Bold (The Dark Billionaire, #8) (3 page)

There was now a price to pay; Jennifer knew it but she wasn’t sure she could live with the consequences for the rest of her life. Losing Bruce would be the greatest tragedy of her existence. She had learned, grown and loved so much thanks to him that she couldn’t imagine a life where he wasn’t by her side to guide her. He was her motivation and her driving force.

Now that the truth had been told, things were out of her control. There was nothing she could do to change the past, but she hoped there was at least a chance to regain Bruce’s trust. She only needed one chance to make everything right again and prove to him that she was worthy of his love.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t ready to talk or listen to her, and she knew it could last a very long time. She felt stupid for ruining their honeymoon but she realized that it was better that way. The sooner, the better. There was no ideal moment anyway and she preferred to confront her mistakes as soon as possible, rather than live in guilt and shame.

Bruce deserved better. It would be his decision. Jennifer knew that he might never forgive her and if he finally decided to leave, she would never blame him.

Jennifer sat in front of her laptop and tried to focus. It was hard. It was very difficult to clear her mind and think about her business with all these questions running in her mind. However, it was time to call her recruitment agency and get an update on the situation.

She found an Internet connection and pressed the call button. Within a few seconds, a woman answered and Jennifer introduced herself.

“”Hello, I’m Jennifer Wilson. My husband hired your company to find employees for my cooking school. His name is Bruce Wilson.”

The woman kept silent for a short moment and finally seemed to remember.

“Oh, how are you doing, Mrs. Wilson?”

“I’m great,” Jennifer lied.

“Well, we’ve selected a few people with interesting profiles but I won’t lie to you. We’re really struggling to find qualified people at a reasonable price, who are also willing to teach.”

“What’s the problem exactly?”

“Competent chefs have big egos and they don’t want to work for someone else. They mostly look for business partnerships to open their own restaurant or, like yourself, a cooking school - although this situation is quite rare.”

“I see...”

“So we are left with much less qualified people who might consider taking a teaching job... but the problem is, can they teach? You see, they don’t have the expertise or the experience to teach other people what they can barely do themselves.”

Jennifer started to feel dizzy just thinking about it. It wasn’t as simple as she had imagined. In other circumstances, she would have calmly assessed the situation and made the best decision.

But circumstances were far from normal and ideal. She was in the middle of the sea, miles away from home, and her marriage was going down the drain. She didn’t even want to work and worry about all these recruitment issues. All she wanted was a second chance with Bruce.

“How long do you think it will take to find at least one potential candidate?” Jennifer said.

“I can’t tell. It’s very hard to predict.”

Jennifer couldn’t stand anymore. She didn’t want to hear all these negative and depressive news. She quickly thanked the woman and cut the conversation.

She ran out of the office and looked for Bruce. They had ignored each other for long enough. They needed to talk and clear things out. If he didn’t want her anymore, at least she wanted to know. She couldn’t stand being left in the dark and just wait. She felt powerless and she hated it. Everything was slipping out of control: her business and her marriage. Of course, Bruce was her priority and it was her responsibility to fix what she had broken.

She asked around and a staff member finally told her that Bruce had just left the yacht. Jennifer froze and wanted to freak out; was he going back to New York? Instead of panicking though, she calmly asked where he had gone.

Apparently, Bruce was in town to settle a problem about insurance. Jennifer immediately knew what it was about: the rented car they had crashed the other night.

She asked the staff member to bring her to the coast, where she and Bruce had rented the sports car. It took them almost an hour and Jennifer started to lose patience. They finally arrived and Jennifer ran to the garage. The salesman told her that Bruce had left already but he had no idea where he was headed. It was getting really frustrating but Jennifer wasn’t going to give up. She wanted to talk now and she was determined to find him.

She walked around and looked for him everywhere. The streets were crowded and it was difficult to walk without hitting someone. After an hour and half under the burning sun, she was ready to go home when she saw him. Bruce was sitting outside of a small café, sipping an iced tea. She could tell by the look on his face that he hadn’t slept well for several nights. He looked older and exhausted, and she barely recognized him.

