The Billionaire's Mistress Complete Series: Alpha Billionaire Romance (35 page)

S
unshine woke me up
.

Lying on my side, I stared at the bright, thin line as it slowly moved along the slit in the carpet.

Jal told me that he expected to get something from Carlo today.

Carlo was his tech man.

I met him last night, and we’d lingered around the office for a while. Jal had called for pizza, and I’d gone to the market on the corner to grab some beer while Carlo tried to coax more information out of the computer.

Nothing ever really disappears,
he said.
It just hides really, really well
. Then he’d grinned.
I always rocked at hide and seek.

Carlo hadn’t unearthed too much before we left, but he had managed to find out that Hammerstein was accessing an email account that wasn’t work-approved. People could email whoever they wanted if they used their own devices on breaks and at lunch, but anything sent on company time or regarding business in general had to go through the firm’s server.

When I’d asked why, Jal was the one who answered, “I don’t want any shady deals going on here. The firm’s servers are designed to monitor for possible breaches in the firm’s ethics, but we can’t monitor communications sent through third party platforms. It's all in the contract every employee signs.”

“Breaches…like insider tips, that sort of thing.”

Jal hadn’t responded verbally, but the raised brow had made it clear enough.

I wondered if Carlo had found anything, specifically something to link Hammerstein to my father.

I wondered if it even mattered because, in my gut, I already knew what was going on.

I didn't know when I'd made the conscious decision, but the plan was already coming together in my head, and I knew what I was going to do even before I really accepted it.

In under twenty minutes, I was out of bed, showered and wearing the last of my clean clothes. I didn’t have time to mess with my damp hair, so I just pulled it back into a loose braid and threw it over my shoulder.

I wasn’t out to win a beauty contest.

* * *

T
he one thing
I hadn’t quite planned out was just how I’d get in to see my father. If he kept the same schedule as he had years ago, he'd be working from home this morning, which meant I was going to the house rather than his office. Unfortunately, that left a lot of unknown variables.

It was possible one of the servants would answer the door, and just as possible they’d get my father without mentioning my name to Diamond. Hell, there was a good chance that there weren't any servants left who knew I had any connection to the family at all.

It was also equally possible that Diamond would answer the door. She liked to make a lousy joke –
I occasionally answer the door or even fix meals for Kendrick and myself.
Like that was going to win her a medal.

I had no idea what I would do if Diamond answered the door, although it would probably involve causing a scene because I wasn’t leaving without seeing Kendrick. He was going to fix what he'd done, or he wouldn’t like the consequences.

I was prepared to do whatever I had to. Prepared for almost anything.

I had the cab drop me off a quarter of a mile from the house so I could use the time walking to compose myself for what was coming. I walked around the car parked in the big U just as my father and Gary Hammerstein rounded the side of the house. Both of them had big cigars in their mouths, and they were grinning, wide, pleased, smug smiles of satisfaction that made me want to punch them.

When they saw me, my father’s smile faltered. Hammerstein didn’t recognize me, which wasn't surprising. I'd just been an intern with the wrong shade of skin when he'd met me before.

As Kendrick reached up to tug the cigar from his mouth, I looked from him to Hammerstein, weighing my options. Hammerstein still looked pleased with himself.

For all I knew, he thought I was some reward my father had planned for him. That thought snapped the last of my control.

“How much did Kendrick pay you to set up Jal Lindstrom?”

Hammerstein took a tiny step back, eyes wheeling around for the faintest second. Surprise flashed across his face. It was gone in an instant, but I’d seen it. A hearty laugh escaped him a second later, although my father was still watching me, taking everything in.

“Excuse me?” He smiled at me and then looked over at Kendrick. “Is this new girl working here at the house?”

“No. I’m not a
new girl
,” I snapped before my father could respond. “What did you do…send the cops some bullshit tip? No, that couldn't have been it. He got arrested, so there had to be more than that.”

“Allie.” Finally, Kendrick spoke.

“I’ll talk to you in a minute.” Lips curled, I stared Hammerstein down. “I hope you did a good job wiping the history on your computer at work. A tech's looking through it as we speak.”

