The Billionaire’s Rebellious Lover (The Maxfield Brothers Series Book 2) (9 page)

T
he sun was peeking
over the horizon when Daisy left Gabe’s. As the gorgeous orange rays spilled over her crappy car, she folded her arms and glared. She wasn’t in the mood for nature’s glory. She needed to give someone a piece of her mind.

Slamming the car door behind her, she phoned Jordan as she started the car. The motor turned over a few times before it finally roared to life. He didn’t pick up the first time, but that didn’t stop her. After ten minutes of redialing, he finally picked up.

“What the hell have you done?” she growled.

“I haven’t done anything,” he said calmly, but there wasn’t a trace of sleep in his voice. Daisy knew he hadn’t been sleeping. Most likely, he’d been waiting for her to call, and he purposely left her waiting for kicks.

“Don’t play games with me, Jordan. I am the only reason he didn’t call the police. How the hell do you expect this organization to get anywhere if you use violence and brutality to get what you want?”

Jordan chuckled. “And what exactly do you know about what we want, Daisy? Because the last time I checked, hanging from a millionaire’s arm wasn’t part of the agenda.”

Daisy slammed on the brakes as the traffic light turned red. Her car squealed so loudly she was afraid it would fall apart around her, but she didn’t even care. “We are not circling back around to this. You had guys waiting for him last night, which meant that you were planning this long before you saw the damn picture on social media. You’re only bringing that up to make me feel like this is my fault.”

“What is the point of this phone call, Daisy? You’re only going to continue to accuse me of something that I’m going to continue to deny. I can still get a few hours’ sleep instead,” he said neutrally. “Next time we meet, Daisy, I’m sure you’ll have something more interesting to report.”

“Don’t you dare hang up on me,” she hissed as she pulled up outside her apartment complex. “If you so much as think of pulling another stunt like this, or if you touch a single hair on his head, I will go to the police and get you and all your stoner buddies arrested, and his lawyers will make sure you spend the rest of your lives in a prison cell.”

“Aw, don’t tell me little Daisy is pissed because her handsome boyfriend got his face a little marred,” he said snidely. “You get your shit together, and we get this done. I want Duncan Enterprises massacred.”

“Massacred? For what? Jordan, this is about changing a company for the good of the environment. It’s not about crucifying anyone. Nothing gets changed unless there are changes on both sides, and we’re never going to get anywhere, or get taken seriously if we’re too busy crucifying the Maxfield family.”

“Oh, my dear sweet, Daisy,” Jordan sneered. “We chose you because you’re so naive. I can see that we chose well. Maybe too well. Why don’t you go play with your dollies and let the big boys get to work.”

The line went dead, and Daisy was left staring at her phone. What the hell was Jordan talking about? He made it sound like environmental change wasn’t even his priority.

Daisy walked on shaking legs to her apartment. At this early hour, everyone was asleep, but she couldn’t even enjoy the peace. Fear unfurled in her belly as she thought over Jordan’s words. He didn’t sound like the pot-smoking environment-loving man that she’d always taken him for. He sounded cold and calculating. He’d obviously been planning this for a long time. But why?

Her phone beeped, and she glanced down. Someone else from the organization had emailed her. As she clicked through, she realized that the attachment was a grainy picture showing Duncan Enterprises trucks at Greenman’s Corporation. “Oh, no. Gabe, please tell me that this isn’t true,” she whispered. Greenman’s Corporation was a huge company that had touted environmentally friendly construction until reports were made public that the corporation was actually dumping waste illegally, and even in some cases, using flimsy and cheap materials. Their public image was only skin-deep. When the media started digging deeper, they ripped Greenman’s apart. The company paid millions out in lawsuits and eventually went under. If Restore Eden could prove that Duncan Enterprises was in bed with Greenman’s, Duncan Enterprises would stand to lose everything.

But if it was true, then the public needed to know. Daisy sank into the cushions and stared at the picture. Her passion, her mission in life was to take down businesses like Greenman’s, and it was looking very much as if Duncan Enterprises would have to answer some tough questions.

