Her Prince Charming: An Inspirational Romance (11 page)

I
’ll be there
.

The text I’d just sent glared up at me like an accusation. I was out of time to debate right vs. wrong. I’d set things in motion. Now I had to act. It was two thirty-seven in the morning. I had until three am to get to my house or Greg would send out the video he’d taken of James seeming to admit to our fake relationship.

My stomach rolled at the thought of that video on phones and computers across the world. I wouldn’t attract that kind of attention on my own, but James would. He was James Drake.

Plenty of people would love to see such a successful, attractive man brought low. More important, his board of directors would not be happy. If this spun out of control, he could lose the business he’d worked so hard for.

I stood, peeling myself off the carpet, and looked in the mirror over the dresser. My eyes were red, my skin pale, and my hair a dark tangle still caught in the pins from my formal up-do. Frantic, I yanked at the pins, and pulled a brush through my hair.

I had to get out of here without being noticed. Severe bedhead was not going to help. No makeup and a ponytail were a start. The gleam of gold at my throat caught my eye. I’d forgotten the jewelry James had bought me. I couldn’t take it with me.

My eyes closed in despair, I unfastened the necklace and removed the earrings, setting them on the counter beside the sink. The bracelet was a little trickier, especially with my sight blurred by tears.

At the closet, I pulled a pair of jeans from a hangar and hoped they fit. They did. I grabbed a blouse and was tucking it in when I realized with a sinking feeling that I’d valet parked my car the other night and hadn’t used it since.

Normally I would have parked my own car, but when I’d arrive there was an event going on and the parking lots had been closed to everyone but the valets. Valet was included in with my stay, so I hadn’t thought much of it. But now I didn’t have my car keys. Or my house key.

The hidden key beneath my back deck would get me into my house, but I’d have to call a taxi to get home. I pulled up the number of a local taxi service that I kept in my phone for emergencies.

If there was ever an emergency, it was happening right now. They said they had a cab in the area and it would be at the front doors of the resort in five minutes.

It was the first good news since my phone had woken me minutes earlier. It would take me almost five minutes to get to the lobby doors. Slipping on a pair of sandals, I left the cottage as quietly as I could and slunk away.

My heart hurt at what I was doing. He’d hate me for this. I knew it. But I wouldn’t let Greg ruin him. Greg had done enough to me. I couldn’t allow his ugliness to take anything away from James. As hard as James worked, and as much as he loved his company, he didn’t deserve to have Greg jeopardize it all.

Security wasn’t watching me as far as I knew. But James might pull up the security cameras to see where I went when I left. Not that he needed to, I realized. The resort had my address on file. He wouldn’t have to work very hard to find me. And I was running out of time to meet Greg.

I made my way through the lobby to the front doors keeping my head down so I wouldn’t have to meet the eyes of the sleepy desk clerk. Fortunately, the cab was waiting for me when I got there. I slid into the back and gave him my address, checking the time. Seven minutes left.

I’m on my way
, I typed. A few seconds later my phone pinged with a reply.

I said not to be late
. My head was twisted with fear and my heart heavy at the decision I’d made. But now that I was committed to leaving, anger was taking the front seat. I’d moved as quickly as I could.

Why did Greg have to be such a jerk about it? Hadn’t he taken enough from me? Now he was getting ready to take more and he couldn’t give me an extra five minutes.

I reminded myself that losing my temper would not help. Greg had that video of James and me. He was probably looking for an excuse to use it. Pissing him off wouldn’t help me. The whole point of leaving James was to protect him from Greg. If I couldn’t control myself, not only would I be losing James, James might lose his company.

Taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I tapped out another text.

Sorry. I had to sneak out. Couldn’t rush. Just a few more minutes.

No response. Watching the city flash by outside the window of the cab, I tried to take Greg's silence as a good sign. My eyes blurred as tears filled them. I didn’t want to feel sorry for myself, but I was having a hard time not adding self-pity to all the other emotions roiling inside me.

I’d sworn to stay away from men. Then I’d met James, and for once it seemed like I’d found a good man, one worth loving. Now I had to leave him to protect him from my previous terrible choice.

My future stretched before me, clouded by Greg. If he was back for more this time, what was to say he wouldn’t return over and over? Especially now that he had that video. I had no real way to get it from him.

I could demand the phone he’d used to film it, but surely he’d already uploaded it to a cloud storage site or put in on a computer. I could never be sure all copies of it were truly gone. Never. It would always exist.

A tiny voice in my head whispered that James could take care of this. He could make one call to Ryan and the two of them would be all over it. Except if I didn’t face Greg in about two minutes, the video would be out there for the world to see and all the data recovery in the world couldn’t stop it.

Greg was an jerk, but he was smart enough to back me into a corner. Maybe if he’d given me a little more time to think this over, I could have come up with a better solution than giving in to blackmail. Twenty minutes had left me barely enough time to dress and flee Drake Gardens. Not even. Twenty minutes had just passed, and I was still a few miles from my house.

Two minutes
, I typed.

I’m on your back deck.

Great. The last place I wanted to be with Greg was alone in the dark. But we’d do this outside. I wasn’t letting him into my house. The cab pulled onto my quiet residential street, lined with small bungalows like my own, all dark for the night. I lived in a community of families and older residents. No one would be up at this hour. I couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.

Exiting the taxi, I closed the door as quietly as I could and headed around the side of my house. My back deck came into view, enveloped in shadows. I couldn’t see Greg, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there, watching me.

I kept the spare key to the house in a hidden compartment under my deck, secured by a combination lock. I’d never had to use it before. I hoped the lock still worked. I waited a few seconds for Greg to show himself.

When he didn’t, I decided to get the key. I’d have to move it later if Greg saw where I kept it. But I’d worry about that tomorrow. I had enough to stress over without worrying about my spare key.

The combination lock was stiff, and I had to lay on my back in the gravel beneath the low deck, but I got the key. I was coming to my feet, shoving the key in my pocket, when Greg stepped out from behind a nearby tree.

I jumped in surprise, the heels of my sandals slipping in the gravel, but I managed to stay quiet. I really didn’t want to wake the neighbors. The family on the left side of the house had two young kids. They were sweet.

On my right was Mrs. Spencer. She had ears like a hawk and hated noise. I was quiet, so it wasn’t usually a problem, but if she caught us skulking in the dark on my back deck, she’d call the police. That would be a problem.

“You’re alone,” Greg said, sounding oddly curious.

“What do you want?” I was surprised at how steady my voice was. Inside I was trembling with fear and rage.

“I wasn’t sure you’d be smart enough to ditch the guy. You almost hit the mother-load there, didn’t you? How’d you like my video?

“What do you want?” I hissed again, my stomach turning at the thought of Greg watching me with James.

How had I ever thought I liked him? Looking at Greg in the shadows of my deck, he was completely unassuming. By all rights he should have looked like a dirty, greasy weasel. Instead he was blandly handsome. Blond hair in a conservative cut. Khakis. A dark blue polo shirt. An evil man wearing the costume of a normal, everyday guy, and I’d fallen for it.

“You don’t want to talk about my movie making skills? How about we talk about distribution? I can have that video up where the whole world can see it anytime. Won’t take me more than a minute or two.”

“What. Do. You. Want?” I demanded one more time. If he wouldn’t tell me what he wanted, I couldn’t give it to him and make him leave me alone.

“I want your 401k,” he said. “I saw the statement in your files. You’ve got almost thirty grand in that thing. Sign it over to me and I’ll give you the video. And I don’t want you to see that guy again. James Drake is a problem I don’t need. You go back to him, I show the video.”

I
stared
at him in shock. What an idiot. He was right; I did have a lot in my 401k. I was an accountant. I was responsible with money. And Franklin & Scott had a very generous employer matching policy. But I couldn’t just withdraw the money and hand it over to Greg.

“That’s not how it works,” I whispered. “It’s not a bank account. I can’t go to an ATM or write you a check. I have to fill out paperwork, send it in through my human resources manager. It takes at least a week, probably more. And then there’s an early withdrawal penalty. At least 10%.”

Greg's eyes narrowed. He kicked one foot at the corner of my deck like a frustrated child.

“You’re lying,” he said.

“Why would I lie about this? I want that video. I want you to go away.”

“You have to give me something. I’m not giving you the video for nothing. Anyway, you make good money and you never spend any of it. I’m not leaving empty handed.”

My mind raced furiously. I didn’t have anything to give him. No jewelry worth pawning. Same for electronics. He’d already taken my easily accessible savings. Then a thought occurred to me.

“Why the hurry? You know I called the police after you emptied my savings. Did you know I hired a lawyer to sue you?” He shrugged and looked away. “So why risk coming after me? And you obviously know who James is. If I’d told him, he would have crushed you.”

“Not before I uploaded that video,” Greg sneered at me.

“True, but can you imagine what James would have done to you? So why come after me again? Why not find some other sucker?”

In my panic, the weirdness of Greg’s actions hadn’t penetrated. I’d only thought of protecting James by coming here to meet him, not why Greg would be doing all this in the first place. Greg shuffled his feet in the gravel and murmured something I didn’t catch.

“What?”

“I said, I owe some people money.”

“How much money?” I asked. I didn’t have cash, but I needed to know how deep in the hole he was. And how desperate he would get.

“Forty grand,” he whispered. “These aren’t people you owe money to. If I don’t get them something by tomorrow, they’re going hurt me.”

I bit back a scathing comment about how I hoped they broke both his legs. I did, but telling him that wouldn’t get rid of him.

“Forty grand? What did you do? Borrow it?”

“No,” he whined. “I took your ten grand to a game and lost it. They gave me a marker for the forty. I was on a hot streak. I was going to win it back, and then some.”

“Idiot,” I said under my breath. I should have kept my mouth shut. Greg's fist slammed into my face, catching me on my jaw, and sending me to my rear end in the gravel. I’d never been hit like that in my life.

His hands weren’t that big, but his fist felt like a sledgehammer, the pain ballooning out from my jaw, clouding my head. Saying it hurt didn’t really cover it. How did boxers do it? One punch and I was down, stunned, and a little confused.

