The Wager: A Billionaire Romance (18 page)

"It's my mother," I whispered to Mel before answering the call.

"Hello, Mom?" I said.

"Oh Lily," I heard my mom sob on the other end.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I could feel my body tense and a sick feeling settle in the pit of my stomach as I waited for her response. It wasn't like my mother to ever cry, so the fact that she was sobbing to me over the phone did not bode well at all.

"It's your father. He's gotten into an accident. The d-doctors say he might not make it," she said before breaking down into another fit of tears.

I felt the color drain from my cheeks and my whole body go numb at her words. The phone slipped from my hands and landed on the table in a loud clunk.

"Lily what happened? Are you okay?" I heard Mel ask, but I was too stunned to say anything. She reached over and grabbed my shoulder and gave me a hard shake. "Hey Lily! Snap out of it," she demanded.

I looked up at her, trying to focus on her face, but my mind felt like it was drowning in quicksand. She shoved the phone in my hand and lifted both brows at me imploringly. I lifted the phone to my ear to hear my mother's cries on the other end. That brought me out of my temporary stupor. My mother needed me right now. I couldn't check out, I had to make sure she was okay and then I had to go home.

"Mom, I'll be home tonight," I said. I hung up the phone after giving what little comfort I could and telling her everything would be okay. My hands shook as I pressed the end call button and I sat back against my chair. There were a million thoughts running through my mind, and I didn't even know where to start.

"What do you need?" Mel asked.

"I...I don't know," I said. "I've got to get up to Maine tonight. Then the shop, oh I've got to call Doris, and my cat, someone has to feed Misty. I've got to pack," I rambled.

"Calm down and take a deep breath," Mel ordered. "I'll head back to the apartment and pack up a suitcase for you. You can call Doris now to let her know you'll be out of town for a while. I'm sure she and Miguel can take care of the shop while you're gone. You can borrow my car to take up to Maine, and I'll take care of Misty for you, okay?"

I nodded my head numbly. "Thanks Mel, you're a--"

"Life saver," she finished for me. I gave her a weak smile before picking up my phone and calling Doris.

I didn't think it was possible ten minutes ago, but my week had suddenly gone from bad to worse.

Chapter Twelve: Roman

"Get yourself together, man!"

I lifted my head off my desk and stared bleary eyed at my cousin Rob who had stormed into my office.

"This has gone too far. What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"If you're going to chew me out in my office, the least you could do is close the door," I muttered.

"This isn't like you, Roman. You've been running around acting like a mad man for two weeks. You're scaring your staff and people are starting to talk," he said, closing the door behind him.

I stared unseeingly at my cousin, my mind replaying that scene outside Lily's apartment over and over again. I couldn't erase the image of the hurt and anger in her eyes as she confronted me about the wager. That stupid fucking bet I was foolish and arrogant enough to make. The irony was that I had fallen in love with her, and now I had ruined any chance we had. I realized it too late, though. There was nothing I could do about it.

She wouldn't see me or speak to me. Every attempt I made to try and see her was rebuffed. Every gift I sent her was promptly refused and sent back. I felt powerless and hopeless. I couldn't care less about the gossip about me. Let them talk. Nothing could damage me worse than I'd already done to myself.

"Well? Are you going to answer me?" he asked.

Rob walked towards my desk and snatched the bottle of brandy off of it, looking at me disgustedly. I guess I deserved that. I never came to the office drunk. It was something I always thought was sloppy and unprofessional. But after last night and being rebuffed for the umpteenth time, I just lost control. Going back to my empty cold apartment was unappealing, so I came here and proceeded to get wasted. Now here I was the next morning, probably looking like a mess and feeling ten times worse, but I found I couldn't muster up the energy to care.

"I fucked up, Rob," I said.

He stood there, looking down at me expectantly. "What did you do?"

I closed my eyes and ran my hands over my face, feeling the rough coarse stubble against my palm. Finally I spoke and told him about that awful bet I'd made with Warren. I confessed it all--my arrogance and conceit thinking how easy it would be to make Lily fall in love with me. Never once taking her feelings into consideration.

I told him about how different she was from all the other women I'd been with and how I was falling for her. Then I told him about her finding out about the bet after overhearing my conversation with Warren. That awful conversation where I pretended she meant nothing to me and I was just with her that night out of pity. I shuddered at the memory.

"Damn, Roman you really did mess this all up," he said, letting out a low whistle. "She's got every right to feel angry and betrayed. I wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted to speak to you again."

"Thanks for your brilliant insight and support," I said sarcastically.

"I'm just telling you the truth which is probably not something you get a lot of in your life."

I shot Rob a glare and narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't think I don't hate myself for it," I said. "But if you're not going to say anything useful then you can get out right now and leave that bottle on my desk."

"Chill out Roman. You deserve a bit of a rake over the coals for what you pulled. I mean what were you even thinking, making a bet like that? You can't go around treating people like chess pieces that you can manipulate and maneuver any which way you like. It's really a bit of karmic justice that you were the one who fell for her in the end. Maybe it will teach you a lesson not to mess with people like that again."

I hung my head down in shame and closed my eyes. As much as I wanted to be angry and to yell at Rob, I couldn't deny that he was absolutely right. I deserved everything that was happening to me for what I did. Thinking back on it, I couldn't believe the sick bastard that I was to even make a bet like that. Maybe it was the fact that I wanted to put Warren in his place, or maybe I was just bored, but that didn't excuse my actions; it didn't even come close. Now I was paying the price for my arrogance.

