Waking Up with a Billionaire (The Overnight Billionaires Book 3) (25 page)

Zac, who had been listening, burst out laughing. “Now that’s a book you need to read, honey.”

The woman shoved the book at Chloe. “Here, you can read it on the plane. I have plenty of others.”

Since Chloe had no plans of flying to Thailand, she shook her head. “No, thank you. I’m not much of a reader.”

“I wouldn’t mind reading it.” Zac took the book. “It sounds kind of interesting.” Before Chloe realized what he was doing, he’d reached for the zipper on her bag and unzipped it. “Could you hold it for me, sweet—” He abruptly cut off when the microphone popped out through the opening.

Holy shit
.
Okay, now Chloe was scared. Especially when Zac’s eyes darkened.

“What the hell is that?” he growled in a low voice. But not low enough for the book woman not to hear.

“Well, it looks like some listening device to me,” she said. “I read this spy novel about a device like that. This CIA agent posed as a hotel maid and got all kinds of info—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Zac said.

The woman blinked. “Excuse me?”

Zac grabbed Chloe’s arm and jerked her close. “Where are the cops?”

Chloe wished she knew. When she had called her FBI agent friend from The Lemon Drop and asked for his help, Jeff had notified SFPD, and they had quickly set up the sting. Jeff had said that he and the other officers would be watching her the entire time and assured her that Zac would be arrested as soon as she got him to confess to running the escort service. Now it looked as if she would have to deal with Zac by herself.

“Stop being paranoid,” she said with a laugh. “That’s the microphone for my new video camera. I’ve never been to Thailand, and I wanted to film—”

Zac hooked an arm around her throat, cutting off her words and breathing. “You fuckin’ bitch. I should snap your neck right here and now.”

“Hey,” the book lady said, “you let go of that young woman right now.” She grabbed his arm, but Zac shoved her away, causing her to trip over her roller bag and sit down hard on the floor of the Jetway. People raced to help her, oblivious to the fact that Chloe was the one in danger.

Although she didn’t feel scared. She just felt pissed. Pissed at Zac for shoving a nice lady. And pissed at herself for ever having gotten involved with such a jerk.

Lowering her chin, she bit Zac’s arm, and at the same time rammed her elbow into his ribs. He released her, but instead of running, she did what she’d wanted to for a long time. She beat the shit out of him. She kicked and punched and kneed him in the nuts. And she would’ve continued to pummel him if Jeff hadn’t stopped her.

“That’s good, Chloe.” He hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her off Zac. “We’ll take things from here.” He waited for the two uniformed cops to handcuff Zac before he released her. “Are you okay?”

She looked at Zac, who was still bent over in pain, and smiled. “Yeah, I think I am. I think I’m finally okay.”

W
ith the way his father loved flashy cars and gold jewelry, Grayson thought Donny John’s wedding would rival George Clooney’s. Instead his father wore a simple gray suit and got married in the gazebo of his new backyard with only family in attendance. Although he did wear plenty of diamonds and gold that flashed in the late-afternoon sun. Standing next to his bride, who was wearing a modest floral dress with no jewelry, he looked like an old rapper. He also looked happy. Happier than Grayson had ever seen him. Which left Grayson feeling even more depressed and angry. And when the cake had been cut and Deacon had made the toast, Grayson headed to his rental car. But he didn’t even make it to the back door before his father stopped him.

“Grayson Romeo!” When he turned, Donny John attempted to give him a stern-father look. But since he had never been a stern father, it fell short. “You’re not thinking about leaving, are you? Suzanne would be very disappointed if you did.”

“I’m sure she’ll live. She has her own family to visit with.” He continued to the back door.

Donny John followed. “Well, if your mind’s made up, I guess it’s made up. But before you leave, I want to show you my man cave.”

While the wedding had surprised him, Donny John’s man cave was exactly what Grayson had expected. It was over the top. There were a pool table, a poker table, slot and pinball machines, a carnival popcorn machine, and a long saloon-style bar that ran the length of one entire wall. On the other side of the massive room was a theater, complete with a large-screen television and a row of cushioned recliners.

Donny John held out his arms. “Well, what do you think?”

“I think Deacon’s giving you too much of an allowance.”

Donny John chuckled. “Mikey’s birth has made him a lot more generous. Is that the cutest kid you’ve ever seen?” He walked behind the bar and poured two glasses of Johnnie Walker whisky. Since it didn’t look like he was going to get away without a drink, Grayson took a seat on one of the leather barstools and accepted the glass.

“To family.” Donny John clicked their glasses. “And finding love.” Since Grayson couldn’t drink to that, he set his glass on the bar without taking a sip. Donny John downed his drink and released a sigh before studying Grayson. “So Deacon told me that you were going to bring a girl with you to the wedding. What happened? Did you two break up? Is that why you look like you just lost your best friend?”

