The Billionaire's Past: A Billionaire Secret Baby Romance (Mercury Billionaires Book 5)

by Nicole Casey

  The red mist came down over me and I lost all control. Didn’t these idiots even know who I was?

  I had only been in Buenos Aires for 3 days and this was my third argument with locals. If that wasn’t a sign that the city was filled with horrible people then I didn’t know what it was.

  I couldn’t let these guys get away with hitting me. As a big guy of well over 6 foot who worked out in his private gym every day I could handle myself, even if taking on a group of guys on my own seemed a bit too ambitious.

  I shouted the only Spanish insult I knew and it had the desired effect on them, as the group abruptly stopped celebrating and looked at me. The blood thundered round in my veins. Getting into fights and showing people that I was boