The Billionaire's Masquerade: Betting On You Series: Book Two (19 page)

With Jill gone, things went back to normal, or as normal as they could be. She decided to start her morning exactly like she promised herself Friday night. Opening her laptop, she logged into her Facebook account. There were stories of people finding their long-lost relatives all the time, so there was no reason why she couldn’t do the same.

Elaine connected with a few people who gave her some websites to try. Unfortunately she didn’t have enough information for them to be of help. Then she received a private message from a man offering to help. He said he was a former FBI agent and had contacts who might be able to help. This is what she’d been waiting for, someone on the inside to unlock the records showing where she was born and who her parents were.

Ignoring her better judgment, she agreed to meet him in Cincinnati, Ohio, later that week so they could talk in person. She signed off Facebook and proceeded to book a flight to meet him.
What’s the worst that can happen? He can’t help me and I’m back at square one?
But at least she would have tried.

Grabbing her purse, she headed to Davis Enterprises. On the ride there she would think up a good cover story why she needed a few days off from work. There was no way was she going to tell Trent what she was doing or why. The one thing she knew about him from the beginning was, he was controlling. Nobody was going to stop her from finding the answers she needed. Once she had the answers to her past, maybe she could look toward the future.

***

Trent looked up as Wendy entered the office. She knew he was on a conference call so she handed him a note then left the office.
Mack, line one. Says urgent.

“Sorry, to cut this call short, but something has come up. I’ll have my assistant work with you to reschedule for next week.” Without waiting for the response he disconnected and picked up line one. “What happened?”

“I thought you should know Elaine was back online today searching for her parents.”

“We both already know she won’t find anything.”

“That’s not the issue. I did a scan of her computer as you asked me to do. A man claiming to be former FBI offered to help her. It appears she is going to meet him in two days in Cincinnati.” Mack paused for only a moment. “It gets worse. He’s not FBI. My sources show he has gone by many aliases and appears to be a sexual predator.”

Elaine’s not going anywhere!
“She’s not going.”

“Trent, she already booked her flight.”

“Mack, I need you to take care of this guy for me. I don’t care how, but I don’t want him to contact Elaine ever again.”

“Impersonating a federal agent is a criminal offense. I’m sure my contacts at Homeland Security would be happy to detain him for an extended period of time until formal charges can be brought against him.”

“It doesn’t sound painful enough for me, but it’ll do.”

“I wasn’t going to scan it until next week but decided to do it this morning. Trent, she is not going to stop looking for answers.”

Trent didn’t want to think what could have happened if Mack hadn’t been on top of this. She could have been seriously hurt, or worse, he could have lost her. Mack warned him he was going too far when he invaded her privacy by scanning her computer. There was a moment he’d felt a tinge of guilt. Not any longer. He would never let anyone or anything hurt her; there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her. In fact, the more time he spent with her, laughed with her, slept with her, talked with her, he realized something vital. There were many things he could live without, but Elaine was
not
one of them. It surprised him. Would she feel the same? Like in any business transaction, all he had to do was convince her he was all she needed.
Surely that was right . . .

“You’ve got to tell her,” Mack said.

He knew Mack was right. But how to tell her was troubling him. He wanted to give her everything, but the one thing she wanted was out of his reach. He knew telling her would break her heart. And when she knew how he found the information she may never forgive him. Doing nothing could cause harm to her, and that outweighed his feelings for her.

“I will tell her . . . soon. Until then, I need you to make sure nothing happens to her. Understood?”

Once he got off the phone he dialed the one person who always had good advice, though he had never taken it before. Maybe it was time to listen.

When his jet landed in Ohio Wednesday morning, he hoped he was doing the right thing. After speaking to his father about Elaine’s situation, he felt hopeful. Maybe she would forgive him for hiding information from her.

His visit with his father had gone as he thought it would. When he told his father of Elaine’s situation, he was sympathetic, and furthermore, he told him what a wonderful woman she was and how lucky he was to have her. Trent informed his father Elaine hadn’t told him this information personally. He told his father most of what he had done to obtain the information. His father did not understand. Trent couldn’t blame him. His dad was a retired Marine; truth and honor was his code. Things were black or white. Trent, on the other hand, lived by different standards. Different rules. He didn’t lie, but he had been known for withholding enough information to imply he lied. Unfortunately, this situation was too close to the line, even he wasn’t sure he
hadn’t
crossed it.

