Rocked by the Billionaire: A Billionaire's Club Story (11 page)

“Luke Blackwell, you’re under arrest for assault …”

The cop’s words were nothing more than inane chatter in the back of Luke’s mind. Who gave a shit about going to jail when a possible future with Kayleigh balanced on a razor’s edge? As he was dragged away, Luke fought to turn. To get just one more eyeful of her. She slumped down in her chair and buried her face in her hands. Goddamned Spencer. Because of his bullshit, Luke might have lost the only thing in this world he gave a shit about.

Oh, who in the hell are you kidding?
Luke thought as he was dragged from the restaurant to more eager amateur paparazzi.
You have no one to blame for this but yourself
.

***

Kayleigh sat in her chair, her skin crawling with the multiple sets of eyes on her, unable to move.

She was too numb for embarrassment. Too stunned for confusion. Much too concerned for Luke to think about her own hurt. The crazy thing was, she
did
trust him. Even so, by the way he’d spoken to her, Kayleigh knew that no matter how much of the article Spencer had shown her was a lie, somewhere buried inside of it was a kernel of truth.

Did she really want to know how much?

“Um, here are your dinner specials and desserts.” The waiter gingerly set a white plastic bag on the table along with the check. Kayleigh looked up at him, incredulous. Not only had her date been arrested, she was now saddled with more food than she could eat
and
the bill. Riotous laughter bubbled up Kayleigh’s throat and the waiter looked at her like she’d lost her mind. Tears pooled in her eyes as she fished her credit card from her wallet and plunked it down on the table. The waiter retrieved it like he was reaching into a bowl full of scorpions and another bout of uncontrollable laugher burst from her that quickly turned into painful, wracking sobs.

She wiped at her eyes in a desperate attempt to stem the flow of tears. She stared at the table, unwilling to acknowledge the people still staring at her when the waiter returned with her receipt. As she gathered up the bag of food she dialed Ryder’s number on her cell. “It’s Kayleigh. Luke’s been arrested. Can you meet me at the county jail?”

“
Shit
.” She could only picture Ryder’s enraged expression. “What did he do?”

“He punched Spencer in the middle of Angus.”

“Is that all?” Ryder snorted. “Hold tight. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

***

Kayleigh sat outside of the county sheriff’s office, the keys to Luke’s rental car clenched tightly in her fist. Was it stupid to trust a man that she hadn’t seen in years just because of something they’d shared almost a decade ago? And why did the prospect of hearing his explanation for the magazine exposé make her stomach tie up into myriad unyielding knots?

“You’ve been sittin’ out here all night?” Ryder took a seat on the bench next to her and leaned against the brick wall, stretching his long legs out in front of him.

Kayleigh let out a slow sigh and allowed her head to fall back. She turned toward Luke’s brother. “You look nice.” His custom-tailored suit probably cost more than she made in a month. “I’m sorry if I ruined your date night.”

“You didn’t ruin anything,” Ryder remarked. He tilted his head up toward the star-filled sky. “Luke, on the other hand, owes me big time.”

“Is Lara mad?”

Ryder snorted. “Nothing ruffles her feathers. She thinks having Luke around makes life more entertaining.”

Entertaining. That was one way to describe Luke.

“How are you holdin’ up? Those two idiots didn’t hurt you when they went at it, did they?”

Ryder was like the big brother she’d never had. It warmed her heart that he was still looking out for her. “I’m fine. Really, it was only Spencer who got hurt. His face had a run-in with Luke’s fist.”

“Sorry to say this, darlin’, but Spencer has always been an asshole.”

Rather than debate Spencer’s shortcomings, Kayleigh reached into her purse and handed Ryder the folded-up magazine page. “Did you know about this?”

He scanned the article and crumpled the paper into a tiny ball in his palm. “I did,” he said with disgust. “I take it this is what tonight’s scuffle was over?”

Kayleigh shrugged. More like years of pent-up aggression and grudges were what tonight’s scuffle had been about. It wouldn’t change what had happened to tell Ryder that Luke had been defending his family by decking Spencer, though. “More or less. Is it true, Ryder? Did that woman have Luke’s baby?”

Ryder didn’t look at her, just stared at the sky. “What do you think?”

