. “Everything is ready, just as you requested.”

“Excellent, thanks Oksana.” he replied.

“Tempest…” Dorian said, wiggling his fingers like the first night we walked to the observatory. “Give me your hand.”

I smiled at him and interlaced my fingers between his. Dorian closed his hand around mine, the reassuring warmth sending familiar surges through me.

I leaned into him. “What’s going on?”

“You’ll see, babe. You’ll see.”

With everyone standing in a semicircle around us, Dorian looked up. “Everyone, it’s time.”

Walking together, we exited the back of the house and took the familiar path to the observatory once more. Dorian and I spent many nights there over the past six months, and I’d come to love it, almost as much as he did.

I still had no idea what was happening. It seemed like everyone else did, and of course that made me crazy. But, just this once, I decided to go with the flow and just be in the moment. It wasn’t easy, hell, it was almost impossible. Entering the observatory, my anticipation swelled to a new high.

Clutching Dorian’s hand, I felt my palm sweat. What the hell was happening?