Page 80 of The Passion

Forrest’s hands clench into fists. “That’s ridiculous, there is no way you are going anywhere near this. These men are dangerous and would eat you alive. Plus, what would you hope to achieve by turning up? It’s not like you can challenge them to a kickboxing fight. Ridiculous! It’s a no.” He is heavily weighing into this and is not happy.

“Forrest!” Rem’s voice tells him to back off his friend.

I can see the fury in Cherie’s eyes as she replies, “Thanks for your confidence, Forrest, thinking the only talent I have in life is being the girl who can fight in a ring. Well, hear this, asshole, you know nothing about my life before I met you all. So, time to listen up. Because right now I don’t see you have many options.” Felisha is looking at her with respect for the way she is not afraid to stand up for herself.

“I count cards.”

Cherie’s face gives away a little hint of pain that comes with that statement, but she continues anyway.

“You all know I grew up in a bad environment. Well, my father used to play poker, badly I might add. And he would take me with him sometimes as an insurance policy that he wouldn’t get beaten up for owing someone money when he lost, you know, the cute innocent little girl was his backup plan. I was bored, so I started trying to guess the next card, and then it became an obsession. I knew before he did every time he was going to lose. I didn’t live a life where I could really use my brain at school because I was using all my energy just to stay alive and eat. But I’m guessing if I could have, maths would have been a subject I did well in.” She shrugs her shoulders.

“Shit, woman, you never stop surprising me.” Rem is now standing beside her and puts his arm around her shoulders in support.

“Even if we could get you into a game with him, what would that achieve?” Nic has his usual calm demeanor we see in the boardroom as he weighs up all the options.

Cherie scoffs. “I don’t know much about this situation, but from what I’m piecing together, your father is a dick and needs to be taught a lesson. Men like him hate losing, but what they hate even more is losing to a woman.”

“I’m his greatest disappointment in his life because I was born a girl, so you’re totally on the money with that.” Felisha has been listening, and I can see she’s invested in what Cherie is saying.

“What would you beating him prove?” Forrest huffs his question.

“This is not a money thing, I’m sure he has enough he could keep betting all night and still be a billionaire. Instead, it’s about making him panic. We can twist it any way you like. It could be that I’m there for revenge of someone he wronged previously, I could throw Felisha’s name into the mix if you wanted, and then he figures out she knows his dirty secret. Or it could simply be to call his bluff in front of some dangerous people. If he is in big on a game, making him bet something he wasn’t ready to bet or can’t afford to lose so he doesn’t look like a fool. We all know the psychology behind gamblers is that they always think they can make it up on the next hand. If this Fulton guy is in the room even better, I can pit them against each other too.”

Listening to everything Cherie is saying, I can see a slim chance that it might work.

“Your father is arrogant enough to get caught up in the spiral of losing, thinking he can win it back, that he will do something stupid.” In the back of my mind, I know he has already done this in the past. Giving away parts of his business to pull himself out of a problem that must have been a significant size.

“I don’t know. This all sounds too wild to me. It’s like some plot in a movie, not real life. Not my life.” Felisha takes a moment to process everything that is being said. “How do we even get you into a game like that with people who would be suspicious of a new player, and like you said, a woman is not common in these games.”

“Before we make any decisions, we have to speak to Broderick and see what he knows. I’m not putting anyone in danger.” Nic takes his phone from his pocket and walks to the side to have his discussion, and I’m sure he will also be mentioning that the secret of Felisha and me is out in the wind now too. Poor Rem and our security team are going to hate me again, just when things were finally settling down.

“Look, this is just an offer, but I still know people who know people, and I can guarantee they will have a way to get me in there. I know I’ve given you a lot to think about. I’m going to head down to the stables to be with Blaise and Elouise and let you all talk. Just sleep on it and let me know if you need me.” With that Cherie walks forward, and I move out of the way for her to lean down and hug Felisha.

“I know what it’s like to have a father who some days you wish was dead. But if I learnt one thing when I was getting through it, it was to rise above him. You need to make him pay and then walk away, never looking back. They say revenge is not healthy, but I will tell you differently. Am I proud I think that way? No. But it’s the best fucking feeling, as long as you do it within your moral compass, because you have to be able to sleep with it every night.” Seeing a few tears in Cherie’s eyes, I know that reliving memories of her tough life is not a fun time.

I wish it was me who could go in and take the hit for Felisha, but I’m too well known, and now that she has just dropped the bombshell on him that we are together, he will be out for blood from me too. Besides, I would never do anything to tarnish theDarby Hotels reputation because of my name. The video was bad enough, but still, seen by some as innocent in a way.

And we still have the problem of Fulton Anderson to deal with.

“I think we need to take you home. Everyone will keep working on squashing the fake story in the papers and finding the dirty details we need about the gambling.” I hold my hand out to Felisha to help her up from the seat.

“I’m already voting it’s a no go,” Forrest declares to us all. “It’s too dangerous, and I don’t think Cherie knows what she is walking into.”

“No one is voting on anything. This is Felisha’s life, it will be her choice what she decides to do.” I glare at Forrest and then look to Rem. “Keep me updated, and can you make sure Harper gets home okay, please?”

“I need to say goodbye.” Nodding at Felisha, we start walking toward the house, and Nic gives me a nod on the way past.

Watching Felisha speak to Harper in their little huddle, I can see all the emotions she is feeling—anger, shock, sadness, and just pure confusion. We need to sit in a calm environment just the two of us and talk through it all.

Once we are finally in the car, it’s not the perfect place, but we are stuck here for the next hour.

“Tell me what is going on in that intense brain of yours.” Looking at her, I can see that her shoulders are rigid, her hands are clasped together, and her leg is bouncing with nervous energy.

“You have no idea how much I’m trying to sort out in here. It’s like all my ducks that a year ago were lined up perfectly, have since had a dozen ducklings each. And all those ducklings are little bastards who are running wild and not listening to a word their parents are saying. There is pure anarchy happening, and no one is in charge. They all have an idea how to fix their littleproblem but don’t care about the other twenty-five problems that are happening around them. I don’t even like ducks! They leave their poop everywhere, and they steal your food in the parks. So yeah, my head is full of duck shit and rioting!” It’s like she hasn’t even stopped to take a breath when she gets to the end of her diatribe.

“Okay… not what I was expecting, but it works.” I’m trying to work out what to say next when all of a sudden, she starts laughing out loud. Throws her head back against the seat and really lets it all go, laughing so hard she is crying. I don’t say a word and just laugh with her because nobody could script her life any weirder if they tried.

Eventually the laughter slows, and the tears, although they are still there, are drying up.

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