He handed her sketchbook back, a grim expression on his face. “I’m going to give it to you straight, Bethany. We can’t offer you a loan.”
Her heart sank. “Oh. I see.” With so much debt hanging over her, she’d be lucky if she ever got her store off the ground at all. Not only had her jerk of an ex-boyfriend maxed out her credit cards, but she was also drowning in student loan debt. That exchange program to design school in Italy had perfected her skills, but it had cost a fortune she could no longer afford. “So, there’s nothing I can do.”
Bethany sighed and put her things back into her tote bag. It looked like her newfound luck was already going to run out. She’d never get to open her store, and she wouldn’t have an excuse to see Kirk again.
“There might be something.” He scratched the day-old stubble on his jaw. It was hard not to melt when a man that gorgeous was looking at her with so much concern in his eyes. His mouth formed a line as he got lost in his thoughts. He had the kind of harsh, delectable mouth that was made for making commands. For kissing women into submission.
Unable to help herself she stared at his lips, wondering what it must be like to have them against her skin. He looked like he would be an excellent kisser.
Oh, for Pete’s sake! Stop staring at him like that. Was she so starved for affection that she was actually lusting after her sworn enemy? Annoyed with herself, she tore her gaze away from him. She had to focus on the task at hand. To make the Sterlings pay and get her family back on top. Anything else was a distraction. Kirk Sterling’s good looks and his interest in her work were utterly irrelevant.
“I’ll pull some strings for you,” he offered. “If you can prove that your ex-boyfriend is responsible for some of your debt, I’ll vouch for you.”
Hope gripped her. “How can I prove he’s responsible?”
“Do you have anything that was signed under both of your names?” he asked. “A joint bank account or utility bill would do it.”
“Could a lease work?” she asked. “My boyfriend and I lived together up until a few months ago.”
He nodded. “That would work. Get a letter from your landlord, showing the names on the lease. It’s not a guarantee, but I’ll see what I can do when you bring the relevant paperwork.”
“Thank you.” She still suspected his kindness was a cover for something else, but this was her chance to see him again. “I really appreciate this.”
Kirk reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet. “This is my card,” he said, holding his business card out to her. “I don’t give this out to just anyone, so use it wisely.”
Bethany blushed, his flattery impossible to ignore. “I will.” She took the card eagerly. Now she had his contact details. Having information this vital was a sign that turning her charm on him had paid off.
After dessert, Kirk paid for their expensive meal with his black card. A stab of jealousy knifed its way through her heart. The ease with which he paid for their lunch was getting to her. Spurring her to want revenge more than she ever had. She had resented the Sterlings when she had seen them in glossy magazines or saw paparazzi video of them leaving exclusive parties. In Kirk’s presence, that resentment had only magnified.
“Where to?” he asked as he got behind the wheel of his Mercedes.
“Uh… the nearest bus stop is fine,” she said.
“Nonsense. I’ll drive you home. Or to work if that’s where you’re headed.”
Panic made her mouth go dry. She was actually going to see her father. At last. Bethany couldn’t risk having Kirk and her father accidentally meet. He hadn’t recognized her at all this afternoon. She didn’t want to push her luck. “I have errands to run,” she lied quickly. “Honestly, it would be easier for me to take a bus.”
He didn’t reply. Just turned left and brought the car to a halt near a bus stop.
She reached to open the passenger door. “Thank you for all your help today.”
His green eyes fell on her, his hard stare making her shiver. “Call me as soon as you get home,” he commanded.
Arguing with him would be a waste of time right now. She knew his type. Ruthless. Relentless. Got exactly what he wanted.
What he didn’t know was that, despite her name change, she was still a Livingston. And Livingstons got exactly what they wanted, too. As she slipped out of his car, she knew that if she had to go through Kirk Sterling in her quest for revenge only one of them would be left standing.
LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER, she got off the bus and made her way to the street address that her older brother had given her. When she finally got to the halfway house and knocked on the door, a grizzled old man covered in faded tattoos let her in.
“Are Lloyd and Joshua here?” she asked. “They should be expecting me.”
The old man nodded. “Follow me.” He led her to a private room at the back of the house, pointed at a bed on the far wall, and disappeared.
There were about five beds in the room, with haggard-looking men lounging or milling around. Like her father, they had all done time in prison. Gathering her courage, she took a deep breath and headed to the bed on the far wall.
Her brother Josh was unpacking things from a backpack while an older man sat on the bed. It took her a long moment to really recognize that the older man was her father. She had visited him in prison, but he had always been in his prison uniform. Now he was dressed in hand-me-down clothes that were too big for him, and his hair was astonishingly gray. Her heart pounded as she approached him.
“Daddy?” A potent mix of grief and elation made tears well in her eyes.
“Bethany!” Overjoyed, her father shot to his feet and pulled her into a tight embrace. His entire body started to heave with sobs. “It’s you. My little girl. I’ve missed you so much.”
For the entire day she had managed to focus on her mission without letting the prospect of finally seeing her father free distract her. The years without him had hardened her heart. Taught her to compartmentalize her emotions. But now that she was finally holding on to him, she started to sob right along with him.
When he finally released her he sank back down onto the bed, wiping at his eyes. “You’re both finally here.”
She glanced at her older brother and exchanged a smile with him. As aimless as Joshua was, at least he had helped get their father settled in at the halfway house. Both siblings sat down on the bed, sandwiching their father between them.
“How are you?” she asked her dad.
“Overwhelmed,” he answered. “But there’ll be plenty of time for me to readjust to life on the outside. Tell me, how did your day at the bank go?”
“Oh.” In her happiness at being reunited with her father, she had forgotten about the good news she had to share. Lowering her voice so that only her father and brother could hear, she said, “I met Kirk Sterling.”
Her father’s eyes widened. “What? How?”
Bethany filled them in, giving as many details as she dared. Except for how handsome Kirk was. And how his attention had made her feel all warm and tingly. That was a betrayal she was going to have to rectify. Falling under Kirk’s spell could not happen. Not now that she had started to get close to him.
“What kind of information are you even trying to get?” her brother asked when she was finished.
“Prison has taught me that no scrap of information is too insignificant,” her father murmured. “You can use anything against someone if you pay attention. Right now, Bethany, do your best to get him to trust you. Get as close as you can to him and tell me everything that he says. Leave nothing out.”
Her stomach tightened. Already she had left out how, in spite of the bad blood, she had been touched when Kirk admired her work. She was keeping secrets from her father. Next time she saw Kirk, she vowed she wasn’t going to let him get to her. She’d be in control. Reinforce the icy wall around her heart.
“Okay,” she said finally.
The look on her father’s face softened. “I hate asking you to do this, but I can’t do much on my own.” He lifted up his pant leg to reveal his ankle bracelet. “I’m not totally free yet. And without a job, I’m basically stuck in this place.”
A weight of crushing sadness settled on her chest. She hated that he was stuck here, but her dingy apartment was no better. Even with his freedom, he was still suffering. Still being monitored. Still broke and unemployed. The injustice made her struggle to breathe through her bitterness.
Her father had been her hero. The strongest man she had ever known. For her entire childhood she had believed that there was nothing her father couldn’t do. Seeing him like this now was shattering her.
“We’ll get you out of here, and then get everything back. You’ll see, Daddy.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Once I get the right paperwork, I’ll pay Kirk another visit.”
“Good girl.” Her father grinned, a glint in his blue eyes. “This is turning out better than we hoped. Getting access to Kirk Sterling is a damn good bit of luck.”
“When we get enough dirt on them, will we run them out of the company?” Josh asked. “Will we finally get the bank back?”