She took a deep breath and took the chair next to him.

“May I?”

He looked up, saw her and nodded without saying a word. Jennifer didn’t expect a warm welcome. She was simply glad she had finally found him.

“Bruce, we need to talk. I can’t stand being alone and waiting for you to tell me that we’re done.”

He said nothing. He wasn’t even looking at her and Jennifer felt abandoned. She was desperately trying to reconnect with him.

“I’m so sorry, Bruce. Please, talk to me. If you hate me, just say it but please, stop ignoring me. It’s killing me...”

She felt emotional and her eyes started to get filled with tears. He finally looked at her but his face was hard; he looked tough and angry.

“It was this man again? Enzo?”

Jennifer nodded.

“What happened?”

“He came to New York for work and he contacted me.”

“And you couldn’t resist...”

“No Bruce, don’t be sarcastic, please. I just wanted to thank him for his help. He helped us to save your company.”

“He just wanted to have my wife in exchange. Classic.”

Jennifer sighed and shook her head.

“Stop please. It wasn’t like that. We just spent time together. At that time, you were spending a lot of time with Fancelli and to be honest, I didn’t like it. You knew it.”

“Yeah...”

“It wasn’t great between us, Bruce. I was weak. I was struggling to find my place in your world. I wanted to be understood. Enzo just knew how to take care of me. He had the right words, the right way to do things...”

Bruce said nothing but he brought his fist to his mouth. He was biting his knuckles and Jennifer figured he was trying to control himself. It wasn’t easy for him to hear to her story and she stopped.

“So what happened exactly?” Bruce said after a while. “You melted in his arms and you had the best night of your life?”

“We didn’t sleep together.”

“Bullshit...”

“I swear. I stopped it. I couldn’t. We almost crossed the line and things got a bit out of control, but in the end, we didn’t have sex.”

“Nothing happened then...”

“Just... foreplays... I’m sorry, Bruce. I hate myself for telling you all this. I regret it so much, you have no idea. I don’t want to lose you because of this stupid mistake.”

Bruce looked at her and narrowed his eyes. He was examining her face and thinking what to say. Jennifer felt her heart race. It could the end of their story or a new beginning and she was dying to know.

“I’m not happy about it, as you can guess,” he finally said. “I feel humiliated and betrayed.”

“My God, Bruce I’m so sorry. I truly regret it. I would do anything to erase the past.”

“I’ve considered my options. I’ve spent days and nights thinking about you, about us.”

“And?”

“I’m not going to forget easily but I can’t hold a grudge against you forever. I know from experience that it’s only going to make me feel worse. I appreciate your honesty. You made a tough decision and I respect that. You also made a mistake and God knows I’ve made lots of mistakes in my life too... So... I’ve decided to forgive you.”

Jennifer exhaled a loud sigh of relief and broke into tears.

“Thank you. Thank you so much, baby. I’ll never hurt you again.”

“Like I said, I won’t forget easily. I’m willing to let go and forgive, because otherwise we’ll live in hell... But I’ll be honest too; it’s going to be very hard for me to trust you again...”

“I know. I completely understand. I’ll do anything to deserve your trust, you have my word.”

Bruce was acting cold and distant, but she knew that it was because he was struggling deep inside. His feelings had been hurt and he was trying to recover as best as he could. Jennifer wasn’t the first woman in his life to cheat on him and he was probably fighting to remain in control.

“I’ll do anything so we can be together again,” she said, reaching for his hand. “I promise there won’t be any secrets. I’ll never hide anything from you and I will never do anything to hurt you. I can’t lose you, Bruce. I love you too much...”

He finally turned to her and opened his arms, inviting her to hug him.

“Come here,” he said.

