Chapter 21
Marissa wanted to puke. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I missed you.” He shifted his foot so it was now against the doorjamb, preventing her from closing it. She tried anyway, slamming it as hard as she could. “Shit, stop that. I’m serious, I just want to talk.”
“Fuck you. You’ve ruined my life.”
“What? I’ve done nothing.”
“That’s exactly the point, Andrew. You haven’t paid any of your bills. I have debt collectors chasing me down at home and where I work. I’ve had to change my phone number because they won’t leave me alone.” She tried to close the door again, but this time he caught it with his hand. “Get out.”
“I promise I will as soon as we talk.” His brown hair had been cut recently, giving him a GQ look. His day-old scruff looked as though he’d simply forgotten to shave, but she knew the effort he put into his appearance. She should have been prepared for the pleading look he’d perfected, but it caught her off guard. “Please.”
This was a horrible idea. But then, she seemed to be full of those these days. “Five minutes. Mom will be back soon and if she finds you here she’ll call the cops.”
“I’ll be long gone before that happens.”
Marissa didn’t immediately move. Stupid, horrible idea. He’s fucked you over and now he’s going to try and talk himself out of it. She backed up, letting him into the apartment, at the same time she grabbed the baking timer from the counter and turned the dial. “I’m serious. Five minutes. Starting now.”
If Andrew felt the time pressure, he certainly didn’t show it. He came into the apartment, and made a beeline for the cookie plate. “God, I have to say I’ve missed your mom’s baking since we’ve broken up. My mom doesn’t cook and the store-bought stuff isn’t anywhere near as good.”
“Four minutes, twenty seconds.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about you since we parted ways. I mean, we were together for five years. That’s not exactly an insignificant period of time. I’ll be doing something and think, hey, Marissa would love this. And then I remember that we’re not together and get sad.”
Coming from anyone else, the words might have come across as sincere. But it was hard to buy what he was selling when he was eating a cookie and smirking at her. “You’re the one who left me, even though I told you I wasn’t cheating on you. You didn’t believe me. That’s not my fault. It’s yours, and I’m not going to accept even the suggestion of blame from you.”
“You’re right, I didn’t believe you. Not at first. And for that I’m sorry.” Andrew had an annoying habit of saying the right words, without appearing to mean them.
“You’re sorry?” She got to her feet as she threw the dishcloth at him. “You’re fucking sorry? You’ve ruined my credit. I can’t afford to cover all these debts that you racked up with your business. I never even wanted to co-sign those papers, but I thought we were going to be together forever and that this was an investment in our future.” She didn’t want to cry in front of him, but she couldn’t stop the angry tears from falling. “Three minutes.”
“You have a student loan and your mom won’t let you starve. I knew you’d be okay.” Andrew also got to his feet, taking another cookie. “I especially know you’ll be okay now that you’re fucking that rich asshole.”
Marissa’s world bottomed out on her. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play coy. I heard all about your rich boyfriend who took you home and punched my friend.”
She wanted to throw up. She’d worked so hard to move on from him, and her relationship with Vince—while not exactly what she’d initially set out to achieve—had been a wonderful bonus, a positive change she’d needed more than anything. That Andrew knew she was now spending time with Vince somehow tainted what she’d hoped to build with him.
Doing her best to relax and stay calm, Marissa cleared her throat. “How did you find out?”
“It was the strangest thing. Some guy called me out of the blue a few weeks back. Don’t even know where he got my number.” Andrew’s smirk had her skin crawling. “He told me you were banging some sugar daddy, getting all sorts of cash from him.”
“Oh God.” There was only one person she suspected would throw both her and Vince under the proverbial bus that way—Geoff. “What I do with my life now is none of your business.”
“I wouldn’t dream of stepping on your new man’s toes.” His lips pursed and eyes narrowed. “Who you fuck is up to you now.”
“Then why are you here?” When he didn’t say anything else, Marissa shifted impatiently. “Andrew?”
