RICHARD (A BAD BOY ROMANCE) (47 page)

“Preston—are you okay?”

Maddy
looked up at me from the heap of
sheets she’d made on my bed. Her brown hair was a tangled mess around her face
and her green eyes flashed with concern as soon as she lifted her head and saw
me. She was wearing an undershirt of mine and no panties. She looked more
stunning than I’d ever seen her before.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath,
inhaling the scent of her as I committed her image to memory. This was how I
wanted to remember her: her pretty face still bleary from sleep, completely
unaware of what was about to come; that light dusting of freckles across her
nose looking golden in the mid-morning light; her full, delicate lips chapped
from where I’d roughly kissed them the night before.

“We need to talk,
Maddy
,”
I said, willing my voice not to break.

She sat up on the bed and combed her hair
with her fingers, trying to wrestle it into place as I looked down at her. Her
gaze drifted to my knuckles. “Preston, you’re bleeding…”

“It’s over,” I said, trying to push the words
out past the lump in my throat. I could feel everything inside of me screaming
not to do this, to find some way to fuck Jane and my father over.

But there wasn’t a way that didn’t put
Maddy
directly in the line of fire. My father had
connections, and with an almost laughably small amount of his fortune, he could
make the rest of her life a living hell. I couldn’t do that to her. She didn’t
deserve it. I couldn’t let her go down with the ship because of me.

“You quit?” she asked, a glimmer of hope
flaring in her eyes. She smiled. “That’s… that’s great! I mean, we’ll have to
figure a few things out now, but it’s what you wanted, right?”

I shook my head at her. She wasn’t getting
it. I had to leave no doubt in her mind as to what would happen next. “No. I
didn’t quit. It’s over.
We’re
over.”

Maddy
stared at me for what seemed
like an eternity. With every moment that passed, a new expression washed over
her face. First there was dumb shock, then confusion, followed by a snort of
denial, and then her lips quivered. That last one didn’t leave her, and I could
see her emerald eyes filling with tears.

“You can’t be serious,” she whispered. I
rubbed my face with my hands, trying to hide my own tears.

“You’re so stupid,” I said, turning my sob of
despair into a rueful laugh. “You’re so fucking stupid,
Maddy
.
Don’t you get it? This whole thing has been one big laugh at your expense! I
mean really, how pathetic does a girl have to be to fuck her stepbrother?”

When I lowered my hands,
Maddy
was still looking at me. I wished she wouldn’t. It only made things that much
harder.

“Why are you saying this?” she demanded, her
voice cracking. “Why are you being so cruel to me?!”

“Because you deserve it!” I roared. I tried
to imagine Jane’s face instead of hers and felt my neck and face turn red with
anger. “Because you’re fucked up and desperate and everybody knows it but you!
My father and your mother—they bet me a sad, pitiful girl like you would do
anything
to resolve her daddy issues. I
didn’t believe them, but look at you. I did it. I won!”

Maddy
launched herself up from the bed
and crossed the room to me. Tears streamed down her face and she shook like a
flower in a storm as she cupped my face in her delicate hands.

“Stop it, Preston. I don’t believe you. You
wouldn’t do this to me. Not after everything…”

I seized her wrists and she gasped. I knew I
was hurting her, but I had to or she’d never believe me.

“
You
stupid girl,” I
whispered. I managed a sneer, though the disgust I spat was aimed at me and not
at her. “
You
filthy slut. You’d do anything to have a
man tell you you’re not worthless, wouldn’t you? You’re just like your mother—”

Finally, something inside
Maddy
snapped. She slapped me so hard across my face I tasted blood in my mouth.
Stars burst in front of my eyes and I held my breath, staring at the wall as
she panted in front of me. At least now I had an excuse not to look at her.

“You’re a monster,” she said hoarsely. My
soul fractured. In every word, I could feel her beautiful, perfect heart was
breaking. “You’re a fucking monster. I hope you rot in hell.”

As she grabbed her clothes and hurried from
my room, I realized she’d never know that I already was.

It
had been two weeks since I’d last seen him.

The agony had faded into a comfortable
numbness that, at the very least, prevented me from crying all night. In fact,
sleep came now more than ever. I found myself spending a lot of time
unconscious, and for that I was never more grateful.

Every moment I spent in slumber was a moment
I didn’t have to think about Preston Harvey and how he’d ruined my life. And
when the dreams came—the ones where we were still together, where his lips
crashed against mine so fiercely they stole my breath away—a bit of wine was
all that was needed to chase them away again.

He’d tried to call me more than a few times
since that morning in his room when he’d finally admitted he was the same
soulless beast his father was. He’d texted, too, but I never read them. After
the first three days I changed my number, and after that, he only made one
other effort to contact me. He sent me an envelope in the mail with a check
inside of me for one hundred thousand dollars.