Lifting my hand to my face, I looked at him smirking down at me. How long had he been thinking about hitting me? The knowing smile on his face spoke of a well loved thought made real. My stomach tightened. Coming here had been a mistake. I should have woken James. I should
not
have tried to deal with this on my own.

“Don’t call me an idiot,” he said, not looking the least bit sorry about hitting me. “My luck turned. It wasn’t my fault.”

“I don’t have forty grand, Greg. I don’t even have twenty.”

“You better come up with something. I saw you go shopping with that guy. Don’t tell me he didn’t buy you stuff I can pawn.”

“He did,” I said in a low voice, trying to soothe him despite my bad news. “But it’s all in my cottage. You could maybe get a few hundred for these shoes.”

I pulled at the silver straps, getting the sandals off as fast as I could. I knew they were designer, but I didn’t know which one. Used, they could be worth a hundred or a thousand. Greg wouldn’t know the difference. Getting to my feet, I handed him the sandals.

“Shoes? That’s the best you can do?”

My mind raced, searching for something, anything I could come up with to make him leave.

“My car,” I said. “It’s only three years old. Paid off. I have the title inside. I’ll sign it over to you. It has to be worth at least twenty grand.”

I loved that car. A beige sedan, it wasn’t exciting on the outside, but I’d splurged and gotten upgrades on the interior. Leather, sunroof, nav system, all the bells and whistles. I’d planned to drive it for at least another six or seven years.

Along with the house, it was the first adult possession I’d purchased after I got my job. But if giving it to Greg would get him to leave, I’d do it. Greg's expression brightened at my offer. His head lifted, and he looked around.

“You came here in a cab. Where’s the car?”

“At the Drake Gardens, in the parking lot. I have a spare key and the title inside. I’ll give them to you, and you can go get the car, take it, and sell it first thing in the morning for cash.”

“I won’t get twenty grand for it if I sell it to a used car dealer,” he said, sulking like a child. He might be acting immature, but he wasn’t entirely stupid. No way would he get twenty grand for it from a dealer. And he didn’t have the time to sell it to a private owner.

“No. But that’s the best I have for you. You know I don’t have any expensive jewelry or a big TV. That car is the only thing I own that you can turn into cash by tomorrow.”

Greg studied the ground between his feet, thinking. My heart thudded in my chest. If I gave him my car, I’d be in worse financial shape than I already was. Thanks to his raid on my savings account, I didn’t have enough for a down payment on a new one.

But that was the least of my problems at the moment. I needed to make Greg happy enough to leave me alone. And to forget about using that video. Finally, he looked up.

“Let’s go inside and get the key and the title.”

Relief and dismay swamped me. Relief that he’d take the car. Dismay at being alone in the house with him. I didn’t trust him. He’d hit me already. And he’d liked it. Who knew what he’d do when we were alone?

“I’m not going in the house with you,” I said. I wasn’t budging on that. Out here I had Mrs. Spencer next door. She was sleeping, but if I screamed, she’d be on the phone with the cops in a second. Once I was inside the house, all bets were off.

“You go in. The title is in my file cabinet, top drawer. In the file labeled Honda Accord EX-L. The spare key is in the same file. You can take them and go.”

Greg eyed me warily. “You’re not going to ask me for the video?”

I rolled my eyes. “Is the only copy on that phone?” I asked. Greg scoffed at me.

“Of course not.”

“Then what’s the point of getting the phone from you? You could have a hundred copies of the video stashed all over the place. But you know what would happen if you used them, right? The only thing keeping me from calling James is that I don’t want that video to get out. If you release it, he’ll come straight for you. You do know that, don’t you?”

Greg glared at me, his jaw clenched tight. He knew I was right. A single woman with few resources was a good target for his brand of petty blackmail. But if he drew James’s attention, he’d be in major trouble. Once that video was released, James would have no reason to hold back. And I had nothing left for Greg to take.

“I want your 401k,” Greg said. I shook my head. He didn’t know when to give up.

“Greg, you don’t have time for that. It’ll leave a huge paper trail. And James will want to know why I ran out on him. He’s going to come find me.”

As I said that, I realized it was the truth. James would be angry. He might hate me and want nothing more to do with me. But he’d at least track me down to get an explanation.

My heart sank. If I told him the truth, he’d go after Greg. And as twitchy as Greg was, he might release the video the second he caught sight of James. He could have already uploaded it to streaming sites, just one click shy of going wide. I needed to convince Greg to get out of Atlanta.

“You need to take my car, trade it for cash and get lost. Find the rest of the money you need somewhere else. Like New York. Or Miami.”

“I told you to stay away from Drake,” he said. “You go near him, I’ll release the video.”

“I’m not going back to him, okay? But he knows where I live. He may come here. I can’t control James Drake. This is your only chance. Take my car, get as much cash for it as you can, and run. Don’t bother coming back for more. This is it. I don’t have anything else to give you. It’ll take me years to make up for what you’ve already taken.”

“Fine. But I’m not leaving you alone out here. Open the door and get in the house.”