WIFE WANTED (A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (18 page)

“Just thinking that maybe…maybe I need to make a few changes in my life.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Go after Yancey and take him down a peg or two.” Phoebe wasn’t sure where the sudden urge to go through with her plans came from. Maybe her time with Ben had done more for her than she thought. “He can’t get away with whatever he’s doing.”

Mitch set down his fork and fiddled with his wine glass. “Are you sure you want to do that? A man like William Yancey…he’s got a lot of pull with a lot of bad people. And that guy following me the other day—I don’t want them to start going after you.”

“How do you know he was following you?”

“I do business with men like him during the week. They’re sharks. They circle their prey until the right moment to strike. Sending goons like that is not unheard of.”

Phoebe gulped at the image of Yancey as a great white but shook her head. “I don’t care. He can’t threaten me like that, can’t use my mom against me.”

Mitch’s grip on the wine glass nearly broke it, and Phoebe shot him a worried look. “He used your mom?”

“Yeah. Asshole, right?”

He nodded stiffly. “Well then, if that’s what you want to do, I’ll help you however I can.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but after tonight. I think right now you need some good old fashion hang-out time,” he said, reaching out and laying his hand gently over hers. It was warm and felt good, but nothing like when Ben touched her. There was no shock of electricity. No warming deep within her, no anticipation of what else that touch might mean. Just a touch. Soft and sweet.

She squeezed his hand back and dug into her food once more. They talked about random things mostly, and Mitch, surprisingly, had a better sense of humor than she originally thought. Before long, he had her clutching her sides with mirth as he poured the last of the wine. Finished with dinner, they made it to the couch, where Phoebe motioned for him to sit beside her. There really was no beating around the bush. If she was going to marry him soon, she might as well let him sit beside her on the couch. They stared at each other as the laughter finally died away, and Phoebe tried to see who this man really was. She saw something else in his eyes besides the gentleness he was trying to show. There was something there, something that kept appearing and disappearing in his eyes as she looked. A side of him he didn’t want her to see yet.

Or not at all.

Their first date still lingered in the back of her mind as something she did not wish to repeat, ever. But what was to say that side of him wouldn’t come out again? What if it got worse?

As her thoughts started to wander, he reached out a gentle hand and cupped her chin. Phoebe felt her breath catch as he leaned in but not all the way. He waited, like a gentleman, for her to lean in and accept his kiss. But when she looked at his face, she saw Ben’s crooked pirate grin as he’d swept her off her feet and made this weekend the most magical time she’d ever spent with a man. Mitch would never even come close. The idea made her want to pull away, but her brain made her do what her heart could not. She leaned in and their lips met.

His lips were soft and gentle as the kiss started to deepen. For a moment, Phoebe didn’t think she would feel anything, but there was a little spark. Definitely not the fireworks she’d had with Ben. This was something else. A feeling of desperation, of a need to be close to the man who was hopefully going to save her from the harshness of this reality.

Before long, Phoebe found herself leading Mitch back to her bedroom and kicking the door closed behind them.

***

Mitch rolled out of bed quietly as Phoebe slept beside him. The night had been interesting, to say the least. He hadn’t expected to get laid, but she’d wanted him. Her sudden wanting him confused Mitch, but he didn’t argue. As much as he had told himself to keep his distance, just like he did with all his other marks, he found himself caring for this woman who was so damn innocent she couldn’t see the truth right in front of her. She reminded him of another woman he’d known a long time ago, before his job had taken him too far away from her and what she could handle.

Phoebe would react the same way if she ever found out.

Not that you care
, he thought to himself as he slipped his clothes back on and snuck out her bedroom door. She wouldn’t be up for a few hours, and he wanted to look for those files. If he could get his hands on them now, it would save him the trouble of trying to scare her later. He would have to make her understand that going after Yancey was a bad idea. If she kept pushing, Yancey would hire someone else to take care of Phoebe. Then he’d hear about her body being found in the river a few days later. Strangled or shot. No, he didn’t want that for her.

He started in the living room, then moved on to the kitchen, but turned up nothing. He double-checked her desk drawers, the closet, and even the bathroom, but there was no sign of the files. The last place was her bedroom. He crept back in to find her still snoring quietly. At least she slept soundly enough.

Mitch started with her dresser, slowly opening her nightstand drawers, waiting for her to wake up and catch him in the act. But she heard nothing. Running out of time, he checked her closet and smiled when he found a floor safe. It was small and couldn’t hold much, but there could definitely be files in it. He pulled out his lock picks from his wallet and went to work. It only took a few minutes before it popped open with a loud clink. He cursed and glanced behind him, but she didn’t stir. Sighing and muttering to himself, he opened the safe and glanced inside.

No files. Nothing he needed.

Damn. He was going to have to use scare tactics after all.

***

Phoebe rolled over and stretched as her alarm went off. Morning already. She started to ask Mitch if he was going to be late for work, but when she sat up and looked around, he wasn’t there. His spot in the bed was cold. He’d just up and left her, doing the one thing she assumed Ben would have done. She pulled the sheet up over herself and held it there tightly, cursing herself for giving in to her emotions last night. Apparently, Mitch had not been on the same page as her.

Her alarm was still shrilling, and she reached over to stop it before she wound up chucking it across the room and breaking it. She got up and showered, trying not to let herself get too upset about it. Although, if this was the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with, she’d hoped this morning would’ve been a bit better.

As she made her way into the kitchen, ready to head into work, she noticed a note taped to her coffee pot. It had been turned on sometime that morning. Still on and hot.

