by Ciara Cole
“I think you should hear what I have to say. If you can take the risk of getting Chace mixed up in some really dangerous trouble with some really dangerous people, then don’t bother meeting up with me. But if you decide you want to make up your mind for yourself, then meet me Friday, 7 pm at our favorite bar.”
They had stood talking for all but five minutes, and Devan was gone before Emily could even turn round and tell him off. Her eyes had flown around the crowded room, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. It was as if he’d vanished. Emily was relieved that their interaction hadn’t caught anyone’s attention, especially the reporters milling about. She did heave a sigh of relief when Chace reappeared. By the time he’d reached her, Emily had regained her composure and managed to keep Devan’s strange words in the background.
Yet the first chance she got, she went over their whole conversation and her heart went cold. Some really dangerous trouble with some really dangerous people… Devan had spoken as if whatever he’d got himself into, it could adversely affect Chace. I’m in trouble, Devan had said. Emily had sleepless nights wondering just what this all meant. Devan had been right though. She couldn’t take the risk of ignoring him. She had to make up her mind for herself, just as he’d pointed out, if his words held any weight.
Well, here she was, waiting for him at the appointed place and time. Emily had no clue what to expect. But she was going to be on her guard every step of the way.
She wasn’t comfortable keeping this from Chace, but she felt she had to handle this problem herself if a problem is what it was. No use troubling Chace over nothing. He had two major deals taking up his time lately.
He was involved in two new businesses about to be acquired by huge firms. One of the startups was a mobile app company and the other was a fitness apparel store. Emily had never seen Chace this busy, and he didn’t need the extra distraction.
So when Devan finally showed up, Emily squared her shoulders in determination. Whatever “this” was, she’d nip it in the bud – and ensure Devan stayed out of her life once and for all.
Precious moments were wasted on ordering drinks, but Devan seemed intent not to be rushed. He viewed her mounting impatience with a thin smile.
“Beautiful as always – even when you were mad at me,” he murmured, taking a drink from his glass.
“Can we just cut the sweet talk and get right down to why we’re here?” Emily said, eyebrows arched.
Slowly, Devan sat back in his chair, fingers tapping on the table while he regarded Emily solemnly. “Alright, let’s do that. Not like I’m in the position to procrastinate. I have little enough time as it is.”
“Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me exactly what’s going on?” Emily asked, her tone far more level than before. She was going to do her best to hear him out, but if he was pulling some game, she’d make him wish he’d stayed out of her life.
“Before I continue, let me just say that I never planned for you to get mixed up in this,” said Devan. “Things just got out of hand. I got mixed up with the wrong people, and I didn’t know where else to turn.” He heaved a deep, heavy sigh.
“It all started when I met Alice.” He looked up with a guilty expression, but Emily kept her face neutral. She should have known it had something to do with a woman.
“You and I had already broken up, I swear,” he told Emily hastily. “And I still feel like a bastard for how things went down between us. I guess I didn’t deserve you, and I just had to do the dumb thing and run. Because I knew you deserved better and I was never going to be the man for you.”
“Thank you. I’m sure we’ve both found closure for how things didn’t work out between us. So why don’t you just tell me all about this Alice,” Emily prompted.
“Alice and I hooked up at a party. It was one of these industry gigs, with all producers and artists from the hottest music labels. You know I’ve always been into the hip hop scene.”
Emily tried not to roll her eyes. Devan had always fancied himself a “talent scout” and thought he knew a thing or two about making it in the music business. He wasn’t a performer himself, but with his looks and personality, he managed to make some good connections and was always getting into all the right parties.
She’d met him when she’d been one of the dancers on a music video and they’d somehow hit it off. He’d been the best-looking man she’d seen in a long while and he had all that charm and confidence. She’d been off the dating radar for almost a year, so maybe she’d been propelled by the too-long dry spell into starting a relationship with Devan. Well, look how that turned out.
Emily pointedly waited for him to continue and with seeming reluctance, he did.
“Look, I feel all kinds of stupid now for falling for her lies. Just because she looked beautiful and classy, I let myself get carried away. Alice let me think she was some heiress about to come into big money on her twenty-fifth birthday. We started seeing each other, and every time she asked for cash, she assured me she’d pay back once she got her trust fund in a few months.”
