“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
End of conversation. He always got to chose the perimeters of what and where they got to talk and it was really starting to anger her. She wasn’t some pretty thing on his arm, she was a strong, independent woman, and she had a reason for her questions.
“I am not going to be scolded like a child, Luke.” Letting go of his arm, she walked through a small room and out the back door onto the deck.
“No, off somewhere.” Her sour look said it all, and she knew it.
Mark nodded and then handed her a drink. “Here, I grabbed two, but it looks like you need it more than me.”
“What is it?”
“Bourbon. Pretty good stuff. Just drink it.”
She swallowed the liquid, letting it burn on the way down her throat. Bourbon wasn’t her choice of a good drink, but anything right now was welcome.
“I suspect you will want to be introduced to people, mingle with the common folk, as it were, Princess?”
“Please, don’t call me that, not tonight.” She shot him a serious look, and his tone changed, but the smile did not leave his face.
“Okay, okay. I won’t. But you wanna mingle?”
“I don’t see why not.” She took Mark’s arm and let him introduce her to people. Most of them were less dressy than she was, and a few women were even wearing jeans with nice blouses.
If only she had known, she would have worn jeans, and felt a little less out of place.
“I’m pretty sure you met some of the girls from the rodeo,” Mark waved at the ladies, who smiled at her.
“I haven’t seen you in a good while, Jayda. How are you doing? Tammy Lynn smiled at her. “I see you have a different man on your arm, did you take my advice about Luke?”
“Tammy Lynn, can’t say it is a pleasant surprise, but a surprise none the less. How did you get an invite?”
“Muriel is a very nice woman, invited all the riders, thought, why not? Free food.” She smiled and pumped Jayda on the arm.
“Mark is just stepping in for Luke at the moment, he is busy, elsewhere.”
“Well, damn. Someone finally snagged him,” Tammy’s smile went wide. “Didn’t think that would ever happen, again.”
Again.
Another reminder of his previous marriage. The marriage he had yet to tell her about. The idea swirled in her brain.
“Yes. Yes she did. Little does she know how bad that really is.” Luke was behind her in an instant, his hand on the small of her back, touching her. Possessing her.
It made her hot with anger and arousal, the combination of the two setting her completely on edge. She prickled at his touch and tried to move away from it, but he pulled her closer.
She couldn’t deny that she liked it.
“You actually sticking around on this one?” Tammy asked, amused.
“That is the plan, if she’ll keep me.” His eyes were on her, serious, the depth of emotion in them beyond any she could have imagined. It was almost more than she could handle.
So she chuckled and let go of Mark’s arm.
“You did pretty good yesterday, at the rodeo. But took one hell of a fall, I hear. How are you feeling?”
“A bit bruised, but nothin’ I can’t handle.” If he was in pain he barely let on, but every once in a while she saw the wince in his face. She knew bull riding was dangerous, but to see the man she cared so deeply about get hurt. I made it real for her.
She understood her mother a little better now, her fear, her anger.
“It was crazy to ride again, man. You could’ve hurt yourself.” Mark said, “But gotta say, I bet on crazy pretty often.”
“I was fine. Besides, it got me where I needed to be.”
They continued talking, the banter between the three of them, when she spotted him. Edward. He was at the hors d’oeuvre table, a napkin in his hand as he loaded up on coconut shrimp. It took all her control not to march right over there and confront him that very moment, but she had to wait. The right moment would present itself and it was going to be tonight.
***
“Did you think I wasn’t going to find out?” She snuck up on him the first chance she got. As soon as she saw him alone in the hallway, next to the buffet she knew it was time.
Edward was completely unaware.
“Find out? About what?”
“You know exactly what I am talking about. Don’t try to deny it. I’ve been to the construction ‘office’. I know about the embezzlement, I know about the sabotage.” She kept her voice low, but didn’t leave out the little bit of hiss. She was angry, and it took all her effort not to hold herself back.
“Where is your proof? You wouldn’t be asking me if you had any. I don’t know what your talking about.”
“Oh no, I have proof. I know the connection, so I have people putting it all together, now.” She was bluffing, quite obviously. She had nothing but a conversation, but hopefully some kind of paper would link them together. “I just want to hear it from your mouth. I want to know why.
Lucky for her, her pokerface was perfect.
“I, I had no choice. She said not to talk.” His eyes shifted, like he was suddenly afraid someone would hear.
“Who gave you no choice? What are you talking about?”
“Look I can’t say, it would ruin everything. It would destroy me.”
“I don’t think you have much of a choice, considering that it would destroy you not to talk. Forget about losing your stake in the company, think about the larger ramifications. Jail time, fines, what about your family?” Being harsh was hard, but it was the only way she knew how to get to him, and it was working.
She could see the frayed edges of his confidence as they broke down.
“Dammit. I, I had no choice. She, found me in some… compromising positions, and not with my wife. Fucking private detectives. Got some dirt…”
“Who?”
