Wicked Rich

by C. Morgan

  Bringing it to my lips and clearing my throat, I tapped on it to get people’s attention. Slowly but surely, the room quieted down as people realized I was standing there, waiting to make what I hoped would be an epic speech.

  “Good evening, everybody,” I said once most of the eyes in the room were on me.

  Dax’s eyes flew wide open when he saw me, but I started speaking while he was still trying to make his way through the gathered crowd. Mr. Breyer stood at the bar, but unlike his wife, who’d gone bright red, he seemed more curious than angry to see me up on the stage.

  “I’ve heard a lot of you speculating about me and speaking about Daxton Breyer, the birthday girl’s special son,” I said. “I’m Hadley Sage, and I went to high school with Dax before he moved here. We attend Edgewater University together now.”

  The room had gone deathly silent. “While I know that a lot of you want to know more about me since he brought me here with him, I’m not really up here to talk about myself. I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk to you about Dax.”

  The man in question had managed to make his way to me by now, standing right in front of me with a wary expression on his face as his gaze locked with mine. I kept going, though. If I had to say what I had to say while looking into his deceitful blues, then I could do that.

  “I don’t blame you all for thinking that he’s the trustworthy, stand-up young man you all seem to think he is. In fact, I used to think so too, but he’s really not. He’s a liar with a wicked heart who invited me here only to abandon me on this island with no way home.”

  A magnitude of emotions played out over his handsome features, but the one that stuck eventually was shock. Thrusting my chin into the air, I held his gaze and narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Is this what you wanted, Daxton?” I asked into the microphone, but the question was only for him. “Did you want to make a fool of me? Did you want to make me feel small, and weak, and powerless? Does it change anything for you that you managed to do it?”

  Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall quite yet. I was almost done. As soon as I was, they could flow freely. I just needed to get through this one last thing.

  “I’m sorry for what I did to you in high school. I know I’ve said it before but I am really, truly sorry,” I said. “But the way you’ve handled yourself after, like you believe nobody is allowed to make mistakes, is disgusting. You could’ve come to me or at me, talked to me, or kept up the petty bullying, but this? It’s pathetic, abhorrent, and vile. Congratulations, Dax. I hope you’re happy now.”

  Barely able to see through the tears that blurred my vision, I slid the microphone back into the cradle and took off. People parted to let me march out of the room, and I was pretty sure Dax was chasing after me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything anymore. Except for the fact that I really doubted I had a ride home now.

  Fuck.

  Chapter 31

  DAXTON

  More fucking furious than I’d ever been in my life, I stormed out after her. I didn’t know how she’d found out about the plan, but it didn’t even really matter anymore. She’d just publicly humiliated me—again—but this time, she’d made it seem like I was the bad guy.

  Disgusting. Pathetic. Abhorrent. Vile. All the things she’d called me churned through my head like some kind of sick mantra.

  When I finally caught up with her, we were out on the deck where I’d had the argument with my father yesterday. She kept right on going though, practically running to the beach even though she was still wearing heels.

  “What the fuck was that, Hadley?” I snapped, still following her as I kicked off my shoes when we hit the sand. “I mean, what the actual fuck were you thinking doing that at my mother’s birthday party?”

  She scoffed loudly enough for me to hear it, even if she hadn’t stopped running yet. Tripping a little as she tried to make her way over the sand while wearing heels, she finally had to stop to yank them off.

  “As if you care about your mother’s birthday party,” she snapped right back at me. “Besides, maybe you should’ve thought about her contempt for me before you brought me here.”

  “She doesn’t like you because of what you did to me,” I retorted. “Despite how you tried to spin it back there, this is on you, Hadley. You’re not some perfect, innocent little angel who’s never done anything wrong.”

  “I’ve never pretended to be,” she yelled, finally spinning around to face me. There were tears in her eyes, but there was also fire burning behind those tears. Clearly, neither of us were backing down tonight. “I apologized to you, Daxton. I’ve also told you more than once how much I regret that I did what I did, but I can’t change it. No one forced you to accept my apology. If you didn’t want to, you could’ve kept acting like an ass and been done with it.”

  “What? And let you off the hook?” I laughed, but the sound came out dry and bitter. “Nice try, babe. What you did fucking broke me. Because of you, I haven’t been able to trust anyone. I haven’t gotten close enough to a girl to get into any kind of real relationship. My first few months here were hell. All because of you.”

  Pain flashed across her face in the pale moonlight, but it was replaced by a mask of fury again before I could even know for sure that it had been there. “I’m sorry, Daxton! What else do you want me to say? I can’t go back and fix what I did when I was a kid but you? You did this. Now. As an adult.”

  “Is it difficult to breathe when you’re on a horse that high?” I exhaled a harsh breath. “Don’t pretend that you didn’t enjoy the time we’ve spent together. I made sure you did. All I wanted was for you to feel how I felt.”

  “That might’ve been all you wanted, but the way you went about doing it is utterly despicable,” she seethed. “You stole my time when you knew how seriously I was taking school and why. I just thank my lucky fucking stars that I caught you before you could do more harm than I could repair. It’s not a game, Daxton. It’s my fucking life.”

