Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 18

*Michael*

Once I’m in the hall, I open the text message that interrupted my conversations with Shelby

Lucille: Do you know someone named Blaine?

That simple sentence made my stomach drop. He was now contacting family members.

I made my way back to the privacy of my office for the second time in the same night. I closed the door behind me before dialing my cousin Lucille’s number.

“Michael, I am so glad you called me. I just had the strangest conversation with someone named Blaine. I was just getting out of the bath when I got a call from an unknown number. Now, usually I don’t answer the phone if I don’t know the number, but I gave my information to this adorable man at the coffee shop earlier today, so I figured it was him.”

“Lucille, this is important; I need you to tell me exactly what Blaine said to you.” I had to keep Lucille focused on the topic; she’d always been a talker, but at that moment, I couldn’t politely listen to all of her stories in their excruciating detail.

“Oh, right, the call from Blaine! He told me I needed to meet his demands or else.”

“What were his demands?”

“He wants me to send half a million dollars in a box to an address in New Jersey. I’m sure it is just one of those scam callers that has nothing better to do with their life.”

“Lucille, if you thought it was a scam, then why did you ask me if I knew him?”

“Well, that’s what I found so strange. He knew all about our family tree and how we are related. I just thought it was a little more information than scammers normally have. However, who knows? With the Internet, I’m sure people can replace out all kinds of information about our family. We aren’t exactly flying under the radar.

“Oh, did you see that latest news article in the paper? Apparently, you are about to agree to an arranged marriage to the Princess of Thailand.”

“Lucille, I’m afraid this isn’t a scam. But the arranged marriage definitely isn’t true. Have you left your house since you got this call?”

“No, why? Michael, you’re making me nervous.”

“Okay, don’t leave your house. I’m sending some of my security team over there now. Do not open the door for anyone else.”

“What should I do about Blaine’s demands?”

“Just ignore it.”

“Michael, who is it we are dealing with?” Lucille asked. She was clearly nervous now.

“You don’t have to deal with anyone, Lucille, I promise. I will take care of everything. Don’t answer any unknown numbers, and do not go anywhere without one of my men with you. I will get this figured out.”

“Okay, Michael. Just be careful.”

“I will be. Call me if you need anything.”

I hung up the phone and slammed my palm against my desk, even though I wanted to punch something instead. I allowed myself a few seconds of anger before picking up my phone again and calling my head of security.

“Hello?” a burly voice sounded on the other end of the phone call.

“Bruce, I need you to send two men over to my cousin Lucille’s home in the West Village. Her address should be listed in her file.”

“Of course, sir. Has there been an incident?”

“A man named Blaine Blake. He is blackmailing Lucille at the moment. I am not sure what he is capable of, but he is a threat to the entire family. I need your best men on this.”

“Two men are already on their way to your cousin’s, sir. Do I need to send a team to you?”

I knew I’d hired Bruce for a reason. He was extremely efficient and always one step ahead of everyone else. He was exactly who I needed to help me take care of Blaine.

“No need at the moment, but I will keep you posted. Oh, and Bruce?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Keep your ear to the ground, and let me know anything you replace out about this Blaine Blake. Any information that you replace needs to be kept under wraps. Some of what you may replace has the potential to ruin my family’s public image.”

“On it, sir. Everything will be done with the utmost secrecy.”

“Thank you, Bruce. Have a good evening.”

I hung up the phone and set it on my large oak desk.

Unconsciously, I had been pacing my office while I was on the phone, so I slumped down into my leather armchair and swiveled it around so I could watch the ocean. It was so dark, it was hard to differentiate the water from the sky.

I should have known I would hear from Blaine eventually. I first found out about his existence after my parents’ death when I was seventeen. My father’s will had very bluntly stated that his bastard was to receive nothing.

I had no idea that I had a half-brother out there in the world until after my dad was gone and couldn’t explain the situation for himself. I was left spending the rest of my early adult life piecing the clues together.

