The Billionaire Boyfriend Trap (18 page)

"He did them out of guilt. Once he found out
I needed the money, he felt he should do something. That's all."
But her news rattled me. It proved that he didn't totally hate me.
"So…nobody hired you to stop Reece? There was no client?"

"Of course there was. The Kavanagh family
hired me."

"They're
your
family."

"That's why I gave them a discount. Half
price for my sons, double for my husband."

Becky laughed.

I rolled my eyes and Ellen smiled at me. "Go
and talk to him," she said, nodding in Reece's direction. He stood
near his car, surrounded by his four brothers and father. "He looks
like he could do with some rescuing."

I shook my head. "We have nothing to say to
one another. I can only apologize so much before I lose what little
dignity I have left."

"If you say so."

We sat in silence a few moments until I broke
it. "I still can't believe you're a mother."

"Neither can I sometimes. I have no maternal
instincts and never have. One day I was a newlywed and then I
suddenly became the mother of five lively boys. Next thing I knew
they'd grown up and not a single one of them knew how to get
themselves a nice girl."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought Blake would be all right with
Cassie, but they didn't work out. So I decided to do something
about it, starting with the eldest."

"You set up Reece and Cleo for
that
too?" Becky said, incredulous.

"Don't get mad," Ellen said to both of us. To
me she said, "But in the interests of our newfound honesty with one
another, I thought I should tell you that part of the reason I
chose
you
to work this project was because I thought you
would suit each other in ways other than professional. Besides, I
like you. I wouldn't mind having you as a daughter-in-law."

"Ellen…that is…actually kind of sweet. I
think. Manipulative, but sweet. Did you tell Reece?"

"Yes."

"And what did he say?"

"He called me a lot of things, manipulative
being one of them, but not sweet." She sighed. "My eldest son is my
pride and joy, but I hardly see him anymore. Not since Wendy's
death. He's too busy burying his guilt by living the life of a high
flyer. I miss him and I just want him to come back home once in a
while. But not at Cassie's expense. He seems to think this house is
linked to his bad memories and won't listen to reason."

"He thinks tearing it down will allow him to
forget," I said. We all stared in the direction of the five
handsome Kavanagh boys and their father.

"He's here now," Becky said, "and the house
is still standing."

She had a point. Maybe being here lowered his
defenses somewhat. Maybe now was the best time to confront him.

I got up before I changed my mind and headed
toward him. Neither Ellen nor Becky tried to stop me. As soon as
one Kavanagh saw me, the others quickly turned to watch my
progress. All except Reece. He stared straight ahead, rigid, his
jaw a rock. The others dispersed, leaving me alone with him. At
least he didn't walk off.

I swallowed. "Thanks for rescuing me."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No."

His jaw slackened and he scanned me head to
toe. "Where are you hurt?"

I tapped my chest. "Here. It aches,
Reece."

His lips pinched and his nostrils flared.
"Don't."

"Okay, I won't. I'm not here to talk about
us, anyway. I'm here because Ellen—your mother—is desperately
unhappy. She wants you to go home for a family dinner."

"Did she send you over here to say that?"

"No. She'd be horrified if she knew I was
talking about her as if she possessed maternal instincts. She
believes she doesn't have any, but she does."

He barked a harsh laugh. "You don't know her
very well if you think that."

"She loves you, Reece, she just has a hard
time showing it."

"Maybe if she didn't meddle so much—"

"Don't put the blame on her," I snapped. "We
all know why you don't come home anymore and I'm going to tell you
a hard truth, because, well, what have I got to lose? I've already
lost you, so what does it matter?"

He stood very still, as if he were holding
himself together. I expected him to storm off, but he didn't.

"Stop blaming yourself for that girl's death.
It wasn't your fault, no matter what Cassie thinks. Wendy was
mentally unbalanced and needed professional help."

"That's your opinion."

"That's everyone's opinion."

He said nothing, just looked straight ahead,
his fists white-knuckled at his sides.