With shaking hands, she set the phone down and slumped back on her couch. Maybe Jordan was right. Maybe her vision was clouded by her personal attachments to the company. Her first and unwarranted attack on Duncan Enterprises had been to get Nathan’s attention. And now that she had the attention of Duncan Enterprises, she was being held back by her feelings for Gabe. She didn’t want to do anything to hurt him.

Feelings? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Feelings seemed like too strong a word. It wasn’t like she had a deep affection for the man. She just…sort of…liked him.

Right?

Confused and upset, she finally drifted off to sleep on her couch. It seemed like only a few minutes had passed before her phone started to ring again. “Hello?” she said sleepily. She peered at the clock. Several hours had passed.

“Daisy? Please tell me that you have Gabe there.”

Nathan’s voice was panicked, and Daisy sat up straight, immediately wide-awake. “Nathan?” she said as she rubbed her eyes.

“Yes. For the love of God, tell me that Gabe is with you. Maybe you two went to talk to your organization together?”

Nathan sounded upset and impatient. “Gabe isn’t here. When I left his apartment earlier this morning, he was asleep on the couch.”

“You were here last night?” he asked.

God, was he jealous now? “Angie called me,” Daisy explained. “Gabe was attacked outside my building after he dropped me off.”

“She called you and not me. That’s awesome,” Nathan said. “Angie told me what happened, and I came over to check on him, but he’s not here.”

Daisy clutched the phone and closed her eyes. She sent up a silent prayer that this wasn’t what Jordan was talking about. “Maybe he went to the hospital,” she said weakly.

“I called the hospital. He’s not there. Daisy, this place looks like a crime scene. The table is smashed, and there is blood on the floor. I swear to God if you had something to do with this…I trusted you. I convinced Gabe not to have you arrested, and you pull shit like this? Where the fuck is he?”

“What exactly are you insinuating?”

“This is exactly the kind of stunt that Restore Eden would pull. You and I both know that they’re not above breaking the law to get what they want. They’ve kidnapped Gabe, and they’re going to hurt him to get what they want.”

“I had nothing to do with any of this. How could you even think that?” Daisy snapped. “I’ve pulled some stupid and illegal stunts before, but I would never intentionally hurt anyone. If you think he was kidnapped, you should be calling the damn cops.” Nathan was silent, and Daisy narrowed her eyes. “Nathan, if you think Gabe is in trouble, you need to call the police,” she insisted.

“If I call the police, they’re going to assume he’s being held for money. They’ll process the apartment as a crime scene and wait for a ransom call, but this isn’t about money. This is about him doing what they want, and we both know how stubborn Gabe is. I have a bad feeling this isn’t going to end well for anyone. We need to find him now.”

Daisy blew out the breath she had been holding. “I can get close to Jordan, but I don’t think he’s going to give up Gabe. He thinks I’ve gone soft and that I care more about Duncan Enterprises than I do about the cause.”

“We both know that’s not true,” Nathan said softly. Daisy felt her heart break a little.

“Is that really what you think? Nathan, I’ve always cared for you. Even when we both knew things weren’t working out, I tried to hold on. To give you what you wanted. It turned out to be a complete disaster, but I always put you first.”

“Yes, but they didn’t kidnap me, did they? They kidnapped Gabe. So I guess what I’m concerned about now is whether you’re willing to put
his
safety first.”

Daisy didn’t know what to say because she didn’t know what Nathan was asking. Deep down, she knew that Nathan understood that she’d never do anything to hurt anyone. If he was asking this, he wasn’t questioning her integrity; he was questioning her feelings for Gabe.

“I’ll find him. I don’t know how yet, but I will,” she said finally.

She heard Nathan inhale sharply. She hadn’t answered the question he was asking, and they both knew it. “Go find Jordan, and keep your phone with you. When you find Gabe, text me. I’ll have security track your phone.”

“What? You can do that?”

“Yes, Daisy. We have billions of dollars and quite a few secrets to protect. We can track your damn phone,” he said tersely before disconnecting.

Secrets to protect? Like the secret that they were, at one time, in bed with a huge scandal? She tried to push the thought from her mind. Her first priority was Gabe’s safety. Even as she thought of him being hurt because of something she’d done, she felt as if a fist squeezed around her chest. Once he was safe, then, and only then, she would have to choose.

