by Linzi Basset
The moment Kayla stepped into the house, she sensed Jade’s presence. She could hear the slam of closet doors as she made her way upstairs and knew what she would find before she pushed open the door to the bedroom.
Jade was frantically throwing clothes into suitcases. She looked tired, still dressed in her pajamas with her hair unkempt and tousled from sleep. The smell of liquor hung heavy in the air. Kayla’s searching gaze found the bottles of Vodka and beer on the dressing table from where she stood watching silently in the doorway.
“So, this is how you end years of friendship and busting our asses to make a success of Decadence Galore.”
“Kayla!” Jade’s head snapped up, and she stared at her with a desolate expression on her face. She burst into tears and sank to the floor. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t … I tried but I couldn’t find the words to tell you. Oh god, Kayla, I never wanted to hurt you. Not like this.”
Kayla didn’t respond, and strangely, watching her in a pathetic little bundle on the floor sobbing her eyes out, stirred not an inch of sympathy inside her. Throughout their friendship, Kayla had always been the one to get her out of trouble. She’d stood by her and gone with her to the Gamblers Anonymous meetings for years. This time, she didn’t have it in her. Not anymore.
“I think you’re confused, Jade.”
Jade sniffled and looked up, completely frazzled by Kayla’s calm demeanor. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t hurt me. You hurt yourself … or rather, the years you’re going to spend in jail, probably will.”
Her mouth fell open and her shoulders slumped a little further. She sounded like a little girl as she teamed, “You wouldn't … you can’t! Please, Kayla, we’ve been friends for a lifetime.”
“I thought so too, but you see, your definition of what friends are and mine, clearly differ. Friends don’t steal from each other. They don’t destroy years of hard work and success and least of all, the livelihood of over a hundred families that depend on their jobs … and for what? Your fucked-up habit of gambling!”
“I’m sorry! I couldn’t … when I … the meetings with Steele Blake at the Casino … it was there, in my face! I couldn’t—”
“Don’t fucking lie to me! There was no meeting. Steele Blake never approached you for a project with us.”
If at all possible, Jade turned paler. “You don’t understand the pull, Kayla! It’s like a drug. You can’t resist it.”
“I don’t believe that, Jade. You managed for almost eight years. That tells me you chose to start again. Why? Just tell me why?”
Her head hung in defeat. “I never stopped.”
“You never stopped? You’re fucking kidding me, right?”
Jade shook her head. “I always went out of town, and for years I didn’t play on a big scale. Just small amounts of money.” She wrung her hands. “I suppose I tried to fool myself in believing that way it wasn’t really gambling. I never lost and that must’ve been what triggered the need to really go big, to challenge my skills, and to … to …” She looked up and her words died at the expression on Kayla’s face. “I’m sorry, Kayla. I can’t tell you how much.”
“You have a bigger problem than me, Jade. Firstly, you owe Steele Blake a fuck load of money that’s not going to come from handing him Decadence Galore on a platter and—”
“You can’t mean that! Kayla, you have to sign that sale agreement. If you don’t—”
“I don’t have to do shit! You broke our partnership agreement and you know it.”
“You would do that to me? Hand me over to the authorities to be locked in jail?”
“What did you expect? You stole the cash flow from the company. Money, that’s supposed to cover our employees’ salaries and bonuses, to pay off your gambling loans. If that’s not enough, after you handed over part of my company to a stranger, you had the audacity to steal money out of the investment account.”
“Part of that money is mine!”
“No, it’s business funds. It was our combined decision to pour most of the money back into the company for future development. You and I earn a salary and huge profit share bonuses as owners. That money can’t be touched without the knowledge of our auditors as well as the state auditors, Jade, and you fucking knew that.”
“I know I fucked up, but please, think of our friendship. You can’t let me go to jail!”
