Unbearable Passion - Total Abandonment: Billionaire Erotica Romance (Unbearable Passion series Book 4) (5 page)

This is not going to be a pleasant conversation.

Chapter 5

I decide to bite the bullet and invite Ciara for breakfast. Since her calendar is so jam-packed, I have to wait three agonizing days until her assistant is able to find a spot for me. I don’t want to alarm her by letting her know that what I have to say is urgent, but since Bryce’s team has already started their investigation, I need to come clean with Ciara.

I think of meeting in neutral space, but I change my mind when I realize I’ll be airing my dirty laundry in front of Manhattan’s prying ears. Ciara suggests I come over her place so she can work from home after I leave.

“Good morning, Sof,” she cheers as she hugs me.

“Good morning, sis. How are you?”

“I’m doing great. A few members of my team are busy working with Bryce’s team to get the lighting sorted out in his new office. I think we’ve aced it”

Everything she touches turn to gold. She’s so successful and I don’t even think she knows how gifted and lucky she is. I had the illusion for a while I would become New York’s real estate queen, but that dream died quickly thanks to that fucking idiot. Now I find myself having to explain to my own sister why I became a high-class call girl.

“I had so much on the go, I decided to order our breakfast,” she says, as she guides me to her state-of-the-art kitchen.

“I love this kitchen. You did such a great job with the recent renovations,” I say.

“Yeah, I did okay,” she mocks.

Okay in Ciara’s world, means supremely well done for the rest of us. She seems to never falter… other than when it comes to matters of the heart.

“So you wanted to have breakfast and chat. I have a feeling this is not a casual chat or else we would have already discussed this over the phone.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than just a quick chat, Ciara,” I reply, as I sink my teeth into the homemade muffins she ordered.

“Call me psychic, but why do I have a feeling this has to do with Bryce?”

“Well, in some ways… okay, I’m lying. It has to do with Bryce.”

“Are you upset about the night we met? I know you didn’t approve of my white blouse, but I didn’t do anything wrong and for the record, I was wearing a bra.”

“Calm down, Ciara. It has nothing to do with what you were wearing the first night you met Bryce.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry I brought this up, but I never know with you and men. I know you keep getting upset at me when you introduce me to your boyfriends and they like me a little too much. It’s not as if I’m forcing their hand or anything like that. Not to mention we have very different taste in men.”

“I’m not here to talk about my ex-boyfriends, Ciara,” I reply, annoyed. She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t see the effect she has on men. She’s totally oblivious to her own sultry beauty.

“So what’s on your mind then?”

“I want to explain how Bryce and I came to work together.”

I swallow and look out the window. This is harder than I thought it was going to be.

“Ci.” My gaze finds my sister’s again. “Do you remember that after Brad Keller ran off with my money I had to take a waitressing job?”

“I remember, but you got fired because of a creep who tried to grab your ass,” she says, shaking her head, as she rolls her eyes.

“Exactly. Well, I needed money fast after that, so I reached out to Cassandra, who used to work for me. I’d noticed a few very expensive designer bags on her arm that she wasn’t getting from the salary I was paying her. I figured she had a well-paid part-time job.”

“I don’t follow, Sofia.”

Come on, say it.

“Cassandra works for an exclusive escort agency here in New York and she was able to find me a position there. My first client, and only man I was paid to have sex with, is Bryce.”

“Escort? Paid for sex? You? My sister?” Ciara shakes her head in disbelief. “Is this a joke? Please tell me this is not how you met Bryce. I mean, you accepted money in exchange of sex instead of coming to me for help? I can’t believe this.” She folds her arms over her chest, shakes her head again and storms out of the kitchen.

I’m so paralyzed with fear that my revelation could end my relationship with my sister that I’m unable to move or speak. I simply sit there playing with my cuticles as if they are the most fascinating things on the planet.

She finally comes back in the room and she sits next to me. Her eyes soften when they find mine, and I start crying.

“Sof, I’m sorry. I can’t believe what you just told me. I guess I’m angry because you went to Cassandra for help instead of reaching out to me. I’m your sister and I would have helped.”