All the blood drained from his face, and he shot Kendrick a panicked look.

Now my father looked a little unsettled, his gaze flicking to me before returning to Hammerstein. “She’s bluffing. Look, you go on. I’ll be in touch, okay?”

Hammerstein didn’t wait another second, bumping into me with enough force to half-knock me over as he thundered toward the car parked nearby.

“What a charmer,” I said as my father walked toward me. “Long time, no see,
Dad
.”

“Allie.” Voice stiff, he nodded at me.

“You don’t look too thrilled about my dropping in.”

I jammed my hands into the pockets of my hoodie. It was one I’d gotten from the school where I’d taken my classes for my aesthetician’s license, and I watched as my father’s gaze dropped, lingering on the logo. His mouth tightened. He’d told me more than once – in letters, of course – that he couldn’t understand why I’d wasted my brain on cutting hair. I hadn't bothered to try to explain my reasoning. He never would've understood.

“It’s always lovely to see you, Allie.” His voice softened a little, and he took a step closer. “I’ve missed you. I’ve told you before, if you’d like to meet for dinner or lunch…”

“Yeah, just don’t come around here,” I said caustically. He opened his mouth to argue, and I held up a hand. “We've had this talk, and I'm not in the mood to have it again. And it's not why I'm here.” Rocking back on my heels, I lifted my chin. “I know what you’re doing to Jal.”

His eyes widened slightly. “Pardon me?”

“I’m going to assume that Diamond told you that she saw me dancing with Jal. He came and talked to you. I know that, too, so don’t try to play dumb. And I know that Paisley pretended to be pregnant to get him to propose.”

Now Kendrick’s face was an ugly, apoplectic shade of red. “Allie, now listen. I’ve indulged you quite a bit, but I–”

“Don’t.” I held up a hand. “Don’t you dare start this shit with me. You gave me money every now and then, and you taught me how to play with stocks. But you never walked
me
to school. Matter of fact, you and Diamond went out of your way to keep me out of the schools around here. You claimed it was because I wouldn’t be comfortable in any of those places, remember? Christmas time came around? It wasn’t
you
who put presents under the tree. That was my mother. When I fell down, Mama was the one who was there. Tyson has been there. You never acted
like my dad then, so don’t even try to pull that card now.”

He sucked in a breath.

“What? Surprised I called you on it?” Giving him a cool look, I let my eyes play over the house, grand as it was. So lovely. And it had never been anything resembling a home. I’d been nothing but miserable here.

“You’re not going to do this to Jal,” I said after I’d taken another breath.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kendrick's voice was stiff, shoulders rigid. As he tugged at the cuffs on his sweater, his eyes drifted past my shoulder, then down the drive as though he was seeking assistance.

“You do.” If he thought I would let this go, he really didn't know me at all. “For the record, I wasn’t bluffing when I said Hammerstein’s computer was being searched. Apparently, your buddy used a third-party email program which is a big no-no at Jal’s firm. He’ll figure out who he was emailing by the end of the day – and what they were talking about.” I wasn't quite sure how accurate that was, but the sweat beading on my father’s lip had me feeling reckless. When he looked at me, I shrugged. “Hey, don’t glare at me. I’m not the one who pulled this schmuck move. I wasn’t
playing the game
.”

“Allie, that’s enough,” he said sharply.

“Is it? Are you going to
win
this time?”

“For fuck’s sake, it won’t even go to court!” Kendrick snapped. “He just needs to pull his head out of his ass and get back with Paisley, okay?”

“No.” Shaking my head, I crossed my arms over my chest. “It's not okay. You can't fuck with people's lives like this. He doesn’t love her.”

“Love doesn’t even come into this. It’s a fucking business–” He clamped his mouth shut.

“What?” I barely managed to get the word out. I wasn’t even sure he heard me. Taking another step closer, I said it again, but he’d turned away, taking a few erratic steps forward. “What are you talking about?” I shouted at his back.

