Billionaire Games Boxed Set 1-3 (60 page)

Nick stiffened.
“You cleaned me out.” He raked his hand through his hair and stomped into the office. “You spent it all? What’s it been….three weeks?”

Ginny closed the door and let out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t get all sanctimonious with me, Nick Matthews.” She dropped down onto the couch against the far left wall and crossed her legs. “You married that cute little bank account within two weeks of me dumping you.”

Nick’s anger seethed out in a growl. “You did
not
dump me. That suggests you called it off. You didn’t. You simply left me standing at the altar, looking like a fool.”

“Oh, Nickie…don’t be so melodramatic.” She scoffed. “You and me, we’re cut from the same cloth.”

“No, we’re not.”

“Oh, yes, my love, yes we are.” She pushed herself up and went to him, standing between him and his desk. Why she did that, he had no idea, but he followed her, wanting to keep his eye on her every move. Even though she no longer had legal access to his bank accounts, he didn’t trust her.

“I knew you couldn’t get over me quickly enough to fall in love and marry someone else, two weeks after
our
wedding was supposed to have taken place.” She wrapped her arms around him and planted a kiss on his lips.

The shock of it all crippled him for a few seconds, and stopped him from immediately shoving her off him. Which is what anyone in full possession of their faculties would’ve done.

F
irst horror, then hurt and humiliation coursed through Lecie as she stood there watching some woman kissing Nick. After a second or two, she summoned her pride and eased the door shut as quietly as she’d opened it.

The image of them kissing bounced around inside her head looking for a place to land, but found none. It just kept knocking everything else aside. She saw or thought of nothing but the two of them locked together.

She felt faint, and grabbed the wall for support. Keri passed by. “Keri…?” she said her name weaker than she’d intended.

Keri stopped at her side. “Hey, Lecie…it’s great to see you again.”

“Likewise.” Lecie pointed to the wall separating them from Nick’s office, and asked as if it was no big deal, “Who’s Nick in with?”

She shook her head. “I heard somebody say Ginny was here.” Her otherwise pretty face twisted into a vile expression.

“I see.” Lecie struggled to remain calm. “Maybe I’ll just come back later.” She stepped away from Nick’s office door and looked over her shoulder. “Keri…” she said and waited for the girl, who’d already gone on her way, to turn back around. Once she did, Lecie added, “No need to mention that I was here.” Lecie forced a smile and moved on.

Of course, Ginny was back
, breezed through Lecie’s thoughts as she pushed open the front door and headed outside. She blew out a breath that was half frustration, half disbelief. Lecie had been afraid of this from the beginning, but that didn’t make it any easier to handle now.

Quietly, she chastised herself for ever thinking she stood a chance against Ginny.

Oh, well…
This whole marriage thing had been a good idea, as far as thwarting Papa’s deportation plans, but Ginny was back in the picture now.

Lecie might as well go home and pack her bags.

O
nce Nick regained his senses, he pried Ginny off of him and wiped his mouth, wanting to get rid of any lingering remnants of her kiss—which now he found utterly disgusting. He
stuck his finger in her face, and said, “Don’t do that again.”

“Come on, Nickie…”

“Stop calling me that!” He hated it when she called him that. Made him feel weak. He wasn’t weak. Not anymore.

She ignored him, saying, “Don’t you see? You’ve hit the jackpot.” There was a little too much excitement in her eyes, her face, her tone. “She should be worth a nice payout.”

Pay-out?
What the hell was she talking about? Nick had a feeling he was going to find out.

“Think about it…” She gave an encouraging nod. “You can get enough money out of her to set
us
up nicely.”

Was Nick hearing her correctly? Was she suggesting what he thought she was? No. It couldn’t be so. Surely, he’d misheard her. “Come again?”

“You and me, Nickie. We can be together,” she said urgently. “And
she
can provide the way.”

Nick’s entire body filled with contempt. It started at his feet and didn’t stop even when it reached the top of his head. It just kept coming. The contempt. Contempt for Ginny. And it poured out with his single-word inquiry, “What?”

“Oh, good Lord, Nickie!” She huffed. “We need money. Lots of it. You can get it from her.”