My parents’ constant fighting and lack of affection for each other made complete sense as soon as I knew that my father’s infidelity was likely the cause. I ripped apart my father’s office, trying to replace any clues about his hidden life.

The only thing I found was a check register, showing he had paid a woman named Ann Blake one hundred thousand dollars. I had no illusions about my father, I knew exactly what he’d done.

My father kept detailed records of every dime he ever spent; the lack of information on the check register told me everything I needed. The hundred thousand dollars was hush money, and the woman, Anne Blake, had to be my father’s mistress.

I searched for years to replace Anne Blake, but her name was so common, it was impossible to narrow down my search enough to replace the right woman. I had no other information to go off of, and I was left with a million unanswered questions.

It wasn’t until I found out that I was Lauren’s father that I had a hope of replaceing my brother. Lauren had taken a DNA test that linked her to other Astors who had their DNA in the same database.

I took the same DNA test and waited for a notification that I had a sibling match in the database. Last year, that notification finally came, but after some digging into my brother Blaine Blake’s history, I wished I’d never known about him. More importantly, I wished he didn’t know either.

Blaine’s criminal record was far from clean, with multiple charges of petty theft and blackmail. It wasn’t long after that, that the threats started coming in. At first, it was easy to shake the threats off, and I simply ignored all of them.

In the last month, Blaine must have gotten desperate because his attempts at blackmail were getting increasingly threatening.

So far, I had even avoided telling my security team about the threats, but now he was threatening my family. I knew Bruce would get to the bottom of the problem, but he would likely replace out about all of my family’s dirty laundry in the process.

I ran my hands up my face and through my hair. Leaning back, I stared at the ceiling. I knew I would never be able to sleep after the events of the last few hours, so I turned back around to my desk and opened my laptop.

I figured I might as well get some work done if I was going to be up anyway.

A notification greeted me as the screen flashed to life. Shelby had accepted my friend request. At that, I couldn’t help but smile, just a little.

There was something about that woman that made it impossible for me to get her out of my head. I was immediately distracted by the memory of her riding on the back of the jet ski to replace the dolphins.

Thinking of that day, I could almost feel her slender body pressed against my back in her bikini that showed off her gorgeous figure and how her face lit up when the dolphins swam into the cove.

That night when she walked out of the salon in the dress that I mentioned would look good on her; she nearly knocked me senseless. She felt beautiful; I could see it on her face. It made her more beautiful than I thought possible.

I realized sitting there alone in my office; I would give anything to make her feel that way all the time. There was no point in denying it any further, I was attracted to my daughter’s friend.

If she were anyone other than Lauren’s friend, I would pursue her without a second thought. But, the last thing I needed was to complicate my relationship with my daughter even more.

It didn’t help that my daughter was so clueless as to be cruel to the one person she invited that could actually help her grow into a decent person.

The screen of my phone alerted me to another incoming text message.

Marmie: I need a plane ticket to the Bahamas. It was bad enough that I had to hear about my daughter’s engagement over the phone. I refused to miss her engagement party too. So we will also need to push the party back so I can be there.

A few seconds later, another message followed the first.

Marmie: Also, we need to start discussing the wedding plans. Lauren’s wedding needs to be absolutely perfect. We can talk about the details later. Send the flight information as soon as possible.

I opened the drawer of my desk and slid my phone inside. I was not in the mood to deal with Marmie and her demands. I knew deep down that Lauren was becoming more and more like her mother each and every day.

A part of me was excited about Lauren’s wedding for the simple fact that she would be another man’s problem. I immediately felt bad for thinking that of my own daughter, but it seemed she only cared about my money.

Thinking about Lauren’s upcoming wedding brought a new wave of memories rushing in. Embarrassment flooded my veins as I thought about the conversation I had with my daughter over dinner.

She’d said that Shelby didn’t fit the aesthetic of her wedding, so she wouldn’t ask her to be a bridesmaid. I couldn’t understand that.

Well, if Lauren wouldn’t have Shelby at the wedding as a bridesmaid, maybe I would bring her as my date.