All Chapters of The Billionaires : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

NIKOLAI Roman and Andrei, both over six foot five, retired Special Forces soldiers, and the most loyal and reliable of my security team, are already waiting outside the entrance of Zigurat. You’re thinking because I’m a Russian billionaire, it’s fancy and probably built in a pseudo pyramid style, aren’t you? Nah. The location is discreet, and it’s sandwiched between some plain, gray offices on a deserted backstreet. There are no bright lights to announce its existence. In fact, the nicest thing you could say about the entrance is it’s nondescript. No cameras, or reporters hanging around. Exactly the way I like it. We neither advertise nor court any attention. One has to be recommended by another member to enter, then there is a rigorous vetting process. Before a punter can step a foot through our door he must understand exactly what’s on offer inside … and the risks … of non-payment. This way there are no, well, let’s call it, misunderstandings. Roman opens my door. I slide out, a

STARHis words don’t even register. I shake my head. I can’t have heard right. “What?” “Oh, darling,” he croons. “Don’t look at me like that. You know I can’t take it.”“What are you talking about, Nigel?” I ask slowly. “I’m an addict. I’m addicted to gambling,” he mutters. “Gambling?” I repeat stupidly.He nods, a pained expression on his face. “What? At work?”“No.” He exhales loudly. “In casinos.”I stare at him blankly. Nothing makes sense. We’ve been to a casino once. Two years ago. We sat together at a blackjack table. Nigel refused to play, but I did. He looked on with a slightly disapproving expression as I played three rounds and gleefully collected my winnings. Three hundred pounds. “But you don’t even like gambling!”He runs his fingers through his hair. “I like it too much.” “Since when?”He shrugs. “Recently. It started off as just a little fun, small amounts, letting off some stress. You know the intense stress I’m under in the city.”“Stress?” I echo.“You have no idea

STARWhen I get out of the shower Nigel is waiting for me in the bedroom. I walk past him without looking at him and go to my wardrobe.I open my underwear drawer. “Have you called him?” “No.”“I’ve got to pick up Nan now. I’ll be back this afternoon. Please make that call by then.” “We need to talk,” he says.I let my towel drop and pull on my panties. “No, we don’t.” “Our marriage …”“Shame you didn’t think about it while you were happily gambling away everything we have,” I spit. He walks towards me. “Please, Star.”In the mirror, I see him standing behind me. His hand reaches out, and I watch transfixed, as his fingers caress my breast. His hand is a few shades darker than my skin.The image is erotic.I carry on watching him. Surprised at how I feel absolutely nothing. He slides around to the front of me and latches his mouth onto my nipple. I look down at him suckling at my breast. Like a … vampire. He looks up and our eyes meet. The expression in my face makes him freeze. He pu

Star I gasp. “That is low. Even for you, Rosa. Nigel is absolutely devastated. You would be shocked if I told you what his original plan to sort out this mess was.” Rosa folds her arms and looks at me steadily. “Be good enough to share his brilliant plan with me.”“He was going to arrange for an accident … for himself so that I could collect on his life insurance money.”Even saying the words is painful to me, but Rosa bursts out laughing. “And you believed him?”The way she laughs makes me feel foolish, but I straighten my spine. Rosa can’t be objective about Nigel. Until this morning, Nigel has always been good to me. “Yes, I did. You should have seen the state he was in this morning.”“I love you, Star, but honestly, when it comes to Nigel you are just unbelievably naive. I mean, if I hadn’t met you before you got entangled with him, I would have written you off as an irredeemable bimbo. You think the su

Star I lay down on our unmade bed and close my eyes. I didn’t make it this morning so it has remained unmade. I think of Nigel opening my legs last night, and my stomach churns at the thought of giving my body to a complete stranger. I clench my hands and take a deep Then I dig my phone out of my bag and call my nan. I keep up the fiction that I’m not feeling well and she agrees to go see my dad alone tomorrow. In fact, she suggests that I take the whole weekend off. I thank her, then call my mother.“Hi, Mum,” I say quietly. I can hear the sound of a TV in the background. “Nigel said you were not feeling very well. What’s wrong with you?” “Probably one of those flu things.”“Well, that’s what you get for going to hospital every single day. Oh, for heaven’s sake anyone would think that man was dying the way you keep running to his bedside.”“What did you want, Mum?”“Can’t I just call my daughter withou