WIFE WANTED (A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (23 page)

Riley stood and paced to the window, turning his back on his friend. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ben sighed, and Riley heard his office door open. “Yes, you do, but whatever, man. If you get drunk tonight, you’re doing it on your own. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He slammed the door behind him, and Riley was left alone, feeling the walls closing in on him. He could feel the file on Phoebe staring at his back, daring him to make the call he so desperately wanted to. But no matter what the reasons were, Phoebe had made her choice. She was with Mitch. If she really felt the same way for him as he did for her, she would be there, trying to see him, talk to him. Make him understand.

Why the hell would she do that after you yelled at her
? his conscience chided.
You pushed her away. You did.

Riley grunted in annoyance and stalked away from the window and the guilty look growing in his eyes. He packed up his things and headed out of the office. Linda was already gone for the day. He thought about trying to hack into that file again but couldn’t accept the idea that she would be connected to any of this. He paused by her desk, debating what to do, then forced himself to keep on walking. There would be time to ask her about it tomorrow.

Chapter 23

Phoebe rolled over and smiled when she felt Mitch by her side. A few weeks had passed since her encounter with Diane, and since she’d mentioned Mitch’s name, the woman had pretty much left her alone. Things were turning out better than she thought they would. Doctor Chambers had even told her the day before if her mother remained stable and continued to recover well, they’d be able to do the surgery soon.

The surgery. The one Mitch had already told her he’d be more than happy to give her the money for. Phoebe had wanted to just take it, but insisted on some sort of loan instead.

Finally, he’d given in, and Phoebe had felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Until yesterday, when she’d been cleaning her apartment and found a t-shirt left behind by Riley. She’d hidden it away, not wanting Mitch to see it. And even now, as she glanced at her boyfriend, all she could picture was Riley laying there instead. She might be able to fool everyone else, but she couldn’t quite make herself believe it. She was not over Riley. Not even close. Mitch was great, treated her the way she’d always wanted to be treated by a man, but he was still holding back. Whatever had made Diane scared of him, she needed to understand, to know what he was really like.

They were supposed to be going away for the weekend to a little cabin he owned in the mountains. She’d talk to him about it then. Maybe getting away from the city was what he needed to really open up to her. For now, she had to get to the office.

Mitch stirred when she kissed him awake. “How are you always in such a good mood in the morning?” He groaned as he sat up and stretched, then pulled her close for another kiss.

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, I’ll take a dose of that any day.”

She laughed as she got up, grabbing some clothes from her closet before she went to hop in the shower. She’d just closed the door and was about to turn on music on her cell when it beeped. She glanced down at the number and frowned.

“Who are you?”

She opened the message. At first she thought someone had texted her by mistake, but then she realized who it was and her heart pounded in her chest. Her legs suddenly felt weak and she had to sit down, taking deep breaths to calm herself as she read the message again:
It’s Ben. Riley won’t admit it, but he misses you, Phoebe. Whatever he said to you, I’m sorry, but he’s an idiot. He’s not himself, and he’s just getting worse. I know this is a lot to ask, but please, call him. Talk to him. He’s talking crazy and I don’t think I can make him change his mind.

“Change his mind about what?” she wondered.

“What?”

Phoebe jumped at Mitch’s voice on the other side of the door. “Oh nothing, sorry. Stubbed my toe.”

He muttered something else, but she didn’t hear it, the thudding of her heart too loud in her ears. So Riley missed her, did he? Served him right for what he said to her. Why should she be the one to go and talk to him? Nope, he could suffer all he liked. Phoebe wasn’t going to care. She was going to hop in the shower and pretend she never even saw the text. She pulled up her calendar. He was supposed to be getting married soon, anyway. Soon, he would no longer be her problem.

***

Riley scratched his stubble as he yawned and went to pour himself a cup of coffee. A loud knocking at his door made him jump. “Shit, damn it…just a second!” He grabbed a towel to sop up the burning hot coffee from the counter and his hand, then hurried to answer the door. “Diane. What the hell are you doing here?”

“I think you know what,” she said, pushing past him and heading into his kitchen.

“I didn’t say you could come in,” he said, still holding the front door open.
She didn’t reply except to grab his cup of coffee and start drinking it. She grinned over the rim of the mug as he closed the door. “You have exactly two weeks until the deadline.”

“Yes, and your point is what?”

“My point is that if you ask me nicely right now, I will gladly accept your marriage proposal and can get the plans underway.” She took another long sip, then coughed. “Make this pot strong enough? Where’s your sugar?”

“Diane, please get the hell out of my apartment before I call the cops.” Riley didn’t move even as his head started to spin. She was right, horribly and absolutely right. He was running out of time fast. Ben was pushing him to do something, anything, to save his company, Linda was still acting strange, and every night when he went to bed in a drunken stupor, he saw only one face leaving his life forever. “Please, just leave.”

Diane set the mug down and placed her hands on her hips. “Oh, please, you aren’t still sulking over that pathetic woman, are you? She’s so beneath you.”

Riley gritted his teeth and took a threatening step forward, but then stopped himself. He didn’t care about Phoebe. He couldn’t. “I am not marrying you.”

“Then you are going to lose everything. You think I’ll let you stay on when I take over?”

“There’s no reason for you not to.”

“Yes, actually, there are—quite a few,” she argued sweetly. “However, if you marry me, we don’t have to deal with any of that messy business.”

Riley opened his mouth to tell her no again, but stopped. What choice did he have really? At least marrying Diane, he knew what she was like, could find ways to keep her hands out of the money and the company. But if he lost it all to her, he would watch everything his grandfather made disappear in a shot. He couldn’t let the old man down like that. Already feeling sick to his stomach, Riley forced the question out of this mouth before he could take any more time to think it over.

