LOGINShare
Chapter 122
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 123
After the tickling (which finally ended in a long, slow, lingering kiss), we lay in each other’s arms for awhile.Then he leaned up on one elbow and looked at me.“I need a shower. You want to join me?”I nodded. He rolled off the bed and got to his feet, then pulled me along with him and led the way to the bathroom.“Hmmm… I changed my mind. How about a bath instead?” he asked.“Fine by me.”He turned on the extra-large faucet for the jacuzzi bathtub, which was set into the floor. The faucet spewed water so fast that a fireman could hook up his hose to it.That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but not much.“Hold on, I’ll be back in a minute,” he said as he grabbed a robe and padded out into the main room of the penthouse.I walked down the steps into the jacuzzi and sat on one of the little ledges as the deliciously hot water began to fill up the tub. It was up to my waist when Connor finally returned, carrying a bowl of fruit and two glasses of orange juice from the breakfast table outs
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 124
“You’ve never wanted to go to any of those parties before,” the ultra-gay voice said on speakerphone.It was Sebastian on the line, Connor’s personal assistant in New York.“Well, there’s always a first time for everything, isn’t there?” Connor said, and winked at me.We were dressing in the bedroom. Connor looked incredible in a dark suit with a light blue shirt. I was putting on a little black dress from the rack of clothes, and fretting about how tightly it hugged my curves.“I suppose,” Sebastian sniffed, then said disapprovingly, “I just wonder if it’s your idea… or someone else’s.”Meaning me. I stuck out my tongue at the phone.Connor laughed.“What?”“Nothing. And what do you care?” Connor asked as he tied his necktie. “You’ve been after me forever to get out and enjoy myself. You should thank Lily for being a good influence.”“I suppose…” he grumbled.“Does he ever get a day off?” I whispered to Connor.“I heard that – and no, I don’t.”“You do, too,” Connor said. “Don’t be
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 125
“I am not happy about this,” Johnny glowered as he held the rear door to the Bentley open.“So you’ve said a dozen times already,” Connor said as he helped me inside. “But I’m not going to turn into a hermit just because some thug from Central Casting lobbed a nondescript threat my way.”“I still think – ”“Yes, yes,” Connor said as he got in and closed the door in Johnny’s face.“That was rude,” I frowned. “He’s just looking out for you.”Connor groaned. “Not you, too.”“You said earlier that you should remember why you hired him.”“So what, you want to stay in the hotel room all night?”“I can think of worse things.”Connor grinned and put a hand on my leg. I pointedly took it off and put it back on his knee. “But we’re not going to do any of them if you’re not nicer to the people trying to keep you safe.”“Who died and made you Miss Manners?”“I just remember a charming, wonderful man who made my boss apologize to me Friday night. I’d hate to think he’s not around anymore.”“Yeah,
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 126
“Enough about me,” he said. “I’m sick and tired of me. Tell me about you. I hardly know anything about you.”I looked back up at him. He was smiling again.“Yeah, I guess we kind of skipped the chit chat, didn’t we?”He laughed, back to his old self. “Yeah, we kind of did.”“What do you want to know?”“Who you are. What makes you tick.”“That’s not exactly something I have figured out yet.”“Alright, let’s start with basics. Parents? Siblings?”“My mom and dad still live in Charlotte, North Carolina. That’s where I grew up. I have an older brother. He’s at a software company down in Florida.”“What was your major in college?”“Business, with a psych minor.” I winced. “This is… kind of weird.”“Too much like a job interview,” he agreed. “Alright, tell me this: what did five-year-old Lily want to be when she grew up?”“Oh, that’s easy – a ballerina.”“Really.”“And six-year-old Lily wanted to be a scientist.”“Those are kind of opposite ends of the spectrum.”“They are. But it gets bett
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 126
I was buzzed from two glasses of wine as the limo headed into the Hollywood Hills. The lights of Los Angeles spread out below us as we twisted and curved up into the darkness, and I could see the Dubai standing taller than all the other buildings around it, outlined against the night sky.The houses started off very expensive at the base of the hills, then moved into ‘extremely expensive’ range, and from there blasted off into the stratosphere. It was easy to tell when we were getting closer to the party: a long string of BMW’s, Mercedes, Aston Martins, Ferraris, and Porsches lined the narrow street as white-jacketed valets parked new cars at the base of the hill and then hustled back up to the main house.It was an enormous mansion, very Mediterranean, like it had been airlifted in by a multi-millionaire from the coast of Greece. Johnny drove us up to the front, a valet opened the door and helped me out, and then Johnny grudgingly surrendered the car and followed us inside.I stayed
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 127
We entered another room where two bartenders were mixing drinks at a full bar. I suppose Connor had just been playing the odds when he made the crack about being there for the food, but there was indeed a spread that would have made the Dubai Hotel jealous. Mildly, anyway. Displays of exotic fruits and tiny pastries, more decadent desserts than I had ever seen in my life, and a small army of waiters walking around offering people bacon-wrapped scallops, chunks of seared ahi, bits of filet mignon, and the usual hors d’oeuvres and canapés.“You were right about the free food,” I marveled. “We should have skipped dinner and eaten here.”“I liked eating with the person I had dinner with.” While I beamed, Conner turned around. I followed his gaze to the corner of the room, where Lewis Vonder smiled widely and toasted us with a glass of champagne. Connor gave a fake smile back and muttered between his teeth, “Here, not so much.”“You afraid it’s like fairyland?”He looked over at me. “Huh?”
