The Risk: A Billionaire Romance (Wagered Hearts Series, Book 2)

by Calista Kyle

  “I guess it doesn’t really matter now,” he said.

  We both stopped walking and I looked up and around us at our surroundings. I’d been so lost in the conversation and my own thoughts, I hadn’t realized we’d walked so far. We were just outside my office building.

  “I should get going now. I just want you to know that you’re a great girl, Mel, and I wish you all the happiness in the world. I just wished I could have been the one to give it to you but…anyways,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’ll leave you here then.” He gave me a kiss on the cheek before turning and walking back the way we came. I stood outside on the sidewalk for a while, overwhelmed by everything that had happened tonight.

  My heart broke for Chad, but there was nothing I could do for him. I knew in time, he’d get over it, just as I had gotten over him. My mother on the other hand, was another story. It didn’t make any sense that she’d hint to Chad that I wanted to marry him. What was she playing at? I wondered. And why was it so important to her for Chad and I to be together?

  It was already past 8pm and I had half a mind to march into the building and straight to my mother’s office to demand answers. Then I realized she was probably out of the office already, and any answers I wanted would have to wait until the morning.

  Chapter 20: Ryan

  I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I had a perfectly beautiful woman in front of me who’d been making eyes at me all night, and I couldn’t go through with it.

  “So, what do you say we go back to your place?” she asked in her deep sultry voice.

  “Maybe another night sweetheart,” I said, giving her a tight smile.

  Since the night of the launch party, I’d gone on several more “dates” with Emilia. She was pretty, fun, and not very demanding of my undivided attention. I knew all she wanted was to be seen and photographed with me. It was enough for her that the papers were speculating about our relationship. Normally, I would shy away from such blatant publicity, but for some reason, I really didn’t mind now. I actually made it a point to go out with Emilia, and if a photographer happened to be close by, I’d smile at her or grab her hand. Maybe deep down I hoped Mel would see the photos and realize what she let slip away.

  I shook my head. It always came back to Mel. Damn her. I didn’t know what hold she had over me, but I just couldn’t shake her from my mind. No other woman had ever had that effect on me. Not even the beautiful and alluring Emilia Holliday. She pouted at me with her full pink lips and then laughed.

  “I see how it is,” she said, eyeing me keenly.

  “And how is it?” I asked, pretending to sound interested. In truth, I was a little tired of the charade. It’d been diverting at first, but not even her charms could pull me out of my funk. I was growing bored and weary of the pretense and the effort it took to look and sound interested. All I wanted was to…I didn’t even know. All I knew was something had to change.

  “You’re in love with someone else,” she stated.

  It took all my effort to school my features so that I didn’t show any hint of surprise. I had no idea she was so perceptive or that I had been so obvious with my feelings.

  “It’s true, isn’t it?” she said triumphantly.

  “Would that make you happy if it were?” I asked.

  She was silent and looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. “I don’t suppose it makes that much of a difference to me one way or another,” she said. “Though, I guess we’d have to end our little…uh…partnership if you were. Unless—”

  “Ryan! What a coincidence running into you here,” a voice called from behind. I turned my head to see Rob and Stella making their way over to our table.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I hope we’re not interrupting anything,” Stella said, eyeing us apologetically. “I told Rob we shouldn’t bother you.”

  “Nonsense! We’re all friends here,” Rob said. He held out his hand to Emilia and smiled, “I’m Rob Benedict, a friend of Ryan’s. And this is my sister, Stella.”

  “So nice to meet you,” Emilia said, giving Rob an appraising look.

  I took a sip from my water to hide the smile that was threatening to break free. Already, I could see the wheels turning in Emilia’s head as she sized Rob up. She had already moved on to her next target, and I couldn’t say that I was upset or even surprised by it. In fact, I wished her luck. Judging by the dumbstruck look on Rob’s face she probably didn’t need it.

  “What are you two doing back in town? I thought you were in London?” I asked.

  “We just got back, actually. Our parents came with us, though,” Stella answered, a glint of amusement lighting her eyes.

  Rob finally tore his eyes away from Emilia and grimaced at me. “It’s been bloody awful, mate,” he said. “I thought I’d left my mother’s apron strings behind when I moved out of the house, but she’s been worse than usual with all this talk about weddings. I’ve half a mind to head back to London if I didn’t think she’d follow me there.”

  “Oh? Is someone getting married?” Emilia asked.

  “My cousin Roman is,” Stella answered.

  “How lovely! I just love weddings,” Emilia gushed prettily. Even though I knew it was all an act, I still had to marvel at and admire her talent. It was no surprise why she was one of the most sought after actresses in Hollywood. She really was quite believable when she wanted to be.

  “Yes, well, you might think differently if that’s all that’s been shoved down your throat for the past few months,” Rob grumbled under his breath.

  “Listen, Helen’s planning on throwing a house party next weekend at my beach house in the Hamptons. Why don’t you two come by and just relax for a little while, before the wedding. A sort of calm before the storm,” I suggested.

  “That sounds like a brilliant plan,” Rob said, seizing on the idea. “Lord knows I could certainly use the break.”

