Billionaires Runaway Bride

by Claire Adams

  "Champagne, kiddo?" Mike asked as a server dressed in a crisp, white shirt slowly moved around the room, holding a tray full of thin glasses that sparkled in the dim light. I nodded as Mike took two glasses from the tray and gave one to me. "This is the life, kid. This is what I aspire to someday. Champagne and low light will keep me young."

  "Mike!" I laughed as I sipped my champagne and scanned the room. I didn't expect to see anyone I knew, but I did want ask Mike who these people were. Luckily for me, he had already begun to tell the tales of those he knew and those whom he'd only heard about. I listened raptly as I memorized the names and faces.

  I'd just shook the hand of a man who'd launched a chain of successful coffee shops throughout the Chicago area when a bell chimed and Gordon Wallace stepped to the edge of the landing. With him was a beautiful woman wearing an elegant, eggplant colored gown and a necklace made of large amethyst stones set in gold that had probably worth more than my entire year's salary.

  "That's Gordon's wife, Felice," Mike whispered. "She's a force to be reckoned with, let me tell you."

  The two of them looked so familiar that I suddenly remembered I had wanted to ask Adam if he was related to Gordon. Gordon spoke for a few minutes about the opportunity to merge Mija and WalCo, and what it meant to make such an important connection. He then turned and said, "And I could not have done this without the love and support my beautiful wife, Felice, and my brilliant and talented son, Adam."

  The crowd clapped loudly as Adam stepped from behind his parents and briefly bowed at the waist before straightening and stepping back. I was stunned.

  "That kid is a genius," Mike whispered. "But I've heard Gordon threatened to disown him when he went off to MIT and majored in engineering. Not sure how true that is, though. They look like a happy, little family, don't they?"

  It was all I could do to nod and keep a smile on my lips. Adam was supposed to be in Corner Grove looking after my family and preparing for the one shot he had at selling the turbines to the Amish community! I was furious that he'd ducked my calls to avoid telling me that he was coming back to the city, and I knew that as soon as the presentation was over, I'd seek him out and demand answers.

  Chapter Forty

  Adam

  By the time my father introduced my mother and me to the crowd, he and I had already stirred up the animosity that had been brewing since that fateful day in his office when he'd issued the ultimatum. Nothing had changed; he was still the stubborn, God-fearing dictator who wanted to control everything and everyone, and I was still the rebellious child who'd dare defy him by following my own path.

  "Nice of you to grace us with your presence, Adam," my father muttered as he downed a Scotch and nodded at the bartender to pour him another.

  "Gordon, you're giving a speech," my mother said as she shook her head at the bartender and moved the glass out of my father's reach.

  "Dammit, Felice! I'm a grown man!" he yelled as she raised an eyebrow and signaled that he was dangerously close to crossing the line with her. He backed down, as he usually did, and directed his anger at me. "Where the hell have you been?"

  "Why are you asking questions you already know the answer to, Father?" I shot back not bothering to hide my contempt.

  "You are an ungrateful, little bastard," he said moving around my mother and pointing to the glass. The bartender poured him another finger of Scotch as my father turned and looked at me.

  "And you're a drunk," I said staring back at him.

  "Why you—" he growled as he lunged for me. I stepped back and watched as he stumbled a bit and then pulled himself up and straightened his jacket. His voice barely concealed his rage as he said, "You will stand up with us and present a united front this evening, then you will leave and never show your face in my presence again."

  "Gordon!" my mother gasped. "We talked about this, and you know how I feel about your ultimatum."

  "Fuck you, Felice," my father said as he knocked back his drink and looked at the two of us. "He's a pain in the ass, has been since birth. I'm sick and tired of his whining and his unwillingness to pull his weight in this family. There's no excuse for it. I'm treating him the same way I would treat a lazy employee: I'm cutting ties and cutting my losses."

  "Gordon, he's our son," my mother said in a steely tone.