"You really love her, don't you?" Rob asked.

I lifted my head and looked at him dead in the eye. "What difference does it make? It's over. She wants nothing to do with me."

"Have you tried apologizing to her?"

"It's impossible to apologize to someone when they won't talk to or see you. She's completely blocked me from her life. She hasn't been to her book store in a week and her employees won't tell me anything. Hell, they won't even let me step foot in the shop."

"And you let them?" Rob asked astonished.

"What the hell can I do? I'm sure they'd lock the doors or call the cops if I tried to barge in."

"Isn't there someone else you know who could convince her to see you?"

"There isn't anyone I know who would be able to--," I paused as a sudden thought hit me.

"What is it?" Rob asked.

"You're a genius!" I said, sitting up excitedly.

"Thank you, I'm glad you finally acknowledge it, but uh...what did I do?"

"Chad. I have to talk to Chad," I said, pulling out my phone and scrolling for his number.

"Roman calm down one second and explain yourself. Right now you're sounding crazy."

I blew out an exasperated breath and glared at Rob impatiently. "Chad is dating Lily's friend," I explained slowly. "I have to call Chad so I can speak to his girlfriend who in turn will talk to Lily."

"And you think this friend of hers will help you?" he asked skeptically.

"She has to," I said, brooking no argument.

"For your sake, I hope she does," he said.

Rob sat in the seat on the other side of my desk and watched me as I searched for Chad's number. I cursed when I went through all my contacts and couldn't find it. He remained silent as I called my assistant Lara in to get me his contact information ASAP. I felt a little flush of guilt at the way I'd barked at her, but I'd make it up to her later.

"Are you just going to sit there and stare at me?" I finally snapped at Rob.

"I'm just storing this all in for future reference. Some day when this is all resolved, I'll remind you of this day and how utterly batshit you acted. We'll have a good laugh about it, or at least I will."

"You're lucky you're my cousin and right now I've got bigger fish to fry or I would have laid you flat out on the floor already."

"And that's my cue to leave," Rob said laughing. "I really hope things work out for you Roman," he added more seriously before he left. "She does owe me a dance after all."

I waited for the door to close behind him before I dialed Chad's number. It rang three times before I heard his cheerful voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Hey Chad. This is Roman Conrad."

"Oh hey!" he said sounding surprised.

"Listen, I know this might sound a little strange, but are you still dating Cora's daughter? I think her name was Mel," I asked.

"Uh...listen Roman, I think I know what you want and I'm sorry, but I can't help you," he said.

I mentally cursed. So Chad knew about it too. I assumed Mel had warned him about me, but I was desperate and I felt like they were my last hope. I couldn't give up just yet.

"I don't know what you've heard," I began, "but could you just ask her to meet with me so I can explain myself?"

"I don't know about that," he hesitated.

"I'm asking you for this favor, Chad. It would really mean a lot to me and I won't forget it," I said.

There was a long pause and I began to fear he would deny me again. My heart sank at the thought of my last hope slipping away. Finally he spoke.

"Here's what I'll do. I'll talk to Mel when she gets back and try to convince her to meet with you. I can't make any promises though. I don't know what you did, but she was pretty pissed off with you," he said.

"Thanks, man. I appreciate it," I said.

It wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, but it was better than being flat out denied. Maybe Chad would be able to convince his girlfriend to meet with me. I had to explain my side to her and hopefully she'd be able to get Lily to finally see me.

***

Chad called back half an hour later and I pick up the phone on the first ring.

"So here's the bad news. She says she doesn't want to meet with you in person," Chad began. "But she says she'll hear what you have to say over the phone."

My shoulders had begun to hunch when Chad first spoke, but at his last words, I was sitting up straight with my head up. "You mean she'll agree to talk with me?" I asked.

"Yes, she's here right now. One second," he said. I heard him hand over the phone and a hard voice came on the other line.

"You've got exactly five minutes to explain yourself," Mel demanded.

My mind was moving a thousand miles a minute. Here I only had five minutes to say everything I needed to say to convince her to help me. Where did I even start?

"You've got four minutes; you better start talking or I'm going to hang up," she said, harshly.

"Wait!" I said. "How is she? How's Lily?"

"None of your concern," she answered. "You've got three minutes and thirty seconds now."

I shook my head, feeling the irony of this girl actually bossing me around. I'd never been in this humble and desperate situation before. Usually it was me on the other end, acting as the bully and being demanding, but love made you do crazy things. I swallowed my pride and finally spoke.

"I have no excuse for what I did. It was stupid and cruel and you can't imagine how much I regret it. All I can say is that somewhere along the line, I fell in love with Lily."

"Why should I believe you?" she asked.

"It's the truth. I love just about everything about her, the way her eyes crinkle up at the corners when she smiles, or the way she tucks her hair behind her ear when she's reading a book, even the way she snorts when she finds something funny. I love the way she smells like mint and lavender from her shampoo, or how she cries at the ASPCA commercials that come on TV," I explained.

"Wow, you really do love her huh?" she sounded surprised.

"Yes," I answered simply.

There was a long pause before she spoke again.

"You're an idiot," she bit out harshly. "I thought you two would have been perfect for each other when I first met you, and you know the crazy thing is I still think that, but the shit you pulled might have just ruined any chance you two might have had. No let me finish--," she said cutting me off as I was about to respond. "I've known Lily since freshman year of college. Do you have any idea what she was like back then? She was such an insecure and timid little thing. So scared to trust or believe anyone would actually like her for herself. Do you know why she was like that?" she continued.