“Our friendship? That’s a laugh. You betrayed our friendship. Now, I’m afraid it’s out of my hands. The bank already filed charges against you because I hold them responsible to refund the money you took without my authorization. Steele Blake? I’m sure as soon as he receives a phone call from Luke confirming what the agreement says, he’s going to come looking for you personally. If you know what's good for you, Jade, don’t run. Return the cash and the five million to the investment account and stand up for the mistake you made. No one but you can pay for it.”
“I don’t have the money to pay back Steele Blake, Kayla!”
“That’s not my problem or my responsibility, Jade. I have over three-hundred family members depending on their spouses’ or parents’ jobs to think of. I refuse to let them all suffer for the sake of one selfish and irresponsible person.”
“They wouldn’t lose their jobs! All that'll change is that … that you won’t be the boss anymore. Surely that’s not too much to ask in lieu of our friendship?”
Kayla stared at Jade. “There is no friendship. I don’t know you anymore, Jade. I invested every cent of my inheritance in DG eight years ago. Money that didn’t come easy to my dad. He had to make so many sacrifices in his life for us, to give his family the life he believed we deserved. It was the integrity he instilled in me that made me offer to carry all the cost of the company for the first six years to offer you the opportunity to pay your shares and become part-owner. Now you expect me to give everything up? It’s more than just money, don’t you even see that?”
She felt tired all of a sudden and turned to leave. At the door, she looked back at Jade.
“Friendship is a give and take relationship. Ours never had that balance, Jade. I only realize it now. It was always me that gave. Your remark just now is proof of how stupid I’ve been not to realize it before. I’m sorry you fucked up and I’m sorry that you’re now forced to be accountable for your own choices, but one thing you can be assured of, is that I refuse to feel guilty. I may have been blind before but I’m not stupid.” She sighed as she turned away. “I can’t force you to do anything but if you had any honor left, you’ll take my advice to heart and do the right thing.”
With Jade’s raw cry that turned to vicious insults and curses in her ears, Kayla walked downstairs. If she hadn’t heard it herself, she’d never have believed it possible. Maybe she never really knew Jade for the person she really was. Or maybe she had but chose to ignore it because she needed a friend who accepted her for the person she was.
Her mind in shambles, she drove to the office in Harbor Springs. Although she felt she didn’t owe her the courtesy, she still floundered about to find a solution to help Jade; there was none. Jade had already given up her cottage. Even if Kayla sold her house for top dollar in the market, Steele Blake would scoff at it. Four million was but a pittance of Jade’s debt.
“One thing I refuse to do is give up Decadence Galore. Steele Blake can stand on his head and whistle out of his ass for all I care but he’s not getting his grubby paws on my company,” Kayla grumbled as she walked into her office. She came to an abrupt halt as she spied the muscled physique of the one man, she had no desire to see this early in the morning. He stood in front of the window, staring out over Traverse Bay.
What am I saying? Never want to see again, period.
“You again? I was mistaken yesterday. You’re not like a toothache, you’re like a parasite one can’t get rid of.” Kayla stood just inside the door with her arms crossed defensively over her chest. Her one foot tapped irritably on the plush carpet as she watched him turn to face her.
>
Hell and damnation, it wasn’t my imagination yesterday. She cursed softly as her ovaries exploded in a hot-blooded tango. This is not on, Kayla. Control your overeager libido.
Faced with the gray eyes that darkened to a swirling charcoal, it was easier said than done, especially as she was completely overwhelmed by the rush of unwanted sensations that flooded her entire body.
“Good morning to you too, Ms. Silver.” The glimmer in his eyes taunted her as much as the sarcasm as he rolled her surname on his tongue.
She chose to ignore him. She stomped to her desk and plonked into the chair with as much grace as she could muster.
“Your coffee, Mr. Blake.”
Kayla had the urge to roll her eyes as the receptionist walked inside with swaying hips, fluttering her eyes at Steele. She was so focused on seducing him that she didn’t notice Kayla watching her with exasperation.
“Thank you, Roxy. It smells delicious.”