Jennifer jumped in his arms and felt the warmth of his chest against her face. She heard his heart beat; it was beating like a drum. She knew he still loved her and she swore she would do anything to keep their love alive.

He caressed her hair and she felt that he had been waiting for this moment as well. She looked up and took his lips in her mouth. She gave him a hard and passionate kiss, and thanked God she had a second chance.

“Come on,” he said after their long kiss. “Let’s hang around...”

B
ruce took Jennifer’s hand and they walked along the beach. The French Riviera was truly beautiful. She could tell it was a luxurious area but at the same time, it wasn’t too much and the atmosphere was relaxed. There were obviously a lot of people who were there to show off, many of them Russians apparently, but Jennifer didn’t pay attention.

It felt good to be abroad. It was the first time she was traveling to Europe and France had always been one of her favorite destinations. Jennifer had heard about these nudist beaches in the south of France and was curious to see one of them. She had heard many rumors as well about what actually happened on these beaches. She couldn’t help thinking about the sex club they had been to, and now she was wondering how nudist beaches looked like.

There was definitely something special about the location; it seemed like sex was the underlying element underneath everything. It was almost floating in the air. After all, the French had a name for their kisses; the French kiss. And they were also known to be excellent lovers. Well, Jennifer didn’t believe that one, as she was perfectly satisfied with Bruce, but judging by what she had seen, it was possible. Indeed, Marc and Jeanne were a very hot couple and there was no doubt in her mind that they were experts. The rumors might possibly be true, then.

“Do you feel better?” She asked after a while.

“Yes. It’s good to be with you again. I hate it when we fight.”

“Me too. It was my fault, I’m really sorry.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Sure. Let’s talk about something else. I called the recruitment agency the other day.”

“Oh yes, I forgot. So?”

Jennifer sighed. “They can’t find anyone. It’s really depressing. Why is it so hard? I thought I would be able to recruit a lot of people who shared my passion for cooking.”

“I think there are actually a lot of people just like you, but teaching isn’t their dream. They would rather own a restaurant or work side by side with a well-known chef.”

“That’s what the lady from the agency told me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Maybe I’ll drop the idea...”

Bruce glanced at her and frowned.

“You want to give up?”

“Not give up... but reassess the situation and maybe, set a new goal.”

“Okay... like what?”

“I’m still doing well with my private services and I’m gaining quite a lot of experience now. People start to recognize my name and the demand has been steadily increasing.”

“I think you have a gift. People can see it and that’s why you’re in demand now.”

“Do you think I should keep focusing on this business and forget about the cooking school?”

“I think you should follow your guts.”

“My cooking school was a dream but I think I’ve grown up and it doesn’t seem that fancy anymore. I’ve seen so much more since I’m with you... and I’m more flexible.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Do you have a better idea of what you could do?”

“Yes, I think so. I think I should continue cooking as a private chef and raise the bar. I’d like to offer very exclusive services, with elevated and refined dishes.”

“Sounds ambitious... but very promising as well. I like this idea.”

“I feel very inspired around here. It’s beautiful and people have a strong culture. They have their own culinary identity and I want to learn from them.”

“Wait a minute... you want to stay in France to study?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I just want to expand my horizons and get specialized. I love Mediterranean food and it could become what I’m known for.”

Bruce nodded. “I see... There’s a bookstore over there,” he said, point to his left. “Do you want to have a look and see if you can find anything?”

Jennifer giggled and smiled. She wasn’t expecting to find anything fancy or particularly useful, but Bruce’s attention was very sweet. He did care and was thoughtful. He was really making an effort to move on, even though she could see that he was still affected by her confession.

“Yes, I’d love to,” she said.

They crossed the street and entered in the small but very well decorated book store. It was almost empty; people didn’t seem to read anymore these days. At the cashier, there was a young woman with short black hair and green eyes. She greeted them and Jennifer noticed that she followed them quietly.

“Do you need help?” The lady said.

“Mmm... No thank you, we’re just having a look,” Jennifer replied politely.