The Billionaire's Gamble (16 page)

 

He was irritated with his cabaret manager. “Mike, you can handle this. Just show the women the door if they don’t behave. We’ve had this conversation before.”

 

Mike hesitated for a moment. “Well, that’s the thing. The fight’s about you,” he explained through the phone.

 

“About me? Why would a bunch of women I’ve never met be arguing about me?” Sid asked, his irritation starting to show.

 

“Well, I didn’t realize it at the time, but two of the new dancers we hired a month ago had a…um…relationship with you.”

 

Sid shook his head in disbelief. “Mike, you know I never have a relationship, casual or otherwise, with any of the dancers.”

Mike laughed nervously. “I know. But like I said, these two are new and….well, one of them is saying that she had a….thing with you a while back and the other is saying the same thing. There’s a bit of jealousy going on.”

Sid heard the screaming in the background and ground his teeth in frustration. He glanced at his watch and groaned. It was almost time for Sabrina to meet him here. They were scheduled to go look at several houses she’d narrowed the search down to. “Can’t you fix this?” he ordered.

“I wish I could. But this has been brewing for several weeks. Right now, the bouncers, Jerry and Jimmy are holding the two back, a show is about to start and they’re interfering. I thought maybe if you just came down and gave them one of your looks and explained that they were out of line, they would get the message more clearly than if I told them.” He listened to the irritated silence then continued. “Like I said, this has been brewing for several weeks. They’re good dancers but I’ll have to fire them if they keep this up. It’s messing with the morale of the other dancers.”

Sid sighed. “Fine. I’ll be down in three minutes. I’ll speak briefly with them but then I have to go. I don’t have time for this kind of ridiculous antics so if they start up again, I’m putting you on notice to get rid of them immediately.”

“Good enough,” Mike said, relief in his voice.

Sid hung up without saying goodbye and stood up, coming around the desk. He was just about to walk around when his office door opened. He was hoping to see Sabrina walk in but then realized that Sabrina never intruded. She always waited until Betsy announced her no matter how many times he told her to just come in.

“Hey brother! What are you up to?” Zeke said, sauntering in to Sid’s office.

 

Sid shook his head. “Two of the dancers are having a fight. I’ve got to go down and stop it before it gets out of hand.”

 

“A fight? With two women? Can I watch?” he asked, grinning without shame. “Is one of them my little darling?” he asked.

Sid would have laughed if he wasn’t so frustrated. He didn’t want to deal with this situation. All he wanted to do was to find Sabrina and take her into his arms. He didn’t analyze why she was becoming so important in his life. He just liked having her around, he told himself. Shaking his head at his brother’s unrepentant fascination with women, he said, “Go ahead and watch but I hope it isn’t the woman you’re interested in. She’s about to be fired. You know the rules,” he said, waving to the bank of monitors in his office that turned on with a computer code. He then quickly walked out of his office, hoping to resolve the two fighting women and get back to talk to Sabrina.

The door closed behind Sid and Zeke punched up the security cameras, searching for the backstage of the various theatres. There it was. He chuckled as he watched two scantily clad women scream at each other. He realized that they would be hitting the other except for the two large, burly bouncers holding them apart. The sound was off so he couldn’t hear what the women were saying but he shook his head, knowing that the words probably weren’t pretty.

“What’s going on?” Sabrina asked cheerily, smiling as she walked over to where Zeke was standing in front of the bank of security monitors. “Liz told me to come on in and that Sid had just left for a moment.”

“A cat fight,” Zeke said, grinning at Sabrina’s pretty blue suit. “Where’s your sister?” he asked.

Sabrina smiled up at the tall, handsome man. “She’s probably at the law library studying,” she explained, noting the disappointed expression on his face. “Where’s Sid?” she asked in return.

Zeke nodded to the security cameras showing the two women who were fighting. “He should be in view any minute. Mike asked him to come down and put out a fight. Apparently these two women are fighting over him.”

Sabrina’s eyes snapped to the cameras. “Fighting over Sid?” she whispered. “Why would they be fighting over him? He’s my husband. Surely they wouldn’t think…Sid would….” She couldn’t finish that thought out loud. The idea of Sid in another woman’s arms made her sick to her stomach. But then, Sid wouldn’t ever touch another woman. They were married and that meant something to him. Didn’t it?

