Owner of a Broken Heart Read online

  “Who said he was hiding something? Your words, not mine. He very well could be hiding his association with Randall. You were probably just gravy. A plaything while he and Randall schemed to steal this property from Dad.”

  “And you have proof of this?”

  Alex shook her head. “Not yet. And he better hope that I never find proof of it. I’m just starting to like him and I don’t want that to change.”

  “Let it go, Alex. He wouldn’t have said he loved me if I was just gravy.” Nina refused to believe that Clinton was that underhanded and would try to rob the Richardsons of the business that the family had built from nothing.

  “Sometimes, I forget just how young you are,” Alex said. “You told him about Lamar, didn’t you? He knew what your weaknesses were and what he needed to say to get in your head and heart.”

  “You don’t trust anyone, do you?”

  Alex bit into her roll. “Obviously, you don’t trust him either. Otherwise, you’d be having dinner with him and not me.”

  Nina silently chewed her food and looked away from her sister. Was she right? Did Clinton have some other reason for claiming to love her?

  * * *

  Clinton wasn’t a violent man, but all evening he wanted to put his fist through a wall or, more appropriately, Randall Birmingham’s face. Somehow he had to get it through Birmingham’s head that he wasn’t going to assist him in his scheme to take over the bed-and-breakfast. It didn’t matter to him how many times Birmingham had helped him in the past, he wasn’t going to allow him to ruin his future.

  Even though Alex had been a lot nicer to him, Clinton knew she didn’t trust him completely, and if she got wind of Birmingham sniffing around him, she would blow a gasket.

  And Nina.

  What would she think? She would doubt everything that he’d ever said to her and question his love for her.

  Feeling like a caged tiger, Clinton paced the living room floor until he couldn’t stand being in his house anymore. He grabbed his jacket and his keys, then headed to Birmingham’s place. He hopped in his car and sped to North Charleston. Tonight, things were going to end with Birmingham, one way or another.

  When he arrived at Birmingham’s, he sat in the driveway, willing himself to calm down before he knocked on the front door. How many times had he come here in the past for dinner parties or to go over business plans? He thought that Birmingham was someone he could respect and admire, but the more he watched how Birmingham did business, the more he realized that he was a ruthless man who used people as pawns. This man never did anything to help someone without expecting something in return. Clinton couldn’t believe that he thought he’d be different.

  Clinton stalked to the wooden front door and banged on it with the fury of a SWAT team.

  The porch light flickered on and Birmingham snatched the door open. “Have you lost your damned mind?”

  Clinton grabbed Birmingham by the collar. “This ends now. I’m not going to let you bully me into helping you. I’m not helping you screw Sheldon Richardson over and I’m not going to let you hang what you’ve done for me in the past over my head any longer.” He pushed the older man against the door.

  “I should have you arrested for assault.” He rubbed his throat and then glared angrily at Clinton. “You will regret this.”

  “I won’t because I’m going to tell Sheldon everything,” Clinton snapped. “And then you’ll be exposed.”

  “I tried to tell your father that he was wrong about you, but he had you pegged all along. You’re soft. That’s why you couldn’t make it working for me. I was grooming you to—”

  “Be a cold bastard like you? How about you go to hell and take my father with you. You don’t give a damn about what that bed-and-breakfast means to the history of this city. Or how Sheldon Richardson paved the way for you. All you want is something shiny and new to call yours.”

  Birmingham laughed. “This ain’t got shit to do with Sheldon. It’s all about Nina Richardson, isn’t it? How is she going to look at you when she finds out that you were trying to steal her father’s business?”

  Grabbing Birmingham’s throat again, Clinton snarled at him. “Leave Nina out of this. No one is going to believe your lies. Let it go! This is over.” Clinton released Birmingham and stormed off the porch.

  “It’s not over and you’re going to pay for this!” Birmingham called out as Clinton started his car and peeled out of the driveway. Instead of heading home, Clinton went to the bed-and-breakfast to find Nina.

