My Bereaved Billionaire: A Clean Billionaire Romance (My Billionaire A-Z Book 2)

by Katie Evergreen

“That wasn’t why we were ringing,” Fred said.

  The twins spoke in hushed tones that Liberty barely heard. The blood rushing around her skull was too noisy.

  “We’ll be gone before the morning,” Fred continued, directing his words to Liberty again. There was an unpleasant edge to his tone. “There are people in one, two, and six but I guess you don’t really care about that now. You can just fly off back to your island.”

  The venom in his words cut through Liberty’s relief and she looked up at him, feeling horribly vulnerable.

  “I don’t understand,” she said, trying to get to her feet. Neither of the twins helped her, they just watched as she used the front desk to haul herself up. The material of the beautiful gray dress caught around her knees and the sound of tearing fabric made her want to cry. Liberty brushed herself down and looked for the damage. A small tear in the bottom of the dress glared up at her like an angry mouth. Her emotions had spun from one end of the spectrum to the other too many times today. It was all too much to deal with.

  “Which bit don’t you understand?” Fred spat.

  Ginger stood beside him, her shock of red hair emphasized by her paleness. Fred carried on, spit flying from his mouth.

  “Is it that as soon as your dad wakes, you’re showing off with this billionaire, not caring about Pebble Cove or anybody in it?”

  “But… but… you said you’d look after it for the day,” Liberty choked. “I was only away for one day.”

  “That was before we realized what you were doing,” he said. “You could have at least waited for Mr Reynolds to get home. You could have waited until he was in his right mind. Where’s he going to live? What are we supposed to do now?”

  Liberty flinched as Fred moved closer to her and leaned in, his face inches from hers.

  “I thought you were okay, that you were doing this because you loved your dad. I should have guessed you were just after the money.”

  “I do love my dad,” Liberty said, stunned. “I really don’t understand what’s going on.”

  Ginger pulled her brother out of Liberty’s face and put a gentle hand on his arm.

  “While you were out today, lawyers went in to see Mr Reynolds. They offered him an undisclosed sum of money for Pebble Cove, and he signed.”

  Liberty gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth.

  “Then they showed up here like a bunch of cowboys and gave us our marching orders,” she said, smudging away a tear. “You’ve got 30 days before they tear the place down and build a bunch of condos on the land.”

  “No.”

  The tears were falling freely now. Liberty couldn’t absorb what she was being told. All the memories of her childhood were here. They flashed in front of her eyes; the painting, the swimming, the laughter, the tears. Her mom.

  Her mom.

  They couldn’t tear this place down, it would break her heart. She’d only just realized how much it meant to her. All those years wishing herself away and now her wish was going to come true in the worst way possible.

  “How could you think I had anything to do with that?” she cried. “I love this place.”

  “Oh I don’t know, Liberty,” Fred shouted, his anger palpable. “Maybe because it was your lover who bought it.”

  Liberty’s blood ran cold.

  Ginger hushed her brother again.

  “The lawyers said he was a well-known fat cat who bought up pockets of land to build on.”

  Liberty shook her head.

  “But that’s not…”

  “Nathaniel Parker,” Ginger confirmed. “Sorry Liberty, I’m afraid it is.”

  A shuffle at the doorway caught them all off guard. They turned to look. Liberty saw Nate there, ashen faced. She tried to speak but he just looked at her with cold eyes.

  Then he turned and ran.

  26

  Nate ignored Liberty’s shouts as he bolted back to his car. He spun the tires, gravel kicking up behind him as he accelerated down the drive. The roads around Little Norwich were quiet, luckily, as Nate drove like a madman to reach the interstate. His hands gripped the wheel, his knuckles white.

  He knew exactly what had happened, and it was the final straw.

  He drove through the night, not stopping, not slowing, refusing to take Liberty’s calls. He needed to get back home and sort this mess out before it ruined the best thing that had ever happened to him—if it hadn’t done so already. Eventually the bright lights of the city glowed on the horizon, drawing him in. He took his exit and sped down into the traffic.