“It doesn’t concern you, Allie!” He turned around and faced me, gesturing to my hoodie. “You cut hair at a shop downtown. If you’d gone to school and made something of yourself, then maybe you could have come to work for me. Maybe
then
I would tell you, but you’re just a damn hairdresser!”

I was surprised at how little his comments hurt. In fact, all they did was piss me off.

“You’ll tell me what the hell you're talking about, or I’ll take a trip to the nearest newspaper office and tell them how you set Jal up. And I’ll tell them that you're my father. You know as well as I do, they’ll start digging.”

“Allie…”

“I’ll do it.”

He looked defeated. “It would be good for him too. We talked about merging the families – forming our own firm. We’ve even got backers. But without Paisley and Jal being married, it won’t happen. And…” He swallowed, looking pained. “Some of the backers fronted me some money already.”

I buried my face in my hands. I wanted to shake him. Hard. Instead, I just took in a couple of deep breaths then lowered my hands and stared at him.

“See?” He gave me a pleading look. “It’s a hard place to be in, but the best thing for everybody would be for this marriage to just happen.”

“No.” Shaking my head, I said, “It’s the best thing for
you
. Call off your dogs, Kendrick. I don’t know if you’ve got dirt on somebody at the police department or what, but however you made this happen? Make it
un
-happen.”

I cut around him and headed for the driveway. He shouted after me to stop, to not be foolish. In response, I turned around and pulled out the phone I’d kept tucked in the pocket of my hoodie the entire time.

Staring at him, I slid my finger across the screen, then hit the
play
button.

Our voices came rolling out.

The whole fucking conversation.

He was still a few yards away, so I turned up the volume. “Probably not admissible in a real court, but the court of public opinion?” I shrugged. “I'm not sure which your high society buddies would find more distasteful. Framing someone for insider trading, or having a bastard daughter with the black nanny.”

His head slumped.

“Call off the dogs,” I repeated. “You’ve only got a few days to fix this before I blow this whole thing wide open.”

Without another look at the man whose DNA I carried, I turned and walked away.

I
caught
the bus to Tao’s rather than getting another taxi. It was longer, and I had to change buses halfway, but the longer ride gave me time to think.

I’d meant every word I said back at my father’s house, but if I was going to carry out the threat – no, I corrected myself – the
promise
I had made to him, I needed to talk to my mother. While Tyson knew the circumstances surrounding my conception, no one else did. If I had to follow through and expose Kendrick as my father, it would mean exposing my mother as well.

I hated the thought of doing it. Mom despised drama. The last thing she'd ever wanted in life was to be the other woman. The mistress. My father had played on Mom’s emotions when she was young and naïve, and she’d fallen for him. Then he’d gone and fallen for her, too, though I doubt his feelings for her had ever surpassed his own self-love.

I had no doubt Diamond and even my father would tell a different story, but I knew how people in their social circle worked. They'd claim to not believe the rumors, and agree that it all had to be vindictiveness on my part, but they'd talk about it behind closed doors, spread whispers of how they'd always known.

I was counting on that to make sure my father did what I wanted, and while I did have a twinge of guilt about the effect this would have on my mother, I had no such feelings in regards to the Hedges.

The very fact that my father thought it was okay to sit by while his wife and daughter tricked Jal into a marriage showed just what kind of man he was. That he'd framed Jal in an attempt to blackmail desired behavior told me that the years had taught him nothing.

He didn't care that he could ruin an innocent man's life, as long as he got what he wanted. As long as he won.

But I'd had enough. I spent too much of my life walking away from the fight. If anyone was worth fighting for, it was Jal.

He was mine, and I'd be damned if I let my father ruin him.

Mind made up, I walked up the stairs to the front of Tao's building and hit the buzzer. He didn’t answer right away, but that didn't surprise me. He'd most likely been out late last night and had probably only been in bed for a couple hours. It took two more attempts before he finally answered, mumbling something completely unintelligible.

Pushing the button again, I said, “It’s me. Let me up. I need your help. It’s important.”

“Good morning to you too, sweetheart,” Tao grumbled. He was so not a morning person. “Why yes, I did have a good night. You? Yeah, I’d love some coffee.”