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 127.1
I so didn’t belong here.“And who are you?” a woman’s voice asked.I whirled around to see a gorgeous blonde, probably about my age, with upswept hair and a shimmering red dress that showed off her rather large boobs. If they were fake, her surgeon had done an incredibly good job at disguising it.“Um… Lily Ross,” I said shyly. I felt like a little girl, and she was a va-va-voom Woman.I was glad Connor wasn’t here to see her.She was holding a champagne glass in the air, and she cocked her head slightly to the side as she looked me up and down. “And what do you do?”“I’m a… a secretary.”“Oh.”Her voice was full of polite disdain. Besides being threatened by her, I started to actively dislike her.“Why, what do you do?” I asked, more out of social habit than anything else.One hand fluttered to her cleavage, and she looked soooo happy I’d asked. “I’m an award-winning photographer, but I just co-wrote a screenplay with a good friend of mine who writes for TV. His agent at CAA is takin
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 128
We arrived safe back at the hotel, much to Johnny’s relief. He made us promise not to leave the room without telling him, then said goodnight and went into his room across the way.“It’s early, only ten o’clock,” Connor said. “What do you want to do?”“Dessert.”“Literal, or figurative?”“Mmmmm. Both.”So we ordered up room service: a bottle of champagne and a selection of lovely things – the most perfect creme brulee I’d ever tasted, strawberries in whipped cream… and more chocolate.We sat on the sofa in the main room, lit only by the lights of the city, and alternated between kisses and feeding each other bits of the desserts.I was tipsy again when I purred suggestively, “Well, we did what I wanted to do… so what do you want to do?”“Well… we could get that camera and – ”“NO.”He laughed. “What was your list again? The list of ‘don’ts’? Nothing painful… nothing degrading…”“No ‘in through the out door,’” I said.“I don’t recall movies being on that list.”“And nothing that can go
Latest chapter
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Lily
The only part that was slightly sad was that Connor’s mother and brother didn’t attend. His mother was still under heavy psychiatric care. She wouldn’t have even known what was going on, according to Connor. As much as I disliked Lenora Templeton, that news saddened me. I only wanted her out of my life. I didn’t want her to end up like this.His brother had checked himself into rehab. Though he sent his congratulations, Vincent told Connor that he didn’t think he could attend, knowing what Miranda had done and how she had met her end. He felt he was still in too precarious a situation emotionally to leave the safety of the rehab center.I know that Connor still bore a lot of anger and hurt towards his mother and brother, but he would have liked to have had them there – as long as they behaved themselves.Things were improving, though. His mother was gradually getting better, and Connor had worked out a deal to take over as interim CEO of the Templeton Group while his brother was in r
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Lily
But as far as wedding days go, it wasn’t the only one.Come on, I’d gotten married in sopping wet clothes, on a deserted island in the Caribbean, with only four people total in attendance.Did you really think I wasn’t going to have a billionaire-style shindig, with all my family and friends?Connor and I decided on it spontaneously, as soon as we got back home. But rather than hold it in New York City, with all its bad memories from the last couple of weeks, we held it two weeks later in Lake Cuomo, Italy. Have you ever seen pictures of Lake Cuomo? It’s like an Italian Renaissance fairytale. George Clooney bought a residence there, with good reason – it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth. And that’s where we had our wedding.There was only one shadow hanging over the entire day.After we were escorted back to St. Vincent by the policemen, Connor immediately hired a team of divers to go down to inspect the yacht’s wreckage. There was one body in particular he wanted found.B
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Lily
It turns out Johnny was right: we didn’t see a single shark the entire way.That doesn’t mean it was a piece of cake. What with Johnny and Connor’s wounds, and my needing to rely on their help when I was tired, it took us almost an hour. By the time we got to the island, we were exhausted. But Sebastian was there to greet us. As we approached where the waves started to break, he saw us and started yelling and waving ecstatically from the beach.“A little help!” Johnny shouted at him. Sebastian immediately raced out into the waves and dragged me to shore. “Thank God, thank God,” he kept sobbing as he helped me lie down on the sand. Then he went back out and helped Johnny and Connor limp their way onto the beach.We all collapsed next to each other. Connor and I held hands as we stared up into the blue sky, too weary to speak.“I thought I’d never see you again,” Sebastian said, wiping tears from his face.I was touched; it was the most vulnerable I’d ever seen him.“No such luck,” Co
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Lily
