Miranda sighed, as though she had better things to do and was weary of it all.
“This bickering isn’t serving any purpose. Give us your final answer by 9PM.” She turned and walked away, adding over her shoulder, “As I said, I know you have to save face by pretending to think it over.”
“And if I say ‘no,’ I get to wake up to those pictures on all the morning shows, huh.”
Miranda got to Vincent’s side and turned around. “You won’t even have to wait that long. We’ve promised one of the lead editors at TMZ something juicy and scandalous. He’s chomping at the bit to put it all on the website tonight, even if he doesn’t know what it is. It might even make the 11 o’clock news in Los Angeles.”
“I don’t think the TMZ angle will get much play,” Connor snarked. “My last name isn’t Kardashian.”
“But it is Templeton,” Miranda reminded him. “That alone would be enough.”
“Then you’ll take a ton of collateral damage,” Connor said to his parents.
“Not if we denounce you as a depraved, sex-crazed degenerate,” Mrs. Templeton said.
“And even if we do take collateral damage… it would be worth it,” Mr. Templeton smiled coldly.
He made a gesture, and a bodyguard opened the front door. The three other goons went out to secure the hallway, and then the Templetons filed out. Vincent wouldn’t look at us. Mr. Templeton just stared coldly at his son, and his wife sneered at me like I was dirt.
Miranda was the last one to leave. “Nine o’clock, Connor. No later.”
She walked out, and the bodyguard followed behind her, shutting the door.
4
It’s pretty much impossible to describe the flood of emotions that were coursing through me, but here’s the big ones:
Terror.
Rage.
Shame.
Hatred.
Hurt.
And nausea, which isn’t really an emotion, but tell that to somebody just before they puke on your shoes.
I looked at Connor. He ignored me. He just went over to the couch, picked up the iPad, and stared down at the screen emotionlessly.
I turned hesitantly towards Johnny. I had a hard time meeting his gaze, wondering if he’d seen the photos and what he thought about them – but when our eyes finally locked, I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one who was green around the gills.
He was watching me, his expression full of sympathy and pain. Then his eyes trailed over to Connor, and the worry in Johnny’s face doubled.
I looked back at Connor again.
He was flipping through the pictures, a blank look on his face.
“…Connor?” I whispered.
He didn’t answer, just kept swiping his fingers across the screen.
“Connor, talk to me,” I whispered.
Suddenly, it was like a dam broke, and all the fury and anger and hatred spilled out at once.
“GOD DAMN IT!” he screamed as he threw the iPad.
I shrieked and covered my head, even though the tablet wasn’t aimed anywhere near me.
The iPad cracked against the wall, sending pieces of plastic flying from the broken screen before it clattered to the floor.
Johnny was in front of me in a split second, putting himself between me and Connor.
Although it was terrifying, he needn’t have bothered. Connor was off in his own private hell as he stomped away from us.
“GOD DAMN THEM – GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING – ” he screamed, his hands tearing at his hair –
And then he stopped, his shoulders heaving, his back turned to us.
After a few seconds he held up one hand halfway, as though hailing us from a distant mountain.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a low, composed voice. He still faced away from us. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
I pushed past Johnny. He tried to hold me back, though only half-heartedly. I batted him away.
But the closer I got to Connor, the more unsure I became.
“Connor,” I whispered.
He still wouldn’t turn around or look at me.
Instead, he bowed his head and put his face in his hands.
“So stupid… how could I be so fucking stupid…” he whispered.
I put my hand on his arm… lightly. Hesitantly.
To tell the truth, I was afraid.
But I did it anyway.
He pulled away his hands from his face and looked down at my fingers. Then he followed them up my arm to my face, until he was looking me in the eye.
He looked weary… tired… defeated.
Then… like a single ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds… the corner of his mouth turned up the slightest bit.
“So. How’d you like my family?” he deadpanned.
5
I laughed – a couple of short bursts, mostly out of shock. I couldn’t help myself.
“They were… kind of assholes,” I said.
At that, he roared with laughter. Then he took my hand and gathered me to him, wrapping me in his arms.
His chin rested on the top of my head, and he sighed deeply. I could feel his chest move beside my ear.
“Well… that’s that,” he murmured.
I frowned and pulled away. “What do you mean, ‘that’s that’?”
“They won.”
I stared at him. “…what?”
He looked at me with a combination frown and smile. “I can’t let them do that to you.”
My heart felt like it would burst. “You would… you would give up… all your…”
He rubbed one hand over his face. “What other alternative do I have? Watch you get dragged through the mud?” He shook his head and looked off in the distance. “If I hadn’t been so fucking stupid…”
“It’s my fault,” I whispered.
He laughed once, short and bitter. “No, it was all me, and we both know it. I let my dick do my thinking for me, and this is what – ”
“No,” I choked out. “I mean… if you give in to them… then it’s my fault.”
This time he just frowned. There was no smile. “No, Lily. No. You can’t think that.”