Grayson had never had a best friend—he’d had his brothers and his art—and if losing one felt like this, he didn’t want one. When he had seen Chloe packing, he’d felt like someone had reached into his chest and ripped his heart out, leaving him with a gaping hole that nothing seemed to fill. After Kelly had told him about Chloe meeting Zac, he still hadn’t believed it. He’d thought that all he had to do was go home and Chloe would be waiting to explain everything. But she hadn’t been waiting…she’d been leaving. And her inability to explain had made him realize that he’d put his trust in the wrong woman.

After leaving his house, he’d driven all the way down the coast and into Mexico, not stopping until he was so tired he couldn’t keep his eyes open. He got a room in a fleabag hotel and was awakened early in the morning by the couple in the next room having wall-banging sex. Which made Grayson think of Chloe and the gaping hole in his chest. Unable to get back to sleep, he’d checked out and would’ve continued to drive south if Deacon hadn’t called and bawled him out for not being at the private airfield where French Kiss kept their jet. And when he found out that Grayson wasn’t planning on attending their father’s wedding after all, the shit really hit the fan. So Grayson had turned around and driven to San Diego, where he’d hopped a plane to Louisiana. Now he wished he’d stayed in Mexico.

“Look”—he got up from his barstool—“I really need to get going.”

“Now, not so fast. There’s something that I wanted to give you.” His father reached beneath the bar and pulled out a thin wrapped package. “This was all Suzanne’s idea, and I’m still not so sure it’s a good one. It’s hard to rehash old memories—especially painful ones.”

Suddenly wary, Grayson only stared at the package. “What is it?”

“Old movies that I took when you boys were little. We found them in a box when Suzanne was helping me move, and she thought she’d surprise me and have them put on a DVD.”

Grayson swallowed hard as he continued to look at the present. “Is Mom in them?”

Donny John nodded solemnly. “That’s why they were hidden in a box. After she died I couldn’t bring myself to watch them.” He blinked as if fighting tears. Grayson knew how he felt. His own eyes suddenly felt hot and heavy.

“So you haven’t looked at it?”

“I watched it, but I sure put up a fight.” Donny John shook his head. “It’s the darned stubborn Beaumont streak that we all have. Poor Suzanne doesn’t know what she’s in for. Although she certainly got a taste of it the night she gave me that DVD. I threw quite the tantrum. I yelled at her for taking the movies without my permission and told her to get the hell out of my house and never come back. Once she left I grabbed all the movies and DVD and threw them in the trash.” A smile tipped his lips. “But God had other plans. On my trip to San Francisco for Nash’s wedding, I couldn’t stop thinking about the hurt way Suzanne had looked before she walked out. And then when Mikey was born, I was reminded of you boys’ births and the joy I’d felt the first time I held you in my arms. So when I got back to Louisiana, I watched the damned DVD.”

Tears flooded Donny John’s eyes. “And as painful as it was seeing your mother so happy and full of life, it also made me realize how much she loved us. And how much she would want us to be happy.” He smiled. “I proposed to Suzanne that very next morning. As soon as she accepted, this overwhelming feeling of peace surrounded me. Like your mama had given us her blessing. Which makes sense after the promise she made me give her.”

“What promise?” Grayson asked.

Donny John released his breath in a long sigh. “Before she died, your mother made me promise to find a good woman who would love me and her boys like she did. I think she knew that I would need some help raising you.” A tear splashed down his cheek. “And I guess she was right.”

Grayson had never seen Donny John cry. His father had always been bright smiles and clever jokes. And he didn’t know how to react to his father’s tears. But what he did know was that he couldn’t deal with watching a movie of his mom.

“I don’t want it,” he said.

Donny John studied him for a moment before he nodded. “Suit yourself.” He grabbed a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped his eyes. Grayson recognized the white cotton with the little embroidered purple flowers immediately. It was identical to the ones Nash and Deacon carried. Grayson had one too, but he didn’t carry it. Just the sight of the delicate flowers made him angry that he couldn’t remember his mother stitching them on. But the fact that his father still carried the hankie, even on his wedding day, made Grayson realize that Donny John would never forget his first wife. She would always hold a place in his heart, and he would always cherish his memories of her. It seemed the only one refusing to keep Althea in his heart was Grayson.

“Well, I better get back to the party.” Donny John moved around the bar. “Just leave the DVD there.”

While Donny John went back upstairs to enjoy his wedding reception, Grayson sat and stared at the DVD as he sipped his drink. When the glass was empty, he poured himself another. After he finished that drink, he unwrapped the DVD and stared at it some more.

Finally he carried it over to the shelf of electronics beneath the flat-screen television and placed it in the DVD player. It took him a while to figure out how to turn on the television, and a little while longer to figure out the remotes. Once he had everything working, he sat in a recliner and pushed the play button.

The first images were of Deacon as a baby. It was surprising how much he looked like Mikey. But Grayson forgot all about the similarities when an image of his mother flashed up on the screen. She was leaning over Deacon’s crib. His father was right. She looked young and happy, and the expression of happiness and love grew as she helped Deacon learn how to build block towers, then walk, then ride a trike. Nash arrived next. And once again his mother was in almost every frame, smiling and laughing. Finally Grayson showed up.