I snorted. “Sure, I had a good night. Glad to hear you did too. That means you got laid. So did I. Let me in and we can compare notes while I make you that coffee.” I could use some myself.

That woke him up a little bit. “Really? You never want to talk about it.”

He buzzed me in, and by the time I got up to his apartment, he was standing at the door wearing a pair of low slung-jeans and rubbing tired eyes. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

He caught one look at my face and shook his head. “I should have known you were bullshitting me.” He sighed. “That look on your face is all business. You’re not here to compare notes on anything. What do you want? And you’re making the damn coffee.”

“Yes, I’m making the damn coffee.” I offered him a smile as I slid past him on my way into the kitchen. He followed along behind me and dropped down at the table, pillowing his head on his arm. “Don’t go back to sleep, Tao. I told you, I need your help. I have to go talk to my mom about something, and I need moral support.”

“Your mom is a doll. You don’t need moral support from me. Now if I was going to talk to
my
mom? I’d need moral support – an army of it.” He mumbled more into the table than anything else, but I didn’t let it concern me.

He was upright – mostly – and talking. Once I got some caffeine in him, he’d be good to go.

When I set his
I'm so sexy
mug in front of him, he lifted his head. After a few more seconds, he took a drink and then another. I watched the sleep leave his eyes.

“Moral support, huh?”

“Yeah.” I poured myself a cup in my usual leprechaun mug and settled into the seat across from him.

He finished the coffee and poured another cup. “Okay. Give me a few minutes to shower and change.” He paused and scrutinized me. “You did get laid. You also look like you’re about ready to kick some ass.”

“I already did that.” Blowing out a breath, I looked away. “Now I need to go tell my mom about it.”

“You didn’t go and put Paisley in the hospital did you?” He looked both interested and wary. He'd never actually met my half-sister, but he knew enough about her to understand why violence would've been a possibility. “I don't need to go sell my sweet ass to get you bail money, do I?”

“No.” A quick laugh escaped me, and I shook my head. “While she might've deserved it, she isn't the one I had a confrontation with.”

Tao's eyes widened, and I could see curiosity warring with his desire for a shower.

“Come on,” I said as I stood. “I'll tell you all about it while you're showering.”

He wiggled his eyebrows at me as he gave me a lecherous look. I smacked his arm.

“This is not a booty call. Let's go.”

It was strange, I thought as I followed Tao to his bathroom. The fact that Tao and I wouldn't be having sex again didn't bother me at all. We were back to a normal friendship, and if I had anything to say about it, that’s where we'd stay.

* * *

M
y nerves had
me practically twitching in my seat during the twenty-minute bus ride from Tao's apartment to my house. Tao reached over and put his hand on top of mine. “You’re making me a little nuts, Allie. Calm down.”

That was easy for him to say. He wasn't contemplating a move that would most likely humiliate my mother.

Turning my head, I looked out the window as the bus took the corner. Our stop was coming up so I nudged him, but he was already moving. I followed after him, grabbing the handle to steady myself when the bus lurched and jerked.

Once we exited the bus, I took a deep breath. Public transportation was a lot cheaper than trying to manage a car, but sometimes the miasma of too many bodies packed in a small space, combined with those who didn’t quite understand basic hygiene made me wish I could afford to drive myself.

We started up the street, and I shoved my hands into my pockets to keep from fidgeting. Neither one of us spoke, and I was glad for that. I didn't need Tao to distract me. I just needed his solid, steadying presence. Sometimes he could come off as a bit flaky, but I knew he was a rock at his center.

We climbed the stairs to the front door, and I stopped for a second to take a breath, steadying myself.

“Hey, if she kills you, can I have dibs on whatever I want from your room?” he asked as I unlocked the door.

“Sure.” I rolled my eyes. “You get first crack at my wardrobe.”

“That's not fair,” he said. “You've got a better figure than I do.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, then took his hand and tugged him along with me as I started to search for my mother. She hadn't been scheduled to work today, so I knew she'd most likely be here.

