Blackmailed into the Billionaire's Bed(33)
He patted her stomach with the palm of his hand. “Yeah. I had a shitty start in life all right, and I certainly wasn’t dealt the best hand, but yeah, I’m proud of what I’ve achieved.”
Sensing his mood had lightened slightly and wanting to see him smile once more, Kendall gave him a nudge in the ribs with her elbow. “Don’t let your head get too big, Mr. Boss Man, or you won’t fit through the door.”
He nudged her right back. “Too late for that, honey,” he joked.
“Anyway, you’ve got me intrigued now. So how did that skinny kid from the children’s home go on to become the legendary Mac Buchanan?”
“Well.” He pulled her across to him, so her head rested on his shoulder. “It got worse before it got better.”
“Oh, no. Give me some good news.”
“Between the ages of ten and fourteen I had three different sets of foster parents.”
“Go on. I’m guessing it didn’t end well.”
“You got it in one. They were great people who tried their very best to help me, but I was just too opinionated and headstrong for them to deal with. I had a lot of anger swilling around inside me way back then, Kendall. Unsurprising really. Maybe it was my upbringing, or maybe I was just a surly teenager who didn’t like being told what to do. I liked to think it was this. Anyway, the end result meant I was sent to yet another children’s home, this one worse than any of the others. What a great way for a kid to celebrate his fifteenth birthday.”
She fanned a hand in front of her face. “Well, for all its problems, you could never say your early life was boring. My childhood was uneventful by comparison.”
“Your parents indulged your every whim, I reckon.”
She did her best to appear coy. “Hmm, not every whim. Anyway, we’re not talking about me. Go on, Mac, I eagerly await the next installment of your life.”
He looked at her long and hard. “The show’s over for today, honey. I’ve already said too much. It’s your turn to cleanse your soul.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean.” All of a sudden, his demeanor seemed stern and uncompromising. “Who the hell is this Karl guy? You didn’t think I’d forgotten already, did you?”
Feeling cornered and outwitted by Mac’s strategy of opening up to her and then expecting her to do the same, she fluffed and fumbled her words. “I’m sorry I just can’t tell you. I–I–I can’t—”
His beautiful silver gray eyes narrowed on her, but not in a benevolent way. “And who the hell is Ashley?”
“I–I–I need to go to the bathroom.”
He gripped her forearm hard, his fingers digging into her flesh. “You’re staying right here, lady.”
“Let go of me.”
“Not until you tell me who Ashley is.”
She shook her head violently. “No. No, I can’t.”
Chapter Nine
As Kendall lay on a sun lounger by the pool, her nose buried in a trashy novel by some talentless author he’d never heard of, Mac couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Four days ago he’d deliberately opened up to her, revealing his childhood in painful detail in an attempt to encourage her to reciprocate.
The night of the great storm had been an eye-opener, and he’d clearly heard the names Ashley and Karl shriek from her lips as she’d wailed helplessly into the angry sky. Such was her anxiety, she’d shouted loud enough to drown out the thunder and lightning that had flashed and grumbled high above her. When she’d screamed the name Ashley, her voice had been laced with compassion and concern. Conversely, when he heard the name Karl, she’d been unable to hide the sheer hatred she felt for the guy.
Even now, he could still hear those bitterly spoken words ringing in his ears. Let her go. Burn in hell, Karl. You fucking sick bastard. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.
Mac’s efforts to get to the heart of the matter had been forceful. However he’d stopped short of putting her over his knee and spanking her bare ass as a way of making her tell him the truth. He’d used this age-old method of encouragement many times before, and to good effect, but on this occasion he felt it would have been futile. Kendall’s fears were far greater than that of any ass whipping he could give her.
He couldn’t help thinking she was keeping her silence in order to protect this Ashley character. Was she a friend, and this Karl guy, whoever he was, was he harming, threatening, or possibly blackmailing her in some way? It frustrated him because he knew he was so near yet so far from the truth. Anyway, he’d passed on the two names to his private detective Frank Carrell. Maybe they’d be of some use to him. Who knew? Because he sure as hell didn’t.