Billion Dollar Hearts (Inconguity Series Book 3) Read online

  Billion

  Dollar

  Hearts♥

  INCONGRUITY SERIES #3

  THANDIWE MPOFU

  Copyright & License page

  Billion Dollar Hearts

  Book 3 of the Incongruity Series

  Copyright © 2019

  By Thandiwe Mpofu

  All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons or things, living or dead, locales or events is entirely coincidental.

  Edited by Kylie Romney and Jenny Dicks.

  Cover art by Thandiwe Mpofu and Lee from Under Cover Designs

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Playlist

  Author’s Note

  Previously on A Billion Broken Pieces | Chloe

  Part I

  Spoken Word

  Chapter 1 | Fifteen years earlier. . .

  Chapter 2 | Gideon

  Chapter 3 | Chloe

  Chapter 4 | Chloe

  Chapter 5 | Gideon

  Chapter 6 | Gideon

  Chapter 7 | Chloe

  Chapter 8 | Chloe

  Chapter 9 | Gideon

  Chapter 10 | Chloe

  DOLLAR. . .

  Chapter 11 | Gideon

  Chapter 12 | Chloe

  Chapter 13 | Chloe

  Chapter 14 | Gideon

  Chapter 15 | Chloe

  Chapter 16 | Gideon

  Chapter 17 | Chloe

  Chapter 18 | Gideon

  Chapter 19 | Chloe

  Chapter 20 | Gideon

  Chapter 21 | Chloe

  Chapter 22 | Chloe

  Chapter 23 | Gideon

  Chapter 24 | Gideon

  HEARTS ♥

  Chapter 25 | Chloe

  Chapter 26 | Gideon

  Chapter 27 | Gideon

  Chapter 28 | Chloe

  Chapter 29 | Chloe

  Incongruity

  Chapter 30 | Gideon

  Chapter 31 | Chloe

  Chapter 32 | Gideon

  EPILOGUE | Chloe | Six months later. . .

  OMG

  What to do now?

  Acknowledgements

  Books by Thandie | Incongruity Series

  Standalones

  Dedication

  To the twists and turns that have made our lives a bit of chaos, we wouldn’t have managed to get past them without the peace that comes with certain souls that were placed in our lives.

  This one is for the peace we all need and deserve.

  Playlist

  “Revenge” by Pink

  “Sparrow” by Emeli Sande

  “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo

  “Bury A Friend” by Billie Eilish

  “Start Over” by Beyoncé

  “No Guidance” by Chris Brown ft Drake

  “Happy” by Pink

  “Let Love In” by The Goo Goo Dolls

  “Storm Warning” by Hunter Hayes

  “Salud” by The Carters

  “Complicated” by Rihanna

  “Let It Be” by The Beatles

  Author’s Note

  Billion Dollar Hearts is the third book in the Incongruity Series. One cannot start this book without reading the first two books, The Billion Dollar Plan, #1 and A Billion Broken Pieces, #2

  To every single person that has gone along Gideon & Chloe’s journey, this one is for you. . .

  Thank you♥

  Previously on A Billion Broken Pieces

  Chloe

  We find Sam standing by the back entrance of the laundry room with John.

  “Girl, there you are. Looking like you just had one steamy round. . .” She starts as soon as she spots me and I rush to shush her.

  “Sam, not now. We can talk later.” I quickly silence her under my breath as we start walking with purpose towards the back entrance of the hotel, following John and Fred.

  “Yeah, I agree, we can talk about this later.” She agrees, making me pause for a second. “What’s going on?” She demands. “One minute I was talking to Lawrence, waiting for you like your friend Caleb said and then the next moment, some large, scary looking men came in and everything got weird.”

  “What happened?” I demand, grabbing her arm a bit roughly, my curiosity getting the best of me. We stop walking altogether and I look at her, wide eyed.

  “I don’t know what happened. One moment, the Caleb guy was trying to talk to Lawrence but Lawrence didn’t want to talk to him, and the next thing I know, this older guy who looks like your friend came over with these men and they took Lawrence and your friend out of the room.” She explains, her eyes now wide as she takes in my reaction.

  “Took them out of the room? Where to?” I question.

  “I don’t know. Max came over immediately and told me to go with that guy, John, to come find you. And he looked deathly serious too, I couldn’t argue with him.” She rushes out, now starting to wring her hands. “Did something happen to Lawrence? Was I not supposed to leave?” She anxiously questions.

  “No, no, you did well but did you see where they went?” I question, that sinking feeling within me getting worse. Something isn’t right. The hairs at the back of my neck stand up on end, I feel the danger in the air. I can smell it even.

  “Chloe, we have to go now!” Fred informs hurriedly as he starts rushing Sam and I through the kitchen and out of the hotel’s service back entrance. The same entrance Caleb and I used what seems like an eternity ago.

  “Where are we going?” Sam demands, worry filling her voice now.