"Fine. Punish yourself if you think you're to
blame, but don't punish those who love you. Go home. Visit your
parents. Just avoid this house if you absolutely can't stand to be
here." I was angry now and frustrated at his thick-headed
stubbornness.

"You seem to have forgiven my mother very
easily," he said lazily. "You do know she set us up?"

"I do. Again, a mother worried about her
son."

"I don't need her to worry about me. I need
her to butt out of my life."

I threw my hands up and let them slam down on
my hips. "Do you know how lucky you are to have parents who care so
much about you?" To my shame and horror, my tears welled again.
They were never far from the surface lately. "I would do anything
to have parents like yours, anything to have them
here
."

His face went white. His arms dropped to his
sides. "Cleo, why are you crying?"

I shook my head, unable to answer him through
the waterfall of tears.

He moved closer, his face a blur. "Cleo…your
parents…where are they?"

"Roxburg West cemetery."

"Jesus," he muttered. "I didn't know." He
shifted his weight, looked left, right, up, and finally down again,
but never at me. "I knew you didn't live with them, but I thought
that was because you fell out. I figured your name was on the loan
documents because you earned more."

"Well, now you know." I wiped away my tears,
angry that I'd cried in front of him. I'd wanted to be strong,
cavalier, not a blubbering, pathetic mess. "It's just me and Becky
and has been for seven years. They died in the Roxburg Park High
shooting on my graduation day."

"I remember that," he whispered. "
Your
graduation day. That means you were there. You saw them die."

I nodded and swallowed back more tears as the
dark memories crowded close, threatening to block out the good ones
that I tried always to keep at the forefront of my mind.

"Jesus," he said again. "You brought your
sister up alone after they died?"

"Yes. I was old enough to be her
guardian."

"They weren't alive when she got sick?"

"What does it matter?"

"It matters because…you're so together."

I frowned at him. What the hell was he
saying?

"You're normal," he went on.

"Gee, thanks. Is that your way of saying that
I'm boring?"

"Christ." He sagged back against the car door
and stared at the house. He looked exhausted, miserable. It almost
killed me not to take him in my arms and hold him.

I bit my wobbly lip and turned away. It was
time to go home and regroup. Tomorrow was going to be another long
day. Tomorrow. Another day without Reece in my arms and my bed. I
sucked in air and bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself crying
again. It worked. I was able to walk away with my head high and my
eyes clear.

"Cleo," he called out.

I kept walking. Stopping would only give me
hope, and hope led to being let down again, every time harder than
the last.

The gravel scrunched behind me. He grasped my
arm, pulling me to a stop. I jerked out of his grip and rounded on
him. "Don't, Reece. You've said everything you wanted to say. I get
it. I'm a bitch and I hurt you. I'm sorry." My voice caught. I
cleared my throat. "I'm so sorry, but I refuse to dwell on what
might have been any more. I've done that for four weeks and it's
gotten me nothing but a sore heart and a fat ass from all the ice
cream."

His lips twitched. "Your ass looks good to
me."

"Shut up! You don't get to look at my ass
anymore!"

"Then don't walk in front of me."

"This isn't funny!" I went to thump his
shoulder, but he caught my hand and pulled me to him. "Don't,
Reece," I sobbed, unable to look at him. "Don't be wonderful again
then dump me. I can't bounce back anymore. It hurts."

He pressed his warm lips to my forehead and I
cried harder. My heart was filled to overflowing, yet still bruised
and battered. I couldn't make sense of anything any more. Why was
he being nice to me again?

"I won't," he murmured against my forehead.
"I won't hurt you ever again. I promise, Cleo."

I shook my head. "I'm sure it was me who hurt
you, not the other way round."

I felt him smile. His heart thudded against
my forearms, trapped between us. His body was a warm cocoon that I
wanted to sink into and be surrounded by, always. My fierce love
for him scared me to bits, but I stayed there and battled through
my fear in the hope I could one day come out the other side.