  “Thank you, that sounds lovely,” Stella said more reservedly.

  “Great. I’ll see you two next weekend then,” I said. “And if you see Roman before I do, please extend the invitation to him and Lily. I’m sure they’re about to tear their hair out too.”

  “That’s no less than what they’d deserve,” Rob muttered.

  Stella punched his arm and gave him a scathing look, before composing herself and turning back to us. “We’ll be sure to do that,” she said. “We should let you two get back to your dinner now. It was great running into you.” She tugged on Rob’s arm to get his attention and they said their goodbyes.

  “I’ll be happy to see some familiar faces at the house party next weekend,” Emilia said, keeping her eyes on Rob and Stella’s retreating forms. I looked up at her, my eyes widened. “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she said. “Helen invited me a week ago. It’s all she can talk about. I’m not a stalker, you know.”

  “I never thought you were,” I said, trying to hide my earlier reaction.

  “Besides, you need my help.”

  “How so?”

  “I’ve decided what you need to do to win over your lady love.”

  “And what’s that?” I asked more curious than annoyed at her presumption.

  “Make her jealous,” she said.

  “I thought that’s what I was doing. It doesn’t seem to have worked,” I admitted in spite of myself.

  “You haven’t been trying hard enough. Don’t worry, now that I know what’s at stake, I’ve got a plan.”

  “Thank you for your offer, but it’s quite unnecessary. She’s no longer available.”

  “That’s no reason to give up. As long as she’s breathing you’ve still got a chance,” Emilia said, undeterred.

  I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest, examining the surprising woman sitting before me. She had hidden depths I’d never expected. I marveled at her perseverance and was debating whether or not to take her up on her offer. I didn’t normally like to discuss my personal life with others, much less get them involved, but her offer was t
empting. Then I remembered Mel had already made her choice. She could very well be engaged to Chad right now. There was no point in pretending or playing games.

  “I wish you were right,” I said. “But I have to refuse. It’s a bit…complicated.”

  “Are you sure? I can be quite convincing.”

  “I don’t doubt that. But I think your effort would be wasted.”

  Chapter 21: Mel

  I arrived into work the next morning after the disastrous proposal dinner with Chad feeling and looking like hell. I’d been up all night tossing and turning in my bed wondering what my mother was thinking. Why would she even hint to Chad that I was ready to marry him again when I’d never mentioned anything of the sort to her?

  At first, I was fuming—angry at her interference and presumption; then I began making excuses again. Maybe she thought those were my wishes? Maybe she was just trying to look out for me? After all, I’d made it no secret before how I thought Chad was the love of my life. She might have just assumed I still felt that way.

  When I got to my cubicle, Candace was already there. She turned around once she heard me, an unsettled expression on her face.

  “If I were you, I’d turn around and walk right back out to where you came from,” she said.

  I took a seat and scooted closer towards her. “Why? What’s going on?” I asked, confusion etching across my face.

  “Your mother’s been on an epic rage all morning. The beast is back,” she said.

  I felt my stomach drop at her words. Since getting back with Chad, my mother had actually been kinder and gentler, not only to myself, but to the rest of the staff. She hadn’t been on one of her famous rages for weeks, but hearing the news that it was back was troubling. Deep down, I knew it had to do with Chad and me. How she already knew about our break up was still a mystery to me, but I was sure she knew. She seemed to know everything.

  “Should I be scared?” I tried to play it off lightly, but it sounded fake to my own ears.

  “We should all be scared. I swear, I need to find a better job,” she whispered.

  “It can’t be as bad as all that. She’ll get over it soon enough, I’m sure,” I said with forced cheerfulness. I didn’t know if I was trying to convince Candace or myself of that fact.

  “Uh oh,” Candace whispered, looking over my shoulder.

  I turned around to see my mother’s new assistant, Shelly, making her way in our direction.

  “I hope she doesn’t stop here,” I said.

  “Don’t hold your breath.”

  Shelly stopped in front of our cubicle and smiled at me apologetically. “Your mother, uh, Ms. Abelgard, would like a word with you,” she said.

  I exchanged a look with Candace and blew out a heavy breath. So this was it. I knew this conversation was coming ever since Chad told me about what my mother said. It was inevitable. I just hoped it would have been somewhere other than our workplace. I really didn’t need everyone at work knowing our business.

  Shelly began walking back and I got up slowly to follow her.

  “Good luck!” Candace said.

  “I’ll need it.”

  Shelly led me to my mother’s office, which was completely unnecessary since I knew where it was. It felt like I was being sent to the principal’s office for getting caught smoking in the bathroom, except in this case, I knew I did nothing wrong. If anything, my mother was the one who had some explaining to do.

  I knocked on the door and waited for her to call me in. I waited twenty seconds and there was still no answer. My hand was poised to knock again when I heard her voice boom from the other side. “Come in!”

  I opened the door and peeked my head in first and saw her sitting at her desk glaring at me. “For God sakes, Melanie, get in here!” she snapped.

  I pushed open the door and walked in, shutting it firmly behind me. Best not to have an audience, I told myself. She didn’t say anything at first and just sat at her desk, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at me.

