A Billionaire's Redemption

chapter 8

Dinner was served, and Willa spent the next hour dealing with plates and food and drinks and not spilling anything on her gorgeous gown or otherwise making an idiot of herself. But then the tables were cleared and, while the auction was set up onstage, the guests were free to mingle again.

Apparently, the wine with dinner had kicked in or some unspoken signal she wasn’t aware of passed between the members of the ladies’ auxiliary as everyone left the tables. Or maybe it was Gabe excusing himself for a moment to visit the restroom. But the second Willa was alone, the barracudas closed in on her.

You’ve got some nerve showing your face around here after what you did to James Ward.”

Just because you got your father’s job doesn’t give you the right to destroy a sweet, innocent man like James who never did anything to you.”

You lying, pathetic bitch. How dare you accuse James Ward of laying a finger on you! And then you show up with a sleazeball like Gabe Dawson?”

Who’d have guessed you were such a slut? Your father must be rolling over in his grave.”

They came at her so fast and from so many directions she had no hope at all of addressing any of their vicious attacks. And frankly, she had no idea what to say to any of them. Never in her life had anyone spoken to her like this. She was absolutely speechless over the hatred and jealousy in their voices. Had they always hated her this much? Had it only been her father’s power that held them at bay? Or was all this venom directed specifically at her?

And then a voice she recognized all too well separated itself from the others.

What are you doing here? And dressed like that. I’m appalled, Willa Merris. Not to mention your choice of escorts. Gabe Dawson? Are you intentionally trying to rub your family’s nose in the slime that boy crawled out of?”

Willa whipped around to face that voice. “Mother? I didn’t know you were planning to come to this event. You should have told me.”

And when did I have a chance? You’ve been too busy running around accusing nice boys of horrible crimes and grabbing at your father’s wealth and position. If you think you’re going to rob me blind, you’ve another think coming, young lady. I’ll fight you. I’ll get my own lawyers, and I’ll see to it you don’t get a penny of your father’s estate.”

Willa’s jaw dropped in complete shock. What was this? She didn’t want her father’s money...what little of it there was, if Gabe was telling the truth about the Vacarro wells. “I don’t want Father’s money, and I certainly don’t want to steal anything from you.”

Her mother ignored her and spewed, “You’ve disgraced our family. Splashing private business all over the news with your crazy accusations. Then trying to take over Merris Oil, and stealing your father’s senate seat. And look at you. You look like a cheap whore.”

Her mother’s eyes were overbright, maybe even a bit maniacal, as she pointed an accusing finger at Willa. And Minnie’s voice had risen enough that a number of people beyond the cluster of attacking women had turned to listen.

Willa spoke in an urgent undertone. “Mother, this isn’t the place to have this conversation.”

Where else are we going to have it?” Minnie screeched. “You’re too busy shacking up with the man who tried to ruin your father. You traitorous little slut—”

A sharp voice cut across Minnie’s tirade. “That will be enough.” Gabe’s arm went around Willa’s shoulders, and he pulled her tight against his side.

Who are you to—” Jackie Carver started.

Gabe glared around the circle of women furiously enough to quiet them all. “Minnie, you know better than to mix alcohol and your medications. You’re going to regret everything you said in the morning, but at least you’ve got an excuse for your atrocious behavior. As for the rest of you, what’s your excuse for acting like white-trash gossips?”

Shocked silence was his only answer.

He spoke grimly. “Senator Merris didn’t ask for her father to be murdered, nor did she ask to be brutally attacked. I’ve seen the evidence, and there’s no question she’s telling the truth about Ward. I also happened to be present when the governor called her to inform her of her father’s request to appoint Willa to his senate seat in the event of his death. That was entirely John Merris’s doing, not Willa’s. The lot of you should be ashamed of yourselves for acting like a pack of gutter jackals.”

And with that scornful observation, he hustled Willa past the staring women and toward the exit. By the time they reached the long staircase, she’d started to shiver, and by the time they reached the top of the stairs, she was shaking uncontrollably. Her own mother? What poison had people been spouting in Minnie’s ear to make her turn on her daughter like that?

Just a little farther, baby,” he murmured. “Be strong for me.”

A valet held out her wrap, and Gabe grabbed it with his free hand without ever breaking stride as he hurried her to the door.

As they stepped outside, a shockingly bright light illuminated, making Willa lurch against Gabe’s side. A female voice called from the darkness beyond the spotlight, “There she is! Senator Merris, what do you have to say about the health hazards of oil fracking?”

Gabe swore under his breath beside her, then muttered to her, “That’s Paula Craddock. Don’t answer.”