  "I don't give a flying fuck if he's the King of England," my father said. "He's disloyal and he's a drain on my wallet. He's out. I'm done."

  "Well, I'm not," my mother said with an icy stare. "I'm not writing my own son off, not like this. And certainly not because you are unable to temper your more basic impulses. You're a hard, cruel man, Gordon. I've put up with it for as long as I could because I knew what you were striving to achieve, but this is over the top. I won't have it."

  "Disloyal bitch," my father spat. "You can get out, too."

  My parents stood staring hatefully at one another as the event planner stepped in and told us that the guests were waiting. My father looked at both of us and said, "Play your parts tonight, and we'll all go our separate ways after it's over."

  My mother grabbed my hand and squeezed tightly as she looked up at me with worried eyes.

  "It's going to be okay, Mother," I whispered as I squeezed her hand and followed my father out to the waiting crowd. As he began his speech, I scanned the crowd wondering who'd been invited to witness this ostentatious display of wealth and power. I saw many of the people my father had worked with through the years, and others who I didn't recognize. I noticed Mike Killian, the man who was responsible for meeting all my father's IT needs as he'd acquired company after company, and to Mike's left was a beautiful, blonde woman in a dress unlike any I'd ever seen. She looked like a goddess encased in silver and jewels, and as I wondered where Mike had met her, she turned and I caught a glimpse of her face.

  "...All of this wouldn't be possible without the love and support of my wife, Felice, and my son, Adam," my father was saying. I saw the look on Grace's face as she recognized me. Confusion followed shock. I tried to signal to her that I'd explain, but she'd already looked away.

  "...Here's to the new foundation that will be laid as Mija and WalCo merge our resources and look toward the future," my father said as he raised the glass in his hand, then brought it to his lips and drank deeply from it.

  "Victor would like to say a few words," my father said once the toast had been completed.

  Victor Vasquez stepped up, shook my father's hand, and began speaking, "It's my honor and pleasure to be here with you tonight, and I am grateful to Gordon for all he's done to make me feel so at home in your lovely city. We are far from our home in Venezuela, but tonight, we are happy not only because Gordon and I are starting a new venture that will allow us to share resources and bring new technology to the people of Venezuela, but also because I am pleased to announce the engagement of my daughter, Veronica, to Gordon's son, Adam! Salud!"

  Grace's head snapped up and she looked at me helplessly as a look of pain crossed her face. Then she leaned over and said something to Mike before picking up her skirt and briskly walking out of the room. I turned and looked at my mother and shook my head, but she was staring at my father in a way that told me she'd had enough, so I left the two of them to fight their own battle.

  I quickly apologized to Veronica then shook Victor's hand and said, "Sorry, I can't marry your daughter. She deserves better than this family," as I gestured toward my parents who were now arguing in hushed voices.

  The crowd watched the proceedings for a few moments until Victor tapped on his glass and said, "It appears we have a bit of a misunderstanding here. Please have another drink and enjoy the music and food as we sort it all out!"

  I was half way out the door when Mike yelled across the room, "She said she was going to the ladies’ room!" I nodded and ran down the long, black, marble hallway until I got to the door of the ladies’ room. I tapped on it and called, "Grace?" as I pushed the door open just a crack.

  "Grace, are you
in here?" I asked as I woman emerged from the toilets and gasped. I let the door close a little as I said, "Sorry, I'm looking for someone. She's wearing a silver dress. Blonde hair. Very pretty. Have you seen her in there?"

  "She was leaving when I came in," the woman said. "I think she was calling a cab."

  I ran back to the elevator and repeatedly punched the down button as I muttered under my breath, "C'mon, hurry up!"

  When I finally reached the ground floor, I ran through the lobby and out onto the sidewalk where I anxiously scanned the line of cars waiting to carry guests home.

  "Are you looking for someone, sir?" the doorman asked as he held the door for an expensively dressed couple.

  "A blonde woman in a silver dress," I said hopefully. "Have you seen her?"