  “We are going somewhere safe.” I say to her, trying to keep my voice strong and steady. Gideon, where is he?

  As soon as we exit the back door, we come to an immediate halt. I crush into Fred’s back, causing Sam to crush into me. Why has he stopped, where is John? Where is the car.

  “Fred, let’s go!” I almost shout but he doesn’t move, but his hand at my wrist presses down painfully.

  “Just give her to us.”

  It’s then that I hear a menacing voice. A voice of danger. Alarm bells start ringing in my ears, goosebumps, the worst kind, appear out of nowhere as I become aware of the threat that is close by.

  “Gentleman, I suggest that you leave, right now.” Fred calmly states. He says the words so coolly as if he can’t see the danger.

  “What’s happening?” Sam whispers and I direct her to keep quiet. I don’t want to draw attention toward her. So, I push her back into the kitchen, hoping she sees the direction in my eyes. In this moment, I know I can’t let fear in, because it is fear that will end my life as well as the life of the people I care about. No fear!

  “Go!” I mouth to her, trying not to move as much as possible or to make a sound. She shakes her head, looking bewildered and I compose myself, mouthing to her to go back.

  “Chloe, no.” She whispers back, but I use one last burst of energy, hearing Fred saying something to the whoever he is talking to. I step forward and push Sam the rest of the way through then quickly close the door behind her.

  I see the locking latch and I use it. There, now she is away from whatever danger awaits for me.

  The thing about my very
brave action is that, it drew attention to me and the sound that was coming behind Fred. One moment I felt his solid back behind me and then the next thing, he is forcefully moved away from me, exposing me.

  As soon as Fred is moved, I look around and notice eight, large, intimidating men with guns drawn. All of them pointed at me. I look to my left as see three of them trying to contain Fred and then the rest are looking at me.

  “There you are. You are coming with us, girl.”

  And with those ominous words, a large guy grabs me lifting me off the ground. I struggle, kicking every which way.

  “You bastards, let me go!” I scream, kicking, but the guy is holding me with an ironclad grip. He puts me down as another large guy comes to help him. I use that moment to press the heel of my stiletto into his foot. And he howls is pain.

  “You bitch!” He spits and he drops me roughly to the rough road. I fall down, feeling my skin being cut up in various places. I try to spin as fast as I can, trying to escape, because I know, these men are not here for a social get together. These men mean to kidnap me, maybe kill me. But I refuse to think that.

  I don’t roll away as far and as fast as I want because all too soon, another large, fat guy, this one with a mean face, he grabs me, picks me up and doesn’t let go no matter how many kicks to the shin I give.

  I watch in horror as another guy, a familiar looking guy come close to me. He has something in his hands, something very thin and shiny in the fluorescent street light.

  “She’s a feisty one, isn’t she?” The guy holding me says, and they all start laughing. “Will make for a great price.” He says.

  The other guy coming towards me stops in front me and looks at me, He isn’t laughing, just looking at me.

  “This won’t hurt a bit. It will just send you off to La La Land.” He informs, making me confused. His words register as I look at the injection in his hand. He means to drug me!

  I start to panic once again, frantically looking at Fred but he is immobilized, in a brutal looking position. Where is John?

  As the stupid asshole pricks my skin at my wrist, Fred and I lock gazes.

  “What are we going to do about this one?” Asks one of the assholes.

  “Finish him, like the other one.”

  I don’t have time to panic or any time to process what’s happening. I feel dizzy now. I’m fighting to keep my eyes open but I don’t have any control of my limbs anymore. I can hear everything but I can’t move anymore.

  And with such, the last thing I hear before I go under completely, is a loud gunshot piercing my ears.

  BILLION. . .

  Part I

  “It’s Always Vengeance That Corrupts The Heart & Soul”

  x Thandie

  Spoken Word

  What thing is love? - for sure love is a thing.

  It is a prick, it is a sting,

  It is a pretty, pretty thing;

  It is fire, it is a coal,

  Whose flame creeps in at every hole;

  And, as my wit doth best devise,

  Love’s dwelling is in ladies’ eyes,

  From whence do glance love’s piercing darts,

  That make such holes into our hearts.

  “What Thing Is Love?" A poem by George Peele

  Chapter 1

  Fifteen years earlier. . .

  My heart pounds as I look out the small window carved into the wall of the trailer like it was an afterthought. I can’t stop the churning in my stomach or try to at least be indifferent to the sharp coldness that has settled in my bloodstream. I just know it, without even trying, that I’ve come to the end of my road.

  The same sense of urgency that propels me to move, is the same energy that propels me—forces me—to stay rooted in place. I can’t move and I can’t seem to be able to breath properly either.

  I desperately want more time.

  I think of my daughter. My beautiful, supper smart daughter who has eyes exactly like mine. She is the spitting image of my mother, and a bit of me, if my husbands’ observations are correct.

  How can I leave her, how can anyone?

  “Sandra, why are you still here. I told you to get Charlotte and go.”