Thanks. I had that one figured out,” Willa muttered back. Why were an investigative reporter and a camera crew waiting outside this non-political fund-raiser?

As if the reporter’s call had been a cue, a crowd of people rushed forward to line the sidewalk Willa and Gabe had to traverse to reach the curb and his vehicle. There were maybe thirty people, but they all wielded cardboard signs and commenced chanting loudly, Stop the freaking fracking!”

The signs were lurid, claiming that fracking killed kids, that oil companies were satanic and that the government had been bought off by frackers. At the end of the gauntlet of protesters waited Paula Craddock, microphone in hand.

Looks like you’re going to have to make a statement,” Gabe mumbled. “Want me to handle this?”

Are they here to yell at you because you own an oil company or to yell at me because I’m a politician?” she responded.

Since no one knew I was coming to this shindig, and I wasn’t on the guest list, I’m guessing they came for the good senator. But I can tell Paula to go suck an egg if you’d like.”

That’s okay.” She threw him a wry look as they ducked under the waving signs. “I lived in the shadow of my father for a long time. I learned a thing or two about handling hostile reporters and angry mobs.”

Are you saying your old man had a talent for attracting both?” Gabe retorted drily.

She snorted in amusement. “Perchance.”

Senator Merris, your father used his position to protect oil companies from taking any responsibility for the environmental and health carnage of fracking in Texas. Do you plan to do the same?”

Congress is not in session at the moment, and no major legislation will come up for a vote regarding fracking between now and next January, so I’m not going to have an opportunity to take any stand on the matter. But thank you for asking. I’m so glad you came to cover the Annual Scholarship Ball and Auction. Let me take you inside and introduce you to the event chairwoman. Her name is Jacquelyn Carver. She’ll be thrilled to meet you and tell you all about the event.”

Willa took the reporter by the arm and gestured for the cameraman to come along. She kept up a steady stream of commentary about the Ladies’ Auxiliary and their charity work, and gave the reporter no chance to get a word in edgewise. It was a tactic straight out of her father’s playbook. Before Ms. Craddock knew what was happening, Willa had handed her off to Jackie Carver, who would no doubt talk the reporter’s ear off.

Willa turned away from the camera and flummoxed journalist in relief. And there was Gabe, only a few feet away, waiting watchfully.

Shall we be on our way again?” he asked.

Let’s.”

This time when they went back outside, the picketers weren’t as loud or aggressive with their sign waving. Willa stopped in front of a woman whose poster showed a very sick little girl lying in what looked like a hospital bed.

Tell me about your daughter,” Willa asked gently.

The woman told a tale of respiratory problems and mystery symptoms, and a frustrating failure by doctors to find a source of the girl’s serious illness. Willa pressed her business card into the woman’s surprised hand. “Call me tomorrow. I’ll have my staff help you get access to medical research specialists. If fracking is making your daughter sick, I want to know.”

The crowd nearby went silent, apparently stunned that she gave a darn.

Do you have a leader or representative of some kind?” Willa raised her voice to ask the group at large.

An imposing man in a black suit coat, jeans and black cowboy boots stepped forward. “That would be me, I suppose.”

She gave him a card, as well. “Call me. I want to hear more about what all of you are experiencing.”

Uhh, okay. Sure,” the man replied, obviously more than a little suspicious. But the crowd’s ire seemed diffused and they called farewells to her as Gabe handed her into the SUV.

The Escalade pulled away from the curb before he asked, “Are you really going to talk to those people?”

Yes. The way I understand government to work, I’m the representative of the people. It’s hard to represent them if I don’t know what worries them.”

A noble—and naive—sentiment. If you were to hold your father’s office for more than a few weeks, the lobbyists and political-action committees would change your mind soon enough, I expect.”

I’m not so sure about that,” she replied. “I read a number of my father’s notes, and I have no lofty illusions about how deals get done in Washington. In my mind, the key to being a decent congresswoman is to plan on serving only one term in congress and spending that entire time voting the will of one’s constituents and one’s conscience.”

Gabe laughed. “If only.”

She sighed. “It’s not like I’m going to get a chance to make a difference in the few months I’ve got in this job.”

You’ve still got the power to endorse a candidate and make a few statements and press releases. The question is, what things matter to you? What do you want to tackle in the time you have?”

She studied him with interest. That was an excellent question. And no one had ever asked it of her before. What did matter to her? For her entire life, John Merris had dictated what was important to her and her mother. He’d coached them in how to answer any political or opinion questions to mirror his platforms. It had always been about him.

