The Billionaire Saved My Life - The Finale

by Sherie Keys

  “Don't push me around, Kurtis. I'm ready to set you free, but that's all I want from you. Just one more time, kiss me.” She looked up into his eyes, a smile on her face. He looked down at her, contemplating this but was struggling to allow himself to have any physical contact with this woman at all. She looked away quickly and then back into his eyes. “What are you waiting for?”

  He took a step towards her and pressed his lips to hers. She grabbed him around his neck, pulling her body into his and searching his mouth with her tongue. She writhed and swayed at his touch, refusing to let him back away as she clamped her body so tightly against his. He could hardly breath and made a protesting sound. He pulled at her arms and finally freed himself from the grip she had on him.

  She looked up at him, smiling. “That's better, Kurtis. Now what was it you wanted me to say to Tanya? She's standing right there.”

  Kurtis swung around. Just a few feet behind him, Tanya stood, motionless, on the bridge. Her eyes darted from the smiling Catherine to a shocked looking Kurtis.

  She said nothing but backed away, bumping and barging people out of the way as she tried to make her escape.

  “Tanya!” Kurtis shouted. Just then, a band started up and drowned him out. He ran after Tanya at full speed, elbowing his way through the people but at the foot of the bridge, he realized he had not seen where Tanya went. He stood looking frantically all around. He saw a clearing and headed towards it. What color did she have on? Was her hair up and down? Where is she?

  He ran and ran but it was hopeless. He'd lost her in the crowd. She could be anywhere. With a heavy heart, he turned back to the bridge. He needed to get away from this crowd. They were too happy and loud. Catherine was still on the bridge.

  “Did you catch her?” she said.

  Kurtis grabbed her by both arms and shook her.

  “How could you do that?” he shouted.

  “Kurtis you're hurting me.”

  “If you don't get the hell out of New York, once and for all, I'll do more than that.” He pushed her aside and stormed through the crowd, knowing that he'd lost the love of his life.

  At an exit point to the park, Tanya was catching her breath. She had never run so fast in her life. The shock at seeing Catherine and Kurtis so entwined with each other turned her stomach. What kind of a sick joke was he playing on her, anyway? Did he lure her to the bridge to throw this in her face? Was this his revenge for her not showing up the night before? Surely, Kurtis could not stoop so low.

  It could be that he'd waited long enough, saw Catherine and she'd cast a spell on him. They had a history that went on for far longer than the short amount of time she'd known Kurtis. Maybe she just didn't know him as well as she thought she did. All her secret longings of a happy ever after with Kurtis were now well and truly out of the question.

  She wanted out of this circle of lies, out of the city, out of New York altogether. She felt like she couldn't breathe and that her heart was breaking all over again. How could he do this? Tanya looked up and around to see where she was. She looked for a taxi to get her far away from the park. She wished she could go home to her father but she'd gone running home with her tail between her legs once before. Her second thought was the look on the faces of the girls when she left them this afternoon and wondered if they'd all still be there, she needed a shoulder, or two, to cry on.

  She hailed down a taxi. Slamming the door, she gave the driver Jeannie's address. As she sat in the back, she could not stop the tears from falling, realizing that all the romantic notions and hopes of a dream reunion were lost to her now. She tried to dry her tears before pulling up outside Jeannie's house. She must be brave. She had, after all, left there stoically, saying that she didn't want Kurtis back. She had to keep her cool and not let them know how she was feeling and she would not reveal to them what she saw.

  She turned the key in the door and heard footsteps rushing towards her from the living room. All the girls were still there. Tanya looked into the eyes of all the expectant faces. She could tell that they all wanted a happy ever after but she wasn't going to be able to deliver.

  “Let me see your hand,” Mae said.

  Tanya held up her right hand.

  “No, the other one.”

  “There's nothing to see. No diamond ring, Mae, or a happy ever after. Sorry to disappoint.” Tanya breezed through to the sitting room. “What are we all doing?”

  “We've all been waiting to see you,” Kaya said. “Are you going to put us out of our misery and tell us what the hell happened?”

  “She's messing with us,” Mae said. “There's no way Tanya could have met up with Kurtis in a place he called, 'our place' and there not be a happy ending. Am I right, Tanya?”

  “Really,” Tanya looked at her smiling as best she could. “There isn't the happy ending you were hoping for. I said I wasn't going back and I meant it. From now on, please consider me and Kurtis officially broken up. And please, ladies, I really don't want to talk about it. These last few weeks have been hard enough. I don't want to have to drag this break up on any longer. It's the toughest one I've ever had to deal with and the sooner I can put it all behind me, the better.”

  She looked at them all one by one.

  “Look, no one died,” Tanya said. “Let's do something. I'll treat you all to a meal. Who's hungry?”

  Chapter8

  Her return to New York was not going the way Catherine had planned. The only person she could rely on for any kind of support was James McConnagh. She rushed straight to his apartment after the event she thought would surely win back her billionaire ex, Kurtis Reed or at least ensure that Tanya would never want him back. But her passionate kiss with him in front of Tanya only cemented the fact that Kurtis's heart well and truly belonged to Tanya.