I didn’t want to cash it. I wanted to pretend
like I’d never need anything from Preston, or my family in general, ever again.
But now that I was out of a job, the sad truth was that I’d have to find a new one,
and in the meantime I needed a buffer to keep a roof over my head.

When I handed the check over to the teller, I
secretly wondered how much of his winnings from my family’s sick little betting
pool this constituted. I’d become so filled with rage that I’d nearly snapped
the pen in half when she’d asked me to sign the back of it. I didn’t think that
particular thought again.

What good would it do, anyway? It was over
and done with. I couldn’t go back in time and fix it now. And in a way, Preston
had freed me. I’d never trust my family again, and because of his confession, I
had finally cut ties with my toxic mother. It was a step forward of some kind,
anyway.

I spent my days distracting myself by
updating my resume, my LinkedIn profile, and a number of other job-related
things, anything that would take my mind off of my past and point my thoughts
toward the future, one that didn’t involve getting used and discarded ever
again.

I would even date, as soon as I could get
around to it. I wouldn’t let Preston Harvey put me off men. I wouldn’t let what
he’d done to me turn me angry and bitter. I wasn’t about to become my mother,
although now I could understand just a little bit better what had led to her
downfall as a human being.

It didn’t make it right, but at least she
wasn’t such a mystery to me anymore.

Just as I was beginning to run out of things
to do, I got the call that would change my life forever. It was a call I hadn’t
been expecting, one from a very prestigious law firm looking for a new legal secretary
to manage their office.

“Can you come downtown for an interview
around three?” the appointment-setter asked.

I glanced at the clock. It was nearly noon.
Fuck it—I’d make it. “Yes,” I said. “I’ll see you then.”

The first thing I did, after getting dressed,
was ride the bus for the very last time. It took me to a Volvo dealership where
I bought my first brand new car. It was a splurge, but it was a well-deserved
splurge, and one that would ensure I was self-sufficient from now on. No more
relying on public transport to get me to my new job in a swanky office building
downtown. I was a new woman. This Madison Hearst didn’t depend on anyone but
herself.

Once I had my new car, my resume, and my
interview clothes in order, I drove downtown and sat through the mid-day
traffic while waiting for the turn lane into the parking garage to open up. I
had no idea what the problem was. At first I thought there might have been an
accident, but as I got closer to the source of the jam, I saw that a parade of
news vehicles
were
blocking the intersection as they
tried to find parking spaces directly in front of the Harvey Tower. I shook my
head and rolled my eyes. It figured that they’d throw one more wrench into the
gears of my life before they were done with me.

Briefly, I wondered what the hell the fuss
was about. But it was probably just some stupid PR move Preston or his father
had coordinated. Maybe they hadn’t kicked any puppies this week. That seemed
newsworthy, all things considered.

Maybe it was something about the wedding.
That was only days out now. I couldn’t think of why Mr. Harvey would do
something like that at the tower, though. Maybe my mother had put him up to it.

I finally made it to the garage and parked,
stuffing my printed-out garage pass between the dashboard and windshield as I
stepped out in the warm summer air. I felt good today. I felt capable and
vibrant. Preston obviously had done me the courtesy of not blacklisting me,
which meant that I now had a rather impressive resume at my disposal. Thank God
for small favors, I supposed.

By the time I made it to the sixteenth floor
office, I was still ten minutes early. I handed my resume to a very sweet,
bubbly receptionist and took a few moments to look around the lobby and get a
little better acquainted with what the law firm was expecting.

They took up the whole floor, and they were
clearly very expensive. From what I’d read on their website they dealt in
criminal law, which seemed awfully exciting. I would’ve been excited for the
job regardless, but knowing that I might spend my days involved with the kind
of cases I saw on
Law & Order
sweetened the deal. It was better than resigning myself to something like
worker’s comp and business law, anyway.

When Mr. Princeton emerged from his office,
my jaw nearly hit the floor. He looked like he’d just stepped out of the pages
of a men’s magazine. He wore an impeccably tailored suit and shoes that
probably cost more than my new car had, and he had one of those million-dollar
smiles that lit up the room brighter than any fancy chandelier could. Not that
he didn’t have those, too, but that smile was absolutely radiant.

His smile nearly touched his ears as he
walked toward me, and I stood up, accepting his outstretched hand. “Madison
Hearst, I presume?”

“You can call me
Maddy
,”
I said, and for a moment, I was reminded of Preston Harvey and how he’d always
called me that whenever we were together. No one else ever had. It had only
ever been him.

