LOVE AND HATE (A Billionaire Romance) (7 page)

I thought of Giuliana. I thought of the Hall Board of Directors wanting to see me settle down, to get married. My little wifey attending their backyard barbecues and cocktail parties at my side. My appetite vanished. Why couldn’t he have told me that after I’d gotten my fill of all-you-can-eat? I cursed at my plate of sushi and roast beef and pushed it aside.

“Annul it and get away fast.”

He was right, of course. My mind raced. I thought again of Giuliana: her leathery, tanned skin and faux breasts. Her bleached teeth and hair. Her general boozy scent.

The memory of Mackenzie writhing beneath me assaulted me. How could she? How could I have been so stupid?

“Scott?”

“I’m thinking.”

“There’s nothing to think about.”

“I’m going to the gym.” I didn’t want to see the contents of the folder. I pushed my chair back and left Ryan sitting alone at the table.

I put in my earbuds and blasted some old-school 90’s alternative rock. I didn’t care the music was almost twenty years old; these were the jams from when I was a kid. Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. I set the treadmill to six-minute miles and I sprinted.

She wasn’t going to find anything on me. On Serena, maybe, but that was why we kept Serena as far from Creed Enterprises as possible. I was clean, my finances held up. She wouldn’t get what she wanted, like something to make Hall cancel the merger. I thought again about Serena, the black sheep, trying to remember something she’d done that could get me in trouble here. Not my company. She was on the board but didn’t actually have a vote. She was a figurehead because my father wanted her there. None of her scandals or tantrums could hurt us. Mackenzie Taylor would be searching for a long time before she found something to use against me.

Rage bubbled up in me against her, and I ran harder, jacking the speed up to twelve miles per hour while Smashing Pumpkins played
Zero
at a deafening volume in my ears. Five-minute miles.

I liked her. There’d been something real there.

I cut that line of thinking off. There hadn’t been. We’d had a bunch of sex. I didn’t know anything about her. She didn’t know anything about me. We’d never even addressed the fact we’d gotten married. At the time it felt kind of cute and mysterious, but in retrospect, of course she didn’t want to talk about it.

My phone buzzed. An email from Giuliana, checking to confirm I’d be back for the black-tie gala at the Coventry Art Gallery.
I know you’re in Vegas, and I’m in the Canary Islands with Rodrigo. I’m breaking things off with him at the end of the week, and you and I can do a formal announcement at Coventry. Don’t worry, I’m being very discreet ;)

I wanted to run faster but was at the edge of my limit.

As a trophy wife, Giuliana would be easier to manage. She knew the drill, knew how to handle herself. These were her people, and she wouldn’t give me any trouble. Mackenzie was prettier, though. It would serve her right to have to stick with me. She’d gotten herself into this goddamn mess. I’d make this whole mess worth her while, of course, but I needed a wife.

I slowed the treadmill to seven-and-a-half miles per hour.

I’d tell her I knew about her and her job, and offer her the cash. She’d have to eat her deception for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. And maybe she’d let me hate fuck her sometimes.

I texted Ryan and told him to meet me in the sauna.

I was pleased to see when he arrived he wasn’t holding the folder. We sat a respectable distance apart, and he ladled water over the glowing lava stones to create a thick steam.

“Tell me what you know about Mackenzie.”

“I just did a quick background check and saw she worked at Brunvand. I’d heard the name in connection with Moore and Golden. I talked to an intern who was more than happy to spill the beans. She and her fiancé just broke up. She caught him banging the trainer.”

“She told me that.”

“She’s been with them for about four years – reliable, kinda boring. She’s in debt up to her eyeballs. Student loan crap, hell of a lot of credit card debt.”

I let my breath out in the steamy, hot little room. “What did she go to school for?”

“Got a bachelor’s in art history, then went back for her accounting degree and most of an MBA.”

Art degree. I thought about the Coventry opening. I only had to stay married until the Hall team was convinced I’d changed my ways and signed the paperwork.

“I’m going to bribe her to stay married to me through the merger. It’ll be a perfect ‘up yours’ to Moore and Golden.”

“Blackmail her.”

“With what?”

“I did some searching with facial recognition software. I found a video on an amateur site.”

I thought of Mackenzie and her ravenous libido. “Go on.”

“I think she was in college, but it’s her and some guy. Amateur stuff, but he had some camera skills. Tripod, good angles.”

It wasn’t right. I didn’t like it. I was sure I could get her with just the money. The merger would go through in a few weeks. Then she could pay off all her loans, my fortune would double, and we’d go our separate ways.

“You’ve seen it?”

Ryan nodded. “Your wife is hot.”

“You’re right about that.” I’d almost overlooked her in the bar until she’d spilled her drink on my pant leg. The realization that it had been no accident bombarded me. She’d set me up. I’d fallen for her lies and married her. Jesus.

“It’s certainly more interesting than Giuliana,” Ryan said. “But it could blow up in your face.”

“Her word against mine. She’s the one who’s undercover. She’s the one who’s been lying the whole time. She tried to slander me, and I’ll demolish her in court.”

“It won’t make the Hall Board think you’re any less of a playboy if she starts running her mouth.”

I sighed. Most of the crap people thought about me all came through Serena. I mean, I like women as much as the next guy. Maybe more so, but I just haven’t found the right woman. She’ll come someday. Someday after Mackenzie and I are safely divorced.

“You don’t want to marry Giuliana,” Ryan stated.

“I need someone at the Coventry art opening next Tuesday.”

“Sounds like Mrs. Creed is in for some adventures,” Ryan laughed. “I’ll email you the video.”

“I’m not using the video.”

“But don’t you want to see it?”