  Everything was different here. The smells, the heat, the humidity, the noise. Nate wound up his window, wishing himself back to the parts of the world untainted by the big city. The traffic was already heavy, despite the early hour. Nate tapped his feet impatiently as he waited for the lights to turn green, then he weaved his way in and out of the cars; taxis returning partygoers to their beds, businessmen on their way to catch flights. It seemed to take forever before he reached the suburbs.

  He buzzed himself in at the gated entrance and drove up the long driveway to the mansion at the end. It was ornate, brash, and flashy. Two gleaming Phantoms sat in the driveway and a Porsche 950 Coupe completed the trio. Nate pulled up beside them and jumped out, running to the front door.

  A cherub door knocker grinned at him as he pulled the bell pull. He hammered his fists on the dark wood. It didn’t take long before lights started flickering on inside, and a moment later the door opened a fraction and a face appeared in the gap.

  “Let me in, before I break down the door,” Nate said, still pounding. The face disappeared and the door shut. Nate heard the security chain sliding free and he barged through.

  “I’m surprised you don’t have someone to do that for you,” Nate spat. “Like you have someone to do all of your dirty work.”

  Nathaniel Parker Snr sighed and walked through the giant marble hallway to the kitchen. Nate followed, watching his dad as he filled the coffee machine and flicked it on.

  “I heard your rust bucket of a car coming down the drive, Junior, I thought I’d welcome you myself. Coffee?”

  He held up a small espresso cup and Nate nodded, his exhaustion overriding the anger for a moment.

  “I’m assuming this early morning call is about the Pebble Bay?” he dad said. “Awful building, can’t wait to tear that one down. I don’t think it’ll take much either. I’m surprised it didn’t crumble to dust when you shouted at us all in the garden.”

  “Pebble Cove,” Nate said, suddenly heavy with fatigue. He pulled one of the bar stools out from under the island counter and sat down wearily. “It’s Pebble Cove. How could you do that?”

  “Who cares what it’s called? Soon it’ll be the Little Norwich Retirement Village. Or, as I will refer to it, the Little Norwich Money Making Machine. Ka-ching!”

  Nathaniel Snr held up his hands as though surveying a flashing neon sign in the sky.

  “You really are repulsive,” Nate said.

  “What?” his dad protested. “The elderly folks will love it, and will pay handsomely for it. I’m gonna have a bingo hall and a community room for dancing and—”

  “And what about the people who live there now?”

  Nathaniel Snr shrugged.

  “That little lovely looked a bit young, but she’d be more than welcome to hang around.” He laughed a great wheezing laugh. “Besides, you said yourself they had bills they couldn’t pay. I’m doing them a favor.”

  “I can’t do this anymore.” Nate swigged his scalding hot coffee and pushed himself up from the stool. “Every time you open your mouth you disgust me. For your information, I love that ‘little lovely’, she’s a more kind and decent human being than you will ever be.”

  He ignored his dad’s guffaws, walking so close to the old man that he could smell the gin on his breath.

  “You rip up that contract before the sun comes up or I will ruin you,” he whispered.

  His dad squared his shoulders and puff
ed out his chest.

  “You wish.”

  “I do wish,” he said. “I wish you could be different, I wish I didn’t have to come here and make these threats, I wish you could behave like a respectable human being, like a dad should behave towards his son, but you can’t. Liberty’s father was in a coma up until the moments before you forced him to sign his life away. That’s not okay. That’s totally unethical. That could be construed as illegally coercing someone into signing away their life, which we all know you’re good at. If you don’t want me to bring up what you made mom sign over to you when you knew she was losing her mind, then you need to rip that contract up.”

  Nathaniel Parker Snr went pale.

  “Oh, so you do have morals hidden deep inside you,” Nate said. “Or is it just fear? What, you think I didn’t know exactly what you were doing when you made mom give you the house? You were a selfish jerk back then, and you’re a selfish jerk now, just a hundred times worse because you have the money to back you up.”