The knots in her stomach tightened and Kayleigh hugged her torso as if it would keep her shattering world intact. “I don’t know. Whether or not it’s true, I think he had a relationship with her.”

“And that bothers you?”

Of course it did! “Yes. I mean … no.” She’d been seeing Spencer when Luke showed back up. And before that, she’d had other boyfriends. Could she really be angry with him for seeing other women? “I don’t know.
Ugh
. I just wish that loving Luke wasn’t so damned complicated.”

“Let me ask you a question. Would you love him if he wasn’t complicated? If he was calm and level-headed? Dispassionate? Would you love Luke if he was boring and safe?”

She didn’t even have to think about it. “No.”

Ryder turned and fixed her with a stern, almost fatherly stare. “Then what are you doing sitting out here? Don’t you think you should go bail him out?”

Right. Like she had bail money.

“Here.” He handed over a blank check with his signature scrawled across the bottom. “Just tell me the damage tomorrow. I don’t want to think about it tonight. I told him that I’d be bailing his ass out of jail before he went home.”

Kayleigh stared down at the check and then stretched her hand out to Ryder. “I can’t.” He took the check from her, a crease digging into his brow. “I need some space and I need to think. I thought I could do this but I’m not so sure. Tell him I’m sorry, Ryder.” She pushed herself away from the wall and stood, handing him the keys to Luke’s car. “Tell Lara I’m really sorry for ruining your night.”

Ryder frowned, and the weight of his gaze settled heavily on her as Kayleigh jogged across the parking lot. She had no idea how she was going to get home, but one thing was for certain: she needed to get as far away from Luke as possible before her composure crumbled once and for all.

Luke supposed he could add a civil lawsuit to his paternity suit after tonight. His manager and label would be
thrilled
. He supposed his lawyer would be genuinely happy, though. Nothing like racking up the legal fees at six-hundred-plus-dollars an hour to save him from utter self-destruction. And now, he could add cutting a check to whoever had bailed his ass outta jail to his mounting list of debts.

He’d only been home for a couple of days and he’d managed to fuck everything up. That fucking tabloid. What a bunch a vultures. Luke hadn’t been running from Minnie or her allegations per se, he’d just reached the level of shit he was willing to take and decided that it was time to clear his head and set his priorities.

As the deputy slid a manila envelope with his possessions across the counter, he gave Luke a lopsided grin. “Think you could sign an autograph for my daughter before you leave? I have to listen to your songs on repeat every morning on the drive to school. No offense, but I’m hoping she finds a new band to obsess over soon.”

Nothing rounded out a stellar night like autographing swag for the dude who’d booked him. “Sure, man. Have you got anything I could sign?”

He handed Luke a large yellow notebook. “Will this work?”

He’d signed odder things than a legal pad. “What’s your daughter’s name?”

“Hailey.”

Luke scrawled out a quick note and scribbled his name beneath it. He handed the notebook back to the deputy and he traded it for a clipboard. “Sorry, Mr. Blackwell, but I need you sign this as well, acknowledging that we’ve returned your personal belongings to you. Also, you’ll get a notice within thirty days regarding your court date. If you have any questions, you can call the courthouse.”

“Right.” Luke scrawled his name on the necessary paperwork. His lawyer was going to blow a gasket that he didn’t call before putting his name to all of this shit, but it didn’t matter. Spencer Jackson could get in line behind all of the other assholes who wanted a piece of him and sue him for everything he was worth.

He snatched the envelope from the counter and headed for the lobby. He pushed open the glass door, his heart lodged somewhere in his throat.
Please let her be here. Please let her be here
…

“Hey, brother. I told you I’d be bailing you out of jail before you left.” Ryder stood from his seat and crossed to where Luke stood rooted to the floor.

Disappointment settled in his gut like a heavy stone. He knew that he’d fucked up, clocking Kayleigh’s ex, but she wasn’t even going to let him explain the tabloid article? How could she just walk away from him like that?

Like the way you walked away from her eight years ago?

He really was a bastard.

“Obviously, I’m not who you wanted to see,” Ryder remarked. He clapped a hand on Luke’s shoulder and urged him to move along. “Don’t sweat it, Luke. Maybe it would be a good idea to give her a little space.”

