"I'll wait for you, baby. Okay? And don’t worry about the business..." I cringed as he said it, because I hadn't even thought of that until now. Brandon's money moved mountains with my bakery. If he pulled out because I dumped him, how would I manage to fulfill orders for that fundraiser? "You just have the space you need. Take as long as you need, alright? I'll be here."
New shame and dread flooded me as I pulled my arm away from him and walked out his door. "Goodbye, Brandon," I mumbled, feeling fresh tears well up now that my back was to him.
I slunk down to my car and climbed in, sitting behind the wheel crying.
But I wasn't crying because of the breakup. I was ready for that. Anger masked most of the feelings of heartbreak or loneliness, and probably would for some time.
However, I never took into account how a breakup would affect my future. I had an order of a few thousand cupcakes to prepare in less than two months' time for a fundraiser. Brandon had encouraged me to donate, saying it would boost the bakery's visibility. He pledged to donate everything I needed to see it through, so I made the commitment to the fundraiser, and now I didn't know what to do.
If Brandon backed out because I split up with him, how would I finish the orders? My parents weren't the sort of people who had extra money lying around, and even if they did, they’d just spent it on a wedding I ran out on. I had no other way to secure capital.
My bakery could go under.
And I blamed it all on Brandon.
9
KADE
My parents' month-long trip to Europe couldn’t have happened at a better time. With them out of the country and off my back, I'd had the luxury of not just finding Lainey Rowan without more interference from them, but Mr. Price had a lot more detail on her life, too.
Today's meeting, hosted at his upscale offices just two blocks off the strip, was aimed at making an actionable plan on how to move forward. After a few discussions over the past five weeks, we both agreed that me going to Laine personally to ask for the annulment would be better than simply sending papers. I got myself into this mess by being overly personal, so it was the only way out.
"But like, what is her family like?" My questions, aimed at helping me frame this annulment in a way that didn't trigger her to lash out publicly, had dug me into a hole I wasn’t very fond of.
"Well, Kade," Mr. Price said, scowling at his computer screen. "It appears her family is middle class, probably on the lower end.They're not well off, and they definitely didn't send her to an Ivy League school."
The more I learned about her—not a graduate, owned her own bakery, grew up in a poor neighborhood—the more the evidence for her being a gold digger stacked up. At least, in my lawyer's eyes. He was convinced Lainey had come after me with the intent to rob me blind. But my argument still held. If she wanted my money, why hadn't she said anything in five weeks? Not to a news outlet, not on her social media...
"Yeah, but I mean, what do we know about her family..." I didn't even know what I was asking, honestly. I just felt ill-prepared for a visit next week when my parents got back from overseas to prove I was taking this seriously.
"They can't pump money into her bakery is what I'm saying. She has a younger brother who plays football—star of his team, or so it seems. A younger sister, still in college. And Dad is close to retirement." He sighed and looked over the rim of his glasses at me. "That bakery of hers is barely moving funds. Her bank records show some massive deposits being made to save the business, but not from investors."
"Who then?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. I sat forward and pushed my empty coffee mug away from the corner of his desk, but leaning forward like this put the sun in my eyes. So I leaned back again and studied his face.
"Ms. Rowan is getting her money from Mr. Brandon Hollis and his parents. They had a marriage license issued several months back, but since then you married her, so?—"
"The douche," I grunted, realizing Lainey's ex was funding her dreams. I wondered how she was handling that now that henuked their relationship, but Daniel Price wouldn't have that level of personal information. That was the sort of thing I'd have to ask when I saw her. And it was also the sort of thing that would keep me as hooked on her as I'd been since the minute she vanished from my bed.
"Pardon?" he asked, taking his glasses off.
"So her ex is giving her money? What happens if he bails?" With Lainey's family unable to support her business, it didn't bode well for her. Which didn't bode well for anyone's opinion of her in relationship with me.
Paparazzi would spin it the same way Price and my parents had—that Lainey came after me for money. But it just made no sense at all. She would've gone public and started pressing me if that were the case.
“Well, based on the financials our private investigator looked up, without those large cash deposits, she'd be out of business and unable to continue making product as soon as her current stock runs out." He sat back in his chair and studied me harshly, and he didn't have to say what I knew he was thinking.
A clean break from Lainey was what I needed to protect my reputation and my parents' fortune. I had lived my life up to this point without her, so it didn't matter that my obsession with her over the past month had grown. If I was a smart man I'd get out before she realized what power she had over me.
I stood, stretching my arms high over my head to arch my back and then yanked my shirt back into place as I leaned over his desk. "Get the papers ready this week. I'll go see her next week and get her to sign them." My fascination with Lainey was foolish. Everyone around me, even my dad's head of securitywho knew nothing, was warning me to keep her away from the family money and name. Still, that didn't make it easy to do.
She got to me somehow. Probably that sob story, or just the incredible sex, which I reimagined about three times a week while in the shower. But those feelings would fade to memory, and if my parents had their way they’d be marrying me off this time next year to another Paris Hilton wannabe.
Starting toward the door, I froze when he called my name.
"Kade, that’s not how that works."
I turned to glower at him. "How then?" I was so impatient with this whole thing at this point. I'd been dragging my feet because it was impossible to forget how she made me feel alive—more than just the sex too. But since it was obvious at this point I had to give up any thought of having her again, I just wanted it over with.