  Nate walked to the front door and didn’t look back.

  “I wish I’d never invested in your company,” Nate said. “I wish I’d never invested in you.”

  He opened the door and walked out into the breaking sunshine, the house cold and dark behind him.

  “I never want to see you again, dad.”

  Liberty sat alone at a table in the dining room. The cold tiled floor and the bright walls felt like they were falling in around her, burying her alive. She cradled a cold cup of coffee in her hands, and the tears rolled down her cheeks, dropping onto her lap. She felt utterly worn out, as old and fragile as the motel. The guests had gradually trickled down for their breakfasts and Liberty had sent them all away with a refund and a heavy heart, ignoring their complaints as they dragged their bags out the door. What else was she supposed to do?

  Yesterday had gone from being the most wonderfully exhilarating experience of her life, to crashing down around her like a tsunami, crushing all her hopes and dreams. She stared at the coffee that sat listlessly in the mug and felt worthless. She’d hurt all the people who cared about her. She’d run away from her dad at the first opportunity, she’d not given herself fully to Brett, she’d completely ignored her best friend’s texts, she’d broken the trust of two wonderful teenagers who’d helped her dad out and worked like bees for the motel, and she’d done it all because of a man. A man who had shown his true colors when he’d been found out. No wonder he’d run away as quickly as he could.

  And now she’d lost everything.

  She placed the cup on the table and pushed herself up from the chair. Wandering through to the lobby, Liberty headed for the front room and the mountain of her dad’s belongings. She unlocked the door and set to work on the first box she came across. All of it would have to be sorted and shipped out of the motel, even though she had no idea where she would send it. She hardly dared look at the huge amount of stuff that faced her. She would start with one box and work her way through them even if it took all week. It was the least she could do.

  The phone rang through the open doors. It was the motel phone, Liberty had switched hers off after she’d spoken to the hospital, who’d told her she couldn’t visit her dad until that afternoon. There was no point in answering it now, and she let it ring through to the answering machine, a heavy guilt weighing her down as the voice asked for a room.

  It was noon before she reappeared from the dust, her legs cramped and her back aching. She’d gotten through seven boxes so far and felt like she’d hardly made a dent. There was nothing worth keeping in any of them, bills from decades ago, old newspapers, video tapes of rubbish TV programs whose reels had turned yellow and crisped away to nothing. Liberty hauled two garbage bags through the dining room and tossed them into the dumpster out back. Wiping sweat from her forehead with her forearm, she heard a car pull into the drive.

  “Great,” she moaned to herself.

  The last thing she needed now were more angry customers to turn away. She walked back into the house, preparing herself for an angry outburst.

  “There’s no room at the inn,” she tried to joke as she walked into the lobby.

  Nate stood there, looking disheveled, still wearing his dicky bow. His face looked gray and taut. But despite everything, he looked gorgeous. Liberty’s stomach flipped, dangerously empty. She held her breath, not knowing what to do or say that wouldn’t involve violence or hurt.

  He made a move toward her.

  “Get out,” she hissed.

  It was like her words had pulled out the plug. His whole body seemed to deflate.

  “This is for you,” he said, holding up an envelope.

  “If this is bribe money then you can burn it. I don’t want it. You offered to pay for my father’s hospital bills, why? Were you feeling guilty that he wouldn’t have a home or an income to come back to? Or do you not feel guilt? You took me out of the way for one day so you could swoop in and buy my home out from under me. I’m an idiot for falling for it, for falling for you, for thinking that someone like you could ever be interested in someone like me.”

  Liberty felt the tears coming again and this time she did nothing to stop them. She couldn’t even if she’d wanted to. The man she’d fallen in love with only a few hours ago had ripped her heart to shreds and was now trying to repair the damage with cold, hard cash.

  “It’s not money,” Nate said, his expression that of a wounded animal. “It’s the deed to the motel. It’s yours now.”