“One second,” he said, much calmer than before. He took her by the arm, near the elbow, escorted her from his office and through the dining room. Opening the front door, he said, “Don’t ever come back here again.” He nudged her outside and pointed an accusatory forefinger at her. “Next time, I call the police.”

“You can’t have me arrested.” She snorted. “You gave me access to your bank accounts.”

“And that was my mistake.” He nodded. “One I’ve rectified.” He sucked in a breath. “I also had a restraining order issued against you. You’re not to come near me, my wife, or Hang Ten.” He paused to let that sink in, then flashed her a smile. “Don’t believe I’ll call ’em? Try me.”

L
ecie stormed into the house and dropped her keys on the table in the foyer. She went into the living room to plop down on the couch, ready to give herself a good cry. She wished Deidra were here. She’d know what to do.

She dug her phone out of her purse and set the call. Maybe Deidra’s grandmother was doing better now, and Deidra could come home. Funny that Lecie now considered California home.

“Yes…” It was Deidra’s voice, but it was soft, barely above a whisper, and it sounded like she was crying.

Maybe it was just that Lecie felt like crying. “Deidra…?”

“Lecie…?” Deidra sobbed. “Oh, Lecie…my grams has died!”

“What?” Lecie felt the tears pricking her eyes. “I’m on my way.”

Lecie went upstairs, randomly tossed clothes into a suitcase and made sure she grabbed her passport on the way out. Not that she planned to leave the country, not just yet anyway, but she wasn’t sure she was coming back here either.

The cell phone in her hand chimed. She looked at the display. Her heart fell. Nick. She wasn’t ready to hear him say that Ginny—the woman he loves—was back.

But she had to answer it. She couldn’t, shouldn’t, just disappear on him. That was something Ginny would do, and she was better than that. “Hello,” she said breathlessly.

“It’s me.”

“I can’t talk right now.”

“Okay, I’m headed to your house. We need to talk.”

Noooo
. Lecie couldn’t handle this right now. “It’ll have to wait, Nick.” She tried to suppress the anguish of never wanting to hear those words. “I’m headed to the airport. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I’d really like to talk to you before you leave.” His tone had taken on a somber quality. “Can you take a later flight?”

Lecie shook her head. “No. Deidra’s grandmother has died. I have to get to her.”

It took a second before he said, “I understand.” Then he went silent again. When he did speak again, his tone had taken on a hint of remorse. “Please give Deidra my condolences. I’ll see you when you get back.”

N
ick dropped the receiver back onto the phone’s cradle and leaned back in the chair. He glanced around his office at Hang Ten, wondering why fate was so determined to pick on him.

“Story of my life,” he said out loud. But Lecie wouldn’t disappear on him like Ginny had done. Would she?

No
. She wasn’t anything like Ginny. He’d missed the signs with Ginny the first time around, but he wasn’t biting on that hook again.

And he’d been deadly serious about calling the police if she showed her face again. He didn’t want Ginny anywhere near Lecie. He’d made a deal with Lecie, and he wouldn’t have Ginny screwing it up.

Maybe it was a good thing that Lecie was headed out of town. A week or two away from here would give Nick time to figure out how to get rid of Ginny for good.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Three weeks later

NICK MATTHEWS WONDERED IF someone had put a curse on him. Maybe. His luck lately was just that bad. Although, he hadn’t seen Ginny in over two weeks, not since Troy the cop had had a little talk with her. The next day, she’d checked out of her motel and hadn’t been seen around town since. Nick hoped she stayed gone this time.

The only positive thing that’d graced his life lately was Lecie, but she wasn’t in it for the long haul. He was just a means to an end for her.

He’d thought that when she came into the picture luck was beginning to shine upon him again, since she’d bailed him out financially.

If that had been the case, it was temporary because the bank had pulled the rug out from under him this morning. He’d heard their big, fat, resounding
no
about the loan for the community center loud and clear.

He walked into his office at Hang Ten and slammed the door. Storming across the room toward his desk, he tried to temper his anger, having minimal success.

Well, he’d best pick up the phone and deliver the bad news. He didn’t like it, but he grabbed the receiver off its cradle and hit the speed dial for the community center. After hearing Dean’s voice, Nick said, “The bank said no.”

