The Christmas Bet

by Alice Ward

  With her next words, the toxicity of Jewel bled through the phone and tried to wrap around me, pull me in. “Brandy’s her usual self. She wants you to come back. She wanted me to tell you that if you can come back in time for your number tonight, they’ll negotiate you getting your money and possessions back.”

  Her words sounded rehearsed. Was there someone else listening?

  “No.” I swallowed hard, making my voice calm and steady. “Please tell her I won’t be coming back. But if anyone there wants out, I’ll try to help them get out.”

  I kept the tears out of my voice until I hung up.

  They’d used the one friend I had left against me. I felt bad for not going back, for leaving them, but I couldn’t stay. I was disappointed in Brandy, but wasn’t completely sure she wasn’t being coerced. And Janis had a kid to think about… they were all victims.

  But what if I could help them somehow? What if, when the investigation was through, I could help them find themselves again? If I could get even one Jewel out of there and back on her feet, it wouldn’t matter that all I had left in the world that was mine was a mask. A mask I wasn’t willing to wear any longer.

  That night, when Roman came home, I was deeply involved in making plans and jotting them in my new notebook. I’d waited for him for dinner and given Martha the evening off.

  “Adara?” He sounded tired. “What are you doing in here in the dark?”

  It had gotten dark in the kitchen, and I’d barely noticed. I’d been writing by the light shining in from the hall.

  “Jewel takes everything from anyone who goes there,” I said in a voice that sounded like ice. “They want to negotiate to return what’s mine. I’m going to help the detective stop them.”

  “Sounds like your day’s been as shitty as mine.” He was as stiff as his starched suit, standing there in the doorway with his impenetrable gaze. “There will be someone coming with the detective tomorrow, someone who may be able to help you with that.”

  I slapped my pen down on the table. “Roman, I don’t understand you. You sound so cold and cryptic, when just yesterday we were having the time of our lives splashing around in the hot tub. So much for wine and candles.” I gestured at the spread Martha fixed earlier. It was very romantic. If I’d had the energy to laugh I would’ve.

  He carried the box he held over to the kitchen counter then opened it and stared at the contents long enough to make me wonder if something else had happened besides what I saw on the news today.

  “Why was your day so bad?” I asked, feeling bad for having jumped down his throat.

  “So bad?” He chuckled sardonically, reaching his hands into the box, and pulling out a mound of Krave Koffee bags. “It was so bad because someone is trying to ruin me. The press has accused me of ‘raping the underprivileged masses’ for my own gain. Add a million views just in the first hour after the latest story hit and over one hundred thousand comments calling me a fraud, liar, and a greedy piece of shit, and you have my day in a nutshell.” His face showed no emotion.

  “I’m sorry, Roman. I hope none of this is because of me.”

  Of course it was because of me.

  “It’s not your fault.” He stared out the window, even though all you could see was the dark. “I’m flying out to Brazil tomorrow. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

  A hole punched through my gut. “What? Why?”

  “I have to make sure none of what they said is true.” He looked haggard as he rubbed his forehead with his hand. “For the company.”

  “For the company? What if it is true, Roman? What if the Brazil government is telling you one thing and doing another? What about those people? Are they just going to have to remain that way while there’s an ‘investigation?’”

  I knew I was being unfair, but I couldn’t seem to stop the words from coming from my mouth. What was happening with his scandal felt similar to what had happened at Jewel.

  And Roman had possessed a membership to Jewel. A sliver of ice ran up my spine.

  “What are you saying?” he asked, his expression glacial.

  “What I’m saying is that I can’t figure out who you are. One minute, you’re this funny, charming man, the next you’re cold as ice. One minute, you want to save the word. The next minute, you’re taking your clients to brothels.”

  His eyes narrowed. “That’s me. Cold as ice. A bastard and a contradiction. I only care about money. Money is the reason I took my clients to Jewel. Isn’t it the reason for everything?” His eyes dragged down my body when he said it.

  I felt my chest go very hot and my chin come up. “Your money doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. And don’t insinuate that your money is the reason I’m here. I didn’t go to get clothes today like you ordered, because this isn’t Jewel and you can’t give me orders. I’m not a whore.”

  “I don’t buy sex, Adara.”

  I lifted my chin. “So you’ve said. You can’t buy me either. Why do you even care about what people say about you? It’s not like you’ll go down the tubes if your business tanks.” I waved my arms wide.

  Roman’s eyes met mine across the kitchen and went from dark and dead to so full of emotion I was frozen in my chair. He turned back to the box, gripped the cardboard, and ripped it in two, throwing the contents in a heap on the floor. “Because I care! I care about my company and the people who work for me. And I care about the people who may have been abused because of it. I won’t hide behind money the way people seem to think I do, the way you hide behind that damn scar you think rules your life now.”

  I gasped. “I’m not hiding, Roman! You’ve been treating me like I was going to break, like I was a piece of fragile china since you laid eyes on me. But I’m not going to break, I’m not! I don’t need you and your money to hold me together.”

  But he was right. I was hiding behind this scar, acting like I was going to break. Hiding behind what had been done to me that night, and every night at Jewel since I set foot in the godforsaken place.

