High Stakes (25 page)

The reminder of the intimacy they’d shared
hit Alisa hard. She tried to block it out of her mind, the stolen kisses when
they thought no one was looking, the passionate lovemaking, how safe and protected
she felt in his arms. The sense that she finally found her soul mate…

“Yeah, well, he may be in love with her,
but I can guaran-damn-tee you, she ain’t over me.”

“Funny, I coulda sworn I just heard her
tell you it was over. In fact, she told you to get the hell out. If I were you,
I’d take the lady’s advice.”

Nick chuckled. “Who’s gonna make me? You?”

“You really don’t know who you’re dealing
with, do you, dumbass?”

“Who the hell are you callin’—”

Alisa sucked in a breath when she peeked
over the top of the railing and saw the two men take a step towards each other.

“My brother is not a guy you wanna mess
with, trust me. We’re talkin’ wealth and power on a whole ’nother level than
you’re used to, buddy.”

Alisa pressed a hand to her stomach. This
was quickly going from bad to worse. She knew Nick wouldn’t take the targeted
shot to his ego without fighting back. All of his self-worth was wrapped up in
his wealth and fame. Without that, he felt like he was nothing.

“So he’s rich, big deal. Alisa’s grown up
around money her whole life. That stuff don’t mean shit to her.”

“If that’s true, then what in the hell
would she see in a loser like you? My brother went to an Ivy League school,
built a business worth hundreds of millions from the ground up, raised a
daughter on his own, gives back a small fortune every year…” Matt chuckled.
“What the hell have you ever done to make yourself worthy of a woman like
Alisa?” He laughed again when Nick didn’t respond. “You’ve got a decent singing
voice, but that’s all you’ve got to offer her. You really think that’s enough
to keep a woman like her happy for the long haul?” When Nick still didn’t
respond, he said, “Do yourself a favor, man; go back to your groupies, ‘cause
that lady is way outta your league.”

Alisa held her breath, half-expecting to
hear the sickening thud of fists flying. But when she stole another glance over
the railing, she was shocked to see Nick crossing the store and walking out the
door without another word to Matt. Apparently the Bryson brothers had a knack
for getting people to see things their way.

“Can you handle things downstairs for a
while?” she asked Megan, one of her part-time sales associates.

“Sure, no problem.”

“I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

Megan followed Alisa down the stairs. When
she caught sight of Matthew, she whispered, “Oh my God, that guy’s gorgeous. Is
he available, or what?”

“Or what.”

“Damn, all the good ones are taken, aren’t
they?”

Alisa knew of one good man who’d be back on
the market very soon. The prospect shouldn’t turn her stomach, but it did. If
she thought it took her a long time to get over her break-up with Nick, that
was going to pale in comparison to the heartbreak of losing Liam.

By the time Alisa cleared the last stair,
Matt was already in her office, so she quickly made her way to the back of the
store, anxious to hear what he had to say. Did Liam know he was here? Had he
asked him to come? Was Matt going to ask her to give his brother another
chance?

Alisa pushed the door open and smiled at
Matt, who was sitting on the small sofa. “I heard the way you handled Nick.
Impressive.”

“I hope I wasn’t overstepping, but the
thought of that guy trying to pressure you into getting back together with him
after what he did to you really pisses me off.”

She smiled as she claimed the chair next to
him and crossed her legs. “Liam filled you in, I take it?”

“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. It’s just
that it was really bothering him, knowing that your ex was still in the
picture.” He shrugged. “Not a lot of things threaten my brother, but knowing
that you had history with this guy made him question whether he could compete.”

Alisa couldn’t help but laugh. “Liam’s
afraid of losing me to Nick? That’s ridiculous.”

Matt shared in her laughter. “I know,
right? That’s what I tried to tell him. The guy’s a loser.”

She winced at his characterization of her
former fiancé. “What does it say about me that I agreed to marry him?”

“It says you were young and foolish.” Matt
smiled, a smile so much like Liam’s it took her breath away. “We’re all allowed
to make a few mistakes, right?”

“I guess so.” She crossed and uncrossed her
legs. “So tell me, what brings you here?”

All traces of humor vanished as Matt
suddenly appeared to have the weight of the world resting on his shoulders.
“Liam had an
episode
after you left Barbados.” He released a gusty sigh.
“He didn’t want you to know about this, but I thought you had a right, since
you are still his wife.”

Alisa felt a flicker of anxiety invade her
stomach. “What kind of episode are we talking about?”

Matt covered his face with his hands before
looking at her. “There’s no easy way to tell you this, Alisa. He had a heart
attack.”

She gasped as she leaned forward. “Oh my
God. Are you serious?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“But he’s young and strong and…” She
couldn’t process the thought of the Liam she knew laid up in a hospital bed, incapacitated
or worse. “Please, tell me he’s okay.”

Matt reached for her hand. “He’s going to
be, but they had to keep him in the hospital in Barbados for a few days to monitor
his blood pressure and heart rhythms.”

“I don’t understand how this could have
happened to someone like him.” He was so vital and always seemed to have
boundless energy. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense to me,” Matt said,
scowling, as he released her hand and leaned back on the sofa to extend his arm
across the back. “He’s been working seven days a week for as long as I can
remember, eats out two or three times a day, never finds the time to visit a
doctor, and only exercises to try and relieve stress, which rarely works. Hell,
he was a ticking time bomb.”

Alisa tried to focus on her breathing,
forcing air in and out of her lungs at a steady pace, but it did little to help
lessen her anxiety about her husband’s condition. “What are his doctors saying?”

