Billionaire Romance Boxed Set (9 Book Bundle) (63 page)

“You
were safe! I did what I had to do. I never expected what happened that night to
happen. That drunk—”

“I
don’t want to hear it,” I interrupted.

I
couldn’t imagine telling him how much it hurt to see him. How his standing
there, and my knowing he had been well for so many years, made the loss of my
mother that much more of a tragedy and I felt like I was losing her all over
again.

Looking
at Stewart I realized how important to my life he really was. He had no
obligation to stay with me, yet he did. It was more than I could say for my own
father.

I
had no more words. I couldn’t look at the man, my father anymore. I had to
leave. Looking down at Deborah still in my arms, I slowly let go.

“I’m
sorry,” I said to her before storming off towards my car.

“Will,
wait!” My father called after me, but I didn’t care. He had been dead for
the past twenty-five years, he could stay dead.

“Will!”
Deborah cried out.

I
felt bad leaving her, but I had to get out of there. I needed to get away from
all the memories that haunted me for so many years. Stewart would take care of
her. She was better off without me anyway.

Speeding
back to Paris I called and made a plane reservation, something I had never done
before. I didn’t want to be William Hargrove King, III in his private jet. I
wanted to be as anonymous as possible. Besides, Stewart and Deborah needed the
jet more than I did.

As
I sat at the airport waiting for the plane to board, I spotted several small
families similar to my own as a child. Tragedy in any form has an amazing way
of changing the world for a person. I once was that innocent child and in a
flash became something else.

The
words I once considered to be my father’s last rang through my head.
No regrets.
Such simple yet powerful words. But thinking about my
father brought all my anger back, this time mixed with the pain of loss.

Even
without the events with my father, this trip with Deborah had proven to be more
complicated than I planned. Things were simpler before when I was alone.

Chapter Seventeen

Deborah

“Will!”
I cried out as he left.

Still
not feeling like myself I couldn’t run after him. He didn’t want to be chased
anyway. My head swam as I tried to understand everything that happened. It felt
like I was in a bad dream.

Will’s
father was expressionless. I couldn’t understand how he could be so cold. He
hadn’t seen his son in all this time and all he had for him were excuses. I
looked at the older version of Will standing before me and wondered why he
hadn’t left yet.

“What
the hell is wrong with you?” I demanded as I glared at him. “That’s
your son! I don’t understand everything that happened, but I don’t see how any
parent could just let their child walk away like that. How can you let him
leave? You’re abandoning him again!”

“You
couldn’t begin to understand,” he said.

“Why
don’t you try me?”

I
challenged his gaze as he stood quietly. He paced the grounds looking like he
had something to say. As I waited, he looked over at Stewart who nodded.

“On
one condition,” Bill said. “You have to promise to tell Will my
story. Maybe then he’ll understand.”

“Of
course. He deserves to know.”

Will’s
father looked up at the abbey wistfully. Lost in thought for a moment, he
cracked his knuckles one by one. He spoke quietly at first.

“I
guess the best place to start is the beginning,” he said. “I am
William Hargrove King, jr. But most people call me Bill.”

Chapter Eighteen

Bill

“As
a boy growing up in poverty, I knew I didn’t have many choices for my life. My
parents tried as hard as they could to provide my brothers and I with what they
could, but it was rare we could afford anything special or new.

“Still,
the neighborhood was no where near as decrepit as the night I took Will to see
his future, the flagship Hargrove’s store. It’s sad how that one tragic event
formed the person he became.

“Back
when I was a child, that section of Canyon Cove was mostly populated by
immigrants. Will’s grandparents came to the United States with very little in
their pockets and nothing more than a dream to guide them.

“My
father went by Will too. The family called me Bill to minimize confusion. With
all of his savings from working as a day labor, my father was able to open the
first Hargrove’s store. He named it Hargrove’s to honor his mother, my
grandmother, whose name we carried.

“But
my father’s Hargrove’s wasn’t anything like the one in existence now. Instead
of hundreds of fine department stores, my father’s shop was a corner market
where neighborhood folk could buy a few groceries and other basic items. I
wanted a better life than that.

“During
my last year of high school, an army recruiter came in and made an impressive
presentation. He offered us exotic locales and training we could build on for
the rest of our lives. I was sold. I didn’t need anymore specifics other than
it was a way out of that tiny corner of Canyon Cove.

