The Billionaire Boyfriend Trap (16 page)

"I'll get another job," I told her.

"All in good time."

What I didn't tell her was that there was no
way I could earn the same amount as just a PA. On top of what Ellen
paid, I'd been getting a wage from my targets. No normal job could
come close.

***

Ellen kept trying to call me over the next
week, but I ignored her. The following week, she came to the house.
I saw her drive up in her red sports scar and unfold those long
legs from the driver's seat. I didn't answer the doorbell and since
Becky wasn't home, I didn't have to. Ellen went away. She called
again every day for the next week and I deleted all her messages
without listening to them.

Reece didn't call once.

I no longer cried myself to sleep by week
four. My tears seemed to have dried up, leaving a hollow space
inside me. I couldn't seem to muster any sort of emotional response
to anything. Becky spoke to me, but I hardly heard her. I got up in
the morning, bought groceries when we ran out, and went through the
motions of showering, dressing and eating. But it was like I was in
a fog, sort of there yet not.

I looked at job ads, but applied for none of
them. They were either located too far away, didn't pay well
enough, or sounded dull. We lived off our savings, but they were
dwindling every week. The loan I'd taken out to pay the medical
bills ate into the savings like a ferocious beast that needed to be
continually fed.

Until the loan suddenly ended. I received a
final statement from the bank showing every last cent had been paid
in a lump sum. I rang them but they wouldn't tell me who had paid
off the loan due to confidentiality reasons.

"But I'm the only one with access to that
account," I told the rep over the phone. "I'm the only one who can
pay it. Someone has given you an incorrect number and paid my loan
off by mistake. You need to give them their money back."

"No, Miss Denny, the amount paid into the
account was the exact amount owing. It's too precise to be a
mistake."

"Then tell me who paid it?"

"I can't. The information isn't available to
me."

"It's weird," I told her. "Very weird."

"If you want my advice, Miss Denny, just
accept it and be grateful."

I hung up and told Becky what had happened.
"It must have been Ellen," I said. "She feels guilty for ending my
relationship with Reece."

"You don't think it could have been him?"

I shook my head. "He wouldn't do something so
thoughtful when he doesn't even want to think about me. It had to
be Ellen."

"Whoever it was, let's celebrate with
chocolate. No more loan, woohoo!"

I didn't join in with the woohoo, but I did
eat chocolate. It didn't feel right accepting money from anyone,
even Ellen, particularly such a large amount. It would seem I'd
have to speak to her after all, but not just yet.

"Maybe this will take your mind off
everything," Becky said, waving a thick cream card at me. "Remember
that new wellness center for cancer patients? It's finished."

"I thought they ran out of funds."

"Looks like they found a new source. This is
an invitation to its opening. The hospital must have passed on my
name. Your name's on it too."

"I'm not going, but you should. You can
discuss war stories with the other survivors."

She gave me a withering glare. "I'm not going
without you. Come on, it'll be fun and God knows, we need some
fun."

Something in her tone gave me pause. I'd been
so wrapped up in my own misery that I'd forgotten about my sister
and her world. "Is everything okay, Bec?"

"Sure."

I narrowed my gaze. "I don't believe you. Is
it Cassie?" My heart rate kicked into top gear and rammed against
my ribs. "The house?"

She gave a small nod. "She got served a court
order. If she doesn't vacate by Monday, she'll be forcibly removed.
The bulldozers will be there at nine."

I lowered my head to my hands. I wasn't
surprised that he'd changed his mind. I'd known it would happen,
although I'd hoped to be proven wrong. "Damn you, Reece," I
muttered.

"He's a bastard, Cleo," Becky said, circling
her arm around my shoulders. "This just proves that you're lucky to
be rid of him."

I shook my head. "It's not black and white.
He's not necessarily the villain and Cassie the heroine. He's torn
up over Wendy's death, even now, twelve years later. He still
blames himself and having Cassie blame him too doesn't help."

Becky chewed her lip and gave a reluctant
nod. She at least wasn't blinded by her affection for her friend to
see the truth in what I said. "Are you telling me he wants revenge
on Cassie for blaming him?"