Her teeth bit into her lower lip and she worried the sensitive flesh as she watched the monitors. She saw Sid move from one monitor to the next until he reached the backstage area where the scantily clad dancers were all waiting to perform, except for two who seemed to be yelling at each other.

She didn’t notice Zeke’s concerned face as he looked down at her. Her eyes were glued to the cameras. And then he appeared on the screen. The two women instantly stopped yelling at each other and the burly men holding them back released them. Sabrina gasped when both women, now unhindered, draped their scantily clad bodies over him. But she tried to put that into perspective. Sid was a gorgeous man and he was wealthy beyond her wildest imagination. Any woman would try and come on to him.

But her hand flew to her face when one of the women reached up and turned Sid’s face toward hers. The next moment, she was kissing him as if she would die if she ever stopped. Sabrina knew the feeling. She’d felt that same sentiment herself on more than one occasion.

Stumbling backwards, Sabrina’s hand flew to her mouth, her eyes shutting tightly in horror. She wanted to look but the image that stained her eyes was actually causing physical pain. She wasn’t sure what alerted Zeke to the situation. She must have cried out or something because a moment later, he was holding her shaking body, her shoulders violently shivering as her mind replayed the kiss in her mind. Over and over again, she saw the woman reach up and kiss her husband.

She looked up again, searching the monitors until she found it. Zeke tried to put his broad shoulders in her view but she could see.

 

“Sabrina, this isn’t what you think it is,” he said, his deep voice barely penetrating through her pain.

She shook her head. “Is there a woman kissing Sid in that security camera?” she whispered, her eyes seeing what she was describing even though Zeke was still trying to chivalrously hide the images on the screen from her.

Zeke looked back and saw that the other woman was now pulling Sid toward her, competing for equal kissing time. “Well, yes. But it isn’t what you think. I promise.”

Sabrina closed her eyes once again and stepped back, out of his arms. She was still for a long moment, but then the pain eating at her heart spurred movement and she was able to walk away as if in a trance. She heard Zeke calling out to her and she looked back. “Sabrina, wait. I promise you that this really isn’t what you think it is,” he said and she reacted more to the worry in his voice than his words. She smiled through the tears she didn’t know where falling down her cheeks.

“Zeke, there are two women kissing my husband on the security cameras. I’m not sure how it’s possible to explain that away.”

Zeke waved his hand I the air as if that picture was insignificant but he wouldn’t look back at the monitors, knowing that it was probably still happening. He concentrated on what he knew was right instead of a silly little competition between two women Sid had absolutely no feelings for. “I’ve seen my brother with a lot of women,” Zeke started and the pain that intensified in Sabrina’s eyes told him those weren’t the right word so he continued quickly, “but he loves you, Sabrina. It isn’t what you think.”

Sabrina closed her eyes again, her hand reaching out to steady herself as she swayed with the impact of his words. “Does he really?” she asked, then broke down, sobbing. Because she already knew the answer. Sid had never said he loved her. He’d showered her with gifts and taken her on a fantasy honeymoon but those were only symbols of passion and desire. But she wanted something more. And now, seeing Sid kissing, or being kissed, by other women, she knew that she couldn’t settle for anything less. She’d been fooling herself, thinking that she had enough love for the both of them. And she was short changing herself. She wanted a real marriage. One where she would believe him if a naked woman threw herself at him, knowing he would push her away because she was secure with the knowledge that he loved her and only her.

“Sabrina wait!” Zeke called out. “That’s not fair. At least let Sid explain.”

 

She shook her head. “It isn’t about the kiss really,” she said, the realization dawning on her slowly. “It’s much more than that.”

That only heightened the concern in his eyes as he watched the gentle, sweet woman who had single handedly changed his brother’s life for the better. Warily he asked, “What’s it about?”

