Billionaire's Blackmail Bride: Billionaire Brothers Kent - Ridge's Story (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) Read Free Page B

he chuckled. “You’re the one who always prided himself on knowing
tons of women and how they think. So what should I do about Lani?”
    “Oh, Jeez.” Rafe exhaled and put his hands on top of his head, his
fingers interwoven and his elbows sticking out to the sides. “I never tried
blackmailing a woman before. You got me with that one, Ridge.” He lowered his
hands and then he, too, was leaning forward. “And I’m a married man now so all
that talk about me knowing lots of women, just keep it on the down-low, will
you? That kind of stuff’s behind me now.”
    “Yeah, sure.” Ridge shrugged. “Anya won’t hear it from me. But that
still doesn’t help me with my situation. Lani turned me down flat, bro. Walked
out the door and never looked back. Looks like it’s time for me to draw for
plan B.” He grimaced. “The only thing is, I don’t have one.”
    “Hey, bud. Don’t you know you’ve got a wild card?” Rafe was looking
at him like he was slow. “You’re in the oil business. Tell her that. Money
talks. Don’t you know that?”
    Ridge shook his head. Now it was his turn to look at his brother
like he was slow. “Did you hear what I said?” he asked. “I already offered her money,
enough money to cover the cost of her research and her lab for more than a
year. She turned me down cold.”
    “Not good enough,” Rafe said drily. “Give her an extra half-a-million
on top of that and you’ll be good to go.”
    Not liking the sound of that, Ridge frowned. “I don’t know,” he said
slowly. "That smacks of all-out bribery.”
    “So what do you call the offer you made her before?” Rafe shrugged.
“Same thing but with the extra mil you’re sweetening the pot. She won’t just be
covering her expenses. She’ll have some money to spend on herself.”
    Ridge shook his head. “That would only make things worse. If you
knew Lani you’d have figured that out.”
    “And that’s the thing,” Rafe said, getting up from his chair and
walking over to the big bay window. “I don’t know this Lani of yours. How come
I never heard about her before now?”
    “Because,” Ridge said slowly, “she and I have never been…romantically
involved.”
    Rafe’s eyes narrowed and he turned to face Ridge. “Then why the hell
do you want to get married to her?”
    Ridge grimaced. He drew in a deep breath then let it out. “It’s hard
to explain.”
    Rafe gave him an impatient look. “Try me.”
    For a moment Ridge didn’t reply but then he decided to spill it. "Her
name’s Lani Donatelli. She’s a big-time research scientist who runs a lab.
Allied Labs, it’s called.”
    Rafe looked intrigued. “Since when did you run in those circles? A
research scientist?”
    Peeved by his brother’s disdainful tone, Ridge made sure to set him straight.
“We both happen to be members of the Houston North Academy school board. I fund
some of their extra-curricular programs and she’s their advisor for the science
programs. I’ve known her for almost a year.”
    “And you’ve been lusting after her ever since, I bet.” Rafe was
grinning now.
    “Why doesn’t your crudity surprise me?” Ridge shook his head.
“Anyway, the important thing is, I kind of like her.”
    “Kind of?”
    “Okay, I’m attracted to her. A lot. It’s just that she’s never given
me the time of day.” He sighed. “And it doesn’t help that we haven’t seen
eye-to-eye on a few issues being dealt with by the school board.”
    “So you’ve been pissing her off, huh?”
    “You could say that.”
    Rafe chuckled. “No wonder you’ve had to resort to blackmail.”
    Ridge gave him an exasperated look. “Yeah, well not all of us were
blessed with your gift of gab.”
    “The ladies call it charm,” Rafe said, looking way too pleased with
himself.
    Ridge didn’t bother answering that one. Instead, he went right to
the heart of the problem. “So what’s your suggestion, Mr. Expert? I called you
here for advice. Now give