After all the time he’d spent trying to remember his mother, here she was, cradling him close to her breast, singing him to sleep, laughing as he made a mess of his first birthday cake, and beaming when she stood over him as he colored a picture. Grayson wanted to reach out and touch the screen to see if her skin felt as soft as it looked—if her hair was as silky. Instead he just sat there enthralled.

Until the final scene flashed on the screen. A scene where a little boy hesitantly brought a picture into a room and held it out to the woman in the bed. A woman who didn’t look like the smiling young mother in the previous clips. This woman looked pale and thin. Like a swift wind could easily carry her away.

And it had.

Just that quickly the memories came flooding back like water from a dam that had just been released. Grayson remembered. He remembered the warmth of her arms, and the fresh scent of her skin, and the way her smile could make him feel like everything was going to be okay. And he also remembered the last few days of her life. When she’d turned into someone he hadn’t recognized. Someone who scared him. Suddenly he realized why he’d suppressed the memory of his mom. He hadn’t wanted to remember those last few months and the frail, pale woman his mother had become. He’d wanted to remember the youthful, pretty mother he’d loved.

Now he understood perfectly why Chloe had run away. Grayson had done the same thing. He had run from the memories of a sickly mother who couldn’t love him. But he’d been just as wrong as Chloe. Because now that Grayson was older, he could see beyond the pale, sickly skin and frail body and see the love shining in his mother’s eyes. Love that filled the gap in his heart and made him realize that his biggest fear had been nothing but a lie. He had a mother. A mother who had loved him, and cherished him, and cradled him. He hadn’t gotten to keep her for as long as some people did, but he’d been blessed to have her, even for so short a time.

Long after the DVD was over, he continued to stare at the blank screen. Finally he wiped the tears from his eyes and got up. He took the DVD out of the player and put it back in the case, then carefully placed it on the bar. He would retrieve it before he left, but for now there was something he needed to do.

When he stepped out the back door, night had fallen, and the party was in full swing. The chairs had been removed from the gazebo, and it had been turned into a dance floor with strings of white lights draped overhead. It seemed everyone was dancing. Suzanne’s relatives had paired off. Nash swung a laughing Eden around. Deacon held Mikey with one arm and Olivia with the other as they swayed back and forth to the music. And in the midst Grayson finally spotted Donny John doing a graceful waltz with his bride.

Grayson crossed the lawn to the gazebo and wove through the dancers until he reached his father. When Donny John saw him, he stopped dancing.

“I thought you left, Grayson.”

“I changed my mind.” He nodded at Suzanne. “Could I cut in?”

Donny John looked surprised for only a second before a bright smile spread across his face. “Of course.” He pointed a finger. “But don’t even think about stealing my girl.” With a wink at Suzanne, he headed over to Deacon and took his sleeping grandson.

Grayson held a hand out to Suzanne, who looked a little skeptical. He couldn’t blame her. He hadn’t said more than two words to her since they’d been introduced. “Would you do me the honor?”

It took Suzanne a moment to nod. Grayson had never been as good a dancer as his father and Nash. In fact he had two left feet. So he didn’t try for anything fancy. He just shuffled in an awkward circle and tried to figure out where to start. Suzanne helped him out.

“So your father told me that he gave you one of the DVDs I had made,” she said. “And I want you to know, Grayson, that I didn’t do it to hurt anyone. I just thought that you’d want a keepsake of your mother.”

For the first time, Grayson really looked at Suzanne. After his mother died, his father had always dated big-busted blondes, but Suzanne was neither. She had gray hair that was short and stylish and a petite body similar to Grayson’s mom’s. She didn’t dress sexily or flamboyantly. Her floral dress was nice but conservative, the neckline high and the hem low. The wrinkles around her eyes spoke of years of laughter as the kindness in their blue depths spoke of a good heart. The kindness gave him the courage to say what needed to be said.

“It was the best gift anyone has ever given me. And I would like to apologize for my behavior. I have no excuse but Beaumont stubbornness. Something I’m sure you’re aware of, since you married my dad.”

She laughed. It wasn’t as musical-sounding as his mother’s, but it was close. “I figured out he was stubborn the first time his dog treed my cat. When I knocked on his door to tell him, he just smiled that wicked smile of his and said, ‘You can’t change a leopard’s spots or a dog’s instincts.’” She grinned. “At the time I was madder than a wet hen, but looking back, I have to agree. Your father is as stubborn as the day is long, but I wouldn’t change him for the world. I like his spots just as they are.”

Grayson laughed. “Then you have more patience than me and my brothers.”

“Oh, I don’t know if that’s true,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes. “The man can make me lose my temper faster than anyone I’ve ever met. But I think the best relationships have a little spice with their sugar.” She straightened his tie. “Now what happened to this young lady that you were supposed to bring?”

The last person Grayson wanted to talk about was Chloe, yet he wasn’t about to be rude to Suzanne again. “She left me.”