Page 9 of Damaged Billionaire Daddy (The Lanes Series #1)

Chapter nine

Kandis

“So, you do want to be with him?” Clara was sitting on my bed with covers wrapped around her body, and I don’t think I’d ever seen anyone look so confused.

It was like she was watching a complicated television show, although I wouldn’t go as far to say that Richie and I were so much ahead of that, unfortunately.

“Not in a relationship,” Mila answered, looking at Clara as if she’d just met the love of her life. “She just wants to fuck him one more time and get him out of her system. Are you sure that you can’t be persuaded to be gay?”

Clara laughed and shook her head. “With you, it’d be convincing, but I think I’ll stick with men and their small dicks.”

“Not all of them are small.”

Mila laughed. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

“To be honest, it sounds like this guy is a total jerk.” I hadn’t seen Clara since the last time I was in town, which was years ago.

Although the two of us weren’t nearly as close as Mila and I, she’d always been loyal, something she proved at the party, and great at giving exceptional advice. “You should stay away from him.”

“It’s always the ones you should stay away from that you want the most,” Mila commented.

“Ugh, I can just picture the story.” She lowered her voice to make herself sound more like a generic version of me.

“He wanted my father’s business, and I should have stayed away from him; however, when his body touched mine, all I could do was melt.

I’ll let him do whatever he wants as long as he shows me the best time I’ve ever had. ”

My eyes widened, and I picked the pillow up from the bed and threw it at Mila who was sitting on the couch, on the other side of the room. “Mila! Stop it. Be serious.”

“I am!”

I groaned and flopped down against the bed. With the way that Mila said it, I felt like a little girl, telling her best friends that the boy she had a crush on was the football jock who bullied her relentlessly, yet, for some reason, she liked him anyway.

“Any guy willing to come up out of the blue and try to take something from good people, especially your grandparents, can’t be trusted. I understand your body wanting him. I mean, he’s hot, but you’ll be full of nothing but regret. Listen to your brain, not your heart.”

“It’s a pussy thing, not a heart thing,” Mila argued.

“That’s so vulgar!” I exclaimed.

“The pussy wants what it wants. What can I say? I would know.”

Mila was so forward that it was crazy, yet that’s always been one of the reasons that I’ve liked her so much. I liked how open and honest she was, even if she could use words to better describe certain things.

“Who exactly is this guy anyway?” Clara asked.

I thought back to remember his full name. “Richie Lane.”

“What all do you know about him?”

“He’s cocky and rich. What else do I need to know?”

“You’re telling me you haven’t googled this man yet?” Mila pulled my laptop off of my desk and jumped onto the bed to join us. “Come on, you have to look him up and see exactly who he is.”

“Now that I think about it, at the party, the other night he was really vague about who he was and where he was from,” Clara mentioned.

Mila looked at us with wide eyes. “What if he’s some kind of serial killer?”

“He’s not a serial killer.”

She held the laptop out to me. “You won’t know until you check.”

I stared at it, debating within my head.

I knew that I shouldn’t care about who this man was because I didn’t want anything to do with him, but, at the same time, he’d made it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Would it really be that bad of an idea to go ahead and do some digging on him?

“I concede,” I gave in, a tad bit disappointed with myself although it wore off quickly, as I grabbed the computer and typed Richard Lane into the search bar, surprised by all of the results that immediately started to come up.

Former football star and self-made billionaire Richie Lane with a new fling on his arm every week. Will you be his next conquest? Two years ago.

Our mystery woman has been seen with him three times over the past two weeks. Could she have tamed this playboy’s heart? Eighteen months ago.

Kayla Medley has been identified as Richie Lane’s new love. The model and billionaire are a couple for the books. Thirteen months ago.

Sparks are flying between Kayla and Richie, as they cozy up for the new year’s. One year ago.

Seems like this renowned playboy has finally settled, as we see a ring on Kayla’s hand. Nine months ago.

The biggest wedding of the year happening between the biggest couple of the year! Six months ago.

It seems like our bachelor has been left heartbroken as Kayla leaves him at the altar for Don Seramis. Two months ago.

There were so many more news stories, but my eyes could hardly keep up, looking over all of them.

Richie used to be quite the ladies’ man but after falling in love with Kayla, everything changed until she left him at the altar to be with one of his colleagues.