“I couldn’t figure out why he looked so familiar when I saw a picture of him. Then it hit me. I had the DVR and checked and I was right. He’s that prick from the show you never let me delete. You must have shit yourself when you saw the chance to screw him. And it turns out that the paparazzi are really interested in this guy when I called them.”
Marissa swallowed hard. Why would Geoff do this to them? Vince had done everything to make him happy, to sell his company to the person Geoff wanted. None of this made sense. “One minute.”
“Then I’ll make this quick.” He got right in her face and for a moment she thought he was going to touch her. “You were mine. You like to play all innocent that you hadn’t done anything wrong, but that’s a lie too. Five years we were together and you just moved on. Naw, you’re out for his money.”
“I’m not—”
“I want his money too.” His leaned in so close she thought he might kiss her. “If you don’t get me fifty thousand dollars from your boyfriend, then I’m going to go to the media with all the juicy details of who you are, and what you’ve been doing. I know about your sugar daddy thing. And so will the rest of the world.” He then stepped back and gave her a little wave. “I’ll be in touch.”
Marissa froze, could do nothing by watch Andrew leave. The door snicked shut as the baking timer rang.
* * * *
Vince’s head throbbed and his back ached, but there was no way he was going to move now that he’d finally gotten Simon on the phone. “I understand your concerns, Simon. But GreenPro is far more established than other companies. Not to mention I have connections here in Toronto. If you’re looking to start with a pilot program, what better place than here?”
“The Canadian market is not exactly my area of expertise. If I’m doing this, I want to be sure everything is going to be transportable to the States.”
It was an excuse, and a flimsy one at that. Vince could spend hours beating around the bush on this, but he was tired and wanted nothing more than to wrap this up so he could call Marissa and make sure she was okay. “Let’s cut to the chase. I know you’ve been looking at other prospects. What’s it going to take for you to buy GreenPro?”
The silence on the other end of the line wasn’t exactly reassuring.
“Simon?”
“Did you know that I went in on a deal with your father, oh, it must be about fifteen years ago now. Did you know that?”
“I did.” The fact Simon was bringing up his father was unsettling. “What does this have to do with my proposal?”
“It had been not long after your mother had walked out on the two of you. Geoff had been drinking and started carrying on…well, you know. He never came out and said it was because he wanted to get back at your mother, but it was obvious.”
Vince knew exactly the time period Simon was referring to. He was in high school, nursing his own shattered heart because his mom had simply gotten up and left them, with little explanation. She’d left him a letter, one that did nothing to ease the pain that encompassed him. He’d tried to connect with his dad, to offer solace and hoped to receive some in return. Instead, his father had gone out, dating and chasing every woman who looked at him. Vince had never felt so alone.
Vince cleared his throat. “Her leaving us broke him.”
Simon ignored him. “He too came to me with some amazing opportunity. We’d been acquaintances for a few years at that point, and I was willing to take a chance. He too, came to New York in the hopes of wooing my wallet. He did. He also slept with my wife.”
Shit. “I’m not my father.”
“It’s been my experience that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”
“They why speak with me at all? If you hate my family, why continue to do business with us? I haven’t hid the fact that Geoff is a partner in this, nor have I hidden what we hope to get out of it. I’ve done my best to keep him as far away from this deal, from you, as I could.”
Simon said nothing for a long moment. “The business your father got me to invest in made me close to half a billion once I eventually sold it. And he showed me that my first wife was a cheat, which helped me get rid of her. Because of our prenuptial agreement, it didn’t even cost me anything, so it worked out. But I never trusted him again. But as you said, you are not your father.”
He couldn’t imagine what things would have been like had he gone to New York alone to meet with Simon. Marissa’s presence had saved him in more ways than one. “If that’s settled, then what’s the problem? Why can’t we move forward with this?”
“Because as much as you’re not like Geoff, I don’t trust that you won’t become him. Your reputation as a womanizer didn’t surprise me when I’d heard it. Your sins are yours to bear, but I want nothing to do with them. Even that…woman you brought, there’s something about her.”
