Billionaire Biker (Billionaires - #23)

by Claire Adams

  I blinked. I’d never heard this before. “Seriously?”

  “Yes. There were all sorts of threats and what not, but I made it clear that between our combined controlling shares it wouldn’t be a fun time if they wanted to fight me on it. So I won, and you came to run the company, and now the company is showing record growth.” She clucked her tongue. “I’ve been nice enough not to rub their faces in it,” she said as she winked.

  We both shared a laugh. I’d known my sister had gone to bat for me, but I’d not realized the extent of it.

  Daniella stood. “Anyway, enough about the past. I’m more interested in the future.” She pointed at me. “You need to get over to that hospital and visit Cat and the kid.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “You didn’t think hiring her was a good idea either, or, for that matter, taking over the company.” Daniella pursed her lips together. “It’s almost as if I have great ideas, and your first ideas are terrible, so you should just listen to me.”

  I groaned, “That’s not how I see it.”

  “Why not keep trying my ideas until one turns bad? After that, then you can stop listening to your little sister, okay?”

  “When did you get so wise?”

  Daniella snorted. “When? I’ve always been this way.” She waved and headed to the door.

  I sighed and slumped down in my seat. Things were busy, but it wouldn’t hurt to pop by the hospital and check on Cat and her son. If there really wasn’t anything between us, there was no reason for me to be worried.

  With that thought, I saved my files and stood up.

  Was it stupid to go? I couldn’t be sure. I’d obviously not kicked my obsession with her, but something hung in the air, some small wall that made me think going after her would be a bad idea.

  Still, I had to at least check on her. The last thing I needed to do was start letting fear rule me.

  * * *

  I parked my bike and headed into the hospital. I felt kind of bad about not bringing some sort of present, but Daniella had brought gifts, and my aunt told me she’d sent some ice cream over. Besides, I was paying for their whole stay. That was a pretty damn nice gift in of itself.

  More than few hospital staff eyed me as I walked through the halls. I chuckled. I was surprised no one tried to direct me to some patient who’d been shot in a biker brawl or something.

  When I finally got to Jack’s room, I hesitated. In a way, this was a big step. Before, I’d driven her here, so it had made sense that I stopped by the room in the midst of the crisis, but now I was going out of my way. This was almost a moment of no return.

  I lifted my hand and knocked lightly.

  “Come in,” Cat called softly.

  I sucked in a breath. Hearing her voice again, even though it had only been a few days, filled me with an aching need. I shook my head, trying to clear it. I wasn’t there for that sort of thing. I was there to check on her son.

  Entering the room, I offered her and Jack a smile. The little guy lay in his bed, pale and sickly looking, but he still looked happy to see me. He waved.

  “Hi, Drew,” he said.

  Cat’s face twitched, and she frowned. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she wasn’t happy to see me, which made no sense.

  She also looked like she’d not had any decent rest. Heavy bags lay under her eyes, and her face drooped. She yawned as she looked at me.

  “Get better soon, little man,” I said.

  “I’m trying,” he said with a grin. He coughed several times, and Cat hurried over to help pat it out of him.

  Once his fit ended, she said, “I need to talk to you in the hall.”

  I nodded and stepped out. I watched as she made her boy comfortable and then followed me out into the hall. She frowned at me again.

  What the hell? Even if she didn’t know that I’d paid her bills, what was with the attitude?

  Cat slapped her hands on her hips and asked a question that struck me to my core. “Why are you even here?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Catherine

  “Huh?” Drew said. “What did you say?”

  Maybe it was the lack of decent sleep the last few days. Maybe it was something about Drew’s face. Smug and so self-assured. How could he be so happy when my son was still in the hospital?

  That was the thought that kept going through my head as I looked at Drew. He was a rich executive who rode around on a bike that probably cost more than my hospital bill. He didn’t have any kids. He didn’t know what it was like to have to worry like I did. And then he showed up out of nowhere like it wasn’t a big deal.

  Anger boiled up in me until it finally came spilling out.

  “Why can’t your family just leave me alone?” I hissed. I shook my tired head, trying to clear out the cobwebs slowing my thoughts.

  Drew frowned, “Are you serious right now? Because I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”

  I waved my hands in front of my face. “You heard me. You know what I’m saying.”

  He stared at me like he couldn’t understand what I was saying. He narrowed his eyes, anger burning in them, which only pissed me off even more. He had no right to be angry with me. Jack and I were the ones suffering. He couldn’t begin to understand what I’d gone through in the last few days.

  “I mean, your aunt even sent ice cream, for God’s sake,” I said.

  “I can’t believe this,” he shook his head. “You’re mad because people are being helpful? You’d prefer if everyone ignored you, and pretended that you weren’t having a tough time?”

  “Maybe you need to clear out your ears if you don’t understand what I’m saying.”

  Drew snorted and muttered something under his breath. I didn’t care. I just wanted him gone. I didn’t him there.

  I glared at him. “You never did answer my question.”

  “What? Why can’t my family leave you alone?” he said, anger in his voice. “Is that what you want me to answer?”

  “Well, that, too, but mostly why are you even here?”