He drew in a deep breath and let it out
slowly. "Wendy's death wasn't my fault."

I looked up at him. It seemed to have cost
him a great deal to say it, but he also seemed like he believed it
too. "That's what everyone's been trying to tell you, but you've
refused to listen."

"I'm listening now."

"Why, Reece? What changed?"

"You came into my life." His arms tightened.
"You're so strong and capable and wonderful. I didn't know that you
saw your parents die and that you had to deal with Becky's cancer
scare on your own. I'm in awe of you."

He
was in awe of
me
? His words
sent a frisson of pride and pleasure whispering across my skin.
"What has that got to do with Wendy and you?" I asked.

"Everything. I thought she was fragile
because of what she'd been through. Mom and Dad tried to tell me at
the time that she'd always been that way, but Wendy made me believe
it was because she'd seen her parents die. She said she just needed
me to help her get through it. I chose to believe her, not them.
But after knowing you went through just as much crap, I see that it
wasn't the death of her parents that made her delicate. It was just
the way she was."

"It wasn't you either." I brushed his hair
from his forehead and cupped his cheek. He tilted his head into it.
"There was nothing you could do to help someone like that, no
matter what she said or how much time you gave her. She was never
going to get better without medication. Never going to be
happy."

He nodded. "I know that now. Thanks to you."
He stroked his knuckles down my cheek and gently grasped my chin.
"I love you, Cleo."

My heart swelled and hammered out an erratic
but happy rhythm in my chest. "I love you too, Reece."

He kissed me, finally, to a background of
applause.

EPILOGUE

It was weird sitting at the dinner table with
Ellen after working for her for two years and not knowing she had a
family. She wasn't very different to the efficient, cool woman I
knew. She ruled the household with humor and some subtle
manipulation that I was pretty sure her sons didn't even
notice.

Her husband, Harry, seemed to adore her, but
he did admonish her for her role in bringing Reece and myself
together. Unlike her, he was open and fun, but I knew there had to
be a savvy business brain in his head for him to have amassed such
a large fortune.

"She thinks we're all too stupid to follow
our hearts by ourselves," Harry said to me as he filled my wine
glass. "I tried telling her she should just put everyone in a room
together and see what happens rather than playing these games. They
never work."

"Look at Reece and Cleo," Ellen protested.
"They worked out."

"No thanks to you, my darling vixen."

She smacked his hand away when he went to hug
her. He laughed. "And what about Cassie and Blake?" she said under
her breath with a nod in her second eldest son's direction as he
spoke to Ash at the other end of the table.

"Considering they haven't worked out, I don't
think they're a good example," he said.

"Precisely. We let them fumble through on
their own and look what happened. Nothing but heartache on both
sides." She sighed. Harry frowned at his plate and didn't say
anything more on the matter. I had a feeling he'd lost that
battle.

Cassie had been invited to dinner, but
declined. She and Blake hadn't spoken since the morning of the
protest a week ago. I learned that he'd been in the army all these
years, but he wouldn't elaborate on where he'd been posted. Reece
told me Blake didn't like talking about it.

Becky sat between the youngest two Kavanagh
brothers, laughing and flirting. I was beginning to think I had to
keep a closer eye on her until Reece leaned toward me, his shoulder
against mine.

"She'll be fine," he said quietly, his eyes
twinkling. "She's got an amazing role model." He placed his hand on
the back of my neck and drew me in for a kiss. It was tender and
sweet, just like Reece.

One of his brothers groaned. "Not at the
dinner table. You're putting me off my food."

"Nothing puts you off your food," said Ellen.
"Ordinarily I don't allow kissing at the dinner table, but I'll
make an exception this once."

"In that case," Harry said, setting down his
knife and fork. "I'd better take advantage while I can." He grasped
Ellen around her waist and hoisted her onto his lap. They kissed
like a couple madly in love.

Two of their sons covered their eyes, one
pulled a face, and all five told them to knock it off.

Becky and I laughed.