Curves Envy 4 - Curvy Conquest: BBW Billionaire Romance (11 page)

“How the hell do you expect me to keep calm? You’ve been safe in Malaysia since Candice’s parents’ convenient death.”

What?

“You’ve said this before about Teddy Westerman. Killing him was going to allow us to lie low and surge back a few years later and make a fortune with the formula he deemed unacceptable for human consumption. You might have gotten rid of him, but what good does it do us now? I told you these pills required more testing. Not once have you mentioned these were potentially deadly, honey.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

“Had you not pushed me to give Candy those pills we’d still be undercover. I wanted the money as much as you did. If you really wanted to get rid of her before she turned twenty-five, there were more effective ways than to force me to work with her to keep an eye on her and then convince me to trick her into taking those pills.”

What does any of this have to do with my next birthday?

“Quintin, you knew all along that if she took enough of those pills you wouldn’t have to honor the clause in your corporate structure where Teddy names his only daughter as the beneficiary of his shares, which, may I remind you, represent forty percent of your pharmaceutical company. Let’s not forget he also appointed her to sit on the board of directors on his behalf. I told you from day one you were giving him too much, but you refused to listen because you never imagined he’d become a liability.”

Quintin? As in Quintin Grayson?

There’s only one person I know named Quintin—my dad’s former business partner at Bio-Cytrax Cosmeceuticals.

Oh, my God.

Now I get it. The day my grandparents and I went to the lawyer’s office for the reading of the will, there was an envelope that read, “For Candice on your twenty-fifth birthday.” My grandmother had me place it securely in a safety deposit box along with a few other valuable papers, but it slipped my mind. I haven’t opened that box in years. I didn’t know what was in that envelope, but I surely never imagined it was this. Suddenly Jennifer raises her voice and brings my attention back to the conversation again.

“Your ass is not on the line like mine is if it gets out I partly own BoostaSlimz, Quintin. No. You’re going to listen to me for a change. I want you to get me out of New York. I want you to wire money to my Cayman Island account, get me two first-class plane tickets to Bali, I want a brand-new home and new ID and papers for me and your son.”

Wh-what? What does she mean by ‘your son?’

“Malcolm is the only good thing in my dreadful life here in New York since you’re so far away from me and we can’t see each other too often to avoid raising suspicions. I’m not leaving him behind with a man who’s not his real father. Once Seth realizes Malcolm isn’t his, he’ll turn his back on him and our boy will be left to fend for himself. At least in Bali he’ll be safe and you can start building a fatherly bond with him.”

Jesus, Jennifer’s son’s father is Quintin and not her husband Seth?

“Don’t worry about how I’ll break the news to Malcolm about having to leave his so-called dad behind. Let me deal with those details and you worry about the rest. I wish you had taken care of Candy at the same time you took care of her grandmother’s attorney who was snooping around well after the case went cold.”

Quintin is responsible for the death of our lawyer?

“Had you dealt with her a long time ago, I wouldn’t be working at this dreadful job and I wouldn’t be stuck here in Manhattan married to a man I can hardly stand. I’ve always wanted only one thing, Quintin… to be with you.”

Holy hell. I’ve heard enough, I need to get out of here now.

I shove my phone inside my bag in a hurry and I crawl from under the desk. I run to the door and grab the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. By the time I reach the fourteenth floor, I’m out of breath and sweating after rushing down six floors, but I’m too afraid to stop now.
I can’t believe what I’ve heard. My grandmother never trusted Quintin and now I find out he killed my father to silence him. Is Jennifer also responsible for my parents’ death?

There are millions of questions colliding in my head, but I keep running down the stairs as if my jacket is on fire. I get out of the office building so fast I bump into a few people, who let me know in no uncertain terms how annoyed they are with me. The sidewalk is already bustling with New Yorkers making their way to work and my abrupt arrival doesn’t deter any of them.

My handbag got caught in the handle as I was flying out the door. I straighten up and head back towards the entrance of
Sassy
magazine to unhook my bag. Once I get over the humiliation, I hail a cab.
I need to get as far away as possible from Jennifer.

