Dangerous (The Dark Billionaire, #4) (3 page)

Jennifer looked at her Grandmother in astonishment. She had never heard her talking so bluntly, but somehow, her words felt like they were liberating her from a hidden burden. Margareta was right. Jennifer was way too stressed and under too much pressure to allow herself to flow. She was trying to be someone else and it could never work.

“I think you’re right,” Jennifer said after a long pause. “I haven’t felt pleasure at all since I’ve started cooking again. I’ve been acting like a robot, blindly following recipes without adding my personal touch, and I expected something amazing.”

“I’m glad you can see it.”

“Thanks to you, Grandma. I don’t know what I would do without you,” Jennifer said as she took Margareta in her arms. “Thank you so much for opening my eyes.”

“Now, stop everything and take a break. Have a good night’s sleep and start fresh tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, I promise.”

Margareta left a few minutes later and Jennifer cleaned her kitchen. Her Grandmother was right: there was too much going on in her life and she had allowed her emotions to interfere with her cooking. Finally, there was hope. If she could control her emotions, she could cook amazing food again. And that meant being independent and doing what she loved.

When she was done cleaning, she went to her desktop and turned on her computer. It was time to check her emails and to stalk other people’s life on social media. Not that she envied anyone else but it was always fun to see what her friends were doing. When she logged in her personal page, she saw that she had a personal request. It was to add someone as her friend. Jennifer frowned. She hadn’t met anyone new recently. She clicked on the friend request link and a familiar face appeared on her screen: it was Enzo, the man she had met in a bar in Thailand. She wondered for a few seconds how he had managed to find her but quickly remembered: she had given him her account’s user name.

What should I do? I acted like a teen in Bangkok and I disappeared just like that... Enzo tried really hard to seduce me and he’s a nice guy. I don’t want to hurt him but I don’t want to get close to him either.

Jennifer stared at her screen for ten long minutes. Her mind and her heart were going in two different directions. Her index finger kept moving back and forth on the click button, but she couldn’t decide whether to press it or not. Was it a mistake to accept his friend request? Or was it rude to ignore the man who had taken care of her in a foreign country and saved her life?

Yes it was definitely rude, she decided. Enzo had done nothing wrong and been extremely thoughtful. He didn’t deserve to be treated with disrespect and ignored. At least, he deserved an explanation. He had no idea that Jennifer was already taken. He hadn’t asked and she hadn’t thought useful to mention it back in Bangkok.

Damn it, just accept! He doesn’t live around anyway, what’s the worst that can happen?

Jennifer finally clicked the accept button and sat back on her chair, feeling her heart race. She had done it: she had allowed Enzo to be in her life again. It was innocent and just online but somehow, she felt that she was betraying Bruce. She didn’t want to add anymore drama to her life. She’d had way too much recently and the last thing she wanted was a big misunderstanding between Bruce and Enzo.

To make things perfectly clear right from the start, she decided to send him a private message to set the rules. He couldn’t have false expectations and had to behave in a decent way - no more attempts to seduce her. She wasn’t available and had never really considered leaving her man.

She told him everything about her personal situation, Bruce’s identity and status, his business partnership with a man named Kenichi Sakamura, the reason of their trip to Bangkok, her willingness to launch her own business, the argument that followed with Bruce and finally, why she ended up having a drink alone in a bar where she met Enzo. She hesitated for a second, and also explained that she was already gone and in New York City. She paused and also explained that her boyfriend had almost died in a car explosion and that she was determined to support him, and that Enzo would remain a good friend. Nothing more.

She reread her message, edited it here and there, and when she was finally satisfied with it, pressed send and forgot about it. She went to bed and felt extremely happy to sleep in her own bed again. She slept like a baby and felt completely rejuvenated and fresh in the morning. Her Grandmother’s advice had totally changed her outlook on her future business and she was determined to start cooking with no pressure at all.

She took a coffee and opened her laptop in the kitchen, just the usual routine, when she saw that she had received one private message.

Enzo probably...