“I have something else that’s equally delicious,” she fluttered her eyelids as she placed the tray on Jade’s desk and ambled closer to him.
“I suppose you’re referring to the chocolate biscotti Henry’s wife baked for us last week?” Kayla lilted in a dry voice.
“Oh, Kayla! I didn’t notice you arrive … or sitting there,” she ended lamely, her cheeks reddening.
“Somehow, I’m not surprised,” Kayla muttered.
“I’ll bring your coffee immediately,” she said as she trotted to the door, managing to sway her hips invitingly.
Kayla shook her head and slanted an amused look at Steele, who hadn’t moved from where he stood in front of the window.
“It must be hard, I suppose,” she said with a grim smile. Why Roxy’s effort to seduce him irritated her, was a mystery.
“Meaning?”
“To have the entire female population tripping over their feet to gain your attention.”
A smile twitched his lips as he appreciated her fresh appearance. She wore the minimum of makeup that only enhanced her natural beauty.
“It does become tedious at times.” His smile broadened. “I wouldn’t mind watching you give it a try, though.”
“Dream on, Blake. I’m not interested to join the hordes standing in queue for your attention.” She raised her eyebrows as she forced a disinterested glance to rave over his tall frame. “I’m too possessive by nature, I’m afraid.”
“Ah, so you don’t share?” He pushed his hands in his pockets. “With you, love, I don’t think I’ll mind being the sole focus of your attention.”
Roxy’s timely arrival with her coffee saved Kayla from making a complete ass of herself.
“Why are you here?” she asked, sipping her coffee as Roxy closed the door behind her.
“I find it hard to believe that you have such a short memory, Ms. Silver.”
“Oh, for goodness sake, my name is Kayla. I hate how derisive you make Ms. Silver sound.”
“If you insist, provided you reciprocate.”
Kayla sighed as she recalled the desperation in Jade’s eyes when she’d walked out of her room, but it was soured by the curses and insults she’d flung after her. It was becoming more and more difficult to feel responsible for trying to help her out of the mess.
“I’m relatively sure my attorney already contacted you, Steele, so why are you here? DG is off the board game.”
“They have but it changes nothing. Irrespective of the clause in your partnership agreement, Jade legally signed over her shares to me and that, Kayla, only covers a third of the eighty million dollars she owes me.”
“Eighty million? You have got to be kidding me! What kind of operation do you run at that Casino? I’ve never heard of something as ludicrous as that.” She heaved in a deep breath. “I thought … DG isn’t worth that much, even with my shares.” Kayla buried her face in her hands. “I can’t believe she could be that stupid.” She looked up. “Why play the bet when she knew she didn’t have the collateral to cover such an amount?”
“I don’t think it even crossed her mind that it would be a problem. She believed she had the winning hand.”
“But she didn’t.” Kayla finished her coffee and leaned back in the chair. She was filled with despair. Luke had warned her that since Jade had signed a legal share transfer document, they very likely would lose if Steele took the matter to court.
“Sit down. My neck is going stiff looking up at you.” She waited until he was seated across from her, sipping his coffee. “I found her at her place this morning, frantically packing.”
“I’m not surprised that she’s running away. It’s the usual modus operandi for compulsive gamblers when they lose big.”
“I told her to do the right thing and face the consequences of her actions.” Her lips thinned. “I can’t believe that she expects me to sign over the company to you.” Tears filled her eyes. “She knows how much this place means to me. I invested my entire inheritance in DG.” She forced back the tears. “You shouldn’t have covered her debt either. You owe her nothing.”
Steele stared at her for a moment. “I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If I didn’t, I would’ve carried the guilt when they found her body floating in Lake Michigan.”
Kayla’s eyes widened. “I still don’t understand.”
“Neither did Jade. She didn’t even realize who she was playing against.” Steele frowned angrily. “If I hadn’t been out of the country, the game wouldn't have taken place. I don’t approve of criminals and Cullen Moore has a reputation … a bad one with connections to the mafia.” He raised an eyebrow. “Now, do you understand?”