The happiest moment of my life was when Connor proposed to me.The second was when he burst through that door.And the third was seeing the look of surprise on Miranda’s face when she realized what I had done to her.While Connor kept her talking, I picked the lock and undid the handcuffs from my right wrist. (Bobby pins to the rescue!) Then I grabbed Miranda’s arm and slapped the cuffs on her.Anytime I’m ever depressed about anything from now on for the rest of my life, I’m just going to remember the look of surprise on that murderous bitch’s face, and everything will be better. Instant anti-depressant.Miranda yanked her arm up with a clank! of the chain, but she was locked to the metal armrest of the chair – which was bolted to the floor.She screamed in fury, and pulled the gun’s trigger.BLAM!But I’d purposefully bumped her aim away from Connor – so all that happened was one of the creepy glass spider cases shattered into tiny shards.The gunshot hurt my ears, but I’d been expe
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Connor
I couldn’t take the shot. I wasn’t Johnny; my aim was good, but not stellar, and the floor was already at a 20 degree tilt. Miranda had her gun at point blank range to Lily’s head. If she pulled the trigger before I got her – I slowly held my .45 away from my body and let it fall to the floor.All the ugliness I knew was inside Miranda revealed itself on her face. It was the evil leer of a serial killer, the grin of a Great White Shark.“I win,” she gloated.My heart sank.It was over. I had failed.I looked at Lily, both sorrow and love welling up at once. She was seated in some sort of chair bolted to the floor, and was handcuffed to the metal armrest.Lily’s eyes were frantic, but her lips were moving. She was mouthing something…Keep her talking.I couldn’t tell for the life of me what she had in store, but I complied. I looked up at Miranda. “You win. You can do with me whatever you want, but please – let Lily go.”“Don’t waste your breath,” Miranda snarled. “Walk towards me w
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Lily
The door suddenly burst open, and there stood Connor with a gun in his hand, just like the star of an action movie.My heart soared with love – and fear. Because Miranda was standing behind my chair, just like the villain in an action movie.I was between them – Miranda’s human shield.I felt the barrel of Miranda’s pistol jam against the back of my head.“Drop it,” she commanded, “or I kill her.”Connor looked at me helplessly.“Don’t worry about me – shoot her!” I begged him.But he wouldn’t take the chance. He held the gun slowly away from him and let it fall to the floor. CLUNK.I felt Miranda’s pistol stop pressing against my scalp, then saw it appear next to me as it pointed at Connor.“I win,” she said, and I could hear the sneering triumph in her voice.
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Connor
I rushed over to Leo’s body, staggering in the tilting hallway as I ran.He was lying face-up on the ground, a pool of blood spreading out beneath him on the floor.He saw me coming. Tried weakly to lift his AR-15 – I put two more rounds in him with my .45.BLAM BLAM.He lay still after that.Adrenaline coursed through me like a drug, sharpening my senses while making everything unreal.I felt sick. I had just killed a man. I had just taken a life. He was a traitor, yes, and someone who was planning to hand me over to be killed – but still, I felt queasy.Lily.She was all that mattered. I pulled myself together.“Nice shooting,” Eve said in my ear. “Oh ye of little faith.”“What?” At first I thought she meant something about me doubting my abilities to shoot someone, which didn’t make any sense.“You thought I was a turncoat? AGAIN?”“Oh,” I said sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”“Hmph. We’ll talk later. Go down the hallway the way you were originally heading – there’s a half-dozen g
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Lily
BOOM.There was a massive explosion somewhere on the ship. Every glass pane in the spider terrariums rattled, and a couple cracked.“What the hell?” Miranda said, and stumbled to her feet as the yacht began to tilt to one side.After my initial shock from the blast, I watched Miranda’s face. She was reacting with more fear – in fact, with more emotion – than I’d ever seen her display before.She looked back at me, her eyes wide with surprise.After all the indignities the bitch had put me through, I couldn’t resist. “Guess my fiancé’s here,” I said, and gave her a little smile.
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Connor
I was halfway down the deck when Eve spoke in my ear. “Connor, there’s a problem.”“What?” I whispered.“Juan and Leo are on the other side of the yacht, but I’m not getting any video feeds of them.”There was a dull WHUP in the distance, then another one a few seconds later.Not like gunshots, exactly. But they did sound like a heavy book being dropped on a wood floor.I ducked into an alcove with a door in it, and hunkered down into a squatting position. “Juan? Leo?”“We separated, and Juan ran into a guard,” Leo’s voice said. “Juan’s dead, but I got the other guy before he could sound the alarm.”SHIT. Already things were going to hell, and we’d barely engaged the enemy yet.But… something didn’t make sense…I frowned. “I heard two silenced shots. How come I didn’t hear any regular gunfire?”“They’ve got suppressors, too. The first one was the guy shooting Juan, the second was me shooting the guard.”I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something seemed off. I just chalked it up to