S
he thought about phoning Jordan
, but he’d be expecting that. Instead, she would find him and confront him in person. The truth was that Jordan was weak. He allowed others to do his dirty work while he blustered and shouted. When it came down to it, he would cut and run rather than risk jail time. If she played her cards right, she’d be able to wrap him around her little finger.

Changing out of her pajamas, she chose a pair of tight jeans and a spaghetti-strap top that showed off some of her midriff. Brushing out her hair, she rebraided it leaving a few tendrils hanging around her face. She knew Jordan’s type, and she knew he would be a little distracted when he saw her.

The thought made her skin crawl.

Musing, she looked around her kitchen. If she was going in, she couldn’t go empty-handed. She’d need a weapon and she knew just the thing.

Opening and closing cabinets, she pulled out the necessary ingredients. Mixing quickly, she fished through her freezer for the organic strawberries she had frozen. Blending everything, she poured the contents of her blender into two thermoses. It had been a while since she had tried anything like this and she hoped she got the mix right, as there would be no second chances.

After getting her gear together, she packed a bag and slung it in the car.

The first place she checked was his apartment, but he wasn’t there. Jordan wasn’t much of an early riser, but it was possible that he never went home after grabbing Gabe. Even though Gabe was hurt, Jordan wouldn’t have been able to pull it off alone. In fact, she wasn’t even sure he did it at all. It was possible that he was handling everything behind the scenes. After checking a few of his favorite coffee shops, she finally found him at the park a few blocks from his apartment.

Dogwood Park was not nearly as picturesque as it sounded. It had, at one time, been the dream of some of the residents on millionaire row. They’d wanted a huge private park for their kids to play in, but like many ideas of the rich and famous, it had been abandoned. They sold it back to the city, and it was one of the open spaces now inhabited by those on low incomes, and the homeless. Normally there were some kids hanging around on bikes and skateboards, but this early in the morning there were only a few people wrapped up in sleeping bags.

And Jordan.

He leaned against the fence and drank from his coffee cup as Daisy approached. She could see the exhaustion in his eyes. Jordan was past his prime partying days, and the late nights were catching up to him.

“A little early for a walk in the woods, isn’t it?” she called out to him.

His eyes slowly raked over her body, and he shrugged. “Our conversation kept me up. I couldn’t sleep.”

She bit her bottom lip and reached up to tug on her braid. It was a subconscious move, but his gaze followed her movement, so she let her hands linger. Daisy had never been a great liar, but she tried to do her best now. “As a matter of fact, I couldn’t sleep either. That’s why I’m here.”

“You’re not here because of your lover boy?”

“He’s not my lover boy. And no. While I’m pissed that you went to the extreme, it’s opened my eyes.” Holding up her phone, she pulled up the article that someone had sent her. “And so did this. I feel like such an idiot. I want to believe that this is in the past, but what if Duncan Enterprises is emulating Greenman’s. What if everything Gabe said to me is a lie, a cover-up? Maybe they are just using us to legitimize their activities.”

He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head. It was obvious that he didn’t believe that she wasn’t here to find out what happened to Gabe, but she tried to keep the truth from showing in her face. If he knew for sure, she’d never get anything out of him, and that could cost Gabe dearly.

“A few hours ago, I accused you of going soft. I expected that you’d be here to slap me,” he said slowly.

“Last night, I also told you that violence was wrong. I don’t think slapping you would help my cause,” she said. She sighed and leaned against the fence next to him. “What happened to me, Jordan? A few years ago, I was ready to change the world. Now, I can’t even find a way to put Duncan Enterprises in their place.”

“I was afraid that Nathan would cloud your judgment. I had no idea you’d move on to the next brother. You know that the oldest one is married, right?”

Daisy felt a surge of anger, and she almost did slap him. “It’s not Gabe,” she snapped. “It’s not Nathan either. I want to show that we can get what we want without going to such extreme measures. But if this report is true, then I guess my way isn’t working. The only thing I can do now is talk to Gabe and squeeze the truth out of him.”

“You want to talk to Gabe?”

