Billionaire Romance Boxed Set 1(197)
“Dad?”
Stewart turned and I followed his eyes. My father laid in a black puddle I knew was his blood. Just beyond him was the body of the man with the gun. His head lay in a similar pool as my father’s. I knew Stewart killed him.
Hearing my father groan, I ran over. His hand clutched at his chest. His face was covered in sweat.
“Dad, are you ok?”
“I’m fine,” he whispered and grasped my hand. “Take care of your mother. I’m sorry—” He coughed and spit up some blood. “I should’ve been more careful. I know better. But I wanted to show you the future.” His breath grew ragged. “You and your mom are the best thing that ever happened to me.”
I didn’t hear the police and ambulances arrive. Several EMT’s rushed over to my father and began working as my father’s hand slowly let go of mine. I looked over at my mother who was now on a stretcher but not moving, her eyes still closed.
One of the EMT’s working on my father put his hand on my shoulder and said “I’m sorry” in a strange accent.
Rushing over to my mother, Stewart stood beside her listening to that technician.
“It doesn’t look good. We have to get her to the hospital and operate. I’m not sure if she’ll survive the ride though.”
Hot tears streamed down my face. I felt lost. This had to be a bad dream. My mother’s eyes fluttered and I reached for her hand. She quickly squeezed it but there was no other sign she knew I was there.
As I climbed into the ambulance with her the steady beep of the machine changed to a high constant hum. No one needed to say anything. I lost them both.
***
Clearing my throat I composed myself again. Thinking about their deaths made me experience it all over again. Switching my focus to Deborah made me smile. I only wished she knew how special and talented she really was.
Yes, I should have told her I owned Hargrove’s, but I had nothing to do with the Annual Designer Challenge other than creating it in honor of my mother years ago. Had I known Deborah would get so upset, I would’ve done things differently.
Still, she overreacted. Once we got to France and she saw the surprises I had for her, I was sure all of this ridiculousness would be forgotten.
Chapter Thirteen
Deborah
Why couldn’t he have sat at the back of the plane? Sitting on the oversized leather plane seat, it didn’t matter how angry and hurt I was, every time I looked up I saw the back of Will’s stupid head and my anger subsided a little bit. He really didn’t do anything wrong, but he still should have told me. Now I needed a way out of showing my collection.
No way was I going to embarrass myself. I could just hear the whispers—well what do you expect, she’s screwing the owner. That was the last way I wanted to make a name for myself in the fashion industry.
This had to be the longest plane ride on the planet. I thought it was going to be bad before because of my excitement, now it was worse because I had no reason to be excited. I was a fraud now, before I had talent.
Sighing I pulled out the pad of paper I always carried with me and started sketching some ideas. I’d have to call the Hargrove buyer Amanda when I got to Paris and I was sure she’d fire me on the spot. Maybe I should just let Will take care of it. It was his fault anyway.
I peeked up to the front of the plane again, his dark brown hair looked even richer against the tan leather seat. It was official—I was crazy about him. I was still upset though.
***
We rode together in the limo to the Hotel Plaza Athenee in silence. Will wouldn’t even look at me which was fine, if he did I might want to kiss him. Besides, I really didn’t want to look at him either. Looking at him made it harder to stay angry with him for ruining my career.
But did he ruin my career? Was I being dramatic and blowing things out of proportion? Probably, but I couldn’t change how I felt or my reaction. There was nothing worse in my mind than getting so close to achieving a dream, only to find out you achieved nothing.
Paris was more beautiful than I ever imagined. I wondered if I would get time to tour some spots or if Hargrove’s would send me back immediately. Will certainly wasn’t saying anything, but he didn’t know I couldn’t show my collection.
As we pulled up in front of the hotel, I marveled at how pretty a building could look. With cascading flowers tumbling from window boxes and red awnings, the exterior was lovely enough. Noticing the curved stone of the balconies, the intricately carved window accents, and the scalloped awning above the entrance simply took my breath away.
“Follow me,” Will growled in my direction as we exited the limo.
Stewart directed the bellhop with our luggage while I followed Will like a puppy through revolving doors into the lobby. So in awe of everything around me it never occurred to me to question anything.