I don’t even know which political party I would support if I had the choice,” she said in wonder.

Gabe glanced over at her in surprise. “Well, then, you’ve got some homework to do, kiddo. Your father’s political party expects you to endorse their replacement candidate for him by next week.”

She sighed. “I should be teaching a bunch of kids their numbers and letters and colors this week. Instead, I’m embroiled in politics and my father’s murder, people breaking into my house and a criminal investigation against James Ward. And if the women at the ball were correct, I’ve apparently sprouted horns and a forked tail, too.”

You don’t actually care what those bleached-blonde bitches think, do you?” Gabe asked scornfully.

If only she had his tough hide. But no one had ever turned on her like that before, and it had been hurtful and humiliating. And her mother...

Someone must have given my mother uppers to get her to that ball. She’s been nearly catatonic since my father died.”

It sounded like someone fed her a bunch of lies, too. You do know not to take personally anything she said, right? She looked completely whacked-out on amphetamines or better.”

You think?” Willa asked hopefully.

I know.”

How?”

An ex-girlfriend with a drug habit.”

She replied lightly, “Why, Gabe Dawson. I don’t know whether to be more surprised that you dated a druggie or that you actually stuck around long enough with any one woman to consider her a girlfriend.”

What the hell do the GCBs of Vengeance say about me?” he exclaimed.

GCBs?”

Good Christian, uhh, Belles,” he answered sourly.

She smiled. “Well, they say you’re quite a lover. But that you refuse to talk about marriage, and get thoroughly surly if the subject even comes up. Common wisdom is that you never got over your wife dumping you and that you still carry a torch for her.”

Gabe said nothing.

Comments? Rebuttals?” Willa asked lightly.

No comment.”

Rats. She’d really love to know how he actually felt about Melinda Grayson. Did he still have a thing for his ex-wife? It would explain a lot about him. Like why he’d hightailed it back to Vengeance when the police told him Melinda had gone missing, and why he’d never remarried. Was she tilting at windmills to even fantasize about a relationship between the two of them? Would she want way more from him than he could ever give her?

Aww, c’mon, Gabe. Give me something, here,” she cajoled teasingly. “I was straight with you.”

Fine.” He sighed. “I am an excellent lover.”

She laughed, not only in amusement, but also to hide the way her stomach was suddenly jumping with nervous anticipation. What she wouldn’t give to see for herself. “What about your ex-wife? Do you still have feelings for her?”

Melinda was—is—a force of nature. You either get sucked into her orbit or she chews you up and spits you out. Making it to the inner circle of her universe was a big accomplishment for me back then. But I couldn’t honestly tell you if I ever got to know the real woman or not. The one I was married to was impressive in just about every way. But she didn’t go much for feelings. We never talked about things like love or insecurity or need.”

Wow. That sounded cold and, frankly, unappealing.

Gabe continued, “Do I have feelings regarding her? Of course. Worry. A sense of unresolved differences. Abandonment. She bailed on me before, and as selfish as it might seem, I feel like she has bailed out on me again.” He added in a rush, “I know the police think she was kidnapped, and this disappearance isn’t her fault. And I feel as guilty as hell for feeling like she’s left me again. So the answer to your question is yes. I still have plenty of feelings toward my ex-wife.”

Complicated ones. That might or might not include romantic feelings like love and desire to reunite. He’d neatly avoided talking about those in his outburst.

What do the police know about her kidnapping?”

Shockingly little. Her housekeeper arrived one morning, and Melinda was just gone. There were no signs of a struggle in her house or office. Her car was still parked in the garage, her keys and briefcase and laptop sitting on the kitchen counter. Her syllabus and lecture notes for the semester were on her desk.”

Willa shuddered. It sounded a lot like her father’s murder—a life interrupted completely without warning.

Gabe continued, “The only unusual thing the police found was a grocery list in Melinda’s handwriting. It stopped in the middle of a word. Maybe the phone rang or someone came to the door, or someone snuck up on her from behind and grabbed her. It’s a mystery.”

And there were no witnesses or anyone with any more information?” she asked.

No one legitimate has come forward in spite of the hundred-thousand-dollar reward I put up, and there have been no ransom demands.”

Is there a chance—” Willa broke off. “No, never mind.”

Go ahead. Say it.”

Willa winced. “Is there a chance she was murdered, too? She did disappear right about the same time my father and those other men were killed.”

Gabe went very still. “I would be lying if I said it wasn’t possible. But I can’t think that way.” His voice gathered force. “I won’t think that way. She’s alive. I’m standing by that until I have positive proof to the contrary.”