“They told him he can’t go on like this. He
needs to cut back, take it easy for a while, make some serious changes in his
life, or he won’t be so lucky the next time.” Matt shook his head. “He’s had
unregulated high blood pressure for God knows how long. That was one of the
major factors that contributed to the heart attack, according to the doctors.
They’ve put him on medication, which seems to be working, but that’s only the
beginning.”

Alisa thought about the advice she’d given
him the other night, the same advice the doctor was giving him now. She
wondered if the doctor had better luck convincing him that his habits put his
life in jeopardy. “How is Liam handling this?”

“He’s mad as hell,” Matt said, chuckling.
“He’s not used to being told what to do, and the fact that he has to take it
easy at home for a while is making him crazy.”

“He’s at home now?”

“Yeah, the doc just gave him the go-ahead
to fly today. Tracey and Abby flew home on the jet with him to make sure he was
okay. But I wanted to come here and tell you what happened in person.” He
shrugged. “Liam didn’t want you to know, but I thought you had the right. We’ve
managed to keep it out of the papers, since it happened so far away, but that’s
not to say there won’t be a leak. If there is… I didn’t want you to hear it on
TV.”

“Liam didn’t want me to know?” She tried to
ignore the twinge of sorrow that accompanied those words. Her husband didn’t
want her to know that he’d had a medical emergency? That spoke volumes about
his commitment to working out the problems in their marriage.

“He didn’t want to feel as though you were
staying with him because of his condition. If there’s one thing my brother
hates, it’s being pitied.” He smiled. “Almost as much as he hates hovering.”

“Well, that’s too damn bad,” Alisa said,
getting to her feet. “Because, as his wife, it’s my job to take care of him, so
he better get used to it.”

“Does that mean you’re coming back with
me?”

“Oh yeah, and when I get my hands on him,
I’m gonna throttle him for the hell he’s put me through.”

“I said I’m fine, Mrs. Foster,” Liam said
through gritted teeth. In the hour since he’d been home, she made him soup, brought
him the newspaper, and now she was fluffing his pillows. “Please, just go back
to whatever you were doing before I came home.”

She scowled at him as she fisted her hands
on her hips. “You expect me to pretend this heart attack never happened? How am
I supposed to do that?”

Mrs. Foster had worked for Liam since his
daughter was born, and they always had a cordial relationship, but she never
crossed the employee/employer line by lecturing him about how he chose to live
his life. Judging by the displeasure he saw on her face, he suspected that was
about to change. He feared that was the first of many things about to change.
In a matter of a few days, his life spiraled out of control, and he hated it.

“What’s the matter with you? Do I have to
remind you that you have a daughter who’s counting on you? If you’re not
willing to take care of yourself for your own sake, then do it for her.”

Liam felt the wallop of her words like a
smack to the face. “I always put my daughter first.”

“Really?” She drew a deep breath. “You know
what? Now’s not the time to discuss this. Tracey said you weren’t to be upset
right now, and I certainly don’t want to be responsible for your setback. I’m
sure you’ll manage that without my help.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
he asked, tossing his newspaper down on the bed beside him.

“None of us expect you to follow the
doctor’s orders. You put that company above all of us, including your own
wellbeing. You’ve proven that. If you had any sense—”

“Excuse me.”

Liam cursed when his heart began to race at
the sight of Alisa. Surely that’s not what the doctor had intended when he told
him to remain calm. “What are you doing here?”

Alisa ignored him as she stepped into the
room and offered Mrs. Foster her hand. “Hello, I’m Alisa Bryson. Liam’s wife.”
She smiled. “You must be Mrs. Foster? Abby was just telling me about how much
they value your help around here.”

The older woman blushed at Alisa’s praise
as she accepted her outstretched hand. “That’s kind of you to say, Mrs.
Bryson.”

“Please, call me Alisa.” She nodded her
head toward Liam as she covered Mrs. Foster’s hand with both of hers. “You mind
if I have a few minutes with the mighty dictator over there?”

Mrs. Foster tried unsuccessfully to hide
her smile. “Be my guest. I hope you have better luck with him than I did.”

Alisa waited for Liam’s housekeeper to
leave the room before she started in on him. “Why the hell didn’t you call to
tell me what happened?”

“I didn’t want you here.” Liam closed his
eyes when he saw the effect of his words. He wasn’t trying to hurt her. He was
trying to set her free from any sense of obligation she may feel. She’d already
made her intentions clear, she intended to divorce him, and his heart attack
didn’t change anything. If she came back to him, he wanted it to be because she
realized she couldn’t live without him, not because she feared for his
wellbeing without a babysitter to watch his every move.

She sat down on the end of the bed. “That’s
too bad, ‘cause I’m here now whether you like it or not.”

“My brother told you what happened, didn’t
he?” When she didn’t deny his claim, he muttered a curse. “I should have known
he couldn’t keep his big mouth shut.”

“He thought I had a right to know.”

“Why?” He saw his opportunity to deliver
the final blow that would drive her away for good. “You’re nothing to me
anymore, remember?”

Alisa bit her bottom lip and looked down at
her clasped hands. “Be that as it may, I just promised your daughter I wouldn’t
go anywhere until you were back on your feet, and I intend to honor that
promise, whether you like it or not.”

“I am back on my feet.” He swung his legs
around, planting his feet on the floor beside hers. He hadn’t considered the
fact that being in close proximity to her may not be the best idea if he was
trying to convince her he didn’t care about her anymore. “What’s it gonna take
to convince you? You wanna have sex? That oughta prove to you that I haven’t
got one foot in the grave just yet.” He smirked, hating himself more with every
passing second. “Or is that what you were hoping for? Is that the reason you
rushed to my side, suddenly prepared to act like the dutiful little wife? You
thought I was getting ready to pack it in and you could cash in on my
stupidity… not having you sign a prenup.”

A tear slid down her cheek and she brushed
it away. “Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to hurt me?”