  “Oh, come on. I didn’t drive you out to the desert and wait for coyotes to eat you. Getting left behind in Hawaii would hardly ruin your fucking life. Especially not after the way you really did ruin mine.”

  Her head jerked back and she was breathing hard. “I’m not the one who arrested your father or who brought those charges against him. I’m not the one who sank your family’s reputation and I’m not the one who made you run from it.”

  She spoke over me when I started to retort, yelling again as tears streamed down her cheeks. “You’re nothing but a selfish, spoiled, worthless, scared little boy with a warped view of the world because of it. If you’re too blind to see what it really could’ve meant if I never found out and you’d left me here, then you’re fucking stupid, too.”

  “Maybe, but you’re a heartless bitch who’d do anything to get ahead. Even if it means sticking a knife in someone’s back who didn’t have anyone else to rely on. How am I the selfish one here?”

  “You could’ve looked me in the eyes and told me how my behavior hurt you and how you have trust issues because of it.” She swiped at the tears, but more just kept coming as she planted her hands on her hips and glared at me. “You could’ve been honest, not that I know if you even know the meaning of that word, but you could’ve laid it all out there and moved on.”

  “Moved on?” I started, but she cut me off again.

  “But no. You wanted to cling to the turmoil of four years ago. Of what happened when we were both dim-witted teenagers. You wanted to drag the past into the present without any regard for anything that had changed.”

  “What’s changed, Hadley?” I yelled, losing control of my own volume as I threw my arms out to my sides. “I’m still here. Still hurt. Still stuck with the consequences because of what happened. It’s easy for you to tell me that I should’ve moved on when you have no idea what I went through.”

  “Then you could’ve told me about it.” She rolled her head back and tried to calm her breat
hing, but it didn’t work. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, but it’s not like I could’ve done anything to try to repair the damage if I didn’t even know it was there. Was the answer really causing even more damage? I let you in, Dax. I slept with you. That may not mean anything to you, but I don’t go around fucking anyone with a dick. How could you have crossed that line? How do you not see how sick that is?”

  The words hit me like a punch to the gut. It sucked the breath out of my lungs and made my head spin. “That had nothing to do with this. Don’t try to turn me into some kind of sexual fucking deviant. You wanted me. I wanted you. End of fucking story.”

  “It’s not the end of the fucking story, Daxton. Even thinking that is so fucking childish that I don’t even know what to say to that.”

  She shook her head hard and fast, then spun around again and stormed farther down the beach. I followed, not even nearly done with her yet.

  “Childish? That’s rich coming from you,” I said. “I’m not the one who just turned a private matter into a public spectacle and for what? To humiliate me again? To humiliate my parents? My mother? On her fucking birthday in front of all of her friends.”

  “All of her friends who believe that you’re the second coming?” she scoffed, slamming to an abrupt halt and whirling around to face me again. “If you’d heard the things your mother and her friends said about me, maybe you’d understand. On the other hand, it seems you’re incapable of understanding anything that doesn’t fit into your narrow world view.”

  “No, I understand it, alright. I understand that you got pissed off because these people actually like and respect me. I understand that you felt all jilted and sorry for yourself, so you decided to make a scene. Throw a tantrum, but I’m the childish one?”

  “Jilted?” A loud burst of totally humorless laughter came out of her. “In order to have been jilted, I’d had to have been your lover. I’ve never been that, have I? You were using me and laughing at me while fooling me into believing that you care about me.”

  Tension zapped in the air between us. Her chest heaved, and when I took a step closer to her, I realized that my own was heaving almost just as much.

  In her space now, I towered over her, glaring down into her wet, glittering eyes as I sucked in a deep breath. “Don’t give me that shit, Hadley. You know very fucking well that I wasn’t laughing at you. Sure, I made you believe that I care about you but who says I don’t?”

  Despite being so much shorter than me, she looked me right in the eyes and kept her head held high. “I don’t know anything about you very fucking well anymore. I never did. I was just stupid enough to fall for your pathetic little ploy.”

  “Stop fucking calling me pathetic,” I snapped. “You wanted me to talk to you, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m telling you now how angry I am at you and how fucking deeply you hurt me, but all you keep doing is telling me how pathetic my feelings are.”

  Now that I thought about it, it was a such a relief that all the anger I’d been wanting to let loose for all these years was finally coming out of me. In a moment of insanity, I closed the final distance between us and crashed my lips down onto hers.

  Maybe this was exactly what was supposed to have happened between us. Maybe this blowout was exactly what I’d needed all—

  A stinging pain spread across my cheek. It took me a second to realize she’d slapped me. My eyes flew open, and when they met hers, she was looking at me like I’d gone mad. Hell, maybe she’s even right.

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” she breathed. “Don’t ever do that again, Daxton. I’m going to leave now, and don’t even think about following me this time.”

  As she stormed away from me again, I did what she’d asked and stayed put. My mind was reeling and my gut was so clenched it was making me feel sick. Whatever I thought I’d feel after everything came out, it wasn’t this. Not by a long shot.

