High Stakes (14 page)

“I don’t know. How does Mom know you’re not
screwin’ around on her when you’re out on the road?”

Trey glared at her as he raised a finger in
warning. “Watch your mouth, young lady. I would never disrespect your mama that
way, and she knows it. That’s not to say we didn’t go through some tough times
before you were born, but she’s the love of my life. Everyone who knows me
knows how I feel about her.”

Alisa knew that was true, and she admired
her parents’ marriage and the trials they’d gone through to find their way back
to each other, but it hurt that her father assumed a man couldn’t feel about
her the way he felt about Sierra. “You don’t know anything about Liam.”

“You’re right, but I sure as hell am gonna
find out.” Trey stood up. “Now.”

Alisa bounded off the couch too quickly and
her pounding head reminded her she needed to slow down. “What’re you gonna do?”

“I’m going to pay my new son-in-law a
little visit.”

“No, you can’t do that!” She grabbed his
arm. “Please, Daddy, just let me figure this out for myself.”

“Sorry, sugar, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Liam drew a deep breath before he fit the
key into the lock at his house. He didn’t want to have this conversation with
his daughter over the phone. He needed to see her so he could reassure her that
his marriage to Alisa wasn’t going to change their relationship. Abby had been
the center of his universe since the day she was born, and he needed her to
know that nothing and no one had the power to change that.

Not surprisingly, she was sprawled out on
the couch in the great room talking on the phone when he walked in. He didn’t
mean to eavesdrop, but when he realized his marriage was the topic of
conversation, he couldn’t resist the urge to listen.

“No, I’m serious. Don’t know her, never
even heard him mention her name.” Abby laughed. “Yeah, I saw her pic online. He
has good taste in women; gotta give him that, right? Yeah, I know she’s young,
but so what? Missy Handlon’s old man married her nanny!” She laughed. “I know,
right?”

Liam flinched before he cleared his throat
to draw her attention.

She had the grace to blush at being caught
as she bit her lip. “Uh, Steph, I’m gonna have to call you back. My dad just
walked in. Yeah okay, later.”

Liam claimed the chair across from the sofa
as she turned to face him. “Where is Mrs. Foster?”

“She just had to run out to the grocery
store. She said she’d be back in a bit.”

“Good, that’ll give us a chance to talk
about…” He looked his daughter in the eye. She looked so much like him—same
dark hair and eyes, sun-kissed skin, and the same formidable personality. “Obviously
you’ve heard.”

She set the phone down on the coffee table.
“Yeah, I’ve heard. So, what’s the deal?”

He covered his mouth with his hands as he
tried to figure out how to explain to his daughter what he didn’t even understand
himself. His feelings for Alisa didn’t make sense, but that didn’t make them
any less real. “I care for her a great deal.”

“Well, duh…” she said, grinning. “You
wouldn’t have married her if you didn’t. So, how long have you guys been seein’
each other on the sly?”

This was going to be the difficult part to
explain. Of course, he could lie and tell her they’d been seeing each other for
months, but he wouldn’t. He demanded the truth from her, and he taught her to
expect no less from him. “I just met her yesterday.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Good
one, Dad.”

“I’m serious.”

Abby gave him a sidelong glance, as though
she was trying to read his expression. “Wait a minute, you married a woman the
same day you met her?”

“I know I’m not setting a very good
example, honey, and I’m sorry about that… but I acted on impulse when I asked
Alisa to marry me. I wasn’t thinking about the consequences. I just knew I
wanted to be with her.” He’d always treated his daughter like a mature,
intelligent person capable of thinking for herself, so he wasn’t about to start
sugarcoating things to try and protect her now.

“And you never thought about dating her,
getting to know her, before you put a ring on her finger?” She shook her head.
“I’m sorry, Dad, but this is just so out there. It’s not like you to act first
and ask questions later. Hell, you’re so anal about everything.”

He smirked at his daughter’s accurate
assessment. She’d always been mature beyond her years, and he respected that
about her. “You’re right. I can’t deny this is out of character for me, but it
feels so right. Being with her…” He didn’t finish his thought. There was no
need. He had no doubt she could read the expression on his face.

“Does she feel the same way about you? I
mean, she must if she was willing to marry you, right?” She scowled when he
didn’t respond right away. “She’d better not be a gold-digger. Is she? Now that
she’s got a ring on her finger, is she makin’ noise about you buyin’ her stuff
and…” The color drained from her face. “Oh God, Dad, you didn’t…”

He knew Abby understood about prenuptial
agreements. It was impossible to live in their world of private schools, trust
funds, and divorce without having heard of them and how important they were. “I
didn’t ask her to sign a prenup, baby, but that doesn’t mean you have anything
to worry about. Alisa doesn’t want my money, and even if she did, I’d do
whatever I had to… to protect you and what’s rightfully yours—”

She held her hand up. “Stop! I don’t care
about the money. I care about you.” She walked over and sat on the ornate wood
table in front of him. “Is this girl gonna hurt you, or what?”

He lowered his head. He couldn’t look his
daughter in the eye and lie to her. “I don’t know. She could, if she walks away
without giving us a chance.”

“Is that what she’s gonna do?” She reached
for his hand when he didn’t respond right away. “Answer me. Is that what she’s
gonna do?”

“I don’t know yet.” He brought her hand, so
small and fragile, to his lips. “It’s too soon to tell.”

“Well, you can’t let her do that.” She
smiled. “You’re Liam-freakin’-Bryson. You get what you want, when you want it.”
She nudged his knee with hers. “If anyone knows that, it’s me, right?”

He smiled for the first time since Alisa
walked out on him. No matter how dire things in his life seemed, his daughter was
always able to make him smile because he knew no matter how bad things got, he
always had her. “And don’t you forget it.”