  Roman buried his fingers in his hair and turned away from me. When he turned back, all the emotions I’d seen in his eyes were carefully hidden. “I’ll take you to Jewel tomorrow. We’ll get some officers to go with us, and we’ll get your things. But then I’ve got to go to Brazil.”

  Without giving me time to answer, he walked out of the kitchen without looking back.

  What was left of my heart cracked in two, falling into the black well that was my hope. I’d thought Roman and I were building something, but I’d been wrong. There was no place for me here, and if anyone ever connected me to him and to Jewel, it would make what he was dealing with ten times worse.

  I had to let go.

  Let go of Nate.

  Let go of this scar that was the only thing I had left of him and that time of my life.

  Let go of the only man who had ever shown me the type of kindness I thought was only found in stories. The man in the kitchen was the man he really was. A businessman. Ruthless when his whole empire was being threatened. Protective of his own. Seclusive.

  And I couldn’t hide anymore.

  It was time for me to face the world. Scar and all.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Roman

  Thomas woke me early the next day, asking me to bring Adara to Jewel to gather her things. There would be a police escort, and Thomas thought the invasion would rock the boat enough to stir something up.

  On the way to Jewel, I kept thinking of things to say to her, things that would make it better for her, but my lips remained sealed.

  What could I say?

  Sorry, I’ve been alone for so long it’s made me into an asshole. That’s what you’re going to have to deal with if you’re with me?

  How about… I’m in love with you but if you stay with me the shit is going to hit the fan eventually and some asshole somewhere is going to break a story that sounds like you were a prostitute when I met you and any hope you had of a new career would be up in flames… because of me
?

  No, it was better this way. Better to go to Brazil and make sure while I was gone that she had everything she needed to take back her old life.

  A woman as vibrant as her didn’t deserve to be hidden on a ranch in the middle of nowhere with a man whose reputation and company had just been ripped to shreds. My family could deal with it. Adara, on the other hand, needed to be welcomed back into the world without a shadow hanging over her head.

  All the better if she thought I was a greedy piece of shit.

  I drove in silence and pulled up behind the police cars who were waiting for us outside the gate. They waved me in front of them and the guard just nodded to us, letting us in. It had all been set up in advance.

  Driving up the entrance, I marveled at the man I was now and wondered how I could have come here, brought my clients here, and never felt an ounce of remorse.

  “They wanted me to come back to Jewel,” Adara said beside me, holding herself very straight in the seat. She’d chosen today as the first to go out in public without her mask.

  I was so fucking proud of her. But I hadn’t said a word about it. Cause I was a dickhead.

  “Of course they did.” I clamped my jaw together to stop myself from saying more. I wanted to wrap my arms around her. Protect her. Take her away from any harm that could come to her.

  “I wouldn’t have. Even if I couldn’t retrieve my things or the money in my account. I would never have come back here the way they wanted.” There was pain in her voice, and it made me feel like the biggest asshole in the world.

  “I know,” I whispered.

  Then we were at the front of the main entrance, and before I could say anything else, she got out of the car. I watched as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs that looked so grand and inviting, and realized she was that woman who enchanted me with her voice and her mystique, but she wasn’t the one who hid behind a mask anymore. She was transitioning back into the strong, confident megastar I’d watched from a VIP lounge a couple years before. She’d take back her life and make it into what she wanted it to be.

  And she didn’t need me in it to do so.

  I was only a hindrance.

  I joined her, and together we met Brandy in the lobby, leaving the police officers on the porch as they had no warrant and were only here at our request for safety. The sweet sickening scent choked me. It was the same one that had wrapped around me the night Adara had changed me for good.

  “Where the fuck have you been, Mona?” Brandy spit as she nearly trotted toward Adara on tall spike heels. Her fake blonde hair was piled perfectly on top of her head, the rest of her made up to reflect a mirage of dreams come true.

  “I couldn’t do what they wanted, Brandy,” Adara said quietly, her eyes wide.

  “You can’t fucking quit. What are you going to do? Hook on the streets? In Montana? Fucking for pay here is a much better call.”

  “I’m not a hooker, and you knew that when you sent me in there to Jack Marshall.”

  I watched as their eyes met, clashed, and there was some kind of silent exchange. Brandy’s face blanched, then she took a deep breath and stuck out her chest, displaying her tits the best way she could. She was acting.

  “He paid two million dollars for you.”

  “No, he paid Jewel two million dollars, but even with my cut of the money, my dignity, pride and soul are worth far more than that.” Adara’s face flushed and strength and resilience blossomed to the surface.

  “So, you went off to go fuck Roman Wellington for free. What do you think he’s going to do, keep you as his mistress? Take care of you? Marry you?” Brandy laughed, her eyes sliding to me. “Good luck there. He’s a liar, Mona. He’s swindled people into buying into his lies and has ruined thousands of lives. He’s a fake. You refused a decent guy like Jack and end up in bed with a snake. Ask him about Sabrina Ridgely. She happens to be one of Harmon’s friends. Ask him about how Roman Wellington proposed to her and set a wedding date only to leave her a week before their wedding day. You think you’re better than she is?”