  "If it's the woman you're asking about, she got into a cab a few minutes ago," he said.

  "Thanks," I nodded as I ran a hand through my hair and thought about what to do next. I had no idea where Grace lived, and I was pretty sure that, at this point, a phone call wasn't the best idea.

  I knew I would be a persona non grata upstairs, so I went back up to my room to figure out how to fix the damage that had been done.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Grace

  I held back the tears until I arrived home, and then I let it all go. I sunk to the floor in front of my couch and sobbed until my eyes were nearly swollen shut. The discovery that Adam was the son of Gordon Wallace, and that he was now engaged to a Venezuelan socialite was almost more than I could bear, and the realization that I'd fallen for a man who was a lying manipulator made me feel ashamed of my impulsiveness. Mamm had warned me about my tendency to see the world through rose-colored glasses and leap before I looked, but no matter how many times I'd make mistakes, she'd always been there to comfort me and remind me that it would all be okay.

  Except this time. Mamm wasn't here, and my family had been split apart because I hadn't told Adam to leave when I'd first had the chance. The whole mess was my fault and I had no idea how to fix it.

  When I was finally cried out, I pushed myself up off the floor and went down the hall to my bedroom where I left my beautiful dress in a silver puddle on the floor and climbed into bed. I tossed and turned for hours until I finally fell into a fitful sleep that lasted only until the sun began to rise.

  Exhausted, I hauled myself out of bed and headed into the kitchen to make coffee and a list of things I needed to do at the office before I headed back home to try and fix my family's problems. Around nine, Mike called.

  "Hey, kid, you doing okay?" he asked sounding genuinely concerned. "I tried to call you last night, but you didn't pick up."

  "Yeah, sorry about that, I must have left my phone on silent," I said feeling the shame rising in my chest again. "I'm okay."

  "You high-tailed it out of there pretty quickly," he observed. "You sure everything's okay?"

  "Honestly, no, it's not okay," I admitted. "Mike, I need to go home and get my family's situation straightened out, and I need to leave today. Can you give me some time to do that?"

  "I truly wish I could, kiddo, but we've got a new client coming in for a meet and greet, and I need you there to handle the financial intake," he said.

  "A few days, Mike! I just need a few days to get this all straightened out and I'll be back at work, I promise," I said with more than a hint of desperation in my voice.

  "All right, be back by Thursday," he said. "But Thursday is the line, kiddo. If you're not back by then, I'm going to have to let you go."

  "I'll be back, Mike," I assured him. "I promise."

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Adam

  I paced the floor of the hotel suite as I tried calling Bugsy into the early hours, but he wasn't answering. I called my own phone to see if Honor could get Verity on the line, but no one picked up. The later it got, the more desperate I felt, and I knew I had to do something.

  Around five, there was a light tapping on my door and when I opened it. I found my mother still dressed in her party gown looking like she'd had a long night.

  "Adam, I'm leaving your father," she said. I could see the sadness in her eyes.

  "I'm sorry, Mother," I said.

  "Are you going to invite me in or are we going to have this conversation in the hallway?" she asked bluntly. I stepped aside as she swept into the room and went straight to the mini-bar to pour herself a drink. I waited until she'd settled onto the couch before I poured my own drink and joined her.

  "Are you okay?" I asked tentatively.

  "I'm sad, but I'll be fine," she replied. "Your father has never been an easy man to live with, but I've always loved him. I know that's probably hard for you to believe given all that you think you know about us, but it's true. Under all his brash egotism, he's essentially a good man, Adam."

  "I find that hard to believe, but if you say so," I shrugged. My mother looked at me for a long time before she spoke again.

  "Adam, your father loves you. I know he's been tough on you," she began.

  "Tough? I don't know that I'd call him tough, more like abusive," I interrupted.

  "Maybe that as well," she sighed. "He really does love you, but he just can't understand how you'd choose to follow a path that leads you so far away from what he's built."