“Please tell me you’re kidding,” Dean said.

“I wish I could.” Nick swabbed his hand over his forehead. “I’m out of options.”

“You could ask Lecie.”

“No.” Not even for the community center. Nick figured he’d already taken advantage of her enough as it was. “We’ll find another way. She won’t be it.”

“It was just a thought.” There was a silence on the line for a few seconds, then Dean said, “Listen, I’ll come over to the restaurant later. We’ll figure out a way to fix this.”

D
ean hung up the phone and stared at the picture hanging on the wall in his office at the community center. The photograph of Dean, Nick, and Kevin was taken about a month before Kevin overdosed. They hadn’t seen it back then—at least Dean hadn’t, and as far as he knew neither had Nick—but Kevin was high as a kite when the picture was snapped.

And now, he and Nick were on the verge of losing the center. The legacy they’d built for Kevin. It was the one thing that brought meaning to Kevin’s death. Without the center, they both knew he’d died in vain.

A soft knock on the door dragged Dean out of his somber thoughts. “Come on,” he called out.

The door opened, and Dean doubted he was able to hide his shock when he saw Lecie coming in with a manila envelope in her hands. She greeted him with a smile and waited for him to invite her to sit. When he did, she offered him the envelope before sitting.

“What’s this?” he asked, taking it.

“I’m giving my interest in Hang Ten to the center.”

“Why?”

“I’ve decided to return to France,” she said. “And it’s just not right for me to keep it.”

“Then why don’t you just give it back to Nick?”

“Because he’ll never take it.”

“Well…” Dean slid the envelope across the desk toward her. “Don’t turn it over to the center.” He shook his head slowly. “We’re going out of business.”

“What do you mean you’re going out of business?” She inched closer to his desk.

“This place is for sale.” He looked around and shrugged. “And we can’t afford to buy it. Once it goes on the market, at the end of week, it’ll just be a matter of time before we’re given an eviction notice.”

“Who’s selling it?” she asked.

“Juno Properties,” Dean replied, but he didn’t want to talk about the center. Talking about the center made him sad. It was time to change the subject. “Why are you going back to France?” he asked, mildly curious about the answer. “I thought that was the whole reason you and Nick got married…so you didn’t have to go back yet?”

“Plans change,” she said with a smile and shrug, but there was something sad about her countenance.

Maybe she was regretting giving Nick all that money. “Nick can’t possibly reimburse you for the money you gave him.” Dean wanted her to know she could change her mind all she wanted, but she shouldn’t expect anything back from Nick, not even a partial refund.

“Oh, I know.” She shook her head. “I’m not expecting a reimbursement.”

Okay. Well…as long as she knew where she stood as far as the money was concerned, she could do whatever she wanted.

But he couldn’t help wondering why? What was the real reason? Dean had gotten the feeling that Lecie liked Nick, just as much as Dean knew Nick liked her. But he didn’t know Lecie well enough to ask.

O
nce home, Lecie surveyed the house. It looked like Nick was still living there, but she couldn’t understand why. He wouldn’t bring Ginny to her house, would he?

Of course not. Nick wasn’t that kind of guy. Lecie might not like that Nick loved someone else, but deep down she knew he was an upstanding guy.

So why was he still here?

Well, he had entered into a contract with her. He was probably trying to uphold it. It’s just that Lecie couldn’t let him lose his chance to get back with the woman he loved.

She dug her cell out of her purse and called up his number.

“Lecie…I’m so glad you’re back.” His voice slipped over her like smooth silk.

“Yes. Yes, I am.” It pierced her heart to think that soon, very soon, she wouldn’t be hearing his voice anymore.

“How’s Deidra? She come with you?”

“She’s taking care of some last-minute details,” Lecie said. “She’ll be here tomorrow.” And they’d be leaving for France by the end of the week. She just had to figure out a way to get Nick to take back the percentage of Hang Ten that he’d given her. “Are you very busy?” she wondered. “I really need to talk to you.”

“I can be at the house in five,” he said.

Lecie disconnected the call and tossed her phone onto the couch. She drew in a deep breath, hoping it’d bring her enough courage to keep her dignity about her and not make a fool of herself when Nick arrived.