  The subject of my musings appears like a tornado through the small door of our humble home. It’s a trailer but I once thought that this was probably the safest place my husband and I could go to and live our lives the best way possible without looking our shoulders. Away from all the pain, the hurt and the backstabbing that we once knew, yet here we are. At the end, our horrendous past having found us and is ready to eliminate us.

  “I refuse to leave you.” I murmur lowly under my breath, refusing to look at him. I don’t want to see the determined look on his face or the hard set of his jaw as he prepares to sacrifice himself, his only sin having been loving and choosing me. I can’t look at him and see that.

  I want to shout. I want to scream at him, but I don’t, deciding to settle into that cold set of determination that has served me well up to this point of my life. I won’t give up. I won’t give him up.

  “Sandra, baby.” My husband says as he takes hold of both my hands but I refuse to let him see the fear in my eyes. I refuse to let him see the sacrifice that I’m prepared to make. Because if he is about to give his life for me, I ill damn well do the same thing.

  Till death do us part.

  “Look at me, my love.” He says, his voice quiet but oh so authoritative. It’s that compelling, magnetic pull that I first got from him that drew me to him right from the start. I never knew I had a submissive bone in my body until the day he called my name. I wonder how Charlotte will turn out. . .

  Feeling compelled to obey even in the last dire minutes of our lives, I look up to see his sharp muddy brown eyes already on me.

  “I swore on my life that I would protect you and our child. I swore that no harm will come to you and please, help me to keep that vow.” He pleads, his usual sharp gaze piercing me in just a second. He probably knows that I’m not going to do what he says I should. The way he looks at me speaks volumes at how he obviously suspects that I have made up my own mind about this.

  “No, I refuse to leave you here as a sacrifice. You did absolutely nothing wrong.” I grit out, trying my very best to control the pitch of my shaky voice so that our daughter who is playing loudly in the living room area of the trailer won’t hear us.

  “All I ever did was love you, baby. And if that’s a crime, I am willing to suffer for it but I won’t apologize for it. I won’t ever regret falling in love with you.” He says silkily, making the tears that I was holding back to finally fall. They fall like they mean something. Tears mean nothing, especially now.

  “But, they are coming James. How can you be so willing to just go along with it and send us away?” I demand, getting angry at the earnestness in his eyes and his willingness to let us go. To let me go. “If there is anyone leaving this place and running, then it’s going to be all three of us!” I exclaim.

  “You and I both know that he has never liked me, right from the start. And if I were the one to die, he would definitely be pacified.” James argues, looking at me like he knows he can’t heal the breaking and tearing of the organ in my chest that heaves much faster than before.

  “No!” I’m unaware of the way my heart is pounding or the way I seem to be unable to catch my breath. All I want to do is to make him see reason.

  I can’t live without him. How can he not see that in my eyes? What does he see when he looks at me? And as if seeing the desperate question in my eyes, he draws me close with a firm arm wrapped around my waist, another hand snakes up my spine, seducing me yet my mind is still screaming that we need to go. Now!

  “Sandra, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. The best thing in my entire life, baby. I know, in a perfect world, we wouldn’t be facing all of this prejudice to be together. My skin color wouldn’t matter, the balance in my bank account wouldn’t signal ‘bad vibes’ to anyone. But
we don’t live in a perfect world and I doubt it will ever be. But you are the perfect in it all.”

  His voice is firm, not a slight pitch of hesitation or regret, no. My husband is proud and the joy in his eyes is misplaced but when he looks at me, he looks at me like I’m the it factor of it all. Tears fall down my cheeks in streams like a river as he lets go of my hands and walks over to the packed bags by the corner, his long legs eating up more ground with each step.

  “I’ve already packed for you and Charlotte. I also added those passports I told you about. Go, run as far away from this state as you probably can. There isn’t enough money in there for you to go out of the country but I have added the address to my contact in Chicago, but I don’t want you to go there. Call him, he will be able to help you.” He instructs, his voice and actions are now hurried, a complete juxtaposition to how I am behaving. I look down at the packed travel bags but I don’t want to take them, I refuse to take them.

  It’s late and there is a stillness around the trailer park that is usually reassuring but tonight, tonight it’s just taunting as if waiting for something dramatic and sinister in nature to happen.

  And then we hear it, the screeching of cars pulling up into the lot.

  “Fuck, Sandra. Go! Use the back window, they won’t see you.” He urges as he takes my hands and drags me while I’m in a blind haze. I can’t see where I’m going, the pounding of my heart threatening to make me go deaf because to its loud thumps.

  “James, don’t make me do this. I won’t.” I vow.

  “You have to. She needs her mother. And I need to know that you two are both going to be alright and far away from this place.” He says as he opens the window and tosses the bags out, then he goes out of the small room. He comes back with Charlotte in his arms.

  I’m barely cognizant of it all but I can see it happen, as if I’m having a strange out of body experience.