All he could do was come clean with everything he knew and explain his good intentions. It sounded easy when he’d thought about it earlier. Waiting for her at the café where she was supposed to meet that asshole, he was no longer confident how she might respond.

Future was one word he didn’t have in his vocabulary. Or at least one he never allowed himself to think about. Elaine often told him he only thought about the here and now. She was right. Once she came into his life, it was the first time he ever allowed himself to think beyond the present. And when he did think beyond, it wasn’t the next big acquisition he saw, but a beautiful face.
Her beautiful face.

On cue, he saw her enter the café. The hostesses pointed to his table. Her expression went from pleasant surprise to confusion.

“What are you doing here? And where is the man I was supposed to meet?” she asked as she took the seat across from him.

He wasn’t prepared to start with questions regarding that scumbag. What he wanted to do was to give her the information he found. Sitting here made him think his choice of timing and location might spark a harsher response than he first thought.
Too late now.
“I’m here to talk to you about your parents.”

She said nothing for a moment. “What exactly do you want to discuss about them?”

“Elaine, I know you’ve been searching for your family for many years without any answers. I’m here to give you whatever answers I can. I only ask that you hear me out completely.”

“You know who they are?” she asked urgently.

“I have all the information there is about your past.”

“That didn’t answer my question. Did you find my parents?”

“No.”

With a look of pain etched on her face she questioned, “Then what are you doing here?”

“I have contacts who are very good at what they do. I wanted to give you all the information we were able to find.”

“If your contact couldn’t find my parents, then they aren’t much better at this than I am.”

He understood her lack of faith, but that was only because he had not yet explained how they came about the information.

“I do have information you wouldn’t have access to.”

He pulled her birth certificate out of his pocket and handed it to her.

She scanned it and said, “I have this already.”

Then he pulled a second one out and handed it to her. As she looked at it he saw her pause. He knew she was reading the details or lack thereof. Name: Baby Doe. Date of Birth: Unknown. Place of Birth: Unknown. Parents: Unknown.

“Trent, what is this?” she asked, visibly shaken.

Softly, he informed her, “That is your original birth certificate.”

He watched her as she read it again. “I don’t understand. How can this person be unknown? How can I be this person? I have a name. I have a date of birth.”

Trent could see her eyes glisten as she fought back tears. He reached out and took her hand in his. He wished he had the answers that would ease the pain, but he was powerless. “I know this is confusing, but if you want I can explain everything to you.”

“Please,” she pleaded.

Trent slowly explained everything Mack had found. He started with her birth on the cruise ship and ended with her travel back to the United States almost a year later.

“This is true? You’re not making this up? I’m really never going to find out who I am or where I came from?” she asked in a defeated tone.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could say there was hope, but I have tried everything.”

She met his gaze and asked what he had been dreading. “How did you know I was looking for my parents? And that I would be here?”

“When we left my parents’ house you were so distant and wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.”

“And you did what? Did you have me investigated?” she asked.

“What I did, I did only because I care about you.”

“If you care about me, you will tell me what you did.”

Risk it or not? All or nothing?
Since he gave her the answers about her parents, he owed her the truth about his actions. “I had my head of security dig into your past. That was when he found out you were searching for your family.”

She didn’t freak out so he hoped that would be enough of an explanation. Then his hopes were destroyed when she asked, “How did you know I was coming here? I never told you. I never told anyone.”

No secrets this time.
“I had your computer scanned.”

“You what? You bugged my personal computer? You’ve been spying on me?” she asked, her voice now filled with anger.

“I did what I needed to do to protect you. The man you were coming here to meet is a known sexual predator. There was no way I was going to let anything or anyone hurt you.”

“Except for you,” she said coldly.

She was right. Trying to protect her by keeping the information to himself, he’d actually caused her more pain. How could he not see that before? Because he hadn’t thought past the moment, and those choices might have just cost him their future. “Elaine, I’m sorry. I did it because I care. How I did it was wrong.”

