Why was he so obsessed with protecting this lovely young woman he’d met in a bridal suite at his hotel? Sometimes life just didn’t make sense. Every waking moment, he thought about Olivia these past forty-eight hours. She had no idea how much she consumed his thoughts. Was his old man really serious about disinheriting the boys if they didn’t hurry up and get hitched before it was too late—within one year? Dane couldn’t be too sure. All he knew was that he wanted to make sure Olivia was safe from harm and could get on with her life after her heartbreak.
Then…he’d help Olivia find a place to stay. And they’d be both on their way—their separate ways.
No matter what his body was telling him—his mind was advising to forget even thinking of starting anything with Olivia. And for once, he’d have to follow his mind.
Chapter 11
This was unlike any other New Year’s celebration Olivia had experienced. The fireworks at Belmont Palace were spectacular but nothing compared to the fireworks in her heart, exploding at the feel of Dane’s arms around her waist as he squeezed her lovingly on the balcony of the estate while Auld Lang Syne played over the sound system.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot in the name of auld lang syne
“You know, I never fully understood the significance of the song until now,” she said to Dane, a glass of Romero champagne in her hand, as everyone’s cheers drowned out the music.
“What do you mean?” Dane queried.
“I always thought the song meant to forget the past and move forward but I think it means to not forget old friends or something like that…Either way, it’s not that easy for me right now.”
“I know. You’ve been through hell and back, Olivia. No one expects you to just forget everything so easily. And you want to know something?”
“What?”
“You’re a strong woman, emotionally and in every way. I admire you for that.”
Once more his words struck a sweet chord in Olivia’s heart.
“Thank you,” she said. “But I don’t feel so strong right now.”
“But you are. Not many people could have gone through all that you’ve been through in the past week and still stand tall. You still even have your wits about you. You’re warm and funny and beautiful.”
“Thank you, Dane. You really know how to make a woman feel special.”
“That’s easy with you, Olivia. You are special.”
She was supposed to have welcomed in the New Year with Jack and spent Christmas with him, too. Instead, she’d spent these special occasions with the man who was emotionally there for her following Jack’s fatal accident. How could she ever repay him?
“What’s on your mind?” Dane asked.
Olivia’s eyes sparkled as she stood on the balcony. “How fortunate I am to be here with you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Why? Don’t you believe me?”
“Your brows are wrinkled. I thought you were having sad thoughts.”
She was but she didn’t want to spoil the mood. She was thinking of the mistakes she’d made with Jack. And how much Dane only wanted to be her friend. Nothing more. That darn ex of his, Sophie. She really wanted to be with Dane more than anything but Olivia understood his allergic reaction to rebound relationships.
* * *
Two weeks later, Olivia sat on the balcony of her guest room at the Belmont Palace gazing out at the great lake that extended into the horizon for miles. The water seemed so blue today—much like her mood.
It had been three weeks since Jack’s tragic accident, and Dane was busy keeping her at a safe distance from his heart while working at the hotel.
Despite the luxurious surroundings, Olivia spent most of her time at the Belmont estate feeling as if she was under the witness protection program. But some cowardly thug was out there making threats against her. The text messages kept coming and as instructed by Dane’s people she did not try to meet with these criminals to pay off Jack’s debt. Olivia had learnt, via JoJo, the extent of Jack’s problems.
Before his death, Jack was a heavy gambler.
Olivia couldn’t get her head around it. She knew he gambled a bit on the side, but she didn’t know the full extent of his addiction.
“It seems like Jack owed a few loan sharks,” JoJo reported to her when she’d spoken with him a couple weeks earlier. The memory of that conversation haunted her.
“A few loan sharks?” she repeated.
“Yeah. I’m sorry to have to bring this to you. I know it can be a shock when loved ones find out their significant others have been lying to them.”
“Are you sure about that?”
JoJo had nodded. “My guys on the circuit mentioned he had built quite a rep out there. He owed casino debts too. And those guys don’t play. Unlike debt collection agencies, some casinos don’t have to abide by regulations under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.”
“This is unbelievable. Where did Jack have time to do all this? He was studying law.”
JoJo delivered news that smashed her heart to pieces. “Actually, sorry to tell you this, ma’am, but your ex-fiancé hadn’t passed his exam.”
“What?”
“And he’d apparently lost his scholarship monies to paying off a debtor. He was in real deep, Olivia. I know this is a shock to you, but I see it all the time in my line of work. Wives thinking their husbands are cheating on them when they’re cheating financially. It’s a bad addiction. An illness that destroys lives…”
“And I never saw it coming,” she’d said, completely heartbroken.
“Most addicts are good at deceiving those close to them. Please don’t blame yourself.”
How could she not help but feel terrible? Jack owed on student loans, gambling debts and he’d cleaned out her account, she found out later.
“The reason why he’d cancelled the wedding at the last minute was…well, they’d sent him this message:
Jack, you can’t hide. We know you’re getting married at the Belmont on Christmas Day. You’d better pay up in full or you and the Mrs. are going to have a wedding you’ll never forget.
When Olivia read the message, her heart exploded in her chest.
The words in that horrible text message found on Jack’s cell phone cloud storage had haunted her ever since. She was thankful Dane was there when JoJo delivered his report so far to her. She didn’t know if she could even have handled it emotionally.
So that was the real reason for his cold feet; the thugs he’d owed money to were going to crash their wedding anyway.
Olivia tried to squash the thought out of her mind of the possible scenario that would have taken place. It would have been far worse than what Jack had done to her. Their lives could have been in grave danger.
Those creeps didn’t mess around. Oh, what had Jack gotten himself into? And dragged her into? The loan sharks had threatened to end his wedding so he was going to skip town and leave her to handle the fallout.
“Jack borrowed $27,000 from one shark and his debt became $150,000 with unlawfully high interest in a short span of time.”
“So what’s going to happen now?”
“We’re still investigating,” JoJo told her and Dane. “As soon as we come up with more leads, we’ll let you know. But we’re sure it’s coming from one of those loan gangsters.”
Olivia had been on edge ever since that conversation. And whenever her phone pinged, her heartbeat escalated. It would usually end up being a text from her sister. So that’s why Jack had been nervous around her when they went out, looking over his shoulder every so often. JoJo also told Olivia that he’d gotten more threats before his death. And even gotten into a scuffle with one of the thugs outside of one of his night classes. Jack told Olivia he’d cut his lip after falling off his bike. Now she knew differently.
God, she felt betrayed, used, duped.
If it weren’t for Dane, she’d have given up on thinking that good men existed in the world. Unfortunately, Dane was keeping his distance—only occasionally accompanying her on beach walks, which was driving her up the wall. There was something about him that drew her to him. She just couldn’t get enough of him. Sparks fired inside Olivia whenever Dane brushed her skin as they walked along the shore in the mild January they were having.
In all fairness to him, the hotel had been quite busy hosting a string of A-list celebrities. This was no time for Dane to be absent as the general manager, especially since he was also an heir to the grand hotel.
Olivia had spoken to her boss at the intake department of social services and she was ready to go back to work. It would give her something to do—she loved providing support to her clients. She looked forward to going on home visits, helping applicants fill out forms and apply for the help they needed. Helping others through their own problems was a much-needed way to put the focus on others and away from her own problems. Sadly, now she could relate to having uncertainty over where to live. She appreciated Dane’s wonderful hospitality, but she was an independent woman. She would leave Belmont Palace as soon as she found a new, affordable apartment in the city. But she would dwell on that later.