The Billionaire Next Door (Billionaire Bad Boys #2)(13)

“What happened?” Her mother’s tone was alarmed. “I thought you two were so happy.”

We were until he betrayed me like the punk ass he turned out to be.

“Sometimes…things don’t work out,” she hedged, pulling the soup off the burner to cool.

“Is there someone else?”

For Rachel there wasn’t. She hadn’t been ready to jump into the dating pool after things went south with Shaun. Not after said pool tested positive for pond scum.

“Two years is such an investment. I can’t imagine,” her mother was muttering.

It was an investment. A big one for Rachel. She’d loved him and had assumed they’d get married. Until Shaun’s familiar nighttime ritual “love you, Rach,” stopped and “G’night” replaced it.

She wondered when he’d stopped loving her. Had someone else grabbed his attention, or was it because of the guilt that he’d accepted the boss’s praise/promotion combo? A preemptive strike before Rachel found out he’d betrayed her?

After moving in with Bree and seeing firsthand what she and Dean had, Rachel started wondering if Shaun had ever loved her at all.

“…thought the two of you might even get married.”

She tuned in her mom mid-litany about how sad it was to lose a future son-in-law.

“I’m sorry,” her mom cut herself off to say. “I did not mean to say that. Honey, I’m so sorry. Where are you living? Is working with him every day weird?”

“I’m dog sitting for a…friend who’s letting me stay in hi—uh, her place.” Yeah, saying she was living in another man’s house would not sound innocent, even though it was. “I’ll be here for the month and find my own place after.”

Surely she’d make enough money on this gig to put down the first month’s rent and deposit elsewhere. From there, she would have to secure a job that paid more than cash tips in exchange for working until three in the morning.

“And work?”

“Work’s good, Mom.” Finally, the truth. “Busy.” Also true. “I have to go. Adonis needs to go out.”

He woofed.

“Goodness, she sounds like a large schnauzer.”

“He’s a Great Dane. Like Marmaduke. Except prettier.” She scrubbed Adonis’s head, admiring his white-with-black splotched coat. He smiled, tongue lolling. “We’re bonding.”

“Well, sounds like he’s a great fill-in while nursing your broken heart.”

At her mother’s statement a pang speared the center of her chest. Rachel had been brokenhearted and had gone through it alone. Rather than share too much with Bree, Rachel had stayed busy. With work, moving, and getting used to her new bartending gig, it wasn’t hard to distract herself. Now, in Oliver’s silent apartment with only Adonis for company, she was feeling that uncertainty and pain from the breakup anew.

“You call me every evening, okay? I want to make sure you’re safe.”

“Mom. No.” She was not doing the check-in thing.

“I’ll worry.”

“Don’t worry.”

“I will.”

“I love you,” Rachel said.

“I could worry myself literally sick and then how bad would you feel?” asked Keri Foster, master of manipulation.

“Tell Dad hi.”

“Love you too,” her mother said, giving up. “Can I downgrade my call to a text?”

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Fine.” A sigh.

“Good night.”

Rachel pocketed her phone with a smile. She loved her parents. They were the reason she was doing what she was doing. Her mom bragged to everyone who would listen about her daughter who was “making it” in the big city. In the small Ohio town where Rachel grew up, Chicago was big time. So big, her parents had only ventured out her way twice in the two and a half years since she’d moved here.

She didn’t want to disappoint them, and while they may not be disappointed in her job as a bartender, they would definitely be more concerned and possibly offer to send her money, which she would flat-out refuse to take.

If only they knew what her life was really like.

Two days ago she’d put on a ridiculously tight dress and boots, hell-bent on teaching her upstairs neighbor a lesson. Tag had seen right through her, and after she’d clopped back into Oliver’s apartment, she realized she was not surprised.

She’d felt more self-conscious than sexy wearing that getup, and she’d witnessed how confounded Tag had been. He’d backed away as she stepped forward. Not exactly the actions of a man who was interested. Not that she was interested, she thought, chewing on the side of her cheek.

Maybe her mother had uncovered the crux of Rachel’s bizarre behavior when she mentioned Shaun and heartbreak. Rachel didn’t feel like herself and had never, ever done something as bold as slink into a man’s apartment wearing six-inch-heeled boots.

It was nice of Tag to buy Adonis all of those toys, though. She took her mug of soup and a sleeve of crackers into the living room and placed them on the coffee table. She reached into the shopping bag, pulled out the stuffed squirrel, and squeaked it. Adonis’s head cocked to one side and she threw the toy down the hallway.