Diane’s face froze in a look of sheer disbelief. “What?”

“I said, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

She nodded slowly, then went to him and reached for his hands. “You are making the right choice, Riley. Really.”

“I doubt it,” he muttered and pulled away. “You can leave now.”

“Fine…fine. The date will be set this afternoon and I’ll get started on plans right away.”

Riley could only nod. He watched her walk to the door, turn back one last time with a look of sheer pleasure on her face, then leave. He let out the breath he’d been holding and collapsed on the couch. His wife. Diane Chandler, the snake in the grass, was going to be his freaking wife.

“Damn, Meredith,” he whispered, “what the hell did I just get myself into?”

***

Phoebe wasn’t sure how long she’d been staring at her computer screen. Her fingers didn’t move across the keyboard as she tried to make sense of how her morning had gone. She’d gotten the text from Ben. Then, before she’d left for work, Mitch’s cell had rung. She’d glanced at it and frowned at the name. Linda. As in the Linda Riley knew? Why would she be calling Mitch?

She’d wanted to ask him, but instead set his cell back down and hurried into her bedroom just as he’d rushed out of the bathroom and into the kitchen to grab it. Phoebe had tried to pick up on the conversation but only heard a few bits and pieces. Something about files and being sure that everything was in place for the merger about to happen. Phoebe had almost turned away at that until Mitch had grown angry.

“You tell that damn asshole that if my money is late this time, I’m going to start breaking fingers.”

There was silence before he’d muttered something else, then she heard his steps coming back down the hall. Phoebe had grabbed her purse, kissed him on the cheek, and left in a hurry after that. By the time she’d gotten to her office, her mind was coming to all sorts of conclusions, and none of them were good.

She was about to call Charlotte when the office door banged open and Diane walked in, looking as cheery as ever. “Ah, Phoebe, I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Not sure where else I would be,” she said with a smile on her face.

“Yes, well, I have great news! I’m getting married in two weeks!”

Phoebe’s heart stuttered to a stop. Two weeks. Two weeks? That was when Riley was supposed to be married by. She felt the smile start to slip from her face as Diane gloated, talking about venues and flowers and who to invite. But Phoebe blocked it all out. Why the hell would Riley marry her?

“Excuse me,” Diane snapped.

“Oh…did I say that out loud?” Phoebe whispered sheepishly.

“Yes, you did, and how dare you say such a thing!”

“I was just wondering,” Phoebe said, trying to sound innocent and failing.

“I’ll have you know, we have been an off and on couple for quite some time now,” Diane said with a huff. “He finally just came to his senses.”

Phoebe bit her tongue before she said anything else. “Sorry, I have to go meet with someone upstairs.” She pushed back from her desk and ignored Diane’s call as she rushed out the door and tried to catch her breath. Riley was getting married to that witch? Was that what Ben had said about doing something drastic?

She pulled out her cell and texted the number back:
Riley is marrying Diane.

It didn’t take long before another message came through:
I know, his last option.

For what?
Phoebe texted back. The answer that came back was not what she expected. Diane Chandler had been Riley Marston the first’s girl before he died, and if Riley didn’t marry, everything went to her. It made sense, then, to marry her, but…why did it have to be
her
! Phoebe headed into the elevator, not even sure where she was going, but she found herself on the upper floor. She walked through some cubicles, trying to look like she was supposed to be there, when she caught sight of Mitch.

Mitch?
They weren’t meeting today. Did he have business with Yancey? Last time she checked, none of his accounts were with this company, so why was he here?

Phoebe made sure to stay out of sight and followed him as he headed straight into Yancey’s office but left the door cracked behind him. She waited until Yancey’s assistant was looking the other way, then crept up to the doorway and listened.

“—is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“My final payment. You skimped, didn’t you?”

Yancey laughed. “Didn’t you hear? Your services are no longer required to keep Ms. Baron out of the way. Diane has convinced the man to marry her. In two weeks, our troubles will be over.”

Phoebe gasped, then quickly covered her mouth. They paid Mitch to date her? That…no, it couldn’t be. He liked her, really liked her, or was it all just another lie? Just like with Riley. Phoebe felt every last ounce of emotion for him slip away as their conversation continued.

“I don’t care. You owe me, Yancey, and if you don’t deliver—”

“Don’t threaten me in my own office. We are finished. I’m ending our contract. Do what you want, but Ms. Baron is no longer my problem. Once Marston is out of the way, nothing she finds in those files will do a damn thing to save his company from being taken over.”

Phoebe heard Mitch curse but didn’t get to hear the rest of what he said. She glanced over her shoulder to see his assistant returning to her desk, and Phoebe hurried away before she was caught. Who did she go to now? If she started taking Mitch to task, she might lose her chance to give her mother the surgery. It was too risky, too damn risky. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out see an urgent text from Charlotte:
Mom awake and very coherent. Asking for you. Get here ASAP.

Phoebe rushed down to her office, snatched her purse, and was about to leave when she saw Diane’s computer bag on the floor. The woman was nowhere in sight. On a whim, Phoebe grabbed it, too, then bolted out the door to catch a cab to the hospital.

Chapter 24

Phoebe’s mind was still reeling by the time she made it to her mom’s hospital room. The last few visits had been very brief, and her mom hadn’t really been able to say much. But when Phoebe walked in, she heard her mom laughing with Charlotte, sitting up and looking better than she had in months.

“Phoebe, there you are,” her mom said with a gentle smile.