"No, it's not like that. He just can't face
Willow Crescent anymore, or that house. He wants to go home again
and spend time with his family, but the memories of Wendy and his
role in her death have screwed him up so much that he can't do it.
Not alone, anyway."

"I suppose I get it," she said. "Twelve years
of guilt can mess with anyone's head."

"Just before he found out about my
involvement with Ellen, he told me he wouldn't pull the house down
if I went home with him. We were going to face his demons
together."

"Why didn't you tell me this? Or better yet,
tell Cassie?"

"Because it became irrelevant after he broke
up with me."

"It might have softened Cassie a little
toward him if she knew how affected he'd been by Wendy's death. The
reason she hates him so much is because she thinks he never cared.
She sees the successful Reece Kavanagh in the papers, making
billions of dollars and dating gorgeous women, and she thinks he
just brushed off her sister."

"He cared. He cared so much that he buried
the real Reece beneath a fake one just so he could get on with
life."

"You make him sound vulnerable."

"He is. He's lonely." The truth of that
jolted me. Reece
was
lonely. He kept everyone at arm's
length, including his family. Everyone except me—until now.

She sighed. "It's hard to reconcile the guy
you describe with the one in the media, the one Cassie hates."

"I know. The question is, what do we do now?
We can't let him bulldoze Cassie's house."

"You want to go up against him, after
everything you just told me? I thought you were on his side."

"I am. Bulldozing Cassie's house will make
him feel even shittier in the long run. He just doesn't see it
yet."

"Typical man. They're so short-sighted."

I laughed for the first time in weeks. "Thank
you," I said, hugging her. "I know the guy you've seen is hard to
like, but the guy I know isn't."

She frowned at me. "I thought you were
getting over him, but it doesn't sound like it."

I ignored her and walked off in the direction
of my room. "Grab some shoes. We're going to Cassie's house to form
a plan of action. Monday is only two days away."

***

We spent the next two days at Cassie's place,
contacting everyone we knew and some we didn't. We dropped leaflets
in letterboxes all over Serendipity Bend and rallied the neighbors.
Ash joined us on Sunday afternoon to run through the plan for the
following morning.

"No media," he said as we sat in Cassie's
living room, cups of coffee in hand.

"Agreed," I said. "It'll freak him out and
make him do the opposite of what we want."

Ash arched his brows at me. "You've gotten to
know him pretty well."

I nodded, keenly aware that Cassie still
hated Reece and might not be prepared to hear any good things about
him. It was she who wanted the media present. "He hasn't been home
in years, has he?"

Ash shook his head. "Ten or more."

Cassie's breath hitched. "Why not? Did your
Mom banish him?"

"No. Nothing like that. Mom and Dad have
begged him to come round, but he refuses. He hates this place, this
street. It reminds him of Wendy."

"Don't be ridiculous! She was my sister. If I
can live here then he can visit from time to time. You're both
wrong about Reece. I know he's your brother, Ash, but that blinds
you to the fact that he's changed."

"How do you know?" It was Becky who asked,
taking me by surprise. Cassie too if her slack-jawed expression was
anything to go by. "When was the last time you saw him in person,
one on one?"

"I, um, it's been a while. But that's not the
point. Reece is bulldozing my home and I will not stand by and let
him do it."

"Neither will we," I told her. "None of us
want Reece to go ahead with this." I eyed Ash and Becky, hoping to
convey the message that they should let the matter drop. Cassie
wasn't ready to understand Reece. If he succeeded, she probably
never would be.

"I think I see a flaw in our plan," Becky
said. "Its success depends on him seeing the backlash, particularly
from the people he loves. But if he hasn't been here for years,
he's unlikely to come now."

"Leave that to me," Ash said. "I've got a
card up my sleeve that I was saving for the right time. I think now
is that time."

"What is it?" Cassie asked, a sly smile on
her face.

"It's not a what, it's a who."

Her smile faded. She blinked at him and he
stared back at her until she looked away. It was as if they'd
spoken, yet not a word had passed their lips. I looked to Becky,
but she just shrugged, as much in the dark as me.