I grimaced as all of the pieces came together.

How could I not feel sympathetic when I was left in a similar spot? Of course, I wasn’t getting married nor engaged, but my ex did cheat on me with a girl that I’d considered to be my best friend.

Maybe Richie isn’t the guy I think he is.

That, still, didn’t excuse all of the things that he was doing. I understood that he was going through a rough time and might want to throw himself into work, but that didn’t mean he could try and take advantage of my grandparents.

“What did you find?” Clara asked, interrupting the silence and looking up at me with curious eyes.

“Anything juicy?” Mila added on.

I turned the computer towards the two of them, so they could read everything for themselves. Their reactions were fairly similar to my own.

“Wow,” Clara laid down. “Seems like he’s been through a lot.”

“That Kayla girl is hot. I’m sure she would’ve turned my world upside down, too,” Mila commented.

“Hardly the point,” I reminded her.

“Just saying.”

“Well, what are you going to do?” Clara asked.

The question shouldn’t be so hard to answer, but the harder I thought about it, the more that my brain came back blank. “What he’s gone through shouldn’t change anything.” I was confused about who I was trying to convince with my words, myself or my friends.

“But it does,” Clara added.

“Maybe.” I groaned. “I still don’t want to date the guy.”

“Then be enemies who fuck,” Mila offered.

“You don’t have to like him, and he doesn’t have to like you for the two of you to get it on.

You’re not trying to fall in love, and neither is he.

Argue by day and get railed by night, and when the two of you are over it then that’ll be the end of it. No strings attached.”

Her words intrigued me, but I was still not one hundred percent convinced. “You’ve been reading a lot of those erotica books again, haven’t you?”

She grinned. “All of them.”

“I don’t know if that would make things better or worse.”

“Who cares as long as you feel good about yourself? Maybe this is what you need to get your power back. He may not be the guy you would have chosen, given the circumstances, but obviously your inner woman can’t let him go.

Fuck him until he’s out of your system, save your grandparents’ company and then move on happily with your life. ”

I looked up at her. “You really think I can do that?”

“Honey, I know you can.”

A quick nodded. “Then, that’s what I’m going to do.”

* * *

The cabinets were loud as they closed. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see them here,” I apologized to Granddad. He was in some important meeting apparently and left something here, at the house, but I didn’t see it. “Is there anywhere else that I can look for it, maybe?”

“No.” He let out a sigh. “I’m sure it’ll come up eventually. Thanks Kandy-Kane.”

“No problem.”

“Have you heard from your mother recently?”

Not after I refused to give her money for cigarettes and she went off the deep end. “No, I haven’t.”

“That’s probably for the best.” It was sad that he felt that way about his former daughter-in-law, but I couldn’t blame him. She’d been nothing but trouble since my dad died. “Can you do me a favor and get started on dinner?”

“Sure. Anything you’re craving specifically?”

“Whatever you feel like making. Nia will be there soon, so I’m sure she’ll help.”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright, love you sweet girl, and I’ll see you in a bit.”

I hung up the phone and opened the fridge, looking through it casually to find what I could make for dinner.

Their fridge was always stocked to the top with more food than I’d ever seen the two of them eat, as if they were always preparing themselves for company.

I was pretty sure that’s just a grandparent thing though.

A few things called out to me, so I set them out to thaw just as the doorbell rings. I was not expecting anyone, so my guess was that Grandma forgot her keys again and got locked out, something she’d done several times before.

When I opened it, it was Richie’s face I saw, not my grandmother’s.

And he seemed just as surprised to see me, eyes glazing over me with a mix of hunger, shock, and lust. I was wearing a sexy pajama set that I’d unpacked that afternoon out of the boxes Aria mailed to me, a tank top that formed a ‘v’ and showed a little bit of my cleavage and shorts that hardly went over my ass.

I should feel embarrassed, but I didn’t.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

He blinked a couple times before meeting my gaze and holding up something in his hand. “I had something for your grandfather.”

I started to take it from his hand. “I’ll make sure to get it to him.”

He grabbed my wrist before I could grab it. “For some reason, I don’t believe you.”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

He smirked. “There are a lot of things I’d call you. Let’s start with sexy.”

My heartrate picked up. Isn’t this what I want? Fuck him until he was out of my system?

It was go time.