“After
enlisting I was required to take an exam to test my psyche. Somehow this
multiple choice test told them my best fit within the military. Needless to
say, I look at things a bit differently than others and they determined my best
fit was as sniper.

“The
recruiter didn’t lie. I did get to travel, but I can’t say any of the locales
were particularly exotic. If anything, it made me appreciate the beauty of
Canyon Cove more and is why when I decided to lay down roots, I moved back.

“Don’t
get me wrong, I was the first to admit I never wanted roots. Bill King didn’t
want to settle down and my occupation made my loneliness practically a
requirement. To be honest, I preferred my own company to that of others. At
least until I met Charlotte, Will’s mother. I remember it like it was
yesterday.”

Thirty-five Years Ago

The
military didn’t keep their killers for long. Something to do with
dehumanization. So after I completed my four years, they offered me another
position. It was their way of making sure their assassins didn’t snap from
overwork. It takes a special mindset to be able to continue this job successfully.

Retirement
in my twenties was the furthest thing on my mind though. I loved my job and I
was making more money than I knew what to do with. Since the military didn’t
want me anymore, I learned how to do it in the private sector by taking
contracts.

I
was down the Jersey shore on an assignment when I first saw her. As I stood on
the busy boardwalk, with its spin-the-wheel games and noisy rides, I pretended
to be a tourist people-watching.

I
even dressed the part. The best killers know how to blend into their
environment. I wore a brown and tan striped cabana boy shirt with a pair of tan
slacks and loafers, just like every other man my age.

The
reason for this hit was a small crime syndicate had sprung up in the sleepy
shore town of Point Pleasant and the powers that be wanted it squashed. Usually
my focus was solely on my mark, but as I scanned the crowd I couldn’t help but
notice a beautiful brunette sitting at a red picnic table eating waffles and
ice cream with complete abandon. I found it refreshing.

At
that point I was only tracking to get an idea of my target’s habits. He could
wait. The girl couldn’t. She had her wavy hair pulled back into a loose
ponytail and a red and white gingham dress I recognized as the uniform the
waitresses wore at the local diner. Pulling out my binoculars I admired her
full round face, rosy cheeks, and eyes so blue they put the sky to shame. Other
boys might have called her plump but she looked perfect to me.

Growing
up my mother always told me to beware of the girls who didn’t eat. She believed
that if a person couldn’t enjoy food, they couldn’t enjoy life. From my
experiences, I had to agree. Seeing this gorgeous creature eating this shore
food staple, gave me a yearning for companionship I never had before.

The
girl sat in an area with twenty glossy red picnic tables next to one of the
larger food stands. It wouldn’t have surprised me if someone thought painting
was equal to cleaning. The stand had a gaudy red and white blinking sign in the
shape of an arrow and most of their offerings sat under heat lamps in the
already sweltering humidity.

I
noticed the stand didn’t serve what the girl was eating and figured it was my
in to talk to her. Carefully stepping between the sticky tables, the heat of
the day rising from the cement ground, I approached her table.

“Hey
there good looking, whatcha got there?” I asked with my usual swagger.

“Get
lost buddy, I’m not in the mood.”

She
didn’t even look up at me. Her face closed off with an expression that told me
to go to hell before she continued eating as if I wasn’t there. For me, it was
love at first sight.

“I’m
sorry, miss. I didn’t mean to be rude,” I said hoping to charm her socks
off. “You see I’m from out of town. Canyon Cove to be exact. Not sure if
you’ve ever heard of it.”

“Do
I look like I care?” She interrupted. “Look, I just got off a double
and came down here to watch the waves when those two assholes over there
decided they thought it would be funny to throw their sodas at me. I don’t need
any bullshit from you too.”

She
stuffed her mouth with chocolate ice cream and a piece of the Belgium waffle
that cradled the ice cream. I was so busy admiring her before that I didn’t
notice the soda stains on her uniform or how the front of her hair was still a
little wet. As a comfort eater myself, I suddenly realized why she attacked her
dessert the way she did.

I
looked over in the direction she pointed and saw two men in their early
twenties. One with red hair, freckles, and a pug nose, the other had slicked
back, greasy black hair. They catcalled the pretty girls who walked past and
called the others names or spit on them.

“Those
two over there?” I asked her.