Stop that,
I told myself, pushing thoughts
of my asshole of a stepbrother from my mind as I followed Mr. Princeton down
the hall.
You’ve moved on. He’s in your
past. Mr. Princeton is your future, and you should count your lucky stars that
he is.

I sat down in his office and watched as he
closed the door and stepped around the opposite side of his desk. “I have to
say,” he began, adjusting his perfectly form-fitting blazer, “I’m impressed.
This is one hell of a resume, Madison—sorry.
Maddy
,”
he corrected himself.

I beamed. Then Preston really
hadn’t
added insult to injury. I was
relieved. “Thank you, Mr. Princeton,” I said. “This is one hell of a law
firm,
from what I hear.”

He laughed. It was a sweet, honeyed sound.
“Let’s cut to the chase. Your qualifications are top-notch. And from just the
few minutes I’ve spent with you, you seem like the kind of employee who would
fit right in here at Princeton & Kline. All that coupled with the personal
recommendation we received from Preston Harvey himself, I’m ready to offer you
the job right here.”

I couldn’t help it. I had to ask. “Mr. Harvey
contacted you directly?”

Mr. Princeton nodded. “Oh, yeah. He called
this morning. Said he saw our ad on a jobs site and knew the perfect woman for
the job.”

My heart skipped a beat. Preston had been
trawling the job boards for me? Why? What the hell did he care?

A recommendation was one thing. The fact that
my stepbrother had been actively interested in my employment was another. I
knew for a fact that Preston had way better things to do than scour Craigslist
ads on my behalf. Had he grown a conscience since I’d been away? Was he
actually feeling guilty?

I tried not to think too hard on it, though
it flustered me all the same. “Working for Preston Harvey was… a wonderful
experience,” I said. And it had been—right up until the point that it wasn’t
anymore. I didn’t count it as a lie. “I’m so thrilled that he was satisfied
with my service enough to call you and get my foot in the door.”

Mr. Princeton grinned. “He spoke so highly of
you that I was afraid someone else had snatched you up already. You seem to
have it all,
Maddy
. Which brings us to your salary…”

I was on the edge of my seat now. I was sure
a place like this paid handsomely. Visions of renting an actual house danced
through my head, and Mr. Princeton was about to speak again when his
receptionist burst through the door.

“Mr. Princeton,” she said breathlessly, “I’m
so sorry to interrupt. But you have to see this.”

He frowned at her. “Can’t it
wait, Amy?”

She shook her head so hard I was sure her
earrings were going to fly right out of her ears. “No, sir. Come quick. It’s
all over the news.”

Mr. Princeton raised his eyebrows at me. “I
guess that means you should come too,” he said.

I stood up, my stomach flipping as I followed
Amy and Mr. Princeton down another hall toward the break room. What the hell
was going on?

As soon as I walked in, I saw it plain as day
on the TV. Just outside Harvey Tower, several news crews had gathered around my
stepbrother, each one of them shoving their microphones in his face, yet all
standing so deathly still as he spoke. Someone turned it up and I gripped my
clutch tightly as I listened to what he said.

“…in cooperating with state and Federal
authorities, Harvey Enterprises has exposed Harold Verger’s intent to collude
with government officials in order to shut down the 39
^th
Street
homeless shelter on fabricated charges of code violations. Mr. Verger then
intended to demolish the shelter to make way for a person investment project: a
luxury condo development that would cater to the wealthiest citizens of this
fine city. Meanwhile, hundreds of homeless would be displaced, including
battered women and children for whom there was no other place to turn.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Preston was actually admitting to God and country what Harvey Enterprises had
intended to do just to retain a client—one with senatorial aspirations, no
less. He was selling himself, Mr. Verger, his father, and his own company out
to do it. But there he was, admitting everything on live television.

“Holy shit,” I murmured.

Mr. Princeton folded his arms.
“You’re
tellin
’ me.”

Preston continued, “In light of this and
other incidents which have come to light over the past few weeks, Harvey
Enterprises will be restructuring. Mr. Harvey—my father—will step down from his
position as the head of our company, and with the board of directors’ unanimous
approval, I will take his place.”

My knees almost gave out from under me. This
was huge. The only way it could have been more shocking was if a nuclear bomb
had detonated in the heart of the city. But then Preston delivered one more
surprise for me.

He looked into the camera and said, “There
have been a lot of people who were hurt along the way, people who didn’t
deserve it and who never should have been in the line of fire to begin with. As
a company, we have often asked others to sacrifice for us instead of being
willing to sacrifice anything ourselves. The future of Harvey Enterprises is
simple: more ethics, more honesty. If that means less money, so be it.” He
paused. I felt like he was staring right into my eyes. “If that means those
that we’ve hurt can finally see some justice now, so be it.”