Getting a cab during morning rush hour in Manhattan is as easy as crossing the Nile River in Egypt by foot. As soon as I see a free one approaching, someone else jumps in front of me and snatches it from me. After fifteen frustrating minutes, I finally dash towards one before a suited executive standing next to me spots it. Once I’m safely seated at the back of the taxi, I give the cabbie my directions as I dial Gabe’s phone to let him know about Jennifer’s involvement in this sordid story and to inform him I’m on my way to his office with the recording of the conversation I just overheard. When Gabe lets me know he’ll call one of his contacts at NYPD and request for a detective to come to his office to meet me, I know this case is about to get scarier and more twisted than it already is. I immediately call Max, Lia, Lexi and Devin to let them know I may have inadvertently walked in on the confession of the century.

Chapter 10

Six months later

Max and I are sitting at the back of his chauffeured Mercedes Benz and we’re on our way to meet friends. My boyfriend has gathered Lia, Devin, Lexi, his brother Gabe, Francis, Sheena and Deidra in the private room of the VIP members’ den on the forty-first floor of the Bymark hotel for a special gathering. He’s also invited his parents and his younger brother Lucas, who’s coming with his pregnant wife Keira to join us.

Today is a big day of celebration for all of us, but especially for me.
God, I still can’t believe this gorgeous man sitting next to me is mine.
I lose myself in his loving gaze before turning away to admire nightfall in New York as the car whizzes down a main artery.

The past few months have been surreal. After five long and traumatizing years, my parents have finally been vindicated. The last six months have been a journey into the past where I was finally able to discover why my parents had been so brutally murdered. After the verdict came in and it was clear this nightmare was behind me, Max whisked me away to his home in Brazil where we’ve been staying for the past six weeks until we came back to New York four days ago.

The first few days in Rio were pure agony. I couldn’t stop crying from sadness and joy. I was crushed by the weight of the truth and I was also liberated once and for all. 

During the trial, Max asked me to move in with him. I was spending most nights at his place anyways because the thought of being at my place without Leo was becoming more and more unbearable, but Max wanted to make it official between us. He insisted on me being close by so he could take care of me during this trying time.

It took me a few weeks to adjust to my new luxurious surroundings and to accept the fact we were at this stage of our relationship. Once I did, Max suggested I rent out my grandmother’s apartment to take advantage of the fact it’s located in a coveted area of the city. I was lucky enough to find the perfect tenant—a handsome young teacher who moved from Minnesota for a position at NYU. I’m relieved my place is in good hands and I’m grateful someone will occupy the space while I live with the man I love.

Not a day has gone by without me reliving every moment since I walked in on Jennifer’s early morning conversation with my parents’ killer. It’s been looping in my head like a film roll from old Hollywood. I shake my head and close my eyes, fighting off another sudden pang of sadness.

Max must have noticed because he wraps his hands protectively over mine. “Baby, it’s over. You have to let it go.”

“I know. Sometimes I relive parts of this drama and before I know it, I’m sucked into a vortex of bad memories.”

“I understand, but remember this, Jennifer and Quintin will rot behind bars for the rest of their lives for what they’ve done to you and for Marvel West’s death. In many ways we have Damon West to thank. He went after BoostaSlimz-X30 with a vengeance and for once his media tirade has paid off big time because it helped bring so many poor victims to the forefront who had suffered from health issues and the families of those who died after taking the pills. When you combine this with the recording you made at
Sassy
magazine on that fortuitous morning, the damaging evidence Laurie had kept for all these years, the fact she was willing to trust Gabe enough to share it all, your father’s revised will in that safety deposit box and Lexi’s brilliance in connecting all of the companies that are part of Quintin Grayson’s massive conglomerate, this case was cracked wide open and all the ugliness came spewing out.”

“Eventually I’ll accept the gruesome fact—my former boss was the lover of the monster who slaughtered my parents to keep my dad from revealing the truth behind those deadly pills.”