Luke stopped short of the exit and stared at his brother. “So she can have the time to overthink everything and make her own assumptions about this bullshit paternity case before she shuts me out for good?”

“Have you considered that if you put too much pressure on her too quickly that you might push her away for good all on your own?” Ryder held open the heavy glass door, staring down his brother. Luke let out an aggravated sigh and strode out into the cool night air. “Luke, you show up out of nowhere,
eight years
after leaving her and expect her to pick right up where you left off.”

“Why is that a bad thing?” It’s exactly what they’d done and he marveled at how easy it had been. They’d fallen back into their rhythm as though no time had passed at all. If that wasn’t a sign that they were meant to be together, he didn’t know what was.

Ryder hit the key fob, disengaging the alarm on Luke’s rental. “Of course it’s all well and good for you. You left her in this town, sitting on a virtual shelf while you went out and sowed your oats. In the view of
public eyes
. We live pretty far from L.A., Luke, but it’s a far cry from a cave in the woods. She watches TV, has Internet access. You don’t think it hurt her to bear witness to your wild antics over the years?”

Luke climbed into the passenger seat—he wasn’t in the mood to drive—and leaned the seat back. “Since you’re so
old and wise,
what do you think I should do?”

Ryder frowned, probably because Luke couldn’t help but point out that he was totally pulling the dad act on him. “If I were you, I’d get my shit together with my old life before trying to start to live a new one. Go home, Luke. Take care of business and set the record straight. Think about what you
really
want.”

“I know what I want.” He wanted Kayleigh.

“Fine, then think about why you want it.” Ryder started the car and flipped on the headlights before pulling out into traffic. Luke rested his forearm over his eyes, as much to block out Ryder and his nagging voice of reason as the streetlights passing by. “Do you want to be with her because you know in your heart that’s what’s best for both of you, or are your reasons totally selfish?”

Yup. That voice of reason was abso-fucking-lutely annoying. “What if I leave and she goes back to that asshole?”

Ryder snorted. “What if you stay and she goes back to that asshole? Look, I know that life wasn’t easy for us growing up, but you’ve got to do something about that chip on your shoulder. Spencer is an asshole. So what? So are a lot of people. Get over it and move on. Are you going to let the hang-ups you had as a teenager ruin your life as an adult?”

“Are you over all of it?” Ryder had shouldered all of the responsibility after their asshole of a dad had left and that included helping to support them financially. It was a wonder he’d graduated high school, let alone built their cattle ranch into the empire it now was. Didn’t it bother him that jerks like Spencer considered them nothing more than white trash despite their success?

“There’s no point in worrying over people who aren’t worth my time,” Ryder said. “I’d rather spend it on the people who
are
. The rest can go screw themselves.”

“Easier said than done,” Luke grumbled.

“You can’t have a future with Kayleigh if you keep trying to relive your past.” Ryder was certainly rocking the Zen vibe tonight. Did he have to be so damned mature and levelheaded? “Think about that when you’re taking care of shit in L.A.”

It looked like he was officially being run out of town on a rail. By his own brother, no less.

“Keep an eye on her while I’m gone?”

“Always have,” Ryder replied.

Luke supposed it was finally time to grow up and let go of the past. He just hoped that the future he wanted would survive the changes he was about to make.

***

From the back porch swing, Kayleigh stared up at the stars dotting the inky night sky. You couldn’t see the stars when you lived in a big city like L.A. The air was heavy, birds didn’t sing. Too many people congested every nook and cranny. At least, that’s how she perceived it.

If she was being truly honest with herself, maybe she’d used tonight’s drama as an excuse to put distance between her and Luke. She could have taken Ryder’s check and bailed him out. Come back here and listened to his explanation. Really, though, what was there to explain? Kayleigh had spent years following Luke’s life through social media and the crap that passed as news reporting lately. As a young man, Luke had been no saint and as an adult, not much had changed. He was still wild. Reckless. Dismissive of authority. He still had a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas. His appetites were still insatiable. Each time she’d read the gossip or seen a picture of him with a new, drop-dead gorgeous starlet, model, or musician, it had broken off another shard of her heart.