Boarded by Love (55 page)

“I did, very much,” Don says with a nod. “So much so that I want to offer you the opportunity of your life.”

“Really?” I ask, my heart speeding up. I’m not sure if it’s from the excitement of Don’s deal or if it’s from the fact that Mr. Sinclair has not stopped staring at me.

“Let’s go into my office,” Ms. Prissy suggests.

The next thing I know, I’m sitting behind Ms. Prissy’s desk with the three men in front of me. Mr. Sinclair’s eyes have yet to leave my face, and my palms are clammy from the nerves. As much as I want to know what these men have to offer, I want to get the hell out of here. I thought Mr. Sinclair was a lawyer; why the hell is he doing investor shit? Does Jude know? Does anyone know?

“I’ll go first,” Mr. Sinclair says, and I force myself to look him in the eyes. Surely he doesn’t recognize me, but I can see him trying to place me in his mind. His eyes roam over each of my features as he says, “I think you’ve heard my deal, twenty-grand signing bonus, with an annual contract of seventy-five grand, and full management of Ms. Prissy’s in New York.”

When Bruce scoffs, Mr. Sinclair shoots him a dark look, but that doesn’t derail him. Looking at me, Bruce says, “We want to sign you for three years, fifty-thousand dollar signing bonus, a hundred-grand yearly contract, and free rein at the Ms. Prissy’s in Miami. We will give you lodging, a new car, and a clothing budget. You will be treated like the queen you are, Ms. Diamond.”

Holy mother of God. I knew the New York deal was going to be crap, but I never expected the Florida deal to be so amazing.

My lips go to form the word yes, but before they can, Don says, “Ms. Diamond – by the way, is that your real name?”

“No, it–” Ms. Prissy goes to say, but I interrupt her.

“No, but I’d like to keep my real name to myself until we sign contracts,” I say quickly, and I can feel Ms. Prissy’s eyes on me. Ignoring her, I add, “If you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine with me,” he says with a grin. He’s a good-looking man, young, late twenties, with short blond hair and blue eyes that shine bright in the dim light. “I can guarantee the deal I have for you will be ten times what these two are offering you. I don’t want you to run a Ms. Prissy’s, no offense,” he says to Ms. Prissy before looking back at me. “But I want you for your own show. I work for Lights and Sounds Hotels, and we want you to headline a show for us.”

“I’m not performing after tonight. I want to be strictly backstage.”

He nods, not missing a beat. “That’s fine and I can promise you that the deal I’ll have for you is something you can’t turn down. The only problem is I can’t offer you the deal without my bosses. We’ve heard of you. I’ve sent them video of your work here, and they want to see it for themselves. They can come in ten days, and we’re hoping instead of signing with someone else, you’ll put on a showcase for us and give us a chance.”

For some reason, I feel good about this guy.

“My deal will be on the table for five days,” Bruce says suddenly.

I meet his gaze and say, “I’d like to wait to see what they offer me.”

“I can’t wait that long,” Bruce says and then he stands. “So I’ll bow out of this pissing match. Good luck to you.”

“Thank you,” I say and then he’s gone.

“So I guess I’m out too. I can’t wait two weeks,” Mr. Sinclair says and then he stands. “Good luck to you both.”

I don’t say anything to him, and when he leaves, I let out the breath I’ve been holding, meeting Don’s gaze as he says, “I promise you won’t regret this.”

“I hope you’re right,” I say. “Because I just watched one good offer walk away.”

He nods and then sends me a wink. “Don’t worry. You’ll be swimming in money when we get you to Vegas. See you guys soon.”

Shaking my hand and then Ms. Prissy’s, he leaves after that and I take in a lungful of air. Biting into my lip, I replay everything that just happened.

“Did I do that right?” I ask, looking up at Ms. Prissy.

She nods. “I think you handled that beautifully.”

“What if the Vegas deal sucks?”

“Then you say no, and you wait for the next deal. You’ll be okay.”

Nodding, I look away as my heart pounds against my chest like a drum. “Can I do this in two weeks, put together a whole show?” I ask, my stomach churning with fear. I’ve always disliked that fear. It has such a power to take you down, and I hate that. I want to be strong, confident in my decision, but that just happened so quickly. I turned down two offers, and now I’m putting all my eggs in one basket. Is it the right choice? I want to say yes, that I feel good about it, but I can’t. I’m nervous as hell. Not only is this going to skyrocket my career, but I’ll also be living my dreams.

“Yes, you can. I believe in you,” she answers, and I let out another breath.

She’s right and I’m going to rock the hell out of that show. With a grin on my face, I stand up. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, darling,” she says, hugging me tightly before I leave the room. Heading to my station, I decide to leave my stuff there since I’m obviously not done here. Looking around the room, I see that it is empty except for Ben leaning against the door. I’m pretty sure that Mr. Sinclair is gone, so I sit ready to take my contacts and wig off, but just as I go to do that, I hear Ellen say, “Sweetie, come meet my best friend, Claire!”

Best friend in the least
, I think, but when I turn to see who she’s talking to, I’m cold again. My heart starts to race, my body feels rigid and almost not like mine as my eyes go wide and I’m suddenly fighting for my next breath.

“Claire, I wanted to introduce you to my boyfriend, Marky.”

Mr. Sinclair’s eyes meet mine, and his head cocks to the side as if he is realizing who I am. I don’t say anything; all I can do is look at him with nothing but horror and disgust on my face. Jude’s dad is cheating on his mom with Ellen? A girl who is younger than his daughter? I disliked this man before. Now I absolutely hate him.