  Chapter 32

  HADLEY

  Early the next morning, I was packed, awake, and completely unsure about what the day was going to bring. I hadn’t seen Dax since last night, but I also didn’t really want to. I had nothing left to say to him, but I knew I’d have to speak to him if I was somehow going to fly back with him.

  Sighing as I walked into the kitchen, I came to a sudden stop when I realized I wasn’t the only one awake at the break of dawn. Mr. Breyer stood next to their fancy coffeemaker. He was also already dressed and looking ready to face the day.

  My heart picked up its pace. I expected him to chase me out of his house, but he motioned me in instead. “Come have a seat, Hadley. I’ll fix you a cup of coffee.”

  He turned and reached into a cabinet, taking out another mug and whistling under his breath as he slotted the mugs into their designated spaces in the machine. The scent of fresh, bitter coffee filled the kitchen, and I inhaled deeply before doing what he’d said and taking a seat at the counter.

  Once the mugs were full, he pushed cream and sugar over to me, then passed me my coffee. I didn’t know what to think about him offering to share a drink with me. A part of me was relieved that he didn’t seem like he was about to toss me out on my ass. I also still wanted to speak to him, even if my relationship with his son wasn’t going anywhere after all.

  Another part of me wondered if I could trust his calm, almost cheerful facade. The Breyers hadn’t exactly given me much reason to believe in them this weekend, but at least I wasn’t getting that weird vibe from him anymore.

  When he sat down, he offered me a small smile that crinkled the corners of his light blue eyes. “First things first, I wanted to tell you that I have the plane fueled up and ready to take you back whenever you want. If you’re willing to accept the offer after everything’s that’s happened, that is.”

  My brows crept up, but I nodded as I wrapped my hands around the mug. “I’d appreciate that very much, sir. If it will really be ready whenever I want, then I’d like to get out of here as soon as we’re done. Who thought I could be disappointed by a place as beautiful as Hawaii, right?”

  He smiled sadly. “Hawaii didn’t have anything to do with it. It was my son who ruined things for you, I believe.”

  “You really do have a beautiful home. I’m glad you guys are happy here,” I said. “I know it might not be worth much, but I really am sorry about everything that happened to you.”

  “It was all just a big, unfortunate misunderstanding, darling. It’s nothing for you to be sorry about.” His eyes took on a faraway quality as he looked past me at the open window behind me. “I’m not sure how much of it was publicized after I left, but with how badly the investigation was bungled, I’m not surprised the authorities wanted the whole thing to die a quiet death.”

  He shook his head. “Did you know that it turned out that it was one of my former executives who’d been embezzling from his new company? The tip that led to the investigation and my ultimate arrest merely mentioned the man’s name and a timeline that made it seem like it had happened while he was still at my firm. No one knew he’d started a new company and he’d been working in both for a couple of years at the time.”

  “Wow.” I took a sip of my coffee to buy myself time to wrap my head around it. “I heard some of that, but you’re right. It died a quiet death after you left town. No one really talked about it after that.”

  “I suspected that might be the case.” He was quiet for a beat. Then he brought his gaze back to mine. “Daxton is the one who should be apologizing to you, but I’d like to do it on his behalf. I also need to take some responsibility for what happened.”

  “No, you don’t,” I said quietly. “I overheard the two of you talking. That’s how I found out. I know you didn’t know a thing about it.”

  “Perhaps not,” he mused, but then breathed deeply before offering me another soft smile. “It’s not just about this weekend, though. As soon as I saw you, I had my suspicions, which is why I cornered him about it on Friday evening. I’m afra
id I should’ve seen something like this coming.”

  When I cocked my head at him in question, he nodded slowly and explained. “I never knew how much he struggled with our relocation. I knew he didn’t want to move, but I didn’t realize how much of an impact it made on him or how much it still affected him.”

  He sighed. “I should’ve taken the time to try to understand him rather than leaving him to his own devices while I fought the court case. By the time I got here, I thought they were settled. I put my focus on trying to get the firm back on its feet and helping my wife adjust. Daxton seemed fine.”

  “I don’t blame you for anything, Mr. Breyer,” I said. “You don’t have to take any responsibility for what happened this weekend, at the very least. That was all Dax. I should’ve known better. I think it might help Dax with everything if you spoke to him about all that, though.”

  I didn’t even know why I still cared, but just like Mr. Breyer felt some measure of responsibility, so did I. Having now heard how badly I’d hurt him and how he was still struggling with the consequences of that time of our lives, I felt even worse than I’d felt before.

  The guilt was eating at me, but so was my disgust over what he’d done. We should’ve just stayed away from each other.

  “You might not want to hear this, Hadley,” Mr. Breyer said after pausing for a minute. “In the interest of being honest though, I feel like I should tell you. It might help you make sense of his actions if you know that our son was head over heels in love with you in high school. That’s why it cut him so deeply when you turned your back on him.”

  I blinked rapidly in surprise, my chin lowering as I tried not to let my jaw drop at his revelation. “He was?”