  Clinton knew that he had to tell her everything before Birmingham put his spin on what was going on. He stalked through the lobby, ignoring the desk clerk’s greeting, and headed for the family end of the B&B.

  As he approached the house, he tried to think of what he’d say to her and how he would make her understand that he wasn’t working with Birmingham and he had no intention of trying to steal Sheldon’s lifework. He knocked on the door and waited, hoping that Nina was inside.

  When she opened the door, dressed in a tank top and a pair of boy shorts, he almost forgot why he’d rushed over.

  “Clinton, I wasn’t expecting you,” she said, quickly wiping a spot of cream from her cheek. “What are you doing here?”

  “We need to talk,” he said, tearing his eyes away from her tantalizing body. “This afternoon, I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”

  Nina stepped aside to allow him to enter her room. “You shouldn’t have, but you did.”

  “I know. There’s something you should know about me: I don’t like to depend on other people. I can thank my father for that. He showed me when I was a little kid that people disappointed you. Every time I needed him to show me something about being a man, he ignored me. He showed me what not to do by cheating on my mother, staying out late, and sometimes slapping my mother around. I was a disappointment to my father because I didn’t play sports and I wanted to use my brain. But after my mother died, he needed me. Being a good son, I didn’t want to let him down.”

  “So,” Nina said, “you got involved with that guy to help out your father?”

  “I used to work for him. His name is Randall Birmingham and when I started working for him, I thought that he was going to be that father figure that I was looking for. At first, it seemed that way. I thought Birmingham was a straight-up type of guy. He gave me a lot of business advice and when he learned of my father’s plight, he offered to help. I just didn’t know his help had strings.”

  Nina sat on the edge of the sofa and looked up at Clinton. “What did he want you to do?”

  “Be his puppet,” he said. “Even my father wanted me to just fall in line with what Birmingham wanted. I paid my debt to the man and he still thinks that he can yank my chain.”

  “I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me this.” Nina slid over to give Clinton room to sit beside her. “Since we’re coming clean, I have something to confess too.”

  He closed his eyes and readied himself to hear something about her deciding to give Lamar another chance. “All right.”

  “Before I left Charlotte, Lamar said all of the things that I wanted to hear from him. For a spilt second, I nearly fell for it. But then, I thought about you and what we have. I thought about how honest you’ve been with me and how open you’ve been about your feelings. Then today, you said you loved me and I know you’re the man I want to love and grow with.” Nina stroked his cheek. “So, all of these outside people who want to play with our lives can kiss our asses.”

  Clinton leaned in and kissed her. “Thank you for understanding and being honest.”

  “Stay with me tonight? I just want you to hold me.”

  Clinton smiled. “Do you think Alex will approve?”

  Nina wrapped her arms around his neck. “Who cares what Alex thinks? We’ll just ask her to join us for breakfast.”

  * * *

  Sitting in her room, Alex was getting ready to turn in for the night when her phone rang. Thinking that it was Nina, she
started to ignore it. The last thing she wanted was to hear anything more about Clinton Jefferson. That man had rooted himself in the Richardson family. Still, she didn’t trust him completely. Especially after what Nina said had happened earlier in the day. Alex was willing to bet her beloved car that the man Clinton fought with was Randall Birmingham.

  “Yes?” she said when she finally picked up the phone.

  “Miss Richardson, this is Randall Birmingham.”

  Alex looked at the clock on her nightstand. “Why are you calling me so late and what the hell do you want?”

  “To set up a meeting with you. I have some information that you may find very interesting.”

  “Randall, you’re a liar and a thief, why would I want to meet with you?”

  He laughed, reminding Alex of a diabolical villain from a corny superhero movie. “At least you know who I am, but you have a faker in your midst.”

  “Is this about Clinton Jefferson?”

  “My protégé. You can think what you want to about me, but I believe in winning the right way, not by seduction and underhanded tricks. I think Clinton is taking things too far.”

