Page 32 of Misdeeds of a Billionaire

My father watched me, desperation in his eyes spreading like spilled red wine. Unease slithered through me, the words of Senator Ashford echoing in my brain.

“Sit down, Odette.”

My feet moved independent of my mind. I felt like I was in a fog as I sat down in the chair across from him, heart in my throat.

Did I bring disaster to my family?

“What’s going on?”

“We have to let the hospital go,” he said. I watched his mouth move. I heard the words. Yet for some reason, my brain refused to process them.

“I—I don’t understand.”

My father’s parents left him this building and the hospital when they died. It belonged to him—to us. There was no way he was saying what I thought he was saying.

“The bank’s taking the building,” he said. “The hospital. Everything.” Shock inched over my skin, coupled with a terrible feeling of dread. It drummed to the rhythm of my heart, preparing me—our entire family—for the impending doom of a guillotine.

He pushed his hand through his thick hair. “When your mother was alive, I made some bad business decisions. I had to mortgage off the hospital for capital to push the business forward. Your mom’s modeling income helped to pay interest on the loans, but then she—”

But then she died. More than a decade, and my father still choked up talking about her.

“What about our house?” My heart raced as I attempted to come up with options and save us. Senator Ashford threatened this exact thing only hours ago. How could it be happening already?

Father shook his head. “That house is not worth enough to pull us through. I don’t want to touch that. It’s for you and Billie. Your security.”

I swallowed. My father’s eyes locked with mine. Utter silence enveloped us, and each breath I pulled in crippled me another notch. The panic swam through my veins, drowning in my eyes. No amount of practice would allow me to hide it.

We didn’t have much, but we were comfortable. Always. It was our father who’d made it possible, yet now, I wondered how many sacrifices he made.

“What if I quit med school?” I suggested. “I could work here with you for free until we get the hospital back on its feet.”

Dad shook his head. “It’s too late, ma fille.” He let out a heavy sigh. “The debt has already been bought by developers. The bank didn’t want to risk not getting paid and was more than happy to sell the property and the building.”

“W-what do you mean?” We never had to worry about money before.

“I missed the last four months’ worth of payments, ma chérie. I’ve always struggled with running the business side of the hospital.”

His admission was laced with shame and regret. I closed the distance to my dad and fell down to my knees, wrapping my hands around his knees.

“I’m sorry, Daddy.” His hand came to rest on my head, his touch soft and comforting.

“No, no, no,” he murmured, his voice tired. “I’m sorry. It’s my job to take care of you girls.”

He had given us everything, and I couldn’t help him, couldn’t save him. The broken look he gave me tore my heart right down the middle. Our entire world was crumbling.

And it was all my fault.

Chapter12

Byron

Seeing my father put me in a sour mood. I’d be okay going years without seeing my old man.

No such luck for me.

Talk about a mood and erection buster. And the morning started off magnificently. If only he didn’t show up. Talk about bad luck—that was all he brought to all of his children. Misery and bad luck. The sick fucker had actually booked a room on the same floor as me. Needless to say, I vacated the fucking hotel and went back to my yacht. He couldn’t follow me there.

I should have known he was here for money. He always needed more funds, mainly to support his habit of high-end whores. He wanted to grease more palms. Well, the fucker would have to do it on his own going forward. I was done with it.