***

We slept the night at Cassie's house and got
up early Monday morning to prepare. It wasn't long before people
trickled onto Cassie's property, brandishing hand painted signs. I
recognized the other students from her art class, and a couple of
guys who looked like Reece and Ash. There were older people dressed
more for a day of sailing than protesting, and I pegged them to be
neighbors. I spotted at least two celebrities and Becky saw a
couple more. Someone must have contacted the police and the media,
unfortunately. A reporter stood on Cassie's back porch and tried to
get an interview with her, but she successfully avoided her and the
reporter eventually gave up.

At nine, a low rumble in the distance
signaled the arrival of the bulldozers. I went in search of Ash and
found him standing with a guy with shoulders like bricks. He
sported the dark hair and good looks of a Kavanagh.

Ash called me over and introduced me as
Reece's girlfriend.

"I'm not," I quickly countered. "I worked for
Reece until he fired me. We were…" I shrugged, giving up on
explaining what Reece and I meant to each other. It no longer
mattered anyway. "Which brother are you? Number four or five?"

"Two," he said, his voice rumbling from a
chest that strained his white T-shirt. "I'm Blake."

My mouth formed an O and I found myself
searching the crowd for Cassie. This was the guy she'd dated. I got
the feeling she hadn't heard from him or seen him in years. Nor,
I'd been led to believe, had his family.

"He arrived back in Roxburg yesterday," Ash
explained. "We've enlisted him to help out."

"He's your secret weapon," I said,
remembering Cassie's reaction.

Ash nodded and handed his cell to Blake.
"Call him."

"You think his presence back here will make
Reece break a ten-year habit of not visiting?" I asked as Blake
searched through the phone for Reece's number.

"It's not so much Blake's presence, but what
he's going to tell him. Listen." Ash crossed his arms, smug, and
watched his brother.

"Not Ash," Blake said down the line. "It's
me." He listened, his mouth quirking up on one side. I imagined
Reece giving him an earful about not coming home to Roxburg for
years and showing up
now
, of all times.

"Finished?" Blake rumbled. "Because it's my
turn. You're a goddamn coward, Reece." Silence, then: "Are you
still there?"

I glanced at Ash. He looked worried.

"Don't make me come over there and drag your
ass down here," Blake went on. "I'm bigger than you now and I've
got military training."

"Hang up," Ash said heavily. "He won't
come."

But Blake wouldn't give up. A coldness
settled into his eyes, as steely and menacing as anything I'd ever
seen in Reece's. "You
are
a coward, Brother," he said
through a clenched jaw. "You won't even face the people whose lives
you're changing." He searched the crowd until his gaze settled on a
redhead surrounded by a throng of people. The ice disappeared from
his eyes, replaced with a longing that cracked my heart.

As if she felt his gaze, Cassie turned, but
quickly walked off in the opposite direction.

"Goddamn it, Reece!" Blake shouted.

I stepped up to him and rested my hand on his
arm to stop him throwing the phone at the nearest tree. "Hang up,"
I said quietly. "He won't come." My heart slid into freefall,
straight to my toes. Shouting at Reece and calling him names wasn't
going to work. I'd tried that already.

Blake blinked rapidly at me. "Yeah, it's
her," he said into the phone. He pulled the cell away from his ear.
"He hung up."

"Did he hear me?"

He nodded. "He recognized your voice."

"And what did he say?"

"Nothing. He just hung up. What's going on
between you two?"

I sighed. "Nothing anymore. I screwed up and
he's mad at me. It's all my fault. Don't blame him."

"I don't." He looked over my head again, once
more checking the crowd, probably searching for a particular
redhead. "I never did. That's the whole fucking problem." He walked
off and I was left standing there with Ash, wondering what the hell
he was talking about.

"Blake stood up for Reece after Wendy died,"
Ash explained, watching the crowd part for his brother as if they
were afraid he would trample right over them if they didn't.
"Cassie couldn't forgive him for not blaming Reece. It broke them
apart and Blake hasn't been the same since."