“One more question,” she said as she pulled her hand from his. “When did you know about my parents, about the cruise ship, about it all?”

“Two days after we returned from my parents’.”

“Almost three weeks ago?” He nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me then?”

“I knew it would break your heart to know the truth. And I didn’t want that.”

“You’re right, the knowledge of my birth does hurt, more than you can know. But the fact that you came to me each night, took me to Dubai, were so intimate with me but never opened up to me? That breaks my heart.” Standing, she said, “I need to go.”

“My jet is on standby.”

“No, Trent. I don’t need any more of your help. What I do need, and want, is to be alone.”

What the fuck?
He was tempted to grab her, force her to stay. He couldn’t lose her. As he got up to stop her, his father’s words rang through him again and again. “Trent, everyone has a past, known or unknown to them, but it is the past. All anyone can offer is the future, and only you can decide what that will be.”

He hadn’t fully understood what his father meant until the very moment he saw the turmoil she was battling. Elaine needed time to process everything he had just dumped on her, and he had to give it to her.
For now
. But things were about to change. It was about time he thought of the future, and
that
future included Elaine.

Back in her apartment, Elaine released the pent-up tears she’d held back from earlier that day. She cried for the loss of her parents, her family, and her heritage. She cried for the loss of her faith and trust in Trent. Over the past few weeks he had given her the most joy and also the deepest heartbreak she had ever experienced. How could that be? Walking away from him in the café was what she needed to do. He had crossed a line. Someone had to teach him that just because he was rich and powerful and able to do whatever he wanted, didn’t mean he should. She was not a business venture or an acquisition.

Elaine may have been around others in the past, but she always felt alone; it was something she was used to. But today she wasn’t alone, she just wasn’t. She mourned her solitude. She was glad she knew the truth about her past. Glad Trent told her the truth about his involvement in getting the information.

He’d lied. No matter how he tried to explain it was to protect her, it came down to the fact he knew the truth and said nothing. If she had not been going to meet that man she thought was an FBI agent, she might never have known the truth. That was what tortured her.

He hadn’t even tried to stop her when she left. He hadn’t call her. Yes, she told him she wanted to be alone, but what she wanted never seemed to stop him before. Didn’t he know that she needed him?

Her phone rang. The caller ID showed Lizette’s number. She couldn’t answer it. Not now. She probably wanted to talk wedding stuff, and she knew there was no way she could pull off pretending to listen. She was not about to tell her what happened with Trent. When her phone rang for the third time, she put it on silent. Each time she had hoped it was Trent calling to apologize, to explain his actions, only to be disappointed. Today she’d had enough disappointments to last a lifetime.

She dragged herself off the bed and headed for a shower. It was time to call it a day. Maybe tomorrow she would be able to face the world. Today she couldn’t even face herself in the mirror.

Sleep didn’t come easily, and when she did sleep she was filled with thoughts of Trent, both good and bad. She didn’t want to feel anything. Her mind and body couldn’t handle the overwhelming emotional battle within her.
A fine line between love and hate.
It was going to take time before she knew which she felt for him.

Friday morning she awaited the Takes One call. They hadn’t expected much on the first one because she’d only been on the job a week. This time she had an entire month to prepare. She felt confident with what she was going to present, and thankfully she was not a procrastinator. Everything had been completed before she entered her current emotional hell.

It was her job; it was what she was hired to do. Takes One was more than Trent, it was Jon, Drew, and Ross as well. Beyond that, it was an agency in desperate need of their assistance. She threw the covers off, went to the bathroom, and brushed her hair into a ponytail. No time for makeup as the call was about to start. Today she would be on the call but block her webcam. No way she would let anyone see her like this.

“Sorry I’m late,” she announced as she joined the call.

“No problem. We appear to be waiting for Jon and Trent as well,” Ross said.

She was glad to hear Trent was not on the call, but she knew they needed at least one more of the group to join to make the final decision.

“Is there something wrong with your webcam, Elaine, or don’t you want to look at our ugly mugs this morning?” asked Drew.

A beep announced another member joined. “My webcam is down. But I have emailed you the presentation, so we should still be all set.”

