Ruined: Loving An Alpha Male(76)

“So, a part of me wanted that, but I didn’t think I would get it. Diane gave me something close to it. She was strong and driven to be a wife of someone prominent. She wanted what her dad provided to her mom and her—stability and longevity. They were living the high life, and she wanted to be with someone that would sustain what she was used to having. She knew she had to be a strong woman for whomever she found, so she worked on that. Well, she was my rock in the beginning. I mean, she organized paperwork for the sales of businesses I acquired. She motivated me when I wanted to quit. She even did research on other companies that would bring me enormous profits. She kept my secret, which is high on my list. I mean loyalty is everything to me.”

“Well, she sounds like she was everything you needed,” she replied, without an ounce of malice in her voice.

I nodded.

“Yeah, you would think. But again, loyalty is everything, and she decided to break that loyalty. Diane’s father was someone I wanted on my side. He was very successful and knew his way around attacking a company that was dead in the water or about to be. He had a way of gutting a company and then rebuilding for a profit. So you remember I told you that I created a fictitious person that worked for my father. Well, this said person went to meetings and tried to get Diane’s father to help me. Well, instead he fucked me over, and so did his daughter. We were going after the same company, but I had the inside edge. I was going to make a huge profit, but instead, he took the merger out from under me, and I lost everything. I had to start all over again to gain trust of men that lost faith in me. I lost my money, as well as the investments of others. I had to promise the moon in order to just put my head above water, and it took me a year to do it. I had to do a lot of groveling.”

She studied me in the darkness, and I saw recognition in her eyes.

She said softly, “Bernstein?”

I nodded. “Yup. Diane told her father what I stood to gain from acquiring this company, and she felt as though her father had more to lose than I did. She said I was young and could rebuild, but it would be harder for her father to recover. He could have lost everything, and she was right. His dumb ass put everything he owed into this deal, and I was smart enough not to do that. So yeah, she was right. But she still burned me.”

“So how did you get even…because I know that you did?” she asked.

I closed my eyes and went back to the very day I did get even.

I looked at her and then said, “Well, my father finally found out it was me all that time making the company and myself a shit load of money. Bernstein was amongst those in the room. He told my father what happened a year earlier, and they both laughed at my expense. My father then began to tell me how foolish I was and that I couldn’t possibly make it in the industry. He called me a fucking idiot and a failure. So…”

“You snatched his company right from under him,” she finished.

“Yes, and each and every time, for almost two years, I stole acquisitions from Bernstein every chance I got. I didn’t care if I was overseas or not. When I got wind of a company he was going after, I made it my life’s mission to take it from him.”

“So, whatever happened to Diane? You said you didn’t blame her for looking out for her father.”

“And I don’t. But, as I said, it’s all about loyalty. And my wife, no matter what, wouldn’t backstab me. We would come to some common ground or something, but I will not stand by and let her put a knife in my back. So I told her it was over and went and joined the military. I felt my rage and desire for revenge taking over me. I needed to get away and focus on something else, or I would one day end up like my father.”

Maxine sat up and stretched her leg over my hip to straddle me. I sat up a little in the lounge chair, so we met eye to eye. She placed her hands on each side of my face and rubbed her thumb along my cheek.

“Mason, I don’t know where this relationship is going. But I hope you will put that kind of faith in me, knowing I would never backstab you or be disloyal.”

I stared in her eyes for a long time, searching for the truth and knowing it was staring right back at me. I dragged my hands up her hips, up to her back, and up to where my hands rested on the side of her beautiful face. I pulled her close to me and kissed her softly. I wanted to deepen the kiss. But knew if I did that I wouldn’t be able to stop.

She pulled back and looked in my eyes.

She said softly, “Didn’t you promise me a tour of the bottom deck?”

I was confused at first, until I remembered what was below deck: bedrooms. I smiled.

“Yes I did, and you know I do keep my promises.”