  “Ah, the beautiful, Catherine. What a lovely surprise.” James was his usual slimy self.

  “Forget the niceties, James, and pour me a drink.” She walked straight past his open arms as he stood at the door.

  “So early?”

  “I don't care what time it is, I've had it with this place, this city. I've had it with Kurtis Reed, I've had it with everyone. I never should have come back.” She slammed her body into a large swivel chair in the middle of James' living room.

  “Well, you obviously haven't had it with me, otherwise you wouldn't be here, would you?” He walked back to her from the bar. “There you go.” James handed her a long glass of whiskey and soda with ice. Catherine took it and drank from it, not stopping until all that was left was the pile of ice and the slice of lemon.

  “Another,” she said, handing him the glass.

  “My pleasure.”

  It was after the third glass of whiskey that James decided to slip Catherine's shoes off and start to massage her feet. His massaging made her close her eyes and rest her head back. Next, he began to kiss her toes, kissing in a slow steady line up to the back of her knees and then onto her thighs. He pulled up the skirt of her dress and kissed the lace trim of her panties. Realizing she wanted more, he pulled her so that she slipped onto the floor, and began to remove her clothes.

  “Take me to your bed,” she said.

  “Once again,” he said. “It's my pleasure.”

  They made love into the early evening, Catherine screaming with abandon as James thrust deep inside her and she begged him not to stop. After he'd come, she stroked him until he was aroused once more and straddled him, riding him with her back arched, her eyes closed until the feeling of pain and pleasure were intermingled and she orgasmed with an almighty wrench of breath from her lungs. James looked up at her to see a face so contorted in ecstasy it made him climax again.

  They lay in bed, sweating. Catherine closed her eyes and began to weep, James held her, resting his face into her hair and letting her cry out her anger and frustration of losing Kurtis once and for all.

  “Just let it out, baby,” he kept repeating. “Just let it all out.”

  Catherine settled and rolled
onto her back, James lay beside her.

  “You know, you could always go for Mr. Second Best,” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know I mean me. Now that it's clear you have no chance with Kurtis, even after our best efforts, why not give us a try?” He pointed at a space between their bodies. “You know full well I've always liked you.”

  “Liked me?”

  “Well if you want me to say it then, yes, I love you.” He smiled at her but she was still not over her defeat of losing Kurtis.

  “How could he have strung me along for so long?” she said. “I wonder if I'd been here all the time and she came along he'd have ditched me for her.”

  “Oh stop torturing yourself over that loser, Catherine. I left the 'I Hate Kurtis Reed' fan club a long time ago. Especially since I found out the bastard is invincible.”

  “What's that supposed to mean?” She looked up at him.

  “I've tried since we were in our teens to discredit him. Failed every time. Then he got that damned boat, just when I was thinking of getting one. Everyone telling him what a great sailor he made. I hated him even more and then when I tampered with the electronics in his boat, he crashed it and still came up smelling of roses and everyone was so sad he'd had a crash. He was still getting everyone's attention.”

  Catherine sat up and wrapped the covers around her chest.

  “What crash, James?”

  “Oh nothing.” He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

  “James. What crash? Are you talking about the accident that caused me to have amnesia? Is that the crash you're talking about?”

  “But you were saved so...”

  “And if I wasn't? You mean you were trying to kill us?”

  James sat up and tried to put his arm around Catherine. She shrugged his arm away.

  “You don't understand,” he said. “You weren't supposed to be on the boat that day. You told me that was the weekend you were off to Italy with some girlfriends. I thought you would be on a flight out to Europe. I didn't know you'd changed your mind.”

  “The Italy trip got canceled at the last minute. Not that any of that matters. James. It was you? You tampered with the boat so it would crash.”

  “Yes, but I wasn't trying to kill him. I swear to you, Catherine. That wasn't why I did it. I just wanted to ruin his reputation. You see before he got that boat, I told him I was thinking of getting one. So he knew my plan and went out to deliberately get one better than me. He just had to get one first. Just like always.”

  “You imbecile. I bought him that boat. It was a present.” Catherine jumped up and out of the bed. She found her clothes and dressed quickly. James put on a robe.

  “Catherine. Please. Don't rush off like this. We can make this work. He didn't even care that you came back. I cared. I loved you and I still tried to help you get him back.”

  She was at the door now. He held her arm. “Catherine. You can't just walk out like this. I just wanted you to notice me, but how could I, with Kurtis Reed being a super star all the time. I wanted people to know he wasn't perfect.”

  “Damn it, James. No one is perfect. Are you crazy or something?”

  “Don't call me that.”

  “James, if you were found out you'd be facing a prison sentence.”

  “Well, no one will find out, will they?” He bored into her with his eyes. She looked down at the hand gripping her arm.

  “Let go of me, James. You make me feel so dirty. Why I ever listened to your cheap tricks at trying to get Kurtis back, I'll never know. I should have just gone about things the way I'd planned. Just gone to him and try to win back his heart. Who knows, it may well have worked. Instead, I've lowered myself in his eyes and I can never live that down, or forgive myself. You brought me down to your level.”

  “Really? Don't forget you did cheat on Kurtis with me.”