She wasn’t anywhere in the house so I headed outside. It wasn’t a surprise to find her in the small garden in the backyard. This was her favorite spot to be, and now that the weather didn’t totally suck, she was happy to putter around on her days off.

In a hoodie and faded denim capris, she didn’t look that much older than me, and when she smiled, she looked even closer to my age. She was one of those women who'd never need cosmetic surgery to have people thinking she was a decade younger than she really was.

“Hey.”
I sat down cross legged across from her while Tao took one of the nearby lawn chairs.

Mom stripped off her gloves and pushed her hair back from her face. “
Did you two have breakfast?”

I ignored the question because I was far too nervous to eat.
“I need to talk to you. It’s kind of important.”
My heart skipped a few beats as her steady gaze raised from my hands to meet my eyes.

She laid the gloves in the garden basket at her side, cocking her head. “
Judging by the look on your face, I would say it’s more than kind of important. Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine.”
I licked my lips and fought the urge to look at Tao for support. I'd essentially practiced my speech on him, but…
“It’s just…well, I went to see Kendrick today.”

Her lips thinned into a flat line. I knew she still had feelings, of a sort, for the man who’d fathered me. I doubted it was love, exactly. It sure as hell wasn’t anything founded on respect or admiration. But he was her first love, and for the longest time, he’d been the only man in her life.

Yet I knew as surely as I was sitting there, if Kendrick were to show up right now and promised to divorce Diamond and wanted my mom to go away with him, she’d shut the door in his face.

She’d found what she needed with Tyson. She truly loved him, of that I had no doubt. And yet, I knew, those feelings for Kendrick weren’t entirely gone.

“Why?”

It was a simple question, no malice or indignation or anger. Just a simple question.

It was too bad I didn’t have a simple answer. Taking a deep breath, I braced myself.
“It’s about that guy, Mama. Remember the guy I told you about?”

She nodded. “
The one who was engaged to Paisle?”

“It’s about him,”
I said.
“Kendrick is…he’s…”

Dammit.

“Just spill it, Allie,” Tao said from his spot on the chair.

I shot him a dark look then met Mom’s eyes.
“Kendrick had Jal arrested, then said that he'd make the charges go away once Jal got back together with Paisley. He set Jal up, Mom.”

Tao muttered something under his breath that I was sure wasn't complimentary, but Mom's expression wasn't one of surprise. In fact, she looked resigned.

She didn’t ask a single question, didn’t say a damn thing. All she did was get to her feet and start to pace around the yard, rubbing at her neck. After a few moments, she turned to me, a grim look on her face.

“Tell me what he did this time
.”

That was when it hit me. She’d seen him do this shit before.

So I told her all of it.

* * *

“
W
hy aren’t you surprised
?”
I finally asked her.

Mom sat in a lawn chair, sipping on the lemonade TJ had brought out half-way through my explanation. Tao had saved Mom and me from having to shoo TJ away by immediately challenging my little brother to some sort of video game match. The two of them were inside now, and every so often, I heard Tao shouting at the game.

Mom was silent for so long, I almost thought she hadn’t seen me asking her, but finally, she looked over at me.

“I guess for the same reason you approached him to begin with. I’ve seen him pull this sort of thing before.”
She took another drink, then put down her glass. “
And so have you.”

She sounded so sure of it that I wondered if my father had told her what happened.

“Yes,”
I admitted.
“I found some stuff years ago. It was in some of the work he had me looking at. Some things didn’t add up back then, and I fought with him about it. Then when all of this went down…Jal has somebody working with him that used to work with Kendrick. I had a bad feeling. So I confronted him.”

I'd already told her what I threatened him with if he didn't fix things.

Mom nodded. Silence stretched out again, and I listened to the birds calling while she thought. Finally, she looked at me. “
I’ll back you up, Allie. Whatever you do. But understand, if you talk, they won’t be kind. Are you ready for that?”

“Yes.”
I nodded.
“But I don't think it'll come to that. You know how they are. They'll want to save face too much to risk it.”
I took a steadying breath
. “Besides, I had to do this. For Jal. I love him.”

She reached up and cupped my cheek. “
I already knew that.”