Her dad narrowed his eyes. “We’ll get more than that. If we play our cards right, not only will the Sterlings lose the bank but they’ll be the ones getting arrested on national television.”
“What?” Bethany asked, startled.
“That’s right. I never told you my theory, did I?” Her father rubbed his gnarled hands together with a glee that chilled her. “Obviously, the charges that got leveled against me were bogus. I know I didn’t defraud anyone, but someone at the bank definitely did. I’d bet my life that the Sterlings are the real culprits. They framed me to save themselves. If we prove that, I’ll be exonerated and the whole Sterling family will go exactly where they should have been all these years. Prison.”
HE HAD THOUGHT THAT two days would be long enough to forget about her, but he had been wrong. Bethany had been on his mind since he had dropped her off at the bus station. Now SIB headquarters was closing for the day and he was still going over their lunch together.
As Kirk stepped out of the elevator, he said goodbye to nearby employees and walked towards the bank entrance.
Thinking about Bethany so much shouldn’t have surprised him. Whenever he wanted something, Kirk was always consumed by it. He had tried to tell himself that he’d invited her out to lunch to let her down gently, but it had felt way too much like a date for that to be true.
For the first time in a long time, a woman had managed to capture his attention enough to distract him from work. Worse, though he wanted to get in touch with her, it wouldn’t be right for him to initiate such personal contact with a bank customer. Other than a text Bethany had sent him to let him know that she had gotten home safely, Kirk hadn’t heard from her. That had only intensified his interest in her.
Kirk walked through the bank entrance and made his way to the executive parking lot. Until Bethany got in touch with him, he’d be left to wonder about her. For a man like him, not having something he wanted was an unusual experience.
When he spotted his Mercedes in the lot, he stopped in his tracks.
He’d know that beautiful crown of golden hair anywhere. She was leaning against his car, her arms folded, head lowered. As he approached her he noticed her heaving shoulders. The quiet sobs.
“Bethany?” Gently, he seized her shoulders and looked down at her. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
When she looked up at him, the expression on her face almost devastated him. Her heart-shaped face was streaked with tears. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me—”
Every protective instinct in him flared. She had spoken bitterly about an ex-boyfriend. If some punk had hurt her, he’d make the bastard pay. “Did someone hurt you? Talk to me.”
“Nobody hurt me.” She shut her eyes for a moment, her body still trembling. “It’s just… I tried getting a letter from my landlord like you said. But it was just my name on the lease. I thought my ex-boyfriend’s name would be on it, too, but it wasn’t. Then my landlord came in to my apartment, realized that my ex had stolen some of the furniture, and kicked me out.”
His grip on her shoulders tightened possessively. “That isn’t legal. He can’t kick you out for something you didn’t do.”
Bethany sighed, and shook her head. “Oh, Kirk. Most of us don’t have that luxury. Nobody cares about our guilt or innocence. They just want to take us down in whatever way they can.”
There was an accusation in her tone that filled him with unease. No. It had to be in his head. The residual guilt of the newly rich. Shoving the useless guilt aside, he stared deep into the shining pools of her blue eyes. “Where are you staying?”
“That’s just it…” Her voice trailed off as she chewed her bottom lip. He sensed that she was stalling. Probably too embarrassed to come right out and ask him for help. “I slept in my car last night because I have nowhere else to go.”
“Your family can’t help you?”
She shook her head mournfully. “No. My family has been going through a tough time financially. They won’t be able to help me. I don’t know where else to turn. I was counting on the loan so that I could finally get my store up and running. All I need is for someone to finally give me a chance. Someone to believe in me, because I won’t disappoint. If I got a chance to prove myself I’d work so hard.”
An idea occurred to him. Something so out there he knew he would have to convince her to take it seriously. “I’ll be that someone.”
Bethany inhaled sharply, and he cupped her chin to make sure she kept her incredible eyes on him.
“I’ll be that someone for you,” he repeated. “If you need somewhere to stay, then stay at my place.”