Sabrina walked across the lavish, beautifully decorated office that reflected Sid’s personality so precisely; masculine, clean and defined. She put her hand on the door before replying. Pulling open the door, she glanced back at Zeke, so close to Sid in so many ways but completely different in others. “It’s about trust,” she said. “And we don’t have it.” Sabrina’s green eyes were now swimming in the tears streaming from her eyes but she held her shoulders straight and turned away. She pulled open the door, then stopped, frozen for a long moment. Slowly, she turned back to face Zeke, something inside her forcing the words to come out. She looked at the tall, handsome, proud man who was standing with his hands on his hips, a frustrated look in his eyes because he couldn’t make the world work the way he wanted it to right at the moment. “Please don’t hurt my sister,” she said softly. “She’s not as tough as she looks”, then walked out, closing the door behind her.

Zeke watched her, noticing that her shoulders were rigid as she tried to leave with as much dignity as possible. But he knew her better. In the short time he’d know this tiny woman, he’d grown to respect and understand her and he knew that if Sid didn’t hurry up, she’d be gone.

Rushing over to the phone, he called Sid’s cell phone. He watched the monitors, noting the moment Sid realized his cell phone was ringing over the yelling females.

 

“What’?” Sid demanded, irritated beyond what he’d previously been feeling.

 

“Sid, get upstairs now. Sabrina came in while I was watching the fight. She saw everything,” Zeke explained.

“Dammit,” Sid said and flipped his cell phone closed, shoving it back into his pocket angrily. He turned to Mike while snapping his cell phone shut. “Get rid of them,” he ordered. “I don’t want to see them on Solara property again.

He missed the open mouthed shock of the two women as well as the satisfied grin of Mike who had had enough of these females’ antics. He turned quickly to the bouncers, Jimmy and James and smiled broadly. “You heard the boss man, guys. Kindly escort these….ladies….to the exit.”

“What?” the blond one screeched. “You can’t do that to me!” she shouted.

Sid ignored the screeching, knowing that his orders would be followed immediately. He didn’t care. All he cared about was the panic he was feeling at the idea of Sabrina’s pain when she saw those female pariahs kissing him. Would she understand that the kiss meant nothing?

He had a queasy feeling that she wouldn’t. Not his little wife. She was a tiger in bed, but she was still shy and conservative and she would feel betrayed by what she’d seen.

He rushed to the private elevator, pressing the buttons frantically in a futile effort to make them come faster.

Finally, he was getting off the elevator and stepping into the penthouse. He stopped at the entrance and listened. There was silence initially, but then he heard the sounds. It was Sabrina. He didn’t recognize the sounds but he hurried, following them. He followed them to their bedroom and stood in the doorway, watching as Sabrina pulled clothes out of the drawers and packed them. She was only taking the clothes she’d brought with her, pushing aside the clothes he’d bought her in Paris and Milan. “Where are you going? “he demanded.

Sabrina jumped, not having heard him come up. But she’d been crying so hard, it was no wonder. “I’ve decided to head back to Virginia,” she said through her sniffles.

“No!” he said and walked over to the bed where the suit case was laying. “You’re not going anywhere. Aren’t you going to let me explain?” he asked, turning her around and pulling the clothes out of her hands. He dropped them onto the bed, but not into the suit case. “It isn’t what you think it was.”

Sabrina wiped the back of her hands against her cheek, wiping the tears away. She knew she probably looked a fright with mascara running down her cheeks but she didn’t care. “You were breaking up a fight and both women kissed you. Does that sum it up?” she asked, not looking up at him. She knew that if she looked into his eyes, she’d be lost. She was so in love with him she was in pain and only wanted to have him hold her, make love to her one more time before she had to leave. But that would be horrible, she knew.

“Yes, but there’s more to it than what you saw. Those women, I dated each of them casually long before I met you. They mean nothing to me,” he said.

Sabrina doubled over in pain. “You mean you had relationships with them previously?” she asked. She hadn’t even considered that. “I thought you didn’t have relationships with the employees? I guess that was a lie, wasn’t it?” she stood up and walked over to the overstuffed chair, dropping down into it and putting her face in her hands. “Oh, why in the world did I believe that one? I’m an employee and you’ve already admitted that you planned my seduction from the moment you met me,” she said.

Sid walked over and knelt in front of her. “No. It isn’t like that. I didn’t have relationships with them while they were dancers here. They were both dancers in another casino. They were just hired by Mike a few weeks ago. I didn’t even know they were here.”