“Who else? Isn’t it obvious to you? Don’t you know?”
“Know what?”
“The one woman who could hurt you. The one who has reason to try and frame you. The jilted lover. Left with nothing.”
He was talking in riddles.
“What are you talking about?”
“Think about it. It was Sarah. It always has been.”
Sarah, she was full of open contempt, but she had only met the woman once. Why would she want to do that, even if she was a lover of her father?
She expected he would have them, especially because they lived separated for so long.
But this woman, she was a partner.
“Why would she do this?”
“I told you who, I can’t tell you why. That is for you to find out.” He paused, “Are you going to have me arrested?”
“Not if you step down, and say exactly why. I will not have you prosecuted, and I will try to convince Thomas not to go after you too, but your time at my company is done.”
“Your father needed me, I gave him money when he had none.”
“And this is how you betray him? I mean, if you want, I can certainly go ahead and have the law on you. Your choice. Leave quietly let me catch who is responsible, or get arrested.”
“When you catch her she will rat me out, you can’t possibly save me.”
He was right, she couldn’t. Eventually this was going to come down on his head, and he was going to struggle with it, he was going to lose his whole world. She didn’t feel bad for him, he deserved it, but his family didn’t.
“And I will testify on your behalf, if it gets that far,” she reasoned. “I will do what I can.”
“I believe that, because, your father, in all his faults. Was honest. And it seems like you are too. But if she finds out that I told you, she would never let me live it down. I would lose… everything.” A shiver ran down her spine, spreading fear throughout her body.
Was this woman really that dangerous?
“You’ll need to do the rest of the work on your own. P
ut it together. Figure it out.”
“And what about you?”
“I will tender my resignation for next week, and offer my shares for sale. You can purchase them from me, or they can. I don’t care. I have other business matters, and it isn’t worth losing my family over. I told her she wasn’t going to get away with this, but she didn’t listen. Why do I always get into these fucking messes?”
That was the best thing she heard come out of his mouth the entire evening.
“Maybe you could stop cheatin’, lyin’ and stealin’. Bet that would be a good start.” That last little bit of snark couldn’t be helped. She was still angry, her blood boiling. But she was finally getting somewhere.
After all this time.
She finally knew exactly who she was facing, and she was ready. Whatever was going to happen, it was going to be because of her decisions. Jayda was in charge of her own company.
In charge of her own life.
***
“Take me home,” She leaned into him and pressed her face against his shoulder.
“Sure, why don’t we go find my mom, say goodbye, and then go.”
The two of them weaved towards the crowd to the front of the home, where they expected to find Muriel, except she wasn’t there. The crowded space offered no respite. All this was doing for her was exciting her nerves. She just wanted to get home into his arms.
“Well, just who I was hoping to see.” A familiar voice prickled the hair on her neck as she turned to address it.
Shit.
Chad Hayworth.
“My mom invited you?” Luke asked.
“Nah, I’m here with a date. Couldn’t miss the biggest bash of the month. It was a networking opportunity I couldn't afford to miss.”
But she wished he would have.
“Jayda, I see you are still hangin’ on this wastrel’s arms.”
“What the hell do you have against him?” She spat, her anxiety and her irritation gripping hold of her.
“Where do you want me to start? With the way he just bailed on the rodeo as soon as a woman caught his eye, or the fact that he walked out on a good opportunity to get into the business. With me.”
“You used to work with him?”
“I was young, and dumb. I thought he was a nicer guy than he really was. Fooled me.” Luke kept his eyes on Hayes, like he was sizing him up.
“Shit, that boy walks out on everything. Gets a good thing, just fuckin’ walks out. Did it to me when I needed him, to his last woman, and he’ll do it to you.”
“You asshole.” Luke took a few steps forward, his temper finally getting the better of him, but his mother appeared in the room just in time.
A swift movement later she was across the room with her hand on his arm.
“Sweetie, I need some help in the kitchen, why don't you come back and give me a hand?”
Her request brought him out of his rage.
“What, mom?”
“The kitchen, now. I need your help with some trays, they are just a bit too heavy for me.”
“Yeah, sure.” He said, physically brushing off his anger and following her towards the back of the room and through the doorway.
She stood, frozen, her temper keeping her from moving.
The small crowd that formed looked almost dejected as they disbursed.
“I’m trying really hard to keep my composure, Chad. I thought I communicated my goals to you, and that you understood them.” She couldn’t help it, she had to say something to him.
“You think you know what you’re doing, but you don’t. And it’s going to run the company into the ground. All those men, they all need it. I was against it at first, but now, now it gives them hope. And you’re fucking ruining it.” Chad spat right onto the
“Leave. Now.” Mark stood behind her, his presence comforting, in the way that an old friends would be. “Now.”
She stood there, frozen in place as she watched him turn and leave the room, taking any last shreds of confidence she had with him.