“I didn’t know how to come to my little sister who is so successful and so perfect in every way. I mean everything you touch turns to gold. It’s not quite like that for me. I seriously wonder sometimes how we ended up being sisters because I’ll never be as successful as you.” I nearly yell those words as tears roll down my face.

She squeezes my hand to calm me down.

Breathe. Calm down. Just breathe.

“I’m not perfect, Sofia, far from it. I’m not sure what makes you feel this way, but I can assure you that when I look at my life I don’t see it as perfect at all. I have a lot of things to be grateful for, but like everyone else, I have my challenges and insecurities.”

Did she say she has insecurities? About what?

“You’ve always been able to stand on your two feet since you were a toddler,” I say. “It took me years to be able to walk on my own. Mom keeps saying I crawled for years, but you were running the minute you came out of her womb. I’ve always seen you as invincible and I’m sure if you were faced with my situation you would have hustled your way out of it. You would never have stooped so low as become a vulgar call girl.”

“Vulgar call girl? Is that how you see yourself? You did what you had to do to survive. I don’t know about you, but Bryce was a great price to pay. Without this stint as a so-called vulgar call girl, you would never have met him and I can tell you from what I witnessed during our first meeting—he really loves you.”

“I think he does,” I confess.

We lock eyes for a moment as I take in what she’s just revealed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it that way. I’ve been carrying this shame inside me since Bryce hired me. I guess you’re right, without this job, I would have missed out on meeting the love of my life.

“You’re not angry at me or disappointed about my decision?” I ask hesitantly as I wipe my face with the back of my hands.

“I’m shocked and a bit upset you didn’t come to me first, but no. You took responsibility for your life.”

“I’m so relieved,” I reply as I jump into her arms to hug her. 

“I hope you feel better now. You looked so stiff and uncomfortable when you arrived.”

“I feel so much closer to you than ever before. I’m such an idiot and I can’t believe I doubted our bond as sisters.”

“Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“Oh, no. Gosh. The reason I needed to tell you about how I met Bryce is because he’s going after Brad Keller. Bryce has a team in place and they’ll track down the bastard and bring him to justice. I’m crossing my fingers that I can get back the money he stole from me.”

“What? Bryce is going after Brad Keller and he thinks he can find the weasel?”

“Bryce has a high-end Internet security company that protects their high-stakes clients’ online reputation. He knows how to track hackers and cyber bad guys, so I guess Brad Keller must be a walk in the park compared to a nineteen-year-old Bulgarian hacker.”

“I hope you can put this nightmare behind you soon,” she replies, hugging me.

“I do hope so, Ciara. I have to go now, but I didn’t want to wait any longer before telling you about how Bryce and I really met.”

“You did good, Sofia,” she says, as she extends her arms and holds my gaze.

“What do you mean?”

“Bryce. He’s gorgeous, smart, rich, totally fuckable and he adores you. What a perfect mix. You nailed it, sis!”

“You have such a way of putting things.” I roll my eyes at her as I laugh at her sense of humor and her unique approach to life.

“You deserve it. You caught the uncatchable.”

I’m still crying when I get into my car. They are tears of relief more than anything else, but I just can’t seem to stop. I was so afraid I’d end up losing Ciara. It never occurred to me she’d take it so well.

I guess I didn’t know my sister as well as I thought.

I’m about to drive off when my phone rings. I pick up immediately when I see it’s Bryce calling.

“We have some explosive information on your Brad Keller. Where are you and how fast can you get to my office?” He’s so commanding and self-assured. I secretly love that about him.

“I’m leaving Ciara’s now. I can be at your office in about forty-five minutes. I don’t know how much traffic I’ll hit at this time since it’s only nine thirty.”

“Of course, I forgot about your meeting with your sister. Does she hate me? Are you ladies still on speaking terms?”

“We’re still speaking. She took the news well. I mean, she was supportive and didn’t judge me. I thought she was going to hate me for my actions, but she was so warm and understanding.”

“I’m glad everything is out in the open now. You seemed so troubled when Cassandra left.”

