Page 35 of A Billionaire's Secret

A nerve in my face tried to twitch, giving away my slight discomfort, but I distracted it by peeking behind Henry’s shoulder as if to make sure Victoria wasn’t approaching.

“Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, including transportation to Louisville, and we have a deal,” I stated firmly and held out my hand, leaving Henry no room for deliberation.

His right hand fluttered slightly but remained frozen by his side. His eyes darted from side to side as a number flew by in his mind.

It might have been the fact that we both knew William Boyd or that he liked Victoria and saw sincere love and dedication in her eyes, but Henry’s hand awakened and cautiously floated up, meeting mine in a firm handshake.

“This is not a deal I would normally take,” Henry warned me, validating my intuition. “But I see Mischief will be in great hands with you and Ms. Victoria.”

“Absolutely! You have my word. And if you don’t trust me, just check in with William periodically,” I joked, closing the gap between the offer and the deal.

“I’ll have my assistant finalize all the paperwork and arrange transportation. Everything should take about thirty days,” Henry informed me, witnessing my brows furrow disapprovingly.

“That’s too long, Henry,” I grunted. “I need it sooner. I know you can work something out.”

He shuffled his feet, kicking a piece of hay to the side, and placed his hands in his pockets, probably regretting having let them out of there in the first place. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you!” I exclaimed, patting him on the back just in time to greet Victoria’s beaming face.

I had seen that face in our hotel bed earlier today while we lay in each other’s arms. Only this time, her smile was wider than I’d ever seen.

Henry, you fool, I would have paid a million!

***

Victoria fluttered with adrenaline and described every second of her experience ecstatically on the ride back to the hotel. I reveled in her joy and hoped that someday I would feel such passion about anything in life. Or that my daughter Diana would.

We slipped into our hotel suite and immediately sprawled on the bed, our eyes falling victim to intense fatigue and jetlag. It would take the increasing volume of very persistent phone calls to wake either of us up. I was just the first one to hear them.

“”He—hello,” I mumbled quietly, hoping not to wake Victoria.

“Chris, are you sleeping?” William’s voice pounded against my ear. “We need to talk.”

I cracked my other eye open, gently removed Victoria’s arm from my chest, and unwillingly sat in bed.

“What is it?” I whispered while I walked away and sat on the couch in the other room.

“Two things. Is Vitoria around you?” William asked, causing a chill down my spine.

“No. What’s this all about?” I raised my voice.

“I guess you haven’t checked your email lately,” he scoffed. “I got a notification from your bank that someone had deposited ten thousand dollars in yours. Her name was on the deposit slip. If you know about it, great. I just thought I’d inform you.”

My muscles tensed up, and I walked toward the window, hoping to ease them and scratching my head in confusion. I remembered her insisting on paying me back, but I didn’t remember ever giving her my bank account information.

“OK, what’s the second thing,” I urged him nervously, hoping it wouldn’t be about Victoria again.

He cleared his throat, pausing for a few seconds before speaking again. “Your friend might have spent the bag. Do you follow?”

My heart sank to my feet as my fears materialized before me. The vet I had bribed was back to haunt me.

Fuck!

“I follow. What do you suggest?” I shoved away the escalating anger and cut through the chase.

“You know what I’ll say,” William lowered his voice. “The legal way or the highway.”

I knew William’s code language painfully well. He meant to say that if I caved and coughed up more money, the vet would latch on like a tick and suck me dry. But to handle a situation like this legally, there would be severe consequences. For me, Diana, and anyone that came close to us.

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