Indeed, it was him. He told her that he perfectly understood her situation and her decision to keep her distance with him. Then he said that he was happy to know her and that she was welcomed to visit him again in Thailand - no hidden agenda, he promised. Jennifer smiled at his last comment and thought that Enzo was really a sweet guy. But then, what he told her erased the smile from her face and replaced it by deep lines on her forehead. She frowned and reread a second time, then a third time.

Enzo was telling her that he actually knew Kenichi: he was a well-known, yet very secretive and smart businessman in Asia, involved in very suspicious activities. In other words, Kenichi Sakamura wasn’t the kind of man to mess with and there were rumors saying that he belonged to the mafia. Enzo said he couldn’t confirm if it was true or not. However Kenichi had spent several nights at the hotel where he worked and many employees had complained about his rudeness and his lack of manners. He had behaved like a jerk and wasn’t afraid to tell everybody that he was a bad man. He loved to intimidate people and display his money.

Apparently, Kenichi was also involved in many unsettled lawsuits where he was accused of scamming and ripping off wealthy people. It was exactly the kind of business Bruce was about to do with him and Jennifer felt relieved that it never happened.

Then, Enzo had attached a photograph of the man, to make sure they were talking about the same person. Jennifer clicked on the picture to enlarge it and felt her stomach twisting. In the photograph, Kenichi was holding a glass of champagne and had a beautiful, sexy Asian lady in his arm: Bruce’s ex-girlfriend.

J
ennifer didn’t know what to do. At the end of his private message, Enzo had said that he had more information about Kenichi but he didn’t know if she was interested to know more. She just had to contact him if she needed anything.

Obviously, she had to warn Bruce about Kenichi’s reputation. She couldn’t wait and do nothing about it. She started looking on the Internet and typed his name in every search engine she could think of. Surprisingly, she couldn’t find anything about him. There was nothing incriminating or suspicious online. Jennifer thought about Enzo’s comment: Kenichi was secretive and smart. His activities were probably hard to track back to him and his name wasn’t mentioned anywhere. That’s the reason why Bruce had done business with him without any suspicion. This man had a perfectly clean record, on the surface at least.

What about Bruce’s ex? What was she doing in that picture with Kenichi? She had probably met him to try to get in touch with Bruce. It wasn’t totally impossible. Very few things seemed impossible now that Jennifer was dating Bruce. In his world, anything could happen.

She scratched her head and walked in circle in her apartment. She wanted to call Bruce to tell him that Kenichi was a dangerous man. Most likely, Kenichi was manipulating something behind the scenes and that was the reason why their joint-venture was a disaster. He was known to scam wealthy people in Asia and was now expanding in North America. Bruce was his current victim and he had no idea what was going on.

But there was a problem: Bruce had probably done his research and like Jennifer, he had found nothing. There was no evidence that Kenichi was actually a bad person or belonged to the mafia. Even Enzo had nothing to prove what he was saying. Maybe he was making everything up or maybe it was a misunderstanding. But deep inside, Jen had a gut feeling about this man. Since their trip to Bangkok, she knew there was something wrong about him and Bruce had been too obsessed with his idea to get revenge to see it. But now, things started to go in a direction that confirmed her first impressions: Enzo’s warning, Kenichi’s plan to rip off people like Cliff Hansen, and now the joint-venture with Bruce going south. It was too much to be a coincidence. Kenichi could not be trusted and if Bruce continued to be associated with him, his worst nightmares would become a reality: he would be ruined.

However, Jennifer had nothing to back up her fears and concerns. It was only her gut feeling and Enzo’s word. Plus, she wasn’t supposed to be in touch with him anymore. How could she explain to Bruce that someone in Bangkok had warned her about Kenichi? Bruce would never be satisfied with such a vague explanation and would finally discover the truth. She certainly didn’t want that to happen.

It was a huge dilemma for her. She wanted to protect and save Bruce. She knew she had enough elements to convince him to drop everything he was doing with him, but Bruce would eventually need to talk to Enzo to confirm his claims. Jennifer closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. She had to make an important decision. She had to choose between her relationship with Bruce or his well-being. She wanted both obviously but in this particular situation, it seemed impossible. She had to pick one or the other. It was either her own happiness to be with Bruce or his happiness by saving his business.