  “You wanted to see me?” I said. I didn’t know if I should stand or take the seat opposite her desk. In the end, I thought it better to remain standing. It seemed like a less vulnerable position to be in, and looking at my mother, she looked like a predator poised to strike.

  “Yes, I did,” she said, her voice deadly calm. “What’s this I hear about you and Chad?”

  Instead of giving her a straight answer, I wanted to find out exactly how much she knew. “I don’t know,” I said. “What did you hear about Chad and me?”

  “Don’t be smart with me Melanie. Tell me the truth. Did you turn down his proposal?”

  I hesitated before answering but then realized there was no point in trying to deny it. She would have found out sooner or later anyways, if she didn’t already know everything.

  “Yes,” I said.

  She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples in a circular motion with her index and middle finger as if soothing away a headache. When she finally opened her eyes again, she glared straight at me. I was momentarily caught off guard by the expression. I’d never seen such a look of disgust and anger on her face before. Sure, I’d seen her be disappointed, or bored or even appalled but never this intense look of loathing. It sent chills up and down my spine. For a moment, I couldn’t believe this woman was my mother.

  “You are such a…disappointment,” she finally said. “All your life, you’ve never done anything right. Didn’t arrive on time, weren’t the right sex, or the right coloring, you even have your father’s stubby nose. The one time I give you a chance to prove yourself to be something other than ordinary and you fail spectacularly,” she seethed.

  “Why are you saying these things?” I asked, too shocked to say anything else.

  “Do you think you’ll ever do any better than Chad? Honestly I’m surprised he even showed an interest in you in the first place. Chad Remington was the best thing to ever happen to you and you just threw it all away,” she continued, ignoring me.

  “But I didn’t love him. Why did you want me to marry Chad so badly? You never took an interest in my life before,” I asked, unable to keep the hurt from my voice.

  “Who cares! He was rich, well-bred with an impeccable family and even I couldn’t fault him for his looks. What else do you need? Oh wait,” she sneered. “You were infatuated with that Ryan Marsden and thought you could do better. I had it all planned out and you had to go and ruin it with your stupid emotions.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “That damn Ryan Marsden thinks he can waltz in here and act like he owns the place? We’ll see about that! Nobody’s getting rid of me that easily, especially not that no class little upstart. Things were fine before he came along,” she ranted.

  I stood and stared at her too astonished to say anything. “What do you mean? Get rid of you?”

  “I mean the board is talking about replacing me! Hah! As if that would ever happen. I’m a fucking institution. They can’t get rid of me, no matter how many votes that Marsden tries to buy. I know he’s behind it all ever since I banned his encroaching sister from the Eichendorf.”

  “But what does this all have to do with Chad? I’m so confused.”

  “Try to keep up, Melanie. It was obvious there was something going on between you and Marsden and I’d be damned if that nobody from nothing even looked at my daughter. You should have seen his face when I told him you and Chad were going to be engaged. Hah! I’ll enjoy that for a long time.”

  “Wait. So you used me? To…what? Make Ryan jealous? All this time, I thought you were looking out for me, but you were just using me as some sort of pawn in your sick and twisted vendetta against Ryan,” I said, getting angrier the more I thought about it.

  “Don’t be so dramatic, Melanie,” she dismissed.

  “Dramatic? Oh, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” I exploded. “As if you’ve been such an even tempered saint.”

  “At least I’m not pathetic. You’re almo
st 27 and what have you done with your life? Worked on a blog? Got a job as a junior assistant at a magazine? One that your mother happens to be the editor of. By your age, I was already the fashion editor at Vingt magazine, world travelled and highly accomplished. If I didn’t give birth to you, I would never have believed I could spawn someone so totally…lacking.”

  Her words cut deep and hurt me to my core. In a way it surprised me that she could still hurt me so much after all the scorn I’d had to deal with from her my whole life. But there it was. I’d never stopped craving my mother’s approval and now she was proving to me that I was living in a fantasy land. She wasn’t capable of love and I’d been deluding myself my whole life.

  As she continued ranting at me, I actually found the realization liberating. It was as if I had nothing to lose anymore. Since she would never give me her love or approval, she finally lost that power over me. I realized I didn’t have to try any more. I didn’t have to try to be perfect. I didn’t have to try not to upset her and I didn’t have to try to be someone she wanted me to be. I could just be myself, and screw her and her opinions.

  “What the hell are you smiling at?” she snapped at me.

  I didn’t even realize I’d been smiling, but it widened at her question. “You’re a ridiculous woman,” I said. “I finally see it now. All this time I’ve been blinded by this idea I had of you, but in reality you’re nothing but a cold hearted bitch.”

  “Don’t you dare speak to me like that!”

  “I can speak to you anyway I want. You’re nothing to me now,” I said, in a voice of deadly calm.

  “Not if you want to keep your job, you won’t.”

  “I don’t. I quit. I can’t stand looking at you for another second.”

  “You can’t quit! I’m your mother!” she said, standing up and looking alarmed for the first time.

  “You may have given birth to me, but you’ve never been a mother. I don’t know why I thought you could change or that there was some good in you, but I’m a grown woman now and I choose not to surround myself with negative and toxic people like you.”