Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(69)

A third man, the one who’d given me the message for Reed, sat at a square card table with papers on it, talking on his phone. I got the feeling that while he oversaw the two men guarding me, he wasn't the one in charge of this entire operation.

"Hampton's on his way now. I’ll get him to sign the paperwork, and you'll have a foothold in the most reputable online gambling site. After that, it's just a matter of investing in, buying sports teams, or just bribing players, and you have a way to fix games to make money. Plus, you’ll have Hampton’s company to launder money from all your other operations."

I was so dead. And Reed probably was too. I had no doubt that he was going to respond to this man's call and come to try and save me. Reed was a good man who cared for me. He wouldn’t leave me here.

Anguish washed through me. How was it that life could be so unfair? Reed and I were on the verge of having something remarkable, and just like that, it was being ripped away. God! I thought of all the time I'd wasted being worried about my reputation when I could've done exactly as Reed said and told them all to fuck off and instead been with him. Loving him.

If we survived this, I wasn't going to let my fears keep me from living life. Yes, there were obstacles, but I loved Reed and I was thinking maybe he loved me too. The times when I allowed myself to be open to him, life was so good. It was fun and exciting. He was amazingly supportive of me and my goals. I hoped I had a chance to tell him everything I was thinking and feeling right now. About how amazing I thought he was. And how much I loved him.

There was a knock on the exterior door.

"He's here. I'll be in touch." The man at the table hung up the phone. "Marcus, get the door."

The guy with the phone nodded, putting it in his pocket as he strode toward the door. The man at the table rose, buttoning his coat as he walked over to me. He and the man with the gun stared at me with their backs to the door.

“Looks like lover boy is here,” the head man said.

The other man opened the door and was immediately yanked out. I swallowed as I waited for the two men in front of me to realize what happened. But then, Reed strolled in through the door. It slammed behind him.

The head guy turned toward Reed. "Smart of you to come."

“You didn’t give me much choice, Gino.”

Then the man Reed called Gino looked toward the door. "Where's Marcus?"

"I guess he's guarding the door. Making sure I didn’t call the cops," Reed said with a shrug. "Are you alright?" He spoke nonchalantly, but I saw worry and concern in his eyes.

I nodded to let him know I wasn't hurt.

Gino walked back to the table. "The paperwork is here. With all your antics, you forfeited any ability to negotiate the deal."

Reed walked over to the table but positioned himself so he could still see me.

"Let Analyn go, and I’ll sign whatever you want."

Gino laughed. "You're in no position to negotiate. I just told you that."

"You let her go, and I'll sign whatever you want,” Reed repeated. “Hell, I’ll sign the whole company over to you."

My heart squeezed tight, hating that Reed was in a position to give up the company he'd worked so hard to build.

Gino shook his head. "You still don't get it, do you? Your company only has value to us with you running it. Your reputation is what's going to make this whole scheme work."

Reed gave him a hard look. "Getting in bed with a company like Paradise Limited is going to ruin my reputation more than my reputation is going to help Paradise Limited. Everything falls to the lowest denominator, which would be you."

Gino's eyes flashed with rage. He nodded toward the man next to me, and the man next to me lifted his gun, pointing it toward my head.

"You sign this now, or I kill her,” Gino said.

"You mean your goon kills her because you and your boss are too pussy ass to do it yourself."

I flinched as a new wave of fear ran through me. Why was Reed antagonizing them?

"If you kill her, I still won’t sign, which means you'll have to kill me, thereby ruining your plans to utilize my reputation. But I promise you if you hurt her, you will not leave this building alive. Neither will your goons."

Gino studied Reed for a moment, I suppose trying to get a feel of whether Reed was bluffing or not. Reed was an expert at gambling, and I had to believe that he knew what he was doing. I realized at that moment that I could believe in him. I could bet everything that I had, everything I was on him.

Gino looked toward the door, and I suspected he was wondering whether Marcus was really guarding things outside or if Reed had done something to him.

"Marcus!" Gino bellowed. There was a slight knock on the door, but it didn't open.

Reed shrugged. “It was locked when I tried to open it."

Gino looked at the man with the gun. "Go open the door for Marcus."

The man with the gun looked at me for a moment.

"She's not going anywhere,” Gino said.

The man with the gun shrugged and walked over to the door. Reed moved, stepping in between me and Gino, keeping Gino facing me with the door to his back. Something was happening, and I knew at this moment, I was either going to be saved or be killed.

I looked at Reed, wishing I could see his eyes but still sending out all my love and faith in him.