Jennifer realized something: she truly loved Bruce and her priority was his happiness. If it meant suffering his anger, his jealousy and eventually being separated, she was ready to accept it as long as he could still maintain his sanity and be fulfilled. That was what she was ready to endure for him. If they had to be apart because of it, Bruce would eventually find someone else and have a happy life again. But at least, Jennifer would know that it was thanks to her.

If she kept silent however, Bruce would lose everything and there was no guarantee that their relationship would survive in such a dramatic scenario. It seemed like in any case, Jennifer had to lose something.

She shook her head and felt her eyes getting wet. Her throat was tight and she fell on her heels, against the wall behind her. She would have never imagined that her life would take such a chaotic turn. She thought she had finally found the perfect relationship, and in a way she had. There was nothing wrong between her and Bruce, but his lifestyle and his circumstances were very hard to deal with.

With great power comes great responsibilities, she thought.

It was so true. Dating a billionaire wasn’t easy and glamorous like many girls assumed. It was tough and challenging. It was a lot of pressure, high risks, big money, danger, hate and jealousy all the time. Now, Jennifer realized that Bruce was a moving target for many people. Men wanted to do business with him to benefit from his status and his funds, whereas women wanted to take advantage of him for obvious reasons.

Bruce didn’t deserve to be taken advantage of, whoever they were. She would not allow it. Her only choice was to admit that she was still in touch with Enzo and that he had access to important information that could save Bruce’s company. That would also mean a huge crisis between them, since Bruce had clearly very little tolerance for any man approaching her. But it had to be done as soon as possible. Bruce was losing millions of dollars this very second. She had to tell him now.

Jennifer got back up and dressed up very quickly. She looked at her kitchen and felt a sinking feeling in her stomach: she wouldn’t be able to practice today and would have to wait to know if her Grandmother was right. Jennifer didn’t know if she was still able to cook properly. She was even less secure about her ability to make money out of it. But more urgent things needed to be done.

She took a taxi and told the driver to go to Wilson Corp.’s building. At this time of the day, the traffic was fine and she got there in less than twenty minutes. It felt strange to be back in there with all these familiar faces. Jennifer used to be part of them and now, she was sharing Bruce’s ups and downs as a rich businessman. Who would have guessed?

A receptionist recognized her and gave her access to Bruce’s office. Benny was apparently sick and a new secretary was sitting where Jennifer used to work.

“I need to talk to Bruce,” Jennifer said. “Where is he?”

“Excuse me but Mr. Wilson is in a meeting,” the new girl said. “Do you want to leave a message?”

“Yes, call him right now and tell him this is extremely urgent.”

The secretary raised an eyebrow and gave her an ironic smile. “I’m sorry but this is not how it works, Mrs...?”

“Mrs. Wilson,” Jennifer said, slightly raising her chin. “Jennifer Wilson.”

“Oh, I didn’t know Mr. Wilson had a sister...”

“I’m not his sister,” Jennifer said, pausing for long enough to let the new girl understand what it implied. “Now call him will you?”

The secretary opened her eyes wide, probably realizing that Jennifer was Bruce’s so-called
wife
. She looked confused and nodded apologetically. “I’m really sorry Mrs. Wilson, I didn’t know... I’ll call him right away.”

“Good. Thank you.”

Bruce appeared in the doorway of a conference room, a surprising expression of satisfaction on his face.

“Jen! I’m so glad you’re here,” he said smiling and opening his arms. “I wanted to call you to tell you the good news.”

“The good news? What’s going on?” Jennifer said, suddenly hopeful.

“It’s not official but I’ll stop my partnership with Kenichi. My lawyers are pretty confident that this can be done without too much collateral damage.”

“What about all the money you’ve lost?”

“Gone forever, but I can make it back. Money comes and goes, it’s part of the game. At least I’ll still be there to play.”

“This is great! I’m so happy for you,” Jennifer said, jumping in his arms. At the end of the day, she didn’t have to convince him to stop doing business with Kenichi: Bruce had figured by himself that it wasn’t in his best interests.