“Hello? Earth to Claire!” Ellen sings, and I look at her. A part of my heart breaks for her. She may be an idiot, but I know she would never sleep with a married man. She came from a broken home and told me before that she would never be a home-wrecker; now Mr. Sinclair has made her one.

Another reason to hate this man to the fiery depths of hell.

“Hey,” I blurt out, my heart beating so fast as my chest burns with nausea.

I have to call Jude; I have to tell him.

He’s going to flip.

“Guess what? He just offered me this amazing deal in New York! I’m going to run a Ms. Prissy’s if she allows me to!” Ellen says, but I can’t even listen to her. My heart is breaking for Jude, his family, and the devastation this is going to cause. As much as I don’t want to be the one to tell them, I know I have to. No one deserves to be cheated on, and I refuse to allow someone I care about to go on not knowing that her husband is a complete snake.

“Wonderful,” I mutter and then very slowly, I remove my wig and pull out my braid, letting my red hair fall down my shoulders.

When I meet his gaze again, his eyes are narrowed with recognition and he says, “Ellen, sweetheart, can you go on out to my car and get my briefcase? Maybe we can catch Prissy real quick.”

“Sure, baby,” she says and then looks at me. “Hey, keep my man entertained for a second, but not in like a slutty way. That’s not what I mean. You have a boyfriend. What am I saying?” she says in her ditzy way and then she’s walking away, her hair bouncing with each step she takes.

Looking back at Mr. Sinclair, I growl, “You are the lowest piece of shit I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“You listen to me, you little bitch,” he snaps, taking a step toward me. “You keep your mouth shut or–”

“Or what? You can’t do anything to me, and if you try, Ben will stop you,” I say, nodding my head toward Ben. He comes off the wall, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. When Mr. Sinclair looks back at me, his face is red with anger.

“I won’t let you ruin my family.”

“You did that yourself.”

He pauses, breathing heavily, and everything inside me tells me to run, but very slowly I lay my wig down and then pull my hair up in a messy bun, acting as if his presence doesn’t bother me a bit.

“What do you want?” he then asks. “Money? I’ll give you thousands. I’ll give you the club, the clothing budget, car, house, anything. Just keep your mouth shut.”

“I’d rather have nothing than keep something like this from the people I care for. How dare you hurt someone like Mrs. Sinclair? You are a horrible, sad man, and I’m sorry, but no amount of money is going to keep me from opening my mouth. I suggest you be honest before I do it for you.”

I can see the desperation in his eyes and I don’t understand it. Shaking my head, I ask, “Why? Why risk what you have?”

“What I have? I have nothing but a fucking burden on my hands. I have a wife who does nothing for me. Kids who are more a hassle than anything else and a granddaughter who drives me fucking nuts. Wanna know why I do it? I hate my life, I hate the people I’m supposed to love, I’m bored, I want out, and Ellen is my way out.”

“Then leave, you disgusting rat,” I say, shaking my head. “Stop putting everyone through hell.”

“You are nothing but a stupid little girl. You don’t know anything about this. So shut up and keep your mouth shut. I’ll take care of it on my own time,” he sneers, his eyes flashing with anger along with pure anguish.

“No way,” I say, reaching for my jacket. “I won’t let you lie to them any more than you have.”

I go to pass him but he takes ahold of my arm and pleads, “I’ll give you half a million.”

I don’t have time to answer him. Ben shoots by me faster than lightning and removes Mr. Sinclair’s hand from my arm. Looking back at him, I slowly shake my head. Before I would have taken the money and I wouldn’t have cared about anything else. That was before I found love, before I realized that my family and my boyfriend are worth more than anything in this world. Before when I was completely hollow and nothing but a scared girl with no options but to end up like her mother. I’m not that girl anymore. I have my dreams at my fingertips, a family who would die for me, and a man who would give me the world if I asked for it.

So as I look at Mr. Sinclair, I say the only thing that comes to mind.

“You don’t deserve them, and they will be so much better off without you.”

And then I leave, ignoring the names and the threats he’s throwing my way because Mark Sinclair can’t hurt me. He doesn’t have that power over me, and the people he does have that power over deserve to know he is a piece of shit.

The only problem is I’m the one who has to tell them.

Claire: Where are u?

I smile because I was just about to text her. After kicking ass in Chattanooga, the guys and I decided to go to the Gilroy to hang out and wind down before heading to bed.

Me: I was about to text u; wanna go to the Gilroy? I’m on my way there.

Claire: I’ll meet you there.

Awesome. I’m more than pleased that she’s coming out. Ever since I left her earlier, she has clouded my thoughts and clogged all my senses. That is until a huge defenseman knocked me on my ass and then I woke up, remembering that I had a game to win. And that’s what I did. We dominated, and really, it isn’t fair how we basically murdered those boys. I mean, eight to zero is a little intense. I’m happy though, a win is a win, and we need it for the championship.

“Claire coming out?” Jayden asks as we pull into the parking lot of the Gilroy.

“Yeah,” I answer, tucking my phone in my pocket as he stops. Getting out of the car, I look around to see if I see her, but I don’t, so we head toward the door. Before I can reach it though, Jayden’s phone rings.

“It’s Dad,” he says, his face scrunched together. “It’s almost one in the morning. Why would he be calling me?”

“I don’t know. Answer it,” I say and he does.

Watching him, I listen since I can only hear his side of the conversation. “Hey, I’m sure she is. Lucy left before the bus pulled out. Maybe her phone is dead? Did you call Lucy? Yeah, I don’t know.”