LOGINShare
Chapter 52
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 53
I enter an ancient forum, one of the tens of millions of derelict ghost ships drifting through the internet that nobody has ever bothered to remove. Then I find the thread dedicated to fans talking about the movie Old School, the one with Will Ferrell. Since that came out in 2003, you can guess how long it’s been since anyone has entered a comment. Mailin and I found it years after it saw its last visitor. In fact, I haven’t been on in… oh… six years, at least.As soon as Grant sees a picture of Will Ferrell doing a beer bong hit, he says, “Seriously? This is your secret hacking lair?”I click the mouse and Al Pacino yells, “Shut UP!”Grant sighs. “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of…”I click again. “I don’t wanna hear any fuckin’ shit, and I don’t GIVE a shit!”JP snorts in amusement.Grant glares at him. “This is not funny. This is idiotic.”Al Pacino retorts with, “He’s a tight ass! And you got your head ALL the way UP it!”JP laughs again. Even Dominique smiles.“Woul
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 54
By now, Dominique and JP are freaking out.Grant points at the laptop. “Shut it down. NOW.”“Calm down,” I tell him.“Calm down?! Calm down?! Your little boyfriend is already here with the FBI in tow! They’re in Paris as we speak!”“This could be a good thing – ”“No, Eve. When finding you is the FBI’s ‘priority number one,’ it’s never a good thing!”“I just meant that we might be able to turn it to our advantage somehow.”“Turn it to our advantage?! They’re going to turn you to their advantage! They’re just like Epicurus – they’re trying to use you to get to me!”I have to admit, it doesn’t seem like he’s wrong.A text box appears on my monitor. Eve? You still there?You just created a bit of consternation on this end, that’s all. Are you here for me, Mailin, or for Grant?I see you stopped being coy about your ‘traveling companion.’ :)He even puts a smiley face at the end of his comment.Cut the bullshit, Mailin. Are you here for me or for Grant?I’m OBVIOUSLY here to get you. But
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 55
Once we say goodnight to JP, Dominique, and Marcel, Grant and I retire silently to our room. Things are so tense that there’s not really a question of us sleeping in the same bed. Grant chooses the one nearest the window, and I take the other. It’s like we’re staking out territory in an endless war.We are undressing for bed – and not in a sexy way, but in a I cannot fucking stand being in the same room with you kind of way – when Grant starts in on me again. “Why are you so upset about me wanting to protect you?”We’re apart from the others for the first time, so I feel like I can finally say what my real objection is. Plus, I’m sick to death of arguing. If we’re going to end it, let’s just end it now.“Because I think you just want to get rid of me and you can’t bear to do it to my face.”“What?! Where did you get that idea?!”“Oh, I don’t know – maybe because I really want to stay here and help you, and all you want to do is ship me off to parts unknown?”“If I wanted to break up w
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 56
He begins by kissing me gently on the lips. After a few seconds of that, he pulls back to smile at me. I smile, too, despite the tears in my eyes. He wipes away the drops that have spilled down my cheeks, his thumb caressing my skin. Then he reaches behind me and pulls me into a hug. I shift my entire body so I can face him, and we just stay like that for a moment – our arms wrapped around each other, our heads resting on each other’s shoulders.He strokes my hair, gliding across it in a calming way before his fingers continue past my bra strap and down my back, where his touch tickles against my skin.The way we are sitting, my legs rest between his. The side of my knee touches the fabric of his underwear, and I can feel his cock, flaccid but still very large, draped off to one side of the seam in his boxers. After about ten seconds of holding me, I can feel the pressure against my leg of his cock starting to grow. Not quite hard yet, but thicker… firmer.He doesn’t do anything, tho
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 57
We’re lying there in the blissful afterglow, snuggled against each other in the tiny single bed, laughing whenever our movements cause the springs to squeak, when a stray thought enters my head.“It is kind of weird that you gambled everything – your career, your fortune – on what’s basically an illegal hobby,” I muse.“Well, it makes me feel alive. Nothing else really does.”Warning bells start going off.“…nothing?” I ask, shocked.He laughs. “Well, what we just did obviously does…”“But nothing else?”I guess he thinks I’m fishing for a compliment, because he tries to kiss me. “Nothing else until I met you.”I straight-arm him and back up to the edge of the twin bed so I can look him in the eye. Something tells me I need to see his eyes when I hear his answer.“Hold on. Nothing makes you feel as alive as being a thief?”He gets an irked look on his face. “Don’t use the word ‘thief.’”“Why not?”“Because it’s cheap.”“Uhhh, and accurate.”“No, it’s not. A thief is somebody who bash
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 58
When I wake the next morning, Grant isn’t in his bed.I feel bitter and tired, and my eyes hurt from crying. I want to apologize just to make all the awful feelings go away – but I don’t even know what to apologize for. For telling the truth? He’s a thief. Period. Yeah, he’s brilliant… charming… incredibly hot… and good-hearted… but he’s still a fucking thief. All those other things don’t cancel out the one. And his denial about it is just so… ugh. He thinks he can cover up his worst attributes by using a fancier name, like a wino claiming he’s a sommelier, or a meth cooker claiming he’s a chemist. Whatever.I dress and go downstairs to the private dining room, where JP is smoking a cigarette and Dominique is playing solitaire. Both of them ignore me.Grant is nowhere to be seen.There’s a platter of croissants and pastries, and a decanter of coffee. I pour myself a cup.“Anybody seen Grant?” I ask.“He is talking to Marcel,” JP says.“…oh.”“I realized something last night,” JP con
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 59
Two hours later, Grant and I are in the backseat of a car with tinted windows. One of Marcel’s men is driving. JP and Dominique elected to stay behind, which is perfectly fine by me.Grant has one of the pistols with him, and keeps it in his hand as he watches the streets of Paris fly by.“Why did you bring the gun?” I ask.“For our little meet-and-greet, of course.”“It’s not necessary. Nothing’s going to happen.”“Well, if it does, we’re prepared.” “I thought you didn’t believe in planning for ‘end of the world’ scenarios.”He shrugs. “You getting kidnapped by the FBI isn’t ‘end of the world.’ More like… ‘hemorrhoids of the world.’”“What?!”He grins. “In other words, a giant pain in the ass.”“What the hell are you talking about?”“It’ll be a giant pain in the ass to get you back, that’s all. But you’re wearing one of your GPS thingamajigs, and you have another one inside you, so – easy peasy, Japanesey, right?” he says mockingly.“If you want me to wear it, why won’t you wear one
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Chapter 60
So starts an epic round of ‘catch me if you can.’ Two more times we drive to a location and watch through the telescope as Mailin makes a fool of himself; two more times Grant discards a burner cell phone and we drive to a new vantage point.“Dude, are you going to wise up at some point?” Grant asks on the final try. “‘Cause I can do this all day.”By this point I’ve started listening to Mailin’s voice over the phone. My insides roil with rage every time I hear him speak.“Look, I could lie to you again, but you know what’s going to happen,” Mailin says. “They’re never going to let me meet you alone, no matter how much I want to.”Grant ponders for a moment. “Alright… since the FBI doesn’t have jurisdiction in France and can’t do shit without the local authorities, you can bring one FBI guy other than yourself. Understand?”“Understood. And thank you. Where do you want to meet?”Twenty minutes later, Grant and I are in the Tuileries, a giant public garden near the Louvre. The gardens
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
