Page 17 of Billionaire’s Heartbreak

I stared at the ceiling, my eyes tracing the faint lines in the plaster as my thoughts circled the same words Dannie had said earlier.

I shouldn’t have said yes.

I hated crime. I hated what criminals did, the damage they left behind. And yet life had a cruel habit of pulling me back into their orbit.

Matteo and Marie—the New York Mafia couple I’d met when Lincoln was kidnapped. They had helped me without hesitation, never asking for anything in return. Then there was Dannie. He had been woven into my life long before I even remembered him. My childhood had been brighter with him in it. And even when I was taken—partly because of who he was—I now believed I’d been released unharmed because of him, too. He had even saved me from my own mother.

My thoughts drifted to Chen Gong. He’d woken from his coma. I should have felt only relief—Jenny and I hadn’t killed him. For months, I’d been certain I would go to prison. At first, he’d wanted to sue us for everything his expensive lawyer could dream up: assault, injury, damages, attempted murder. But then Dannie’s people found the Australian girl he had abused. With her under Dannie’s protection, safe and untouchable, Chen Gong had dropped the charges. Now Jenny lived peacefully under my roof with all her children.

There really was no choice. I had to say yes.

To Dannie. To June.

I rolled onto my side. The couch dug into my hip. Once, I could sleep anywhere, but this body had been through too much. Even with a personal trainer five times a week, I couldn’t get back to who I used to be. Sometimes you could do everything right—eat clean, train hard—and still feel like your body belonged to someone else.

“Can’t sleep?” Lucy’s voice was soft.

She stood nearby in silk two-piece pajamas, the pants a little too long, brushing the floor. She’d lost weight; the waistband hung looser around her hips. She’d talked about altering them, then waved it off.

I’ll buy new ones when I have time.

“Not really,” I admitted.

There were no secrets between us anymore.

“I don’t blame you. Today was… a lot.” She moved gracefully, stopping in front of me with a baby bottle in her hand. “You want the bed? I can take the couch.”

“No!” The word shot out of me. A bed sounded heavenly, but I couldn’t take that from her. “Huan Huan would wake up confused if you weren’t there.”

Her face softened instantly at the mention of our daughter.

“For the record,” she said over her shoulder, “I don’t have a problem with you working with June. And Dannie.”

“You heard?”

She nodded. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I was already awake and… curious.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” I said. “Whatever I do affects you, too. You’re my wife, after all.”

“Only for show,” she reminded me gently. “But I support you, whatever you choose. We owe Dannie a lot. We should help if we can.”

“Aren’t you scared of the consequences?” I asked. “Triad life isn’t for the faint-hearted. The things they do… I don’t want to drag you and Huan Huan into that world.”

She gave a short, almost breathless laugh. “Your mother wasn’t triad, and look what she did to you. The worst kind of cruelty can come from anywhere.” Her expression turned serious. “I still remember what I did to you. Injecting those horse tranquilizers into your arm.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I said quietly.

She shook her head. “I had to. It was the only way I knew to save you.”

I knew Lucy had never really had a choice. My mother had leverage—something her father wanted badly. And Lucy’s decision to stay in the closet had made it even easier to control her. Doing what my mother demanded had been her way of surviving. Being married to me meant she never had to come out publicly. She could live her version of a quiet, protected life—with me as the husband on paper, and Jenny, her real soulmate, at home.

Some days, I regretted marrying her—because it meant she never had to be fully honest about who she was, about her sexuality. Not publicly, anyway. Then again, how she chose to live her life was none of their business.

“But are you sure you’ll be okay working with June?” Lucy asked gently.

“What do you mean?” I asked, though I knew why she was asking.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not jealous of you two working together. Not like that.” She kept shaking Huan Huan’s bottle absently, even though the formula had already dissolved.