But I wasn’t listening to what he was saying now.
I was hearing what he’d said to me last night.
Imagine a world where electricity costs less than a tenth of what it does now – not to mention it’s clean.
I want to be the guy who changes the world for the better. And if I can’t be him, then I want to help the guy who’s going to change the world for the better… the dreamers, the scientists – the Nikola Teslas of the world.
Something that won’t just benefit the rich, but poor people on every continent. Something that the history books will say changed the course of human civilization. That’s what I want to be part of. Something amazing. Something that changes the world.
There was no way I was going to stand in the way of that.
There was no way I could.
Not and still live with myself.
I was terrified by what I was about to say, but there was no way I could keep quiet.
I stood up straight as I could and tried to sound as brave as possible. “I don’t care what happens to me. If you really believe in everything you told me last night… then fuck them. You have to do whatever it takes.”
He stared at me. Then he shook his head ‘no.’ “Lily… you don’t understand – ”
“I understand they’re pointing a gun at your head, and I’m the gun. And I’m not going to let them use me like that.”
“No, you really don’t understand. The gun isn’t at my head – it’s at yours. Those pictures? Your mother’s going to see those. Your father. They’re going to see them on the news, in the papers, on the internet. They’re not going to be able to escape them. Are your grandparents alive? They’re going to see them, too. You have a brother, right? Is he married? Got kids? Because any nieces and nephews you have, they’re going to see them. If not on their own, then from every
kid at school with a cell phone. Everybody you ever knew in high school and college – everybody you ever worked with – they’re going to see those pictures. Not only that, they’re going to be assaulted with those pictures, for days, maybe weeks on end. And not just the pictures, but all the lies and filth Miranda and my parents can pay people to spread in 24 hours. That you’re a prostitute. That you’re a whore.”
I flinched as he said it. ‘Whore’ isn’t the prettiest of words under any circumstances. It’s especially ugly when you know it’s going to be used to attack and degrade you.
“And it’s not just going to be tomorrow morning – this is going to live with you for the rest of your life. This is going on the internet, and it’s never going away. When somebody Googles your name five years from now, ten years from now, fifty years from now, they’re going to see you in those photographs. Hell, they won’t even have to Google you – it’ll probably be the second or third thing that pops up if they Google me. Your children are going to hear about this from the time they first set foot in school. Other kids – even adults – are going to rub those pictures in your children’s noses. Even if you discover the fucking cure for cancer, or win the Nobel prize for world peace, this is going to be mentioned in your obituary. Miranda and my parents are going to make sure of it. Is that something you want to live with?”
I hadn’t even thought about any of that. The more he said, the more it was like I was standing on a platform that was rising higher and higher in the air – and I was becoming dizzier and more nauseated with every word.
But I’d already started down the path of self-sacrifice, dammit. I wasn’t going to let a few internet searches keep me from being noble.
Okay, a few billion internet searches.
But still.
“I can live with it if you can,” I protested.
Connor shook his head. “I’ve spent my entire life protecting my anonymity. I’ve spent millions keeping out of the limelight – and trust me, this is freaking me the fuck out. But in reality, it wouldn’t change much. It would derail my plans for awhile, yeah, but beyond that, I don’t give a damn what anybody else thinks about me. But you… we’re talking about your entire life here.”
“We’re talking about your entire dream here, too,” I insisted. “Or was all of that just talk last night?”
“No,” he said, riding the edge between annoyed and amused. He knew I was trying to manipulate him. “But you have no idea what Miranda and my parents are capable of. They would destroy you without a second thought.”
“And you’re going to let them get away with destroying your dreams? You’re going to let them get away with bulldozing that perfect world you want to build? You’re going to let them screw over all those billions of people you want to help?”
“Not if it means sacrificing you.”
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” I said. “Or the one.”
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan.
Thank you, Mr. Spock.
(I told you I was a geek.)
Connor held up his hands to his face, covering his nose and his mouth, and just looked at me. Then he took them away and started pacing.
“Okay… hypothetically, let’s just say we do what you’re talking about. We tell them ‘no.’ Immediately they slam the airwaves and internet with those pictures. They tie me to every one of the politicians I need to do the deal. They start running attack ads, they pay and cajole and incite hundreds of thousands of ‘concerned citizens’ to start making phone calls. There’s no way the politicians are going to stick with me. I lose them, I lose the deal anyway. That’s what I meant about Miranda plotting six moves ahead.” His voice turned bitter. “I may hate that bitch, but I have to admit she’s good at what she does.”
“I thought you said you had the politicians nailed down.”
“Not that nailed down.”