  Adara looked like she’d been slapped. When she looked at me, her eyes searching, I looked at her flatly, knowing she’d never see through my façade. No one ever did. It was better this way.

  Brandy turned to me. “Mr. Wellington, your membership to the club has been revoked. I’ll have to ask you to leave the premises.”

  “We’ll go as soon as we collect her things and the payment you owe her.” My voice was cold, and I knew by the fear that flashed in Brandy’s eyes that she was aware of just where she stood.

  When Adara had her bag and a wad of cash, Brandy followed us to the car. I thought for a second she was going to throw another fit, or even jump in the car with us.

  Just before Adara got back into the car, Brandy stepped up to her, hugged her quickly and said in a low voice, “Nothing here is real, sister.”

  Adara sat silent and still in the car.

  Finally, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, I asked her what that meant.

  “I think she was telling me that she was being forced to try to get me to bend to Jewel’s will. Nothing here is real.”

  I nodded. Sabrina hadn’t been real either. “Most of what people show you isn’t real.”

  Except the woman beside me. Adara was the realest thing I’d ever known.

  The detectives were set to meet with her later in the day, and she had what was rightfully hers. There was nothing left for me to do but hand her my car keys before I got on the plane to Brazil.

  But now, standing in front of her, her blue-green eyes looking up at me so sorrowfully, I felt like a monster. I almost couldn’t bear to go and leave her thinking all the things she did of me.

  But I had to. She deserved to be free.

  And I needed to clear my name before I could ask her to be with me long term.

  So I leaned in, took her face in my hands, pressed my lips to hers and breathed in jasmine and oranges. Memorized the way her soft lips felt against mine.

  Then I set my butterfly free.

  She’d let me release the butterfly from her cage like I’d asked for in my note. Only she was too big of a butterfly to just fly to me. The world needed her out there.

  On the flight to Brazil, thankfully seated in a different section from Peter, I busied myself on the phone, trying to concentrate on my company’s issues. But I could never erase the image of her face when I’d picked up my bag to go.

  And I still couldn’t forget it once I’d landed.

  Or the next day.

  Or the next.

  We had texted numerous times, but I hadn’t actually heard her voice in days when I got another text…

  Thank you for everything you’ve done. I’ll be moving out now. I’ll never forget you.

  She was saying goodbye, and I couldn’t fly back and beg her to stay. Not yet. Maybe not ever, but especially not until we’d uncovered the lies taking place in this beautiful country.

  Although I’d dreaded having Peter on this trip, he turned into my saving grace. It was my crazy brother-in-law who forced me out of my chair, forced me to uncover the truth.

  Because of him, we found out that Jack also had ties to Brazil. One of his subsidiary companies was an exporter here. A company that exported not only coffee, but sugar and other nonspecific items. It was possible he paid some of his own people to support the scandal.

  Back home, Harmon, another owner of Jewel, had submitted to pressure and talked to investigators, handing over Jack in the process. Jack had raised hell at first, claiming no responsibility for the club’s actions. He’d gone so far as to say that Adara had an active contract that she was obligated to fulfill.

  Two days after Adara’s goodbye text, I began to feel hopeful. I wanted to celebrate with Adara, and the phone was in my hand before I remembered that she was gone.

  But I didn’t want her to leave. Didn’t want her to face the world alone. I wanted us to fix this. I wanted to be by her side. I’d sell the damn
ranch if that’s what it took.

  As much as I wanted to be with Adara, the trip to Brazil was probably what I needed right now. Getting away from the intensity of work gave me the chance to see the world from a different perspective and maybe get some ideas about how to change it.

  My meeting with Emilio, foreman of the coffee farm that supplied Krave Koffee, was informative. Apparently, because of a drought, coffee wasn’t growing as well as it had in the past. The farm was suffering financially.

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I asked when it became clear that he was holding back additional information.

  “We thought we’d be able to keep up the yield, but it just got worse. We didn’t want to raise our rates to you, so we started selling some of our coffee to another, higher paying importer and added black pepper to our crops.”

  I didn’t own all the farm’s production. I bought about three quarters of it, leaving the rest for them to sell locally. That way, the profits would go straight to the growers, but a big business had come in and offered them a great upfront amount as long as they could produce twice what they had.

  “We tried to keep up with your production and honor our new contract, but he expected twice as much as we were able to produce. There was a loophole in his contract, he wanted twice the amount of product in a fraction of the time. He was very angry, but we compensated him with most of our black pepper crop.” The foreman explained as if he was trying to convince himself that what he’d done was good for his farm.

  “You’re free to do whatever you want with the crops that aren’t promised to me, but I’m curious, what is the name of the other company you do business with?”

  “Tenex Capitol Holdings. What we’d given them wasn’t enough, and they wanted us to return their payment, even though we gave him nearly all he’d contracted for and the black pepper. They sent a man out who forced some of the workers to make statements on camera,” he concluded, sweating and tense.

  “Did your people mention our arrangement in any of these interviews?” I was burning up inside with anger toward Jack but didn’t want this hardworking man to think it was directed toward him.