“Holy hell.” She blinked. “I’ve been racking my mind over this. No matter how I look at this, the bottom line is, I’m not responsible to cover her debt and I sure as hell am not handing over my life’s work to save Jade’s ass. At least if she accepts responsibility, she’d pay … in another way.”
“Her behind bars isn’t going to settle her debt,” he said dryly.
“The best I can offer is to sell my house but that’ll cover at the most four million.”
“There is another solution.”
“Shoot.” Kayla sat up, praying there was a way to end this nightmare once and for all. Preferably amicably.
His gaze sharpened; his dulcet voice flowed over her like well-preserved whiskey. Until his words penetrated.
“You’ll have to marry me.”
Chapter Four
“You did what?” Thomas slammed on the brakes just as he was about to pull out of the parking lot of Decadence Galore. He stared at Steele. The disbelief etched a deep gash between his brows.
“You heard me.” Steele seemed unperturbed by Thomas’ shock as he relaxed in the seat. The smile on his face was in remembrance to the vision of Kayla’s pouty lips gaping open once his proposal penetrated. He hadn’t given her an opportunity to respond but left with the parting words, “It’s the only thing that’ll sway me to forget Jade’s debt. You have forty-eight hours to decide.”
“From dipping your dick into her honeypot to marrying her? That’s quite a switch, don’t you think?”
“Get off your throne, Thomas. I already alluded to marriage yesterday and besides, I’d rather choose the woman I marry than have one trick me into it.”
Thomas snorted. “Who are you trying to fool, Steele? You know Kayla Silver isn’t the kind of woman who’ll ever have a fling with someone like you. This is low even for you. Marrying her just to satisfy your lust.” He shook his head. “A fucking expensive one for that matter.”
“My money, my life, and my decision,” Steele said curtly.
“Of course, but does she know the marriage will only last until you’ve had enough of her honeypot and move on to the next challenging conquest?”
“Shall we go?” Steele chose to ignore Thomas’ sarcastic response. Not that he could deny any of it. It was how he usually operated. It was all that mattered. To fee
d his desire and move on before any expectations were raised. He refused to justify his actions to Thomas. He finally found a way to make Kayla Silver his and if that meant playing dirty, so be it.
He was the kind of man who grasped at opportunities. It had been a long time coming and he’d be damned if he let her slip through his fingers.
“Where to?”
“You know where, Thomas. Don’t be obtuse.”
“It’s a little difficult to keep up with you, Steele. I mean, you just popped the big question, how am I supposed to know you still intend keeping your tête-à-tête with the delectable Kim Butler?”
“It’s hardly a tête-à-tête and you know that very well,” Steele snapped irritably.
“I’m sure she’ll beg to differ.” He snickered as he released the brake and eased into the street.
“You can be such an ass sometimes, Thomas. The way you’re acting one would swear the only interest I have in any woman is for sex. Kim has never attempted to flirt with me and even if she did, I wouldn't be interested. I’m not a cradle robber.”
“You’re right. I was out of line.”
“Just drive, Thomas.”
“Ah, fuck, Steele, I’m sorry. I guess it’s just the fact that you seem so blasé about this sudden desire to get married.”
“It’s anything but sudden,” Steele rasped in a quiet voice as he stared at the passing buildings.
“Northern Michigan Hospital?”
“Yes, she’s being released this morning. I invited her to stay at the Crown Plaza Hotel on Harbor Point during her recovery.”
“I still don’t understand why you felt responsible to pay her medical costs.” Thomas glanced at Steele in the rearview mirror. He might be known as a player but he had a good heart. Sometimes too much so.
Over the past twelve years of their friendship, he’d seen many people take advantage of it. Steele usually brushed it off. In that, he took after his grandfather. His philosophy had been that he had the money and if he could use it to make someone else’s life better, he did it gladly. In the younger Blake’s case, the wrong people usually took advantage of him.