“Just fifteen minutes ago you were telling your dad you were going to fund their entire campaigns – ”
“Lily, this is going to be a tornado of a shitstorm. Miranda will make sure of that. If the politicians stick with me, they won’t be able to run from it. And above all else, politicians do whatever it takes to stay in office. Being associated with me is going to be the kiss of death. With all the media attention, they won’t do the deals – and if I don’t have the land, it’s over before it begins.” He threw up his hands. “Miranda and my family won. It’s not your fault, it’s entirely mine. I was stupid, I let my guard down. They never did, they bided their time, they took advantage – and now, either way, they’ve won. We either play their game and keep you safe and they win, or we take them on head-first and ruin your life, and they still win. Either way… they win.”
I felt horrible. This wasn’t the way this was supposed to happen. I couldn’t jeopardize Connor’s dreams – I couldn’t ruin the futures of a billion people I’d never met, just because of one brief moment that wasn’t hurting anybody –
“Sebastian,” Johnny suddenly said.
Connor and I both looked over at him.
“…what?” Connor asked, as though he hadn’t heard him correctly.
“Sebastian. He’s coming. I called him and told him your parents were here. He’ll be here in two, two-and-a-half hours.”
Connor looked at Johnny and shrugged like, Why are you telling me this?
“Oh God,” I moaned, and put my head in my hands. “He’s going to kill me for letting this happen to you – ”
“Sebastian doesn’t like Lily that much,” Johnny said.
I looked up from my hands. “Thanks for rubbing it in.”
Connor got angry. “Is this supposed to make me feel better? Because, hint: it’s not.”
“No, no… Sebastian is totally clear-headed about this,” Johnny said excitedly. “You’re not thinking straight. And I’m not good at this stuff at all. But he is. And he can see what the best thing to do is, even if…”
Johnny paused and looked at me apologetically.
“…even if it means Lily gets hurt.”
For a second, my insides twisted, thinking that my future might be in the hands of the guy who had been urging his boss to dump me for the last five days.
Then I remembered that I had been perfectly willing to throw myself on the funeral pyre just a few minutes ago.
Even though I didn’t exactly want Sebastian to do the throwing, my heart lifted just the tiniest bit.
Connor narrowed his eyes like he was thinking it through. “You’re kind of clutching at straws, Johnny.”
“I don’t think we have much left to clutch at. Just don’t make that phone call to Miranda until you talk to Sebastian,” Johnny pleaded.
Connor thought for a second more. “How long ago did you call him?”
“Back when Lily and I were in the kitchen.”
“He’ll be here in two-and-a-half hours, you said?” Connor asked.
“Roughly. He booked a flight, then he’s got to get a cab.”
“Get him back on the phone and tell him to use the Gulfstream you and I flew in on Friday. And I want you to meet him at the airport and get him here as fast as possible.”
Johnny beamed and pulled out his phone.
I have to admit, I was starting to feel something like hope.
Connor shook his head and grumbled, “If there’s even a shot he can help, we’re going to need every last second.”
6
Apparently the ‘Gulfstream’ was Connor’s private jet, which he had used Friday – the day I met him – to fly from New York to LA. By taking it instead of a commercial flight, Sebastian bumped up his departure by over an hour. The flight was typically forty minutes, though Sebastian said the pilot could push it to thirty.
Before the plane had even taxied off the runway in LA, Johnny was walking out the door of the penthouse.
“Do NOT leave this place,” he ordered Connor angrily. “Do NOT open the fucking door.”
“Relax, they’ve alr
eady ruined me. There’s no need for them to shoot me now.”
“Connor – ”
“I promise. Jesus.”
“If you’d just followed my instructions, none of this would be happening,” Johnny scowled, then looked at me like he’d just put his foot in his mouth. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
“What are you saying ‘sorry’ to her for? I’m the one who fucked everything up,” Connor snapped.
“Well, don’t go fucking it up even more.”
“Go get Sebastian,” Connor said as he pushed him out of the penthouse.
Then he and I were alone.
Connor went over and sat down on the couch, elbows on his legs, back hunched over, head between his knees. He looked like a weary old man beaten down by the world.
I went over and sat down beside him. I didn’t know what to do, so I put my arm across his shoulders and leaned my head against his shoulder.
“…I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything.”
“I… I could have said ‘no.’”
I could only see one eye as he turned his head slightly to look at me. His eyebrow was cocked mischievously, and his voice was impish. “No you couldn’t have.”
I pulled back. “What, were you going to force me?”
He sat up and collapsed with his back against the sofa, which was an improvement. Now he just looked tired, not beaten down.
“No, of course not. But there was no way you could say ‘no.’”
“Oh, because you’re sooo irresistible,” I said mockingly.
His eyebrow arched higher and he grinned silently.
I started to blush.
“Fine,” I snapped. “Okay, so you are.”
He laughed, pulled me against him, and kissed me soft and deep.
Ohhhhhh…
That felt much better.
Until he pulled back and said, “I am pretty irresistible…”
Then he just laughed as I swatted him several times.
After I simmered down, he held me and stroked my arm. “What I meant was, when I set my mind to something, I don’t let anything stand in my way. And I was dead set on having you right away, anywhere I could get you.”
All That He Loves (Volume 2 The Billionaires Seduction) Page 2