  "Maybe he just doesn't understand the need to create something greater than himself," I muttered.

  "Oh, he understands all right," she said with a sad smile. "He just didn't choose to follow his dreams at the expense of his family."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Your father went into the oil business because it supported us at a time when we had no money and were barely getting by," she said.

  "It's incredibly hard to imagine the two of you broke," I said rolling my eyes at the image.

  "You have no idea what we went through," my mother hissed fiercely. "You grew up wrapped in privilege and being afforded advantages that neither your father nor I could have ever imagined as children. Sometimes you are an ungrateful, little bastard, Adam."

  "Nice, Mother, really nice," I said.

  "But then if you are, I suppose it's our fault," she sighed. "Adam, listen to me, I'm all for you doing something worthwhile with your life, and I'm willing to back your project with the money I've put aside in my rainy day fund."

  "What on earth?" I said surprised that my mother had any idea of what I was doing.

  "I've read the business proposals and the projected plan for what you intend to do," she said. "I'll fund the initial manufacturing costs. My only stipulation is that you make peace with your father."

  "What?" I said looking at her shocked by everything she was saying. "How did you get the business plan?"

  "I have my ways," she smiled. "Do we have a deal?"

  "No way," I said shaking my head. "I'm not making peace with that son of a bitch."

  Like lightening, my mother slapped my face so hard I dropped the glass I was holding.

  "Don't you ever speak of your father in such a crude way again," she warned. "I won't have it. He may be a difficult person, but he's still your father. Now, do we have a deal or not?"

  "I have to get down to Corner Grove to make the sales pitch tomorrow morning," I said. "Can you get a car for me?"

  "What about my stipulation?"

  "If you can get me to Corner Grove by this evening, and I can make my pitch in the morning, then I'll come back and make peace with the old man," I said grudgingly.

  "Consider it done," my mother smiled.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Grace

  When the car I'd hired pulled into the drive that evening, all the lights in the house were burning brightly, and as I stepped out on to the gravel, I could smell the scent of pot roast and pie wafting from the kitchen. I smiled as I grabbed my bag and walked up the front steps calling, "Hey, Danny, Honor, Verity, I'm home!"

  No one answered, but I heard voices in the kitchen so I dropped my bags at the door and went to join them.<
br />
  "Hey, you guys, what are you—" I stopped abruptly as I saw Adam sitting at the table showing Verity how to navigate an iPad and Honor laughed loudly and Danny signed advice.

  "Grace!" Honor shouted as she hopped up from the table and ran toward me. "You're home!"

  "What's going on?" I asked hugging my sister as I tried to maintain a calm outward appearance. I could feel Adam staring at me, but I avoided his gaze as I smiled at my family.

  "Adam bought Verity an iPad so that she could stay in contact with us when we go back to the city," Honor said. "He's trying to show her how to use it, but she's a little behind the tech curve."

  "Hey, hey, hey!" Verity laughed as she looked down at the screen and timidly tapped something. "I'm new to the tech world, give me a little bit of a break."

  "What's this ‘we’ business?" I said looking down at Honor.

  "I want to go with you, Grace," she whispered. "I can't stay here. Please?"

  "We'll discuss it," I said, kissing her forehead before turning my attention to Adam. "So, you brought technology to the Amish, did you?"

  "I just thought it was a good idea to give her a way to communicate with you, if she needed to," Adam said looking at me and then quickly turning his attention back to the tablet. "She can keep it tucked away for emergencies."

  "Aren't you the great, white savior from the big city?" I said trying not to sound bitter, but failing miserably.

  "Grace, are you okay?" Verity said looking up from the tablet. "You sound mad."

  "Mad? Oh no, why would I be mad?" I asked. "What reason on earth would I have to be mad?"

  "Grace?" Danny signed with a concerned look on his face. Everyone in the room went silent and all eyes were on me.

  "You want to tell them or should I?" I asked looking straight at Adam.

  "They already know," he said quietly.