Daisy twirled her braid about her finger. “Well, if you’re right and he is infatuated with me, I could probably get him to tell me the truth. Nathan is barely talking to me, and Duncan and Angie will protect their company no matter what. Gabe might be my only way of getting to the truth.”

Jordan chuckled. “So you’re willing to use Gabe now? I saw the eyes that you were giving him in the picture.”

“Those eyes got me into a party where I got to talk to some high profile people. Something that would never have happened if I had gone by myself. I needed him to get me into that party,” she said as she gave him a sly smile. “The most important thing is whether he was giving me those eyes back. You know men, Jordan. Do you think I can use this to my advantage?” She resisted the urge to stick out her hips, but it didn’t matter. Jordan was already hooked.

He turned and put his arms around her. “That’s my girl.”

There were some things she couldn’t do. She slapped her hands on his chest and stepped back out of his reach. “Easy there, tiger. Don’t get too excited. This is only a plan. I still have to go through with it. I need to go check on him anyway. The whole nurse thing might work for me, but don’t go thinking this lets you off for what you did. Next time you want to pull a stunt like this, you talk to me first. I’m still the head of this section, and I don’t like you pulling your weight like that.”

“So it doesn’t turn you on when a man takes charge?”

“No, it doesn’t,” she said as she folded her arms “But it has provided me with a great opportunity, so thanks. Time to go play nursemaid.” She pushed herself off the fence. Inside she was screaming for him to tell the truth.

He gave in. “You won’t find Gabe at his apartment.”

Suppressing her urge to do a victory dance, she turned her head. “What do you mean?”

“I may have done something else that you aren’t going to be too happy with. But it doesn’t mean that your plan won’t work. In fact, it might work even better now. If you played the nurse last night, you could probably play the hero now.”

“Hero? Why would I need to play the hero?” she asked quietly.

“Gabe isn’t at his apartment, Daisy. I told you last night to wait and see. I’ve upped my game.”

“To…?” she asked slowly. Jordan was taking his sweet time admitting that he’d broken the law again. She gave him a slow smile. Adding a little teasing giggle to her voice, she said, “Jordan! What did you do?”

“Gabe is in one of the cabins in the woods behind the park so we’d have some place more private to talk to him.”

Jordan shrugged like it was no big deal, and Daisy inhaled sharply. At least she didn’t have to pretend anymore.

“You kidnapped Gabe Maxfield.” Putting her hands on her hips, she blew out her breath while she tried to figure out what to do next. “Okay, I guess I will play the hero. How long were you planning on keeping him?”

“Until he agrees to play ball.”

Christ. Jordan wasn’t even going to release him today. This was bad. “What makes you think they aren’t going to call the cops when they realize that he’s gone? Jordan, you’re in way over your head here.”

“They aren’t going to call the police because I’m going to let them know that if they do, I’m going to release the photo of them hanging out with Greenman’s and much more. The media will destroy them.”

“Much more? What are you talking about Jordan? I only just showed you the email.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he gave her a sly grin. “The information we provide to the media doesn’t have to be entirely accurate. Duncan Enterprises will be massacred by public opinion while they scramble to prove their innocence. Either way, we win.”

Shit. Nathan and Angie would have to choose between Duncan Enterprises and Gabe’s safety. In the end, they would probably choose Gabe, and Jordan will have won. Truth be told, it probably wouldn’t even matter. No matter what they did, no matter what promises he made, Jordan would still give up the information. There was no way he could be trusted to keep his word.

“Interesting plan. How about you let me talk to him so we can move this along and not get arrested,” she growled.

“We’ll go together.”

She’d never be able to break Gabe out if Jordan was there. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to work. How am I supposed to flirt with him if you’re hovering over me? You think I’ve lost my edge. Let me prove to you that I’ve still got what it takes to get shit done.”

Jordan smiled. “I’ll be waiting here for you when you return. You have an hour, Daisy. And then I’m coming for you.”

He shifted, and Daisy’s eyes widened as she saw the gleam from his waistband. Since when did Jordan carry a gun?

“Thirty minutes,” she said as she gave him what she hoped was a winning smile. “Any more than that and I’ll know for sure that he isn’t interested in me at all.”

Thirty minutes. She could smuggle Gabe out to safety in thirty minutes, right?