  Alex gave Randall her full attention. “Do you have proof of this?”

  “I’ll give it to you when we meet. Let’s say at the café on the waterfront in the morning?”

  Son of a bitch, Alex thought as she agreed to meet with Randall. I knew you were up to something and now you’ve involved my sister in this. There will be hell to pay once I have the proof.

  Chapter 17

  Nina woke up in Clinton’s arms and wondered if she could spend every morning like this. She ran her finger down his jawbone and smiled. He loved her and she was growing to love him more and more with every passing moment. What they shared was more than sexual and more than the shell of a relationship she thought she’d had with Lamar. Nina knew Clinton respected her as much as he loved her. His desire for her was born from something more than lust and she craved every moment they shared together.

  Nina had left Charleston to make a name for herself out of her family’s shadow but now, she’d be willing to move back and make a life with Clinton. It wasn’t as if she’d be giving up her career. She traveled a lot anyway. Nina could just as easily make Charleston her home base as she had Charlotte.

  “Good morning,” she said when he opened his eyes.

  “It certainly is,” he replied, then kissed her on the cheek. “But any morning with you in my arms is good.”

  “I like the sound of that. Maybe we should do this more often.”

  “How about forever?”

  “Umm, that sounds good to me,” she said. Clinton rolled over and covered her with his body.

  “I’m going to hold you to that. Now that we have all of the unpleasantness out of the way we can move on with our lives, even if you do live a few hours away.”

  “That could change. After the Super Bowl I usually take a few months off. Now I can spend that time with you.” She kissed him on the chin. “How many times can I go to the Pro Bowl anyway?”

  “I don’t want you to think you have to come back here for me. Your life doesn’t have to change because we’re together,” he said.

  “It won’t. But I can get used to being with you like this and more than just on the weekends.”

  “And if we were to get married, where would we live?”

  Nina shrugged. “I love your house in Summerville. It’s quiet and away from my sister and father.”

  “What about your place in Charlotte? It’s so urban chic. I can’t see you giving it up for life in the country.”

  “I’m from the country,” she ribbed. “We can split our time here and there. But we have plenty of time to figure this all out. It’s not like you’re proposing.”

  “Not yet, anyway,” Clinton said. “Ready for breakfast?”

  “Yeah, but not from downstairs. I want you on a platter,” she seductively whispered.

  * * *

  Alex crossed her legs as she sat at a table in the corner of the café. Randall was late and she was two seconds from leaving. Proof or no proof, that scumbag had some nerve keeping her waiting.

  “More coffee?” the waiter asked as he appeared at the table.

  “Y—”

  “Coffee and cinnamon buns,” Randall said. “Sorry for keeping you waiting, Miss Richardson.” He dropped a file folder on the table. “Here is the proof that you need.”

  Alex picked up the folder and flipped through its contents. There were e-mails to Randall from Clinton detailing his job at the bed-and-breakfast, his relationship with Nina, and requests for payment.

  She rose to her feet and left without saying good-bye to Randall. Filled with anger and steam, she got into her car and dialed her father’s cell phone number.

  “This is Sheldon.”

  “Daddy, it’s Alex. Remember how I told you Clinton Jefferson wasn’t all that he was cracked up to be? Now I have evidence to back that up.”

  “Alex, I thought you’d gotten past this anger and distrust you had of him,” he said with a sigh.

  “Daddy, I just met with Randall Birmingham. Clinton has been feeding him information about our company and being with Nina to get in good with the family.”

  “What? I’ll be there in a few hours. Don’t say a word to Clinton until I get there. I told him not to hurt my baby. I could give a damn about him trying to steal my company, but no one hurts my daughters,” Sheldon spat.

  “I’ll wait for you at the bed-and-breakfast,” Alex said, then hung up with her father.

  * * *

  Nina and Clinton crept into his office where he kept a second set of clothes. He had on a plush robe and Nina wasn’t dressed much better in a short cotton skirt and a white tank top.