“Like you’d ever let me,” she muttered.
“Look, I don’t want you to be alone, Dad. I kept hoping you’d find someone, but
you haven’t, until now. If this woman is the one you want to be with, you need
to fight for her.”

“I intend to,” he said quietly with more
conviction than he’d felt in the hours since he let her leave.

“I’m gonna be going off to college in a few
years, and I hate thinking of you in this big house all by yourself.” She
reached in to hug him. “I love you. I just want you to be happy.”

He placed a hand on either side of her
head. “How did I get so lucky?” He kissed her forehead. “You’re the best damn
kid…” He cursed the moisture pooling in his eyes.

“
You
made me who I am.”

Since his daughter clearly didn’t want him
moping around the house, Liam decided to go in to the office. He had a mountain
of work to wade through, but he was too tempted by the lure of the phone at his
side to get anything done. He just wanted to hear her voice, to know that she
was thinking about him, too. He picked it up, but his brother threw the door
open before he had a chance to dial.

“I thought you were in Barbados.”

“I had to come home when I realized my
brother was going through one hell of a midlife crisis.” Matt walked to the
minibar in the corner of Liam’s office suite. “You want one?” he asked, holding
up a bottle of scotch.

“No, thanks.”

“Okay, tell me everything,” he said,
turning to face him. “When, where, how, and for the love of God… why?”

“You know I met her yesterday on the plane.
I told you when we talked on the phone she was… special. What I feel for her is
unlike anything I’ve ever felt for anyone. I
want
to be with her.” It
was the first time in years, maybe ever, that he’d wanted to spend time with a
woman. His thoughts kept drifting to her when he should be working, wondering
where she was, what she was doing, who she was with, whether she was thinking
about him.

Matt thrust a hand into the pocket of his
tailored dress pants. “Okay, so she’s gonna move here?”

“We haven’t gotten that far yet. We’re
still trying to figure out where to go from here.” If Liam received those
divorce papers she’d promised, he didn’t know how he’d respond. He told both
Alisa and his daughter that he intended to fight for his marriage, but he
couldn’t force her to feel something she didn’t.

“What does that mean?” Matt narrowed his
eyes as he looked at him. “Is she having second thoughts about marrying you?”

“You could say that.” Liam’s pride made it
difficult to acknowledge the truth, but he’d always been a straight shooter.
Besides, he knew his younger brother would see right through him if he tried to
evade the question.

“Damn it, if you’d just had her sign a
prenup, you wouldn’t be leaving yourself open to this kind of risk. If she’s
only after your money…”

“I can assure you, she’s not,” said an
unfamiliar voice with a distinctly southern drawl.

Liam looked up to see Trey Turner crowding
his doorway.
Shit.
He knew he’d have to face Alisa’s father sooner or
later, but he didn’t expect the man to fly four hours to confront him in
person. When she said her father kept her on a tight leash, she wasn’t kidding.

Liam stood and walked around his desk. He
braced for the impact of the left hook he was half-expecting. When it didn’t
come, he offered his hand instead. “Sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Trey just glared at the hand he offered.
“You can’t be serious.”

“Listen,” Matt said to Trey, “if you’ve got
a problem, you need to take it up with your daughter.”

Trey turned his anger on him. “Who the hell
are you?”

“His brother.”

“Get out,” Trey said, moving farther into
the room.

Liam tried to remind himself that this man
was his father-in-law now, and if he and Alisa had a prayer of making this
marriage work, he couldn’t afford to piss him off, but he wasn’t used to anyone
else issuing orders in his territory.

Matt took a step toward Trey. “Who the hell
do you think you are, telling me to get out of my brother’s office? I’ll leave
when—”

“I tell you to.” Liam shot his brother a
warning look. “Leave, now.”

Matt glanced at Trey over his shoulder.
“Fine, but call me later. I’ll schedule a conference call with your lawyers so
we can figure out how the hell to get you out of this mess without it costing
you a small fortune.”

“Out!” Liam shouted, pointing toward the
door. He took a deep breath before turning back to Trey. “Can I get you a
drink?”

“I’m a recovering alcoholic, smart-ass.”

“Does that mean you can’t have water or a
soft drink, either?”

Liam reclaimed the chair behind his massive,
hand-carved, walnut desk. If Trey Turner thought he was going to storm into his
domain and rattle him, he was deluding himself. He’d made a habit of taking on
the biggest, toughest, meanest men in business and he always came out on top.
This would be no exception. If Trey forced him into a corner, he would have no
choice but to come out fighting. For Alisa’s sake, he hoped it wouldn’t come to
that.

“The only thing I want from you is
answers.” Trey braced his fists on the desk and leaned in, getting in Liam’s
face. “You took advantage of my little girl after she’d had too much to drink.
You really thought you were gonna get away with that, boy?”

Liam smirked as he crossed his legs and
plucked a speck of lint off his designer pants. “I haven’t been a boy in
twenty-five years, Trey.” He laced his hands behind his head and tilted his
chair back. “You’re used to people jumping when you beckon. Well, guess what;
so am I.”

“You arrogant son of a bitch.”

“Not arrogant, just honest.” He looked Trey
in the eye. “You want the truth, you’re gonna get it. I’m crazy about your
daughter.”

Trey started pacing the floor of the
expansive office with the million-dollar view of the city. “How the hell do you
know how you feel about her? You just met her.”

“I’m a pretty decisive guy. I’ve had to be
to succeed in this business. Sometimes I have to make split-second decisions
that could cost me millions of dollars. That’s what I did last night with Alisa.
I made an impulsive decision, but I don’t regret it.” He watched Trey work off
some of his excess energy. He almost felt sorry for him. If, in ten years, Abby
did what Alisa did, he’d be doing exactly what Trey was now: demanding answers.