Her
brow wrinkled as she looked up at me for the first time before nodding her
head. “Yeah, that’s them. I grew up with those creeps. Even played with
them as kids…”

I
didn’t need to hear anymore. Briskly walking towards them, I hopped over the
wooden railing between the tables and the boardwalk where they were perched. I
put my arms around both their shoulders and smiled.

“You
see that girl over there?” I asked as I nodded in her direction. “You
touch her or say another word to her again and I swear it’ll be your
last.”

“Yeah?
What are you gonna do? I’ve never seen you here before. You’re not even from
around here,” said the red head.

“Let
me give you a preview.”

Elbowing
the greasy guy in the gut, he doubled over and I gave his head a quick shove
into my rising knee, easily breaking his nose. Next my fist flew into Red’s
solar plexus, causing him to drop to knees in agony.

Hopping
the fence back over to the girl, she looked at me with awe and a smile that
showed off her perfect teeth. I bowed to her as she began clapping.

“What
did that feel like? Oh I would’ve loved to just punch Jay or Donnie once like
that. I bet it felt great!” she said.

I
laughed. “It did. But only because of what they did to you. I know guys
like that and they’ll never bother you again.” I looked at her for a
moment, taken by her beauty and how full of life she seemed. “I’m sorry I
hit on you. I should’ve realized you were upset. Guess I have bad timing.”

“Wait.
You were hitting on me?”

“Of
course, look at you.”

“Yeah,
look at me. I’m a mess. I’m in this stupid uniform and I’m stuffing my face
because I felt bad for myself,” she said.

“All
I see is how beautiful you are. My name is Bill, by the way.”

“Nice
to meet you. I’m Charlotte.”

***

“We
were together ever since. The day I convinced Charlotte to marry me was one of
the happiest day of my life. The other was when Will was born.

“She
never knew what I really did. She was so trusting and innocent. I used my dad’s
old Hargrove’s store as a front and kept funneling money into it so it would
grow. Once Will was born though I didn’t want to do the contracts anymore. I
wanted to be home and be a normal family.

“I
figured I would do one more job. Something of my own choosing. I discovered a
new money laundering scheme being run by a bunch of novices. I heard they were
coming into a large sum and I figured I could take them out, take the cash and
no one would know what happened. After that I planned on retiring from my
contracts and focus on growing the store.

“What
I didn’t know was that behind all the laundering was a bigger, more established
cartel. Had I known they were involved I would have come up with another final
job. But it was that money, from that final job that enabled me to buy
Charlotte her dream house, the mansion Will grew up in. That’s also how I was
able to later fund the building of the store that made Hargrove’s into the fine
department stores they are today.

“That
winter’s night twenty-five years ago made me realize how stupid I had been. I
thought I was untouchable. Stewart had warned me about the organization and how
they were after me, but I didn’t listen. When everything happened and it was
just a ridiculous drunk who wounded me so badly and killed the love of my life,
I finally accepted I wasn’t meant to be happy and that as long as I was around,
Will’s life would be at risk.

“When
Charlotte died, I died too. I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t go back to that house
she loved so much, just like this was the first time I returned to the
monastery. Charlotte’s death turned me into a coward running from my memories.

“Eventually
I did return to my old habits. It was the only way I knew how to survive. The
ironic thing was my return proved to the cartel that I was still alive. Until
then, Will was safe. My leaving was exactly what put him in danger after all.

“I
spent all these years searching for them. Slowly taking each of them out one by
one. Dimitri and his men were the last of them. Will is safe now. He’ll never
be bothered again.”

Walking
over to Deborah and seeing how she wore her emotions in her face, I knew why
Will loved her. I wondered if she knew how much she meant to him and if he knew
she felt the same. I knew people. I could see it in them.

“Tell
Will I love him. And when he’s ready please tell him my story. Hopefully one
day he’ll see fit to forgive me,” I said lowering my head.

“I
will,” Deborah said. “I’ll tell him everything once he’s ready to
hear it. He just needs some time right now.”

“I
know. I understand. I’m glad he found someone and maybe one day you and I will
get to know each other. In the meantime its time for me to go. If Will ever
wants contact, Stewart knows how to reach me.”

Entering
the abbey, I walked with Charlotte beside me hooting and spinning in circles
with her arms stretched out, as she listened to the echo. She disappeared as I
reached out to touch her hand. I understood Will’s being haunted by our deaths
more than he would ever know.