  “Oh, I remember and I think I've paid that price now. But you...” she looked him up and down. “You will never learn.”

  She stormed out of James' apartment, hot tears streaming down her face. She shook her head as she got to street level. She didn't deserve for someone like Kurtis to come back to her. She would never be able to face him and, finally, the first pangs of remorse hit her as she ran across a busy street, trying to distance herself from James. She hailed the next passing taxi she saw and asked the driver to go as quickly as possible, she needed to hide away in her apartment.

  Chapter9

  There was a double celebration going on in Brooklyn. Not only was it Tanya's birthday, but she had also managed to find a new apartment. It was a step up from the room she had over the dry cleaners shop. But at least in the room over the shop, the rent was pretty low and she had been able to save a fair amount of money. This apartment wasn't too far from the Brooklyn Bridge and was light and airy with a large bedroom and living room. The girls all loved it when they came over to celebrate with Tanya.

  Jeannie opened a bottle of champagne and filled the eager flutes to the top so that bubbles sparkled and fizzled out over the rims.

  “Here's to Tanya. May you have happy times in your new home, and friendly neighbors.”

  “Cheers!” they all said.

  Tanya's apartment was only partly furnished. In the living room was a luxury armchair and a coffee table. There was also a large television in the corner and a vast shelving unit on the wall opposite the large window. There was small balcony, which she knew she would eventually fill with cuttings from her father's flower garden and she couldn't wait to make it her own.

  Her friends were true to their word to her to never bring up the subject of Kurtis. That wasn't to say Tanya ever stopped thinking about him. What they could’ve had together was always on her mind. His face was the dream that woke her each morning and the memory of his arms around her was what rocked her to sleep at night. If she wasn't crying herself to sleep, that was.

  She had thrown herself into her work and had also gained a weekend job at an exclusive department store, where she put her personal shopper experience to good use. She had a long list of new clients and with all the work she was doing, she eventually had less and less time to think about Kurtis – or to cry over him.

  “You've done so well for yourself,” Mae said, coming back from the bare kitchen with a platter of food and nibbles for snacks. This place is so nice. As soon as you get some music going in here, we'll have to make this the new Rafaelo's.”

  There was stony silence as everyone looked at Mae. “Damn, why did I have to bring that place up?”

  Since the incident with James, the girls had never ventured back to their favorite drinking spot; it had been ruined by that awful night and the heart wrenching weeks that followed. But it was September and the New York summer was coming to an end. It was a time for new beginnings for Tanya.

  “Don't worry, Mae, I can still say Rafaelo's without turning into a quivering wreck. I can even say Kurtis Reed if I need to – and I don't. And I don't have to turn the page in a magazine or newspaper when I see an article about him and I don't have to switch off the television if he's in the news.”

  “Well, that's progress,” Jeannie said. She refilled the glasses.

  “One thing I did notice,” Kaya said, “was that whenever I see him in the magazines he doesn't have a woman with him. Do you think he's had it with the fairer sex?”

  “Either that or he just can't find anyone who compares to Tanya,” said Mae.

  “Whoa! Wait a minute ladies,” Tanya said holding up both hands. “I know I mentioned his name but we don't need to keep on talking about him.”

  Tanya went to one of the boxes where she found her iPlayer and tried to hook up some sound through a decrepit set of speakers she'd uncovered in the bedroom closet when she first moved in. Pretty soon, the girls were up and dancing, all except Jeannie who had a secret. She knew something about Kurtis that she would dearly love to share with Tanya but this was not the night for talking bringing it up. She'd hav
e to save it for another day.

  Earlier that day, Catherine had managed to peel herself off the bed in her dimmed bedroom where she'd spent almost a week not moving, just crying and thinking tirelessly about what could have been if James had not ruined her life. She had been focusing her hate on him and not Tanya. The blame lay firmly at his door and there was no getting around that.

  Catherine had been filled with bitter jealousies and hate for Tanya, and couldn't see past the fact that Kurtis was entitled to move on after believing her to be dead for almost two years.

  She turned on the shower and decided it was time to make amends. She left her apartment in the morning wearing a simple skirt and blouse. No makeup, no high heels, no cleavage on display and nothing tight fitting. She blow-dried her hair to a simple, straight style and caught a taxi up to Reed Records.

  Two security guards blocked her path as soon as she got through the rotating doors.

  “Please,” she said, “I'm not here to make trouble. It's important I speak to Kurtis. He needs to hear what I have to say to him.”

  The security guards looked over at the receptionist who signaled for her to approach the large desk.

  “He's not here,” Trudy at the reception desk said. “And that's the truth.”

  “All right but may I go up and have a word with Edith? I won't try anything stupid. It really is important. Believe me.”

  Something in Catherine's demeanor made Trudy call up to Edith who eventually allowed her access to the executive suite on the top floor.

  “Thank you for seeing me, Edith. They said he wasn't here but I was hoping you could tell me where I could find him.”

  “I'm afraid I can't Catherine, and that's the God's honest truth. He took off and didn't say where he was going or when he'd be back. He put another of the executives in charge and we have no idea how to contact him.”