An heiress for his empire

“It sounds like it was a pretty one-sided friendship.”

“That’s what Romi always said, but it wasn’t true.”

“Yes?” Vik sounded genuinely curious, if doubtful.

“Letting people in isn’t easy for me.”

The business tycoon who had spurred more fantasies than any teenage heartthrob in her adolescent breast made a disbelieving sound. “You have a huge social network.”

“And a total of two people I called friends, now only one.”

“I think two still.” Vik flicked her a glance with meaning. “Just not the same two.”

Unexpected and not wholly welcome warmth unfurled inside Maddie at the claim. Nevertheless, she admitted, “I’m glad to hear that.”

She just hoped it was true. Chances were good. Viktor Beck might be a bastard in the business world, but he was no liar.

“He made me laugh,” she admitted, falling back on old habits of sharing her uncensored thoughts with Vik.

“You have an infectious laugh,” Vik offered. “I missed it.”

It was weird to think of Vik missing anything about her. “You decided our friendship was over.”

“Not over, just truncated.”

“If you say so.” But six years on, she could maybe share his point of view.

“I thought it for the best.”

It was entirely possible it had been, no matter how much his rejection and subsequent pulling away had hurt. She hadn’t thought so at the time, the combined loss of her mom, then her grandfather, what little attention she’d had from her father and then Vik’s friendship had left Maddie with real intimacy issues. But if she and Vik had maintained their close friendship, she never would have gotten over him.

Nor would she have made her own way in life, building dreams completely independent of AIH.

“Looking back on it, it’s kind of surprising I let Perry get so close.” But then she’d needed a replacement for Vik at least.

“You loaned him money.”

Which had taken their friendship into a different realm, she now realized—a realm where Perry saw Maddie as a resource rather than a friend. “In the interest of accuracy, we’ll have to call them gifts, not loans.”

“And that makes it better?”

She shrugged, though Vik’s attention was on the road as they joined the heavy traffic over the Golden Gate Bridge. “Perry’s business ventures never seemed to work out.”

“Selling this story to the tabloids is pretty stupid as a long-term plan if you were already bankrolling him.”

“I wasn’t. I turned him down the last time he asked for money.” It had been a hard decision, but she’d had her own dreams to bankroll. “I’d come to the conclusion there were better places I could sink my money than down the rabbit hole of another one of Perry’s unlikely business ventures.”

“So, he betrayed you.”

“Yes.” She sighed sadly. “I had no idea my friendship was only worth a few dollars.”

“Fifty thousand.”

“That’s how much he got paid?” She wasn’t surprised Vik knew.

The man made it a habit to know everything of even peripheral importance to him. Maddie figured it would be a matter of days, if not hours, before he learned of her anonymous volunteering and even her therapist.

Uncertainty about his reaction to her secrets was the only thing stopping her from telling him herself.

“For the initial tabloid article. He planned to leverage the scandal into more paid interviews and even a book deal.” Vik’s voice was laced with disgust.

“That’s ridiculous. I’m not exactly a celebrity.” She hated this.

“No, but you are the Madcap Heiress.”

“Madcap Madison. It’s what they called my mother.” She could still remember the first time one of the tabloids had used the moniker for Maddie.

It had made Maddie feel like maybe Helene was still with her in some small way. Only later had her own maturity and help from her therapist helped Maddie to see how distorted that thinking was.

“You share her penchant for making it into the press,” Vik agreed. “Perry’s book wouldn’t have made him a million dollars, but someone would have paid him a hefty advance for it.”

“That’s just stupid.”

“That’s our reality-television, celebrity-drama-obsessed society.” Vik shifted into the higher gear as they finally made it over the bridge.

San Francisco’s gridlock could get really ugly, though it was better than the freeways that became parking lots during high commute times in and around L.A.

“I suppose. You talk about the book deal like it’s in the past.”