“Sorry I’m late,” Jon said.

Three down, one to go.
“Do you want to start or wait?”

“We can start. I spoke to Trent earlier, and he is tied up and can’t make this call. He is good with whatever we choose this month.”

So he couldn’t even face her.
What a coward.
Maybe since she hadn’t shared her feelings toward him back in Ohio, he had simply thought she didn’t care.
Oh God, maybe he moved on.
Panic hit as she thought she might not ever see him again. Then it turned to anger. If he could so easily dismiss what they had shared, she didn’t want him anyway. If that were true, why was she upset he wasn’t on the call?
Ugh. Why does this need to be so damn complicated?

“Elaine, we are ready when you are,” Ross said to break the silence.

She was happy to have the temporary distraction of reviewing other problems in the world. Somehow she felt hers were so minute. What had she been crying over? There were people in the world without food, a home, or medicine. And she was crying because someone lied to her? She shouldn’t be crying; maybe she should be yelling, screaming, and throwing things, but she needed to stop the tears. He’d said he did what he did because he cared so much about her. He would rather lose her than have anything bad happen to her. It didn’t make any sense. There were two reasons why someone would do such things. One, because he was an evil manipulator and wanted to see her hurt, or two, he was someone who loved another person so much he wasn’t concerned about his own hurt. Now it was time for her to push past the hurt. She needed to stop living in the past, stop crying over what she didn’t have, and hold tight to what she did have. So much had changed in only a short time. A few months ago she was alone, not physically, but emotionally. She had friends now who were like family to her and a man she loved deeply.
I love him. Oh God. I love him.
Admitting it to herself, she now needed to tell Trent. Problem was, did he want to hear it? His friends commented several times he hated commitment. Love was many things, but it mostly was a commitment, one you made with your heart. She wasn’t sure he was willing or capable of that.

Things had changed a lot over the past several weeks, but the one thing that hadn’t changed was her lack of sharing her personal life with anyone. When Trent tried asking her questions, real questions of any depth, she had shut down emotionally. That did not excuse what he had done, but it gave her a chance to see Trent was not the only one who needed to do some explaining. It was time to stop hiding her true feelings. Her first step was to find a way to let go of the past and look to the future.

“Elaine, umm . . . thank you for that umm . . . all that research. We might need a few days to review everything on the PowerPoint presentation, and we will make our decision then regarding the donation,” Ross said.

She couldn’t even remember what was on the presentation she’d emailed them or even what she had said on the call. Her words may have been on autopilot in business mode, but her mind and heart were elsewhere. She was glad they hadn’t noticed.

“We appreciate all your work, Elaine,” Jon said.

“Thank you, gentlemen. I’ll take care of this today. Have a good weekend.”

Then she disconnected the call.

She closed her work laptop. Elaine was glad to have that behind her. Then she opened her personal one. As she logged into Facebook she wondered if Trent still had it tapped. She hoped her words to him yesterday affected him enough he would never do such a thing to her or anyone else again. There was no longer a need for her Facebook account; she had the answers she’d been searching for. Before she deleted it she came across the message from Albert again.
You are not defined by where you came from. You are defined by where you go and who you help along the way.
She remembered telling him those words. Why had she found them so difficult to follow? Maybe because giving advice was always easier than taking it.

She was tempted to scan other messages but decided not to. It was time for her to put the past where it belonged. Elaine went into settings and deleted her account.
Goodbye Facebook.
Then she did the same to her Twitter account. With each deletion she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. It was as though the search for the past prevented her from living in the present.

Trent, you’re right; I need to learn to live in the here and now
. Of course, right here and now was not a very happy place. She had just walked away from someone she loved.
For damn good reasons, too.
But when it came down to it, he hadn’t been honest with her, but she hadn’t been honest with herself either. She’d created part of this by lying about the job and their relationship.  She wasn’t with him for any reason except she loved him. There was only one thing left to do and that was to confirm what she hoped and believed: he loved her too. It was time to get back to being the woman she had been before taking this job. One not afraid to go after what she wanted or needed.

Closing the laptop, she headed to the bedroom to get ready. She had something to do this morning.
Today I redefine myself.