Yes. Hell yes, I did. Mackenzie at nineteen going to town on some dude in a dorm room? Yes, please. “No, I don’t want to see it.”

“Bullshit. I’m sending it as soon as we get out of here.”

“I’m not going to use it.”

“I’m still sending it.”

Mackenzie

Susie stared at me over our appetizers as we lay out by the pool. “You’re glowing.”

“I slept with him,” I mumbled. “I’d forgotten how much I actually like sex.” Susie and I had commandeered two deck chairs by the waterfall at the 21+ Go Pool at the Flamingo. I’d thought about getting one of the cabanas, but they were upwards of three hundred and fifty dollars for a few hours. So we sat out with the rest of the poor folk. I wondered if Scott and I might get one of the cabanas later. The idea thrilled me. A DJ played crappy techno, and people laughed and drank around us. Despite the bad music, the pool was a fun, party scene. I had my sketchbook out but wasn’t doing much with it.

“Lucas was a buzzkill in every way.”

When he and I first got together, we were on fire. But the romance burned out when he’d decided he liked World of Warcraft more than he liked me. He’d put on a ton of weight and told me he didn’t feel good enough about his body to have sex with me. Then he started seeing a trainer, and we all know how that ended. I didn’t think I’d ever set foot in a gym again.

“I talked to Mr. Fallon this afternoon while you were napping,” Susie informed me.

Ugh. “And?”

“He’s wicked impressed. He wants to know when you think you’re going to start talking to him about the money stuff. He’s going to pay you double, he’s so excited.”

Double? Really? I could see my monthly Visa bill dancing before my eyes. And those payments to Sally Mae.

“I’ll likely wait until we get back to New York. I don’t want him to think something’s up too soon.”

“The long con?”

“Sort of.”

“But you like him.”

Yeah, I did like him. Even when I tried to remind myself of all the awful things I’d read about in the tabloids—wild parties at his villa in Key West, being out with a different starlet every night in Hollywood, most of them far younger than he was.

“Is he weird?”

“Um, maybe a little? Mostly just that he has people who do everything for him. We really haven’t talked about, well, anything really.”

“Just screwing?”

“Kind of. It’s really good.”

“I can tell from the glassy look in your eye and the spring in your step.”

I’d worried I was limping. My pussy hadn’t gotten a workout like that in years and happily ached at the moment. We hadn’t slept much the night before, and the sun on my pale New Yorker skin felt amazing. I stretched like a cat.

“What have you been up to?” I asked Susie.

“Not getting married.”

“I’m well aware. Anyone interesting?”

“A few. It’s a little harder for some of us to find people to go home with. We have to work a lot harder. Particularly without my wingwoman.”

I frowned at her. I felt bad the gay scene wasn’t better here.

“Oh, don’t pout. I was really glad you didn’t come back to the room last night. I brought this kindergarten teacher from Toledo back to the room.”

“Whoa. Steamy?”

“She was a naughty girl. She says the Toledo scene isn’t that great, so she has to travel for kicks. Do you think you can get Scott’s phone? He must have records, banking stuff on it, right?”

Her words hurt a little, and it surprised me. I didn’t want to snoop through his phone.

Susie saw my hesitation and propped herself up on one elbow, her generous, tattooed chest threatening to spill out of her black, one-piece bathing suit. Little white dots gave it the rockabilly feel Susie loved. “Don’t go soft on us. You’re his wife. What’s his is yours. It’s legal now. You said there wasn’t a prenup.” I opened and closed my mouth, swallowing a lump. “You need a man right now like a fish needs a bicycle, sweetie. He’s the rebound. A lucrative rebound that’s going to explode your career.”

“It’s not right.”

“It’s not right for him to move money around in shady ways. I can’t get a handle on exactly what he’s doing, though. If you can get some bank account numbers, I’ll have it all figured out, and the merger won’t go through.”

Moore and Golden hired us to uncover tax fraud. They wanted to absorb Percival Hall’s investment firm into their own. The merger with Creed Enterprises would mean it could never happen.

“Does he talk about Serena?” Susie asked.

“He hasn’t, no.”

“I bet she’s got some crazy financial stuff going on. Did you see someone hacked her phone?” Susie made air quotes with her fingers. “Another batch of nude photos were leaked. Video this time. Her and two dudes.”

“We all make mistakes.”

“She’s sharing them herself to get attention.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Your sister-in-law is crazy.”

My phone buzzed in my bag, and I dug it out. When I saw a text from Scott, I broke into a grin.

“Girl, don’t get caught up with him. Do you need me to show you the ranks of Scott Creed ex-lovers? He’s interested now, but he’s not going to stay interested. First time someone younger and blonder walks by, you’re toast. Remember in 2013, how he was married to that pop singer for like a month? Big wedding, even bigger divorce.”

Crap, I’d forgotten about that. On the one hand, WTF? On the other, Lucas and I never even made it to a wedding.

His text read,
Drinks in a bit?
I felt much better than I had the day before and was ready to get back out on the strip and party.

Sure,
I texted back.
Where?

Tao nightclub at Palazzo?

Okay. Nine?

See you then.

I racked my brain for clubbing clothes. I could put something together.

“Where are you meeting him?” Susie peered over my shoulder.

“Tao,” I said.

“Wear my silver dress.”

“Uh, no.”

“You certainly don’t have anything else that will fit in there. Do the silver one.”

“That’s, like, not even real clothing.”

“Exactly.”

It was Vegas, right? And what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, like this marriage. I let Susie dress me to go out, curling waves in my long brown hair and wearing
the
silver dress. The halter mini-dress barely covered anything. Front and back rucking gave it a draped look, and the neckline almost showed off my belly button. My back was entirely exposed, and the dress barely covered my butt.