“At least you were able to confront her during the trial about her part in this tragedy. She had a vendetta against you because you were standing in between her and a lot of money.”

“I know. It’s just when I think of it all, I’m still so angry and I’m still in pain.”

“No one can blame you for being angry and you are entitled to release the pain when you’re ready, baby, but Gabe’s team have done a superb job at catching the bad guys and stripping them of all their money, including the multimillions they made selling poison. You’re safe now,” Max says, leaning towards me before dropping a kiss on my forehead.

Jennifer was arrested within a few hours of my arrival at Gabe’s office and since she could only have one phone call, she ended up calling the only person she could think of—Seth Weingarten, her husband. The police interrogated Jennifer until she coughed up Quintin’s exact location in Malaysia. The authorities there apprehended Quintin in the middle of the night and the FBI snatched him to bring him back to America to stand trial.

Jennifer’s carelessness played in our favor. She never expected to be caught, which explains why she didn’t think twice about calling her murderous lover from the phone in the boardroom.

Within three weeks, the soul-shattering truth came out. Once the authorities had worked with the Malaysian government to safely apprehend Quintin Grayson and all the paperwork had been secured to ensure he couldn’t get away on a technicality, the press went wild. It was impossible for Max and I to hide our involvement and I’m so grateful we made the decision long before this frenzy broke to let people around us know we were together—including the execs at
Sassy
magazine. My boyfriend had a meeting with some of the VPs to let them know we had been dating for a while. As much as we dreaded the public’s attention, the media were kind to me. They did report about my relationship with Max and they did follow me around for a while, but at least they weren’t trying to dig up dirt on us. I guess the sensationalism of my case was enough to keep them busy.

As you can imagine, it didn’t take long for news to leak that Jennifer Lau had married Seth under false pretenses and she’d passed off Quintin’s son as his. She’d been involved with Quintin for years, but she’d distanced herself when he went into hiding after he had ordered a hit against my parent’s life. Obviously they were still able to see each other since it’s now official Malcolm isn’t Seth’s son. The Weingarten clan were devastated by the scandal. Seth immediately pushed for a divorce, wanting to get Jennifer out of his life and save his reputation from the woman who’d had a hand in ruining my life.

I’m completely lost in my thoughts until Max’s voice brings me back to reality.

“Are you going to be okay tonight? If you don’t feel you’re up to it, we can turn the car around and go back home.” Max is caressing my arm and looking at me with such loving eyes. I don’t think I could have managed the last six months of my life without him by my side.

“I’ll be fine. You’ve gathered all my friends at the Bymark hotel and besides, it’s a big day of celebration.”

“I know it’s still difficult to make peace with it all despite the settlement. Those millions will never bring back your parents or your beloved cat, but at least it’s a major vindication and it proves your grandmother Barbara was right all along.”

“It’s far more than I ever expected. I’m still not quite sure what to do with all this money.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever dated a multimillionaire before.” He smiles tenderly.

“You’re too funny. I’m still the same girl, but my bank account is bulging in a way I never thought possible.” I smile back.

It’s funny because during the first few months when we were dating, I was always so worried Max and I would get busted for having sex in the Fashion Archive room and risk getting fired, but in the end, I quit my job at
Sassy
magazine a few months into the trial because everything was too much to handle and I couldn’t deal with the curious stares at the office. My life was exposed enough, I didn’t need to witness people talking about my melodrama at the water cooler.

Gabe had been confident all along I’d be able to get a generous settlement given the irrefutable proof we had against Quintin and the fact authorities acted quickly to freeze his international accounts. The judge awarded me seventeen point three million dollars and he also ordered Quintin to pay for my astronomical legal fees. Gabe had gone all-out on this one and hired the best investigators and experts in the business to make sure Quintin didn’t get away with murder twice. Max was more than happy to pay his bill, but I’m grateful the judge properly punished my parents’ killer. I never imagined I’d have so much money in my life, but as Max has said, the money will never bring back my mom, my dad or Leo.