“I’m sorry about that, Jayda. That asshole doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.” Mark stood next to her as they watched him walk away.
Muriel appeared in the doorway, “Jayda, you didn’t want to help?”
“I’m sorry Muriel, I…” Her words escaped her. She was still frozen in place.
“It’s okay, dear. It is okay.”
***
“You’re being awfully quiet over there.” Luke finally broke the silence after a long, winding ride home.
“I just, I realized. I don’t know, you Luke. Not really. Not actually.”
“Shit, Jayda.” He pulled off onto the side of the road. “I’m tired of this back and forth. What do you want from me? What can I do to make you have faith in me? To believe me?”
“You can start by telling me the truth.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been listenin’ to the rumors for weeks. About you. Your life. Hell, Mark fuckin’ outed you. I know that you were a bit of a player, I even know you were married. Just not the details. But I kept my mouth shut, because I thought you would tell me. When you were ready.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I love you, Luke. I didn’t mean to, hell, I didn’t want to. But I do. I just, I don’t know you like I thought I did.”
“I see.” Luke was quiet for a long time before he looked up at her and asked, “what do you want to know?”
“Who was she?”
“Just a girl, from when I was young. I thought I was such a big shot. Gonna be a famous rider someday, you know? But she got her hooks on me, and she pulled me right in. I feel, and I fell hard. We got together, started livin’ together. Then the money started runnin’ out. Mom wasn’t about to give me any, and I wasn’t about to ask. So I stopped doin’ what I loved, and I started doin’ what she wanted. Workin’ odd jobs, tryin’ to make ends meet.” He shook his head. “Hell, I even tried to stay in the rodeo while doin’ it. Just about tore myself up in two, workin’ too damn hard and getting no where.”
“Did you love her?”
It flew out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop it. She didn’t want to ask that question, didn’t want to know.
“I thought I did. No, I did. I loved her, but I was just a… plaything to her. Someone to play house with. She started going out a lot, hanging out with the other cowboys, going home with them. I let myself stay blind to it all for a while. Hell, I even married her despite the fact that my best friend told me she was cheatin’. Mark tried to warn me.”
“Oh.”
“I was blind, and in love, and stupid. She finally left me when she caught herself a bigger fish. Divorced me, got married. Hear she is living well.” He looked her over. “I ain’t loved no one for a long time after that, Jayda. Not until now.”
She didn’t want to hear those words, she wasn’t ready, not ready to be loved. But she didn’t have a choice. She didn’t have a choice in any of this. It was all happening so fast, and she was getting swept up in it.
“I love you, Jayda. I haven’t been the best at this, but I’ve been alone for a long time. Ain’t going to quit trying.” He reached over and pulled her into his lap, kissing her softly. “Can you be patient with me? In a lot of ways I’m just a cranky, mean old bull who needs the right touch.”
“I think I can try.”
“That’s all I can ask for.”
Jayda stood on her father’s porch, her hand on the doorknob, but she just couldn’t find the courage to open the damn door. She needed to find something that connected the dots. Anything. Even if that meant she had to search every nook and cranny of her father’s house to do it.
She turned that damn doorknob and stepped into his house.
It was… spotless. Her mother must have been keeping having cleaners come in on a daily basis, because she didn’t even see a spec of dust. She hoped that all she had done was simple leaning, because she wasn’t sure where else to look.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Her mother. Dammit, think about her and she is summoned.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Jayda? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for days.” The exasperation in her voice made the in days elongated, a feature that made her roll her eyes. Luckily, her mom was not there to see them.
“Sorry, there has been a lot going on with the business.”
“Yeah, apparently you and your father shared that in common. Too busy with work to talk to me.” Ah, so today he was a villain. At least it let her know the mood. “What are you doing now?”
“Going through the house, looking for some… keepsakes.” Better she didn’t know the truth, it would lead to questions, and arguments, and she wasn’t ready for that. Her mother was never involved in this part of his life anyways, so it made no sense to stick her into it now.
“I still don’t understand why you don’t just move in, I mean the entire thing is paid,”
“Mom, we talked about this.” She was in this study, digging through his desk while trying to ignore her mother’s constant guilt trip.
She was three drawers in when she noticed a small stack of letters, wrapped in rubber hands, on the top was one with her name on it. In his handwriting.
“Mom, I am going to have to let you go, something came up.”
“Wha-“
Click.
She wasn’t going to deal with her right this moment. This letter was far more important.
So she did the only thing she could do. She ripped it open, trying her best to save the envelope, it was after all, one of the last things she had with his handwriting still on it.
There was just one page in that envelope, and she fingered the paper, hoping for a more. A dozen, two dozen, hell, an entire manuscript. Something to help her lead, but all she got was one single, solitary, lonely page.
The Rider's Dangerous Embrace (An Interracial Bad Boy Romance Story) Page 20