  “If Alex saw you now, she’d freak,” Nina laughed once they were inside the office.

  “No, if Alex saw what I did to her baby sister she would freak.” Clinton pinched her ample bottom and grinned.

  “She hasn’t moved you out of this closet yet?” Nina asked as she perched on the edge of the desk. “I’m sure she just put you here so that she could keep an eye on you.”

  “Well, I guess she still doesn’t trust me.”

  Nina rolled her eyes. “I do. Alex can be a bit anal. But she’ll see as soon as you tell her about Birmingham and what he was trying to do.”

  Clinton slipped his jeans on and turned to Nina and cupped her face in his hands. “Thank you for believing in me. You know that I would never do anything to hurt you or your family. When your father and Alex know that Birmingham is coming after them, they will know how to stop him and I’m going to do all I can to help.”

  “Who knew that the world of hospitality was so cutthroat? So, why does this guy want this place? Doesn’t he own a lot of properties?”

  “He wants what he can’t have,” Clinton said as he slipped a T-shirt over his head. “The Richardson Bed and Breakfast is iconic. He was nice to me even though he turned me down and I knew I had to work for him. He’s an amazing man and has an amazing daughter.” Clinton leaned in and kissed her lips gently. “Guess we missed breakfast, huh?”

  Nina glanced at the clock on the wall. “Looks that way. But if we eat now, we can call it brunch.”

  “Then we can have an even later dinner?” he said as he pulled her off the desk and into his arms. Just as he was about to kiss her, they heard Alex’s office door open.

  “God, does she ever take a day off?” Nina said.

  Through the door, she heard her father curse loudly.

  “Wow, your father sounds mad for a Sunday.”

  “I know and this is unlike him. Maybe we ought to see what’s going on.” She flung the door open. “Daddy?”

  “Nina,” Sheldon said. “What are you doing here?” His brow was furrowed and his jaw clenched tightly as he looked at Clinton. “I need to see you.”

  “Yes, sir,” Clinton said as he followed Sheldon into Alex’s office. Nina slipped in unseen.


  She stood by the half-open door and listened.

  “So, you were working for Birmingham this entire time?” Sheldon said in a calm voice that belied his rage.

  “No, not at all. He approached me to do some underhanded stuff but I didn’t.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Alex railed as she opened a folder. “Here are your e-mails and canceled checks that Randall wrote to you.”

  “Alex, this isn’t what it seems.”

  “Shut up!” Sheldon yelled. “I don’t care about you feeding secrets to him because I run this business just like any other property, but for you to use my daughter—”

  “Use your daughter? Mr. Richardson, I have not—”

  “What are you talking about, Daddy?” Nina asked.

  Everyone turned and looked at her. “I didn’t want you to find out like this. But he’s been using you, Nina. It’s all been a lie,” Alex said.

  “No,” Nina said, shaking her head. “You’re wrong. Clinton wasn’t working for that man. He told me everything about what—”

  Alex crossed over to Nina with the canceled checks. “It’s true, Sis. I really wanted him to be everything that he said he was.”

  Tears welled up in Nina’s eyes as she looked at the checks and the dates on them. Turning to Clinton she shook her head. “You liar!”

  “Nina, no, you know that—”

  She slapped him as hard as she could. “Go to hell!” She ran out of the office with tears streaming down her face. Once again, she’d been fooled by a man who was supposed to love her. How could Clinton do this to her and her family? She’d believed his story about not wanting to hurt or deceive her family and she believed him when he said that he loved her.

  “How could I have been so stupid?” she exclaimed as she slammed into her room. But she knew that she was going to get the hell out of Charleston. There was no way she could stand for her father’s pity or Alex’s silent I’m-sorry-but-I told-you-so looks every time she turned around. But most of all, she didn’t want to hear any more of Clinton’s lies. She didn’t want to be reminded of how sweet his kisses were or how he made her feel when he touched her and made love to her. It was all a lie, a joke, and a part of a plan to steal the bed-and-breakfast.