Page 61 of The Billionaire Babe

I shoot up from where I am sitting.

“What? She was going to be CEO! That was the deal. I leave her alone, she becomes CEO. Not fucking married!” I yell as a few mothers who are nearby playing with their kids look at me with matching scowls.

“Apparently not. Old man Van Cleef fired her VP who was helping her. Told her that she will lose access to everything her mother built. She has to marry this Schmidt guy; otherwise, her father will make her pay.” My blood boils. He went back on his word to me. What a fucking scumbag. He is not even a man of his word.

“You need to come back, man. We need to do something.”

“You know what he said if I do,” I tell him as I pace. When Brady picked me and my bike up from the street after Val’s father and I got acquainted, I told him everything. I needed to vent.

“I know, man, but as of tomorrow, we both know her life is over anyway. She has been calling for you. She wants you.”

My fists clench, I am so fucking angry. John Van Cleef is a piece of work, a conniving, lying piece of shit that I now want to bury. Alive.

“Fuck!” I curse, kicking a rock, my frustration high. If I go back, that could put Val in danger, but if I don’t, she will be in danger and lose everything anyway.

“Listen to me.” Brady’s voice is low and calm. “I’ve seen you with Val. I’ve seen the way you look at her. Hell, the way she looks at you. You two are fucking good together and had a spark from the minute you met. We don’t have good in our lives, never have. But you have it now. You have met this woman who thinks the world of you. And you… I have never seen you with a woman like this before, so I know she means something to you. Man, if I had that, I would fight tooth and fucking nail to protect it. She has been blowing up our phones looking for you. She wants you. She doesn’t want to be married to some old guy. She wants your fucking ugly self. So get the hell home and come get your woman.”

He is right. We have never had good things. We worked hard, suffered a lot, but since meeting Val, the dark cloud that always seemed to surround me has lifted, and a little light is starting to come through. I fist my hand by my side.

“Time and place?” I grit out to him.

“George Peabody Library. Tomorrow at two o'clock. Father Van Cleef wanted it somewhere very public, wanted the world to see it. It is fucking all over the local news here.”

“I’ll be home tonight. We will formulate a plan. This time, I am getting the girl,” I say, ending the conversation and running to my bike. I have to get back to Baltimore because Val is not marrying that prick. She is mine.

34

VALERIE

It’s been a week since my world imploded. Wedding planning has been rushed. Not that I have had a say in anything. My dress is tailor made, yet still too tight. Abigail has handled everything right down to my eyeshadow color, and I don’t care about any of it. I just care about AJ.

“You have balls of steel, my dear friend,” Simone whispers to me. I am nervous that AJ won’t show. The fact that he didn’t speak to Brady until yesterday has had me on edge. But Brady has confirmed that AJ will be here, and I need to trust him. Just like I always have.

“Either that, or I am incredibly stupid,” I whisper back to her, nerves coating my insides. I played the perfect daughter routine this week, all the while planning to stop the wedding somehow before it happened. I paraded myself around for days, hoping every news crew and influencer captured it for AJ to see it. Wherever he ran away to. But if he doesn’t show, I have a backup plan in place. I am not marrying this man, that I know for sure.

“I admire your tenacity, your grit. Who else goes through a week like this to flush out your true love from hiding,” Chelsea says in disbelief.

“What’s going to happen if he doesn’t show?” Chloe glances at me, worried. All the girls look beautiful in soft-pink satin dresses that fall to the floor; meanwhile, I can barely breathe in the white monstrosity that clings to my body, making me sweat.

“He will show,” I say, determined. “I am his. He doesn’t like to share.”

The media stories have been plentiful this week and not just in Society News. Fake stories about how William Schmidt and I have been having a secret love affair for almost a year have been planted. Photoshopped images accompany them. Social media is having a field day, and Levi, Brady, and Cody, have all taken turns watching me whenever I have been alone. Victor has been on alert downstairs, and my friends were on constant rotation with bottles of wine and blocks of chocolate as I continually thought through my plan.

“But what if he doesn't?” Chloe pushes. I have thought about this.

“If he doesn’t, then I just save myself. I say no at the altar. Publicly humiliate my father and William and cause a media shitstorm for weeks.” I am ready for battle. This all ends today.

“He will banish you. He will harm you.” Simone looks at me warily.

“AJ will come.” I feel it in my bones. I believe AJ will come back for me, but if he doesn’t, then I know Brady and Cody will show up in a getaway car. I will run, I will hide. I can do it. My hands shake and my palms sweat. God, I hope this works.

“Let’s hope it doesn't come to that,” Chloe murmurs, as the event planner walks in.

“Oh, you look beautiful,” she says, her eyes teary, and I look at her like she is insane. This is not a happy wedding day; this is my public hanging.

“She’s right, you do,” Chelsea says, looking at me, and I give her a small smile.

“Car is here,” the event planner says, checking her cell.

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