  “You’re seriously asking me that?” Drew snorted. “I guess you aren’t the woman I thought you were, after all.”

  I jerked my head up and down in a fierce nod. “Don’t think you know me. What, because I worked on an ad campaign with you and talked to you a few times, you think—I don’t know, what do you think?”

  Drew ran a hand through his hair. “I think you’re being ridiculous. Completely and utterly mental. I get that you’re stressed out, but seriously—I can’t believe this.”

  I scoffed, “I didn’t ask you to come, so I’ll act how I want. You’re not my boss anymore, so I don’t have to worry about not offending you.”

  “Oh, is that how it is? You always wanted to tell me off, but you never got the chance?”

  “Just—leave.” I flicked my wrist at him. “I don’t need you here.”

  “Whatever. I wanted to see how you were doing and how your son was doing. Hell, I like the kid. I get that you’re tired and all that, but what’s with the attitude? I let you end your work early, even drove you to the hospital, so why are you all but spitting my face now? What did I do to piss you off so much? And don’t tell me that showing up at the hospital was enough to piss you off.”

  “Oh, is that what this is about? Are you mad that I didn’t spend a few more days on the shoot? Am I supposed to grovel at your feet now?”

  Drew grunted. “I’m not mad. At least I wasn’t until you started chewing me out for daring to show up to check on you and Jack. Jesus, your reaction is like the exact opposite of what a normal person would do. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were drunk or high. Whatever your problem is, you’re not normal right now.”

  I bristled at his tone and narrowed my eyes, suddenly suspicious. How much did he even care? Yeah, he’d probably paid my medical bills, but maybe he’d thought he could buy me. Maybe he did want me on my knees, thanking him.

  “I guess
I’m just not normal, then,” I said. Yes, real mature. I know.

  “Most normal people visit people when they are sick or when their kids are sick,” Drew said, his face tight. “It’s considered nice. That’s what I was doing. There’s no agenda here other than checking on you, so I don’t know why you’re going off on me like I pissed in your cereal bowl.”

  “Well, whatever.” I shrugged. “My contract is up; you don’t have to be nice to me anymore. We both know that I was never comfortable at that place. I should have never taken the job.” I ran my hands through my out-of-control hair.

  Drew jerked as if my words had physically hurt him. “Huh? So that’s what this is about? Motorcycles?”

  In truth, at that time, I really didn’t know what was fueling all my anger, but he’d provided me a nice opening, and I felt like going for it. All I knew is that I wanted him gone, and I was convinced that if he left, I’d feel better.

  “I hate them, you know,” I said. “And I always will. I shouldn’t have taken that job, but I was so desperate for money.” I pointed at him. “And you make them. You make death machines.”

  Drew held his hands up in front of him. “Look, I’m sorry what happened to—”

  “Quiet,” I hissed. I wasn’t sure how much Jack was paying attention to this conversation, but I didn’t want to go into the details of it and risk him overhearing. The last thing I wanted to have a talk about in the hospital was the exact way his father had died.

  Drew snorted. “You can’t blame me for something I had nothing to do with. That’s bullshit, and you know it.”

  I shrugged. “Fine, then. It’s what you represent. Is that what you want to hear? I’ve not exactly made my feelings a secret.”

  “No, you haven’t.” He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know what I was expecting when I came here, or even what I want. All I know is that I didn’t expect this kind of treatment.”

  “No one’s saying you have to stay.” I gestured toward the elevator. “You can leave anytime you want.”

  Drew stormed off toward the elevator. “Sorry I bothered,” he called over his shoulder. “I won’t make that mistake again. I hope Jack gets better soon, and you get that stick removed from your ass.”

  I resisted the urge to say something else and stepped back into the room, feeling rather satisfied with myself until I spotted Jack staring at me, wide-eyed.

  Crap. He’d been paying far more attention to the conversation than I’d hoped. Of course, I’d been stupid and not closed the door. Then, I’d started yelling. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. Too tired. I was just too tired.

  “Why were you so mean, Mommy?” he asked, his voice trembling.

  “What are you talking about, sweetie?” I said, doing my best to use a soothing voice.

  “To Drew,” he said. “You were so mean to him. He was trying to be nice, but you just kept being mean, and I like that his aunt sent me ice cream.”

  Another bout of fierce coughs wracked his body, and I rushed to the sink to get him some water in a paper cup. I hurried over, and he gulped the water down.

  Jack looked out the window for a bit in silence, and I hoped he was willing to let the matter drop. He was just a little kid. He didn’t understand all the complexity of adult interactions. For now, he just needed to concentrate on getting better and leave Drew to me.

  “You were very mean, and I think you should say sorry,” he said, out of nowhere. Jack frowned at me then turned away from me again. “It’s not nice to be mean.”

  “You have to understand, sweetie. It’s complicated.”

  “When I’m mean at the daycare, they make me say sorry. If I’m mean at home, you make me sorry.”

  I raised my arm and opened my mouth to talk but stopped. In the end, Jack was right. No excuses justified the way I’d just talked to Drew, especially considering there was a good chance he’d paid my kid’s medical bills.

