Page 50 of Billionaire Daddies Next Door

My stomach sank to the deepest depths of my soul as I stared at his face and waited for him to share what he’d found. “Tell me.”

“Jesus.” He frowned. “I think it’s better if we go device-free. I’ve read a lot about that being healthier.”

Violet snatched the phone from him and her face turned a deep shade of red as she looked it over. “What the fuck? How can they publish this?”

I took it and read the search results that popped up for my name. Hillary had already posted the photos of me. Whatever she’d said about them had already generated a bunch of short blog posts.

Missing Heiress and Socialite Found, Wishes She Hadn’t Been. Ex-socialite Turned Waitress, A Tale of True Failure. Cartwright Family Poor? Long Silent Heiress Hides Her Weight From World.

I pressed my knuckles to my mouth and shook my head. “What am I supposed to do?”

Violet took the phone and shoved it back at Mason. “This won’t stand. One of these guys can hack some system and delete all of this. Right?”

Justin sighed. “No, baby. We can’t hack the entire internet. We can try taking down each article but…”

“But it’s already spreading like wildfire.” I laughed through a fresh round of tears. “Everyone loves to see a rich asshole fail.”

“You’re not an asshole, Joanie. I don’t care who you were before you came here. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re one of the best people I know.”

“No one else cares.” I wiped my tears away as quickly as they fell. “Nothing I’ve done matters to the people who read this shit. It’s all too late.”

CHAPTER 36

Joanie

Deerbend was the tiny village outside of Lilyfield where Billie worked and lived. No one went to Deerbend unless they were looking for something so that was where I decided to hide. Billie lived in the carriage house which sat just behind the massive farmhouse she grew up in. Her bosses bought the entire property after she’d been forced to sell, but she couldn’t let the property go completely. The carriage house was almost as big as my house so there was plenty of room for me. Billie seemed glad to not have to drive to Lilyfield to see another woman, too. Not that I was much company.

I hadn’t stopped to grab anything from my house before running to Billie’s so I’d even been wearing her clothes. She was nearly half a foot shorter than me, though, so I was stretching all her clothes out and walking around her house like an ill-fashioned zombie. She was a good sport about it, despite my sour attitude. She’d also been watching me go from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other, in barely any time at all.

Just when I thought I was calming down, I’d get a text from one of the guys. Chase was the worst. He seemed to be going through the same emotional rollercoaster I was. His first texts had been apologetic and full of how much he missed me. Then, he got angry. I’d given up so easily and I clearly didn’t give a shit about them if I could walk away like that. The distance between the two emotions got shorter each day. Smith was hurt and texted me to tell me he didn’t like that I’d abandoned him. He also gave me updates about what was happening with them, about how sad they were without me. Bear… Bear didn’t text more than once. It was all it’d taken.

I thought you were someone different. For you to throw my shit in my face is beyond low, Joanie. I tried for you. Too bad you couldn’t try for me.

That text had set off an afternoon of crying. Part of me knew he was right. The other, louder, part of me said that he was part of the problem. They all wanted me to be something other than what I was. I wasn’t good enough for them. That was the feeling I got.

After four days, Smith stopped texting me. After six, Chase stopped apologizing. He sent me one last text dismissing me and it pissed me off as much as it hurt me.

If you’re even reading my texts, Joanie, I thought I should let you know that you won. I can only beg for forgiveness from a woman who isn’t here for so long. I won’t buy the company from you but I won’t push for anything else. Whatever happens to the diner happens. If you don’t come back to it, maybe someone else will want to step up. I came here for you and I don’t see a whole lot of reason to stay if you’re not going to be here. From the day I arrived in Lilyfield, I never doubted how strong you were until now. You’ve got three men dying to be there for you and you’re too lost in your own shit to let us comfort you. There’s only so much we can do. We’re staying for the battle but after that, you’ll be free of us.

I read and reread that text to Billie a dozen times. She got so sick of hearing it that she went to the main house to talk to her bosses, something she hated to do. After that, I realized I needed to stop bothering Billie with everything. She didn’t deserve to be as tortured by me as I felt by the guys.

I was angry at the guys for bringing my past into my present, even if it hadn’t been on purpose. I was angrier that they gave up on me. It didn’t make any sense, but I didn’t expect them to throw their hands up and walk away in less than a week. Did they even care about me if they were willing to abandon me so easily? Logically, I knew I was being unreasonable. I just wasn’t thinking logically.

That was the reason why when a big Dolls’ meeting was called, I told myself I couldn’t miss it. I’d skipped out on work and everything else for a week, but a Dolls’ meeting? I couldn’t miss it. It had nothing to do with how close I’d be to the diner. I definitely didn’t want to check on things, or on certain people.

The meeting was just Margaret announcing that Mayor Stevens had agreed on a date for the battle. It was finally going to happen. Way more important than the battle talk, Violet had come with Delilah. My ovaries felt like they were pouting as I watched her feed her daughter and listened to her tease her men. She’d finally been cleared for sex after the birth and she was having a great time. She’d tried to talk about me at the beginning of the meeting, but I wasn’t having it. I didn’t want to talk about my issues. I guessed I didn’t have any issues anymore since the guys were done with me.

Standing in front of The One and Only, though, I could see Chase, Bear, and Smith sitting at the bar. I hadn’t expected to see them and it turned me stomach with grief and worry. “You know… When I moved to Lilyfield, I thought I’d escaped asshole men with asshole attitudes and asshole bodies.”

Violet bounced Delilah on her hip and groaned. “Are they still bothering you about expanding?”

“About everything.” That wasn’t true, though. I was just too embarrassed to admit I’d run them off. I saw Chase look back at me and saw his scowl slam firmly into place. “If Ted Bundy asked me over to help him load his van, I’d do it overspending one more minute with that jerk.”

“Have you thought about asking Margaret for help? Or Coco? I feel like Coco would know how to handle them.” She smirked and I realized I’d instantly smiled at the idea of Coco shooting Bear with another dart. “Yeah, you go talk to them. I’m going to go home and shave every inch of my body.”

“You have the best life.”

“I really do.”

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