“Well, just help yourself,” she snapped as she yanked the note off.

But when she opened it up to read, she felt all her anger slip away. He’d been called into the office an hour ago and hadn’t wanted to wake her. So he made coffee for her and hoped that would be enough to suffice until he could do something more to make up for leaving. He even told her how much he enjoyed last night.

“Good, you better have enjoyed it,” she said as her phone buzzed in her purse.

She was running a few minutes behind. Why not a few more? She pulled it out to find Mitch on the other line. “Mitch, hey, I just got your note—”

“Phoebe! Are you still in your apartment?”

He sounded out of breath, almost scared. “Yeah, why? What’s wrong?”

“Listen, someone’s following me again. Since I left your place. I think it’s one of Yancey’s guys.”

Phoebe gripped the counter, shaking her head. She’d really thought Mitch had been exaggerating when he’d said Yancey had power. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think you’re being watched. I don’t think you should go through with your plan.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“They know where you live, Phoebe. Things just got serious. If they break in and you’re home…” He trailed off, and Phoebe felt her stomach plummet to the floor. “Phoebe, you still there?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here,” she whispered, then coughed to clear her throat. “What do I do?”

“Take the files and get rid of them,” he said. “If they break in and find nothing, they’ll leave you alone. It’s not worth it, Phoebe. Just forget you ever saw anything and go about your day as normal. Call me if you notice anyone following you.”

She nodded slowly as she dropped her purse and ran into her bedroom closet. “Ok, I’ll throw them in a dumpster.”

He told her he’d keep in touch throughout the day but to make sure she got rid of the files, no matter what. Phoebe hung up and went to her closet, opened the floor safe, and reached in a hand only to find that the files weren’t there.

“Ben… I showed them to Ben…” And then what? They’d wound up back in her bedroom, and the files had been left on the living room floor.

Did he take the files from her? But why? She closed the safe slowly and stood as footsteps rushed past her front door. She turned off her closet light and closed the door. Mitch had said the men had been following him since he’d left her apartment. What if some of them stayed behind?

Someone pounded on her door, and she clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her scream.

They were coming for her. And she didn’t have the files.

She was going to die.

Phoebe opened the closet again and pressed herself as far back into it as she could. Her cell lay on the floor at her feet, but before she could reach for it, she heard her front door burst open and footsteps rushed inside. Phoebe glanced around for anything she could use as a weapon, and her hand landed on a high-heeled shoe just as the steps rushed into her bedroom. She took a deep breath and counted to three before she charged out of the closet, shoe held as a weapon in her hand as she yelled.

“What the hell—” Charlotte screamed as she dove across the bed.

“Charlotte?”

“Who else, you psycho? Put that damn shoe down before you hurt someone!”

“Why do you keep breaking into my place!”

“I didn’t, I have a key,” she snapped. “Never mind. Why didn’t you answer your phone? I called you like seven times!”

“I was on the phone with someone,” Phoebe muttered as she sat down, waiting for her heart to stop pounding. She really needed to get her key back from her friend unless she was out of town. “What’s wrong?”

“Your mom,” Charlotte said in a rush. “She had a mild heart attack, but they stabilized her and she’s awake. Asking for you.”

Phoebe couldn’t breathe. This was it. Everything came to this moment. She grabbed her cell from the floor and her purse from the kitchen and rushed out her door after Charlotte, heading to the hospital to see her mother.

Chapter 19

It was mid-afternoon when Riley finally set down the files he’d taken from Anna and rubbed his eyes. Things were not going according to plan. This whole marry-in-two-months was starting to eat at him. Granted, it had only been two weeks, but he still wasn’t sure what was going on. Add that to the issues with the Chandler woman and Yancey, and he found himself floundering, trying to stay above the rising tide of whatever the hell was going on.

“Riley,” Linda said over the intercom, “your Aunt Bethany is on the phone for you.”

“Bethany…the ranch,” he muttered and told Linda to send the call through. He’d all but forgotten that he’d asked his aunts to check the place out and see if they could find anything left behind by his grandfather that might give him some clues.

“Riley,” Bethany said when he answered. “How are you holding up, kid?”

“I think I’m all right,” he said. “How’s the ranch?”

“It’s beautiful, as always,” she told him. “And I wanted to let you know, we may have found something you need to see. There was a safe in your grandfather’s study. I’m sure you knew about it.”

“Yeah, he kept a few things in there.”

Bethany laughed. “A few things, yes. Well, he must have added quite a few things since the last time you were here. But that’s not what’s important. What is important is that he left a list for the lawyers about what was in the safe.”

“And?”

“And there is a laptop currently unaccounted for.”

Riley leaned over his desk, frowning. “A laptop? What the hell was on it?”

“That, I’m afraid, I can’t tell you,” she said. “But I thought you should know that the last person in the house—besides the housekeeper and your grandfather—was that Chandler woman. The redhead who looks like a cheap hooker.”

Riley choked on a laugh. “Thanks, Aunt Bethany. That helps answer a few questions.”

“And, I’m sure, gives you a few more.”

They chatted for a few more minutes about the plans they had for the ranch and the possibility converting it into a bed and breakfast. It was something their brother had wanted to do with his sisters long ago, before his business took off. Riley wished them luck and made sure she knew to call him if they needed a handyman. He might not be able to do anything too well, but he could find a good contractor or two. He hung up a few minutes later, then paged Ben to meet him in his office. His grandfather kept a laptop at the ranch. He knew that man almost better than anyone else.

“You called,” Ben said when he knocked.