  The man had paid me well for a pretty easy job and then had likely had gone way out of his way to pay for my medical bills. His sister had been nice enough to bring a bear and flowers. I glanced over at the huge bear sitting in the corner.

  Jack was right. Why was I complaining about free ice cream?

  I dropped into a chair.

  Yes, I was tired, but that didn’t explain why I’d gone off on Drew like that. When Daniella had stopped by, I’d been happy, especially when she called me her friend, but seeing Drew lit a fire in me. It was like I was allergic to him and wanted to spit him out.

  I thought that over. Charming. Intelligent. Hot. Most women would be happy about that, but it’d been disturbing me for weeks now. What was it about him that bothered me so much?

  Glancing down at my hand, I saw that my wedding ring line had long since faded. I’d worn my ring for the first year after my husband had died but finally took it off.

  Mom had suggested it. She said it would help me move on, and she knew about grieving over lost husbands, considering my Dad had died ten years earlier from a surprise heart attack.

  So I’d tried to move on. I sucked in a breath as I thought about my wedding ring.

  Drew lit my body on fire, and my heart. He made me feel. He made me feel something that I hadn’t felt since my husband died.

  My gaze drifted back down to my ring finger. I suddenly understood why I was pissed. On some level, my subconscious mind must have realized that showing interest in Drew meant I was truly ready to move on from my husband.

  I sighed. It wasn’t wrong to want to have companionship, and I wasn’t being disloyal to my dead husband just because I was interested in someone new.

  At least, I realized that consciously, but I’d still let my subconscious concerns turn into anger that I’d let fuel me when I lashed out at Drew.

  It wasn’t fair. He’d done nothing but help me out in many ways, and he was right; visiting people in the hospital is actually what normal people would have expected and encouraged.

  It didn’t matter now. After that, I’d destroyed any chance of us having anything together, but I’d always be grateful that he paid my medical bills. I still wasn’t certain about that, but I was certain enough.

  There was one other thing I was very certain about: I needed to apologize.

  I pulled my phone out of my purse. I had no way to contact Drew directly, but I did have Daniella’s number. If I explained the situation, I was sure that I could get Drew’s number and apologize.

  My heart kicked up. Or he could tell me to never talk to him again.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Drew

  The next day, my bike roared through some side streets. I would have loved to have hit the highway and headed out to the mountains, but I needed to stay close to home. Between full production coming back on the shop floor and getting the ad campaign settled, things were really heating up. All I could spare was a couple of hours for a quick ride, not a weekend to really get into the feel of things.

  Daniella was right. I’d need to start being a bit more serious about taking time off for me. I’d carve out a weekend or even a week sooner than later. If I could shut down production for a couple of weeks for an ad campaign, then I could surely find the time for me to take a week off.

  I was doing a good job running the company, but it’s not like it would implode if I wasn’t around for a day or three. I was finally beginning to accept that.

  For that Saturday though, I was happy to be busy. It helped keep my mind off things, like a certain fire-mouthed blond who wouldn’t leave my thoughts. It would have been easier if I could just put her behind me, but the more I tried, the more I seemed to think about her.

  Gritting my teeth, I was still confused about what had gone down at the hospital the day before. It was like she’d become a completely different person.

  Maybe I was the stupid one. Just because I’d had all these fantasies where she had been the star didn’t mean it would ever become a reality. If only Cat had been some woman I’d picked up in a bar, her harsh reje
ction would have been so much easier for me to handle.

  My phone vibrated against my chest. I didn’t have any sort of fancy Bluetooth set up. I didn’t want to try talking to someone while riding, but I couldn’t check out entirely either. I had a business to run, and even though it was Saturday, very few people had my number. That meant if someone were calling me, they likely had a good reason.

  I pulled into an alley to park. The phone had stopped vibrating, but I wanted to least see who had been calling. I unzipped my jacket and pulled it out.

  I didn’t recognize the number and frowned. There was also no voice mail. Just a wrong number?

  A second later, my phone vibrated again as a text from the number came in.

  I’m sorry.

  Who is this? I texted back.

  Cat. The model.

  I couldn’t resist being a little snarky. Not just some cat who stole her owner’s phone?

  Snickered to myself, I didn’t feel like taking the whole seriously after the way she’d treated me at the hospital.

  I’m sorry, Drew. I was a total bitch to you and you didn’t deserve that. Please stop by so I can apologize in person. I’m at my house. Mom is watching Jack.

  Her address followed.

  “Well, damn,” I muttered.

  I’d expected her to say some more rude things, not straight-up apologize.

  I was so surprised I almost dropped my phone. After I’d left the hospital, I’d assumed I would never hear from her again. I didn’t regret helping her out with her medical bills, but the whole thing did leave me in a sour mood. Plus, I’d been confused why she was acting like that. It was like I was missing something obvious.

  Sucking in a breath, I thought over whether I should stop by or not. Cat was obviously under a lot of stress, and I got that, but I didn’t want to be her punching bag. It could be that if I showed up at her house, she might decide to start yelling at me again.

  Then again, she also wanted to apologize in person, and I tried to respect people who could admit they were wrong. It took a lot for a person to say they had messed up. I’d stopped more than a few situations from turning deadly in biker bars because I was willing to say I was wrong.