“Troubled is an understatement. Ciara has never failed at anything—or she’s never admitted to failing—so I see her as invincible. She’s like a modern Superwoman. Business savvy like the creator of Spanx, smart like a Harvard graduate, the looks of the most beautiful Hollywood star and the body of a supermodel. She said she doesn’t see herself that way and she doesn’t think she’s perfect, which made her sound so much more human and less goddess-like.”

“I’ve told you many time you have an exaggerated view of your sister. She’s human just like the rest of us. She’s not perfect and I’m happy you now know what the rest of world knows,” he says, amused by my recent discovery.

“I guess I’m a slow learner,” I reply with a faint smile.

“That’s behind you now. It’s a good thing because you’re going to need all the support you can get to deal with Brad Keller.”

***

My stomach is tied in a knot the entire drive to Bryce’s office. What has his team uncovered?

The traffic is horrendous and it takes me much longer than I had anticipated getting to his Brooklyn office.

“Good morning, Ms. Herrera. Let me tell Mr. Van Der Linden you’ve arrived.”

Bryce has the most polite receptionist I had ever met in my life. She’s so patient and so caring. I love how she calls him Mr. Van Der Linden.

“There she is,” Bryce says as he approaches me. “Please follow me. The team is ready to brief you. But before we go into the meeting, do you want a coffee? Miriam can make you a latte,” he says in such a tempting way that it’s impossible to resist.

“I’d never say no to a latte.”

“Excellent. Miriam, bring it to the Stockholm meeting room.”

They’ve named all their meeting rooms after international cities. It was a company-wide decision and the cities that got the most votes found their way on walls of the Linden Corp New York headquarters.

“Our client has arrived,” he announces, as we enter the room. He pulls out a chair and grabs my handbag to allow me to get comfortable. He sits at the other end of the conference table.

“Let’s get this show on the road. Misty, since you’re heading this, why don’t you start,” he orders.

Misty gets up, turns on the projector and clears her voice before starting to speak. She shares facts and data for nearly an hour uninterrupted. A few other team members jump in as well to emphasize certain key points. The only distraction is from Miriam who arrives with coffees and snacks. Bryce is a bit obsessed with healthy eating and he makes certain his entire team follows in his footsteps by having catered food each day to feed his staff.

“For now, we’re still tracking his activities in New York. The interesting thing is that until three years ago, there’s no trace of a Brad Keller attached to the social security and other personal information he used,” Misty reveals.

“What do you mean, there’s no trace of him?”

“It’s quite obvious he’s not from New York, but we haven’t yet been able to trace his roots. He could be Canadian or maybe British with a name like Keller, but it’s certain he’s not a born New Yorker.”

“I don’t get it. He’s always said there was no place like New York. From my understanding and from his stories, he’s always lived here his entire life and he couldn’t see himself living anywhere else.”

“I think he was trying to win you over or dupe you because the trail we’ve been following is cold. We can’t find a Brad Keller who matches any of the details you’ve given us in the state of New York. We’ve sent his details and photos back to our Silicon Valley office and our team there will do some more digging. That said, we’ll find him. It might take us a bit more time, but we’ll catch him.” Misty says this with a sparkle in her eye. She obviously loves the chase.

“Well, I don’t know how to thank you for all this work. I’m so grateful.”

“We don’t have a choice, he’s forcing us to do this.” Dieter, a senior code cracker, as Bryce likes to call him, chimes in and allows all of us to have a good laugh.

By the time the meeting is done, it’s already one o’clock and Bryce’s team is headed to the cafeteria for the lunch. I take it as my cue to get back home.

“To celebrate the quick progress the team is making, let’s meet at my new place. My home is finally ready and I want you to come over to see it. Instead of going out, let’s stay in. My housekeeper has the whole place ready, including prepared meals and amazing bottles of wine ready for the taking,” he suggests, as he walks me all the way to my car. “Leave your car at your place, I’ll have a car pick up you at seven o’clock. That should give me plenty of time to get home on time.”

“That sounds like a great idea to me.”