  Liberty hesitated, unwilling to believe him. It required all of her strength to take the envelope and tear it open. She glanced briefly over the paperwork, shocked to see that Nate was telling the truth. The deeds were now in her name. It didn’t make any sense, and she looked up at him, ready to demand an explanation.

  But Nate was nowhere to be seen.

  27

  Her dad was sitting up in his hospital bed when Liberty arrived that afternoon, and even though he still looked unbearably frail he gave her a huge, lopsided smile that made her want to whoop with joy. Liberty ran over to the bed and threw her arms around him.

  “You gave me such a scare,” she said, his thin, curly hair ticking her face.

  “I gave myself a scare,” he said. “Luckily I was asleep for most of it.”

  His speech was slurred, the right-hand side of his face still drooping like it had been melted. Liberty risked the anger of the nursing staff and sat on the edge of the bed, taking his skeletal hand in hers.

  “So,” he asked in a husky voice. “What’s new?”

  Liberty laughed. Her dad always had a way of making everyone around him feel at ease, and he was still doing it, despite being dressed in a blue gown with wires sticking out from every opening. At least the machines they were attached to were quieter than before.

  “Well…” Liberty hesitated, wondering if she should tell him about Pebble Cove. He looked so small, the hospital blankets doing a poor job of covering up how much weight he’d lost. “I’ve got a job as an accountant.”

  She felt him squeeze her hand a fraction.

  “I’m so proud of you, big shot.” He tried to wink but the muscles in his face wouldn’t co-operate. Liberty felt her heart crack a little but she forced herself to smile.

  “But you needn’t worry about the motel. I’ve moved in for a bit, just while you get back on your feet.”

  “I hope Fred and Ginger are being kind to you, they’re a funny pair. I’d be lost without them, really, they are the backbone of the Cove.”

  Liberty looked around the room for a water cooler, she could feel tiny drips of sweat working their way down her back, soaking into her white vest top.

  “Drink?”

  Her dad shook his head. Liberty got up and went to get herself one.

  “You know, I had a really weird dream about the Cove,” he said, as Liberty lifted a plastic cup with shaking hands and placed it under the spout. “Men in suits making me sign it away. I think they were going to build a theme pa
rk or something.” He chuckled weakly. “Can you imagine me signing away my home? More of a nightmare, I suppose.”

  He yawned. Liberty came and sat back down, cradling her cool cup.

  “You’re getting tired. I should leave.” She gave his hand another squeeze. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  He nodded his head, his eyes red and moist.

  “Me too, Libby. Me too. The doctors say I can head home in a couple of weeks, if my therapy goes well. I’m looking forward to being back in my own bed.”

  Liberty managed to hold it together until she’d closed the door behind her. Wracked with great heaving sobs, she trekked to the exit and out into the afternoon.

  It was late by the time Liberty arrived back at the motel. The sun was waving its last goodbye, sending shards of orange and pink through the glass and into the lobby. She felt so helpless, and that was a feeling Liberty was not fond of. The envelope with the deeds was sitting on the front desk, and she picked it up. She took it through to the kitchen and filled the coffee machine with water and ground coffee, heating the milk with the steamer. With a sweet caramel latte in hand, Liberty went through to the dining room and picked a table near the French doors. She put down the papers, swung open the doors, and breathed in the late evening air before sitting down and getting started.

  She was a clever woman, she knew that. She also knew she’d been duped by a man who she’d fallen in love with far too quickly, and that was something she needed to sort. He’d tricked her, his feelings had seemed so real and so powerful that hers hadn’t stood a chance. Then he’d tried to fix it all by buying her back with the motel. What was his game? It was all too confusing.

  Liberty took the papers out of the envelope and started to read. A lot of it was legal mumbo jumbo. Some of it she understood from her degree, most went over her head the first time she read it. But with a bit of concentration, a lot of coffee, and the help of Google, Liberty worked through the night to try to find a loophole to transfer the deeds back into her father’s name without having to pay any kind of taxes, or without him finding out. Exhausted, and no better educated, Liberty finally fell asleep at the table just as the sun was once again hauling itself over the horizon.