Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 86

*Shelby*

Michael and I were seated at a table near a small pond filled with koi fish swimming lazily in circles. The Chinese restaurant smelled amazing, like spices and ginger. My stomach growled in anticipation of our meal.

“I’m so excited to try all of the different restaurants in this area. It’s fun to think about how one day we will have our regular places we love to go to, just minutes from the townhouse we share together,” I said with a smile.

“I’m excited for us to start that next chapter of our lives,” Michael said with a smile, looking over the menu at me.

I studied my own menu, catching a glimpse of my ring. I’d be sad to lock it up in Michael’s bank deposit box, but it would be nice to keep the engagement under wraps until we were ready to share the news.

“So, what were you up to today while I was at the office?” Michael asked me.

The thought of my conversation with Giani rushed into my memory. I knew I needed to tell him about Blaine being in trouble with the mob, but I was enjoying one night as an engaged couple with nothing else to worry about.

“I found a few ideas online for the dining room that I’d like to get your opinion on. I was thinking we could add a fun wallpaper to liven it up a bit. Other than that, I walked down to a cute little coffee shop just down the street,” I said.

“Oh, and how was that?” Michael asked, still searching over the menu.

“It was really nice. I ran into Aubrey’s boyfriend,” I said, trying to replace the nerve to bring up our conversation.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever met him. What’s his name again?”

“Giani Carmine,” I said, and Michael immediately set down the menu.

“Carmine?” Michael asked in concern.

“Yeah. I just found out today about Giani’s family business. We had an interesting conversation….” I trailed off.

“About my half-brother?” he asked as though he knew exactly what my conversation with Giani had been about.

“Yes, but how did you know….”

“He’s in trouble with the mob again, isn’t he? Did Giani tell you how much debt he’s in this time?” Michael said in a frustrated tone.

“What do you mean this time? Has this happened before?” I asked, confused as to why Michael had never mentioned this part of his complicated history with Blaine.

“It was a long time ago. He came to me asking for more money. He told me if he couldn’t get the funds from me, he wouldn’t live long enough to get them together himself. I paid his debts for him.”

The news took a few minutes to sink in, and the waitress appeared at that exact moment to take our order. I let Michael order for us as I digested this new side to his and Blaine’s relationship. As soon as the waitress walked away, I found my voice.

“Did you say more money? So you’d given him money once before this?”

“Yes. More than once, though. Money has been a complicated issue with Blaine,” Michael answered.

“I think you need to start from the beginning. I feel completely lost. I thought him blackmailing you was something new and completely out of the blue.”

Michael sighed a heavy sigh but indulged me in my curiosity.

“When I first found out about my half-brother, I wanted to make right what my father had wronged. I reached out to Blaine, wanting to get to know him. I also gave him a very large sum of money,” Michael said.

“How much money?” I asked.

“Blaine told me that he dreamed of going to school to become an architec, but didn’t have the ability to pay for school. I gave him enough to get his bachelor’s and his master’s. Hell, with the amount of money I gave him, he could have gotten two of each and his doctorate.

“I also told him I would give him money so he could invest in real estate to set him up for a very comfortable future. If he’d used the money in the way he promised, he would’ve been set up for life. It would’ve taken care of him and any children he had for their entire lives,” Michael said, only stopping as the waitress returned with our meal.

“That must have been hundreds of thousands of dollars,” I said in shock as the waitress left us alone again.

“More,” Michael said in a defeated way.

“Millions?” I asked unbelievingly.

Micheal nodded.

“What did he do with all of it?” I asked.

“He didn’t do what he told me he would. He blew through all of it in just under a year. He bought sports cars that he crashed or gave away to his friends to show off. He went on extravagant trips and flaunted money like he had a never-ending supply. Worst of all, however, was when his funds started to run low.

“He got into gambling in pretty rough crowds. Unluckily, he was horrible at it and lost every penny to his name. By that time, it was too late, and he was completely addicted. He started gambling on credit, and when it was time to pay the money back, instead, he ran. He’s had some pretty rough people after him,” Michael said.

I stayed silent, hoping that Michael would tell me more. The picture was slowly starting to come together and finally make sense as to why Blaine was so desperate now.

“At that point, we were still in contact with each other. I’d tried to form a connection with him, tried to form some kind of family unit, no matter how messed up it was. I bailed him out over and over again. I found places where Blaine could go and get professional help, but every time he refused. After a long struggle, I finally cut him off,” Michael said.

“Is that why he’s been trying to blackmail us all this time? To pay off his new gambling debts?” I asked.

“That’s my guess. The mob’s debt collectors must be putting a lot of pressure on Blaine to go to these lengths of blackmail,” Michael said, rubbing his temples.

“Would it really be so bad to pay off his debts again? Just one last time so we could have some kind of normalcy?”

“No,” Michael said softly. “Even if I did pay off the debt collectors again, it wouldn’t make a difference. Right before I left on the yacht trip, where I met you, Blaine came around again asking for half a million dollars. I refused, knowing that’d been enabling his addiction for too long. That day he cracked. He made threats, and I believed he meant every one of them.”

“What kind of threats?”

“Blaine swore that he would take the entirety of the Astor family fortune away from me. He’s decided that he has a legal right to my father’s entire estate. He’s made it very clear that he will do anything to watch me fall and end up penniless, just like he’s had to live since he lost everything,” Michael said.

“But he did that to himself,” I said.

“He doesn’t see it that way. He truly believes that I’m purposely ruining his life. In a way, I feel like I may have. I have so many regrets about not setting up a conservatorship to dole out the money in smaller increments. Maybe if I had, he wouldn’t have ended up with a gambling problem at all. Part of me feels guilty for holding on to my father’s entire estate, but I couldn’t bring myself to give even a piece of it to Blaine after replaceing out what kind of man he is,” Michael said.

“Michael none of that is your fault. You tried to make things right. Blaine had every opportunity to make his life different. You can’t blame yourself for his bad choices.”

“That may be true, but if I’d made different choices, we wouldn’t be being blackmailed. You wouldn’t have been involved in that car accident, and we wouldn’t have to hide our engagement out of fear,” Michael said.

We finished our dinner and changed the subject to lighter topics such as different design ideas for the townhouse. I discussed some of my professors and a lecture I’d found interesting. Michael told me all about a partnership he was making with a small family-owned business in Montana.

We were stuffed full at the end of the meal. I could tell that our discussion of Michael’s half-brother was still weighing on him as we left the restaurant hand in hand.

“What’s on your mind? It seems like you’re a million miles away,” I asked Michael as we waited for the valet to bring the car around.

“Would you be willing to move out of your apartment?” he asked.

“Where would I go? And what about Lin? She can’t afford the rent without me there,” I responded.

“I recently bought a house in Cambridge. It’s in a safe and gated community. It would be a lot safer than the area you’re living in right now. You and Lin wouldn’t need to worry about the cost. I would cover everything. There’s enough space for her to live there, too; in fact, I insist that she does. It’d be a lot easier for my security team to keep you safe there,” Michael said, a faraway look still clouding his expression.

I considered the concern he must feel, especially after the car crash. He needed to know that I was safe while I was away from him, and this was his only way of being sure that I was. If Blaine had gone so far as to cause a car crash, there was no telling how violent he may get. The more desperate he became, the more dangerous he was.

“Of course, I’ll move. I’ll talk to Lin about it as soon as I get back. I’ll stay safe, Michael,” I said, trying to ease the tension Michael was holding between his eyebrows.

“You have to, Shelby because I can’t have anything happen to you.”