Devan paused to scrub a hand wearily over his temple. “But she was playing me, Em. Sure, she really is the daughter of a big-shot family, but they’d lost all their money in a major bust up last year and are virtually penniless. In the past few months that Alice got me running up huge debts to finance her lavish spending, I’d found myself getting involved in some shady stuff. There were these loan sharks and I got some money from then that I need to pay back. The deadline’s barely a month away and if I don’t pay up, they’re coming for me.”
Emily stared unwaveringly at him. “I’m sorry you got mixed up in all of that. But I still don’t get the reason why your problems have anything to do with me or Chace.”
“It’s all my fault,” Devan suddenly groaned, resting his face in his palms for a moment before sighing heavily and looking up. “I mentioned to Alice some time ago that you and I dated. We were always seeing you in the papers with your rich boyfriend and I just let it slip. Two weeks ago, the loan sharks abducted Alice. They simply wanted to shake her up, give us a scare into finding their money. But then she had to tell them that I had an ex getting married to a billionaire and I could easily get the money from you.”
Emily’s expression froze as she tried to process that information. Her mind went blank and all she could think was, This is really messed up.
“Don’t you get it?” Devan said. “They know we have a connection, and they wouldn’t even think twice about coming in contact with you to get their money. You see, Alice gave them the impression that you’d do anything to ensure nothing stands in the way of your marriage to the billionaire.”
“Let me get this straight. So just because we once dated, I’m to be held responsible for your foolishness? How does that add up?” Emily gasped.
“It doesn’t,” muttered Devan. “These guys don’t give a damn about that. They just want their money from whoever’s got it. I had to reason with them that I’d talk to you myself. I couldn’t risk them trying to blackmail you. They’d have gone straight to Chace and I didn’t even want to imagine what how he’d take this. I had to think of you, Emily. That’s why I decided to come to you directly.”
He took something out of his suit pocket and set it in front of Emily. It was a photo, and Emily stared down at the shot of a slender, beautiful young woman with caramel skin, her face smeared in dark bruises.
“They did that to her, just to prove a point. There’s no saying what they’re capable of. They don’t give a damn about anything.”
Emily snatched up the photo, eyes fixed dazedly on the terrible bruises. “But…if you went to the police…”
Devan let out a humorless laugh. “Like they could be any help. Please don’t tell me you really believe that,” were his grim words. “I think you know this type of guys don’t mess about. Life is nothing to them. Alice was so shaken up, she vowed to threaten you with a scandal if you refused to help. She’d sell the story to the tabloids an
d use the money to pay the debt. Can you just imagine how it would look, Em? The gossip freaks will eat that shit up. You’re getting married to the Chace Hammond. His family is like royalty, and he’s one of the biggest names in his field. How will it look if his fiancée’s ex is revealed to be mixed up in this kind of mess?”
Emily shoved her fingers through her hair in confusion. “So how much are we talking about here?” she asked wearily. It was almost like a sign of defeat because asking at all meant she was actually taking all this seriously.
When Devan told her the amount, Emily found herself sitting back heavily. “What? Where the hell am I going to get that kind of money?”
“Come on, Emily. Chace is worth a couple billion, right? I mean his family can afford a small island. This kind of money is small change to him.”
“Are you insane? Like I could just go up to Chace and ask for it. You think I want him to even get a whiff of this?” Emily exclaimed.
“Well then how are we going to get hold of the cash? And in such a short time? I held off as long as I could, Emily. I really didn’t want to get you mixed up in any of this. But I’ve run out of options. All those times I was calling your number and then hanging up…I didn’t have the nerve to face you. I was so ashamed of myself, but now I have nowhere else to turn. Look what they did to Alice.” Devan looked devastated.
Emily fleetingly wondered if he might even be truly in love with the woman. He’d been scammed and chocked up a huge debt over this chick, and now it was Emily expected to clean this mess up.
“I have to think,” Emily said vaguely, rubbing at her temples. “Give me a day or two to figure it all out and I’ll get back to you.”
“Em…”
Emily had grabbed her bag and rose to her feet. “I’ll call you,” she said to the worried Devan, and quickly left the bar.
End of Part 2. Part 3 coming very soon!
Click Here
to stay updated on my hot new BWWM stories, and enter for a chance to read them for FREE!!