Page 62 of The Billionaire's Special Relationship

“It was called The Stayover because he rented watersports equipment to tourists and vacationersalong the Jersey Shore. It was an excellent business.”

“It wasn’t even solvent,” said Stuart. “It was already in foreclosure when I found out about it. It was in unsustainable debt.”

“It was a solid business!” Gheri yelled out. “You took advantage of my father and stole his company. That’s why I helped Alan steal yours! Now shut up!” she yelled from the top of her longs and then she pulled out a gun and immediately shot Lou Fenson and Stuart’s bodyguard in the chests. Both men fell.

Everybody began screaming and running for the exits, but Gheri waved her gun around. “Nobody move!” she cried out. And they all stayed where they were. “I won’t hurt anybody but the one man responsible.”

Then she looked at Stuart. “Stuart Jacobs stole my daddy’s company. Two months ago he died in a nursing home. He died penniless. My husband’s financial support was the only way he survived. But Stuart, the man who took his idea and stole it, goes on to become a billionaire. My daddy couldn’t pay his nursing home bills, and he’s a billionaire. How is that fair?!”

“Did you pay Darius to try and kill Stuart’s son?” Tabby asked.

“Of course I did.”

Logan frowned. “Youwhat?”

“I had to. He was a liability. He wasn’t strong enough to keep what I did from Stuart. Now it doesn’t matter,” she said as she began walking toward Stuart. And before anyone could react, shestarted shooting. She unloaded round after round after round after round of her Glock. She shot Stuart three times, then a fourth time, then a fifth time.

Tabby was screaming and crying and dragging him away from her. Alan was trying to drag his father away from her too.

Until everybody in that room noticed something strange. Tabby and Alan noticed it too. Even Gheri noticed it.

Stuart was still upright. He was still on his feet. And there wasn’t a spot of blood on him.

Everybody froze. Tabby and Alan were touching him. They were feeling him for bullet holes. But he had none.

“How?” Tabby asked him.

“While I was dancing with Gheri, I picked her pocket. I knew where she kept her weapon. She was always bragging about that Glock. So I took her gun and replaced it with a replica that I purchased and brought with me as soon as I figured out that she was behind that takeover and why.”

“But what about Lou and your bodyguard?” Alan asked.

“You can get up now, gentlemen,” Stuart said, and both men happily rose to their feet.

Everybody sighed relief. Tabby and Alan both hugged Stuart. Nobody was more relieved than those two.

But Gheri’s husband Logan and her best friend Jenniferwere too devastated to move. They were staring at Gheri as Lou and the bodyguard hurried over and began putting handcuffs on her to wait for the police.

Stuart was staring at Gheri too. Because she believed a lie without bothering to seek the truth. “Your father’s company was bankrupt. I took it off of his hands before the bank did. I paid him what it was worth. I did nothing wrong to your father.”

“That’s a lie,” Gheri said. “It’s all lies!” She was crying. But neither her husband nor her best friend were comforting her. Which didn’t surprise Tabby, not in that world. Logan was apparently a fair-weather husband too, she assumed.

Alan was trying to distance himself as well. “I thought she was just helping me out, Dad,” he insisted. “She didn’t tell me anything about her father or his business or anything like that. I never thought she would try to harm me.”

“But you tried to harm me,” said Stuart, “when you took over my company. It backfired on you. Just like it backfired on her.”

“But how did you figure it out?” Alan wanted to know.

“When you got cute and said I ruined the stayover. You thought you were talking about me staying over with Jennifer tonight. In the back of your mind, you knew Gheri’s father’s business was called The Stayover. It was a phrase she said in the background when Jennifer left me a voice mail. She said I ruined the stay over when I stopped coming to theseparties. You apparently heard her say that too and figured she meant me sleeping over with Jennifer. That’s why you said it to me. You may not have known the hidden meaning Gheri was trying to convey, but I knew it. What you didn’t know was that your cute little remark that was meant to hurt me when you were leaving my house was the piece of that puzzle I missed earlier. But I caught it full swing when you said it.”

Alan was shocked. He looked at his mother. And they both looked at Gheri.

But Stuart was drained. He looked at Tabby. “Let’s go get some fresh air,” he said. He knew the cops were coming. He knew they would have to stick around and give statements. But right now he just wanted to be away from his sick, brutal world.

Tabby hurried to him, grabbed his hand, and gladly led him to the outside.

EPILOGUE

“Sign here. And here. And right here.”