“Marissa is sweet and kind and has nothing to do with this.” He had to force himself to relax his grip on the phone receiver. “Leave her out of this.”
“Perhaps Natalie is incorrect, then.”
“What did she say?”
“She suspected your lady friend wasn’t exactly who you were presenting her to be.”
Vince didn’t know if Natalie had actually said that, or if Simon was simply fishing, trying to get Vince to slip up and say something. Either way, he wasn’t going to play this game. “She’s my girlfriend.” That wasn’t exactly right, but it was the easiest thing he could manage. “And my personal life shouldn’t have an impact on this deal.”
“It shouldn’t. But I’m the one who gets to decide where my money gets to go. If I want to be sure the recipient is of a certain character, then that’s my prerogative.” Simon went silent for a moment, the faint sound of a keyboard clacked away in the background. “I do have another prospect, but they’re not as advanced as GreenPro. It would be much easier to go to market with your company than theirs.”
His unspoken warning came across loud and clear—Simon would work with Vince on this deal, but he’d be willing to switch teams if he didn’t like what Vince had to say. “Then let’s work together to make this happen.”
“Send me a complete company profile, market projections, and growth forecasts. I’ll have my lawyers look everything over and then we’ll talk. If I like what I see, and if everything remains unchanged, then I’ll seriously consider the purchase.”
Vince would need to keep his head down and his nose clean, at least until this deal went through. “You’ll have the documents first thing in the morning.”
“Wonderful. A pleasure speaking to you as always.” And then the line went dead.
He put the receiver back down and closed his eyes. Okay, Simon was on board and if everything went his way, Vince would be able to broker the deal within the next three to six months. Then he’d be free of Simon and his history and would be able to get back to his normal life. He’d be free to have whatever relationship he wanted with Marissa, and anyone who had any issues with it could bugger off.
He needed to hold on to this just a little bit longer and GreenPro would be gone, he’d have his money back and his father wouldn’t have an excuse to try and control Vince’s life.
How had things gone so wrong between them? Vince had given up years ago trying to change his father’s erratic behavior. Then Bull Rush had come along, and it was easy to throw himself into the intense filming schedule and ignore the growing mess that his father’s life had become. Regardless of what Geoff had done, he was still Vince’s father. They had no one else, no other close family. And despite the anger, the wall that had formed between them, there would always be a part of Vince who loved and missed the man his father had once been.
His hand was still on the phone, the temptation to call his dad strong, but he knew he wouldn’t. While he was willing to try again, to move beyond past hurts, he knew Geoff wasn’t there. Maybe he never would.
The loneliness Vince had felt since his mom had left them had never quite gone away. It was only in those moments he’d spent with Marissa that everything felt a bit easier, the world seemed to be a bit brighter. Releasing the receiver, he instead reached for his cell phone.
As though she’d read his mind, there waiting for him was a message from Marissa. We need to talk.
He hit the call button and even waited for her to answer before he spoke. “I’ll pick you up. We can’t go back to my place.”
“I’m going to stay at my mom’s.”
While he was certain that the woman who raised Marissa was no doubt an amazing woman in her own regard, he had no intention of letting her stay anywhere but with him. “I’ll be there soon. We’ll head to my condo.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I can’t stay with you.”
“Did I do something wrong? Something that has made you uncomfortable?” He’d gone an entire goddamned night without touching her. In his mind, he was up for saint status. “Because if this is you worried about taking advantage of me because of my money, that’s not an issue.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then get what you need from your mom’s and be ready to leave.” For the second time in an hour, the silence on the other end of a phone call made his chest tighten. When she let out a little sigh, he got to his feet and grabbed his jacket. “I’ll see you soon.”
This was going to work out. He’d sell GreenPro to Simon, even if that wasn’t what he wanted. His father would have whatever he’d hoped to get out of the deal, and Vince would be able to move forward with Marissa.
He’d make this work, no matter what.