Willa felt like he’d just stuck a knife in her gut. He did still love his ex-wife. But she couldn’t exactly blame him for revealing it. After all, she was the one who’d brought up the subject of Melinda’s possible murder. And in all fairness, if she’d been kidnapped and was alone and terrified, she’d be desperate for her family and friends to continue fighting to find her, to continue believing she was alive, to continue their efforts to rescue her.

Is there anything I can do to help find her?” Willa asked soberly.

Gabe looked over at her in genuine surprise. “No, but thanks for the offer. That’s kind of you.”

Willa frowned. “You say that like you thought I was wishing Melinda would turn up dead.”

His answer was surprisingly bitter. “Let’s just say neither she nor I were ever embraced by the scions of Southern society in this corner of the world.”

What does that have to do with me?”

They were stopped at a red light, and Gabe stared across the vehicle at her in open shock. “You do realize that you are as blue-blooded an insider to the halls of old-school power in Texas as they come, don’t you?”

She blinked at him, uncomprehending.

You’re the daughter of one of the richest and most powerful men in Texas for the past thirty years or so. And you’re beautiful and single, to boot. There have to have been young men falling all over themselves to marry you since you got out of school.”

If there have, they’ve been invisible,” she retorted. Not for lack of her father constantly throwing her at every son of some powerful, old-money family or another from Dallas. It was just that none of the boys had ever called back. It was as if they’d taken her out as a favor to her father. But once they’d met her, they’d moved on quickly to greener pastures. Heck, her father had set up the date with James Ward.

The light turned green, and Gabe accelerated before demanding, “Tell me you’re lying.”

I’m serious, Gabe. My social life has hovered between life support and dead pretty much forever.”

That’s not possible,” he announced. “A woman as beautiful and intelligent and charming as you?”

How embarrassing was this, having to confess that no one had ever wanted to date the shy, awkward daughter of a scary man? “It’s not like I’ve ever run around looking like this before. And after the reaction I got tonight, I’m not going to try it again any time soon.”

Her own mother had called her a whore and a slut, for goodness’ sake. Tears welled up in her eyes to recall it. She’d thought this dress was beautiful, and for once in her life, she’d felt pretty. And the way Gabe’s eyes had lit up when she’d opened the front door—she’d thought that maybe he’d found her pretty, too.

Speaking of Gabe, she risked a sideways glance at him. His jaw was set, and if she wasn’t mistaken, muscles in his neck were tensed in irritation. Was he mad she wasn’t the social catch he’d thought she was? Had he expected that with her on his arm, people wouldn’t treat him like dirt for once? She sincerely wished she’d been able to give him the social acceptability he seemed to crave beneath his I-don’t-care attitude. But instead of lifting him up, apparently, she’d succeeded in dragging them both down.

How could a simple charity ball have gone so horribly wrong?

The Escalade turned into a driveway she didn’t recognize. It led to a garage behind a small craftsman bungalow near Darby College. Is this your place?” she asked. She’d known his childhood home was somewhere in this neighborhood, but she’d never seen it before.

Yup.” He got out of the Cadillac and came around to open her door for her in grim silence. Grim enough that she decided not to ask just now why he’d brought her here. She followed him up the wide steps to a gracious porch and waited while he unlocked the front door.

Don’t call the place cute,” he growled as he stepped inside. “I despise cute.”

She stepped into a living room as masculine as any room she’d ever seen. Flagstone floors, cedar paneling, oversize leather furniture and a massive fieldstone fireplace dominated the space. “There’s nothing remotely cute about this room,” she assured him. “I’d call it rustic or comfortable or perfect for its owner. Or I might even say that Ralph Lauren would approve. But I would not call it cute.”

He grunted in what she thought might be thanks as he moved swiftly through the room and disappeared down a hall. At a loss, she waited inside the front door, unsure of what to do with herself. Lights went on in other parts of the house.

We’re alone,” he announced as he swept back into the room. As masculine as it was all by itself, the room seemed bigger, more alive, with him in it. It was as if he wore the space like a favorite pair of old blue jeans. He untied his bow tie and let it hang around his neck as he unbuttoned his collar. His neck was tanned and powerful, and yet again she was struck by how strong and forceful a man he was.

Every ounce of awkwardness and shyness she’d ever experienced flooded her as she stood there. She ought to say something sophisticated and smart, and all she could do was stare at him. God help her if she was drooling. If she’d ever thought she was woman enough to seduce Gabe Dawson, she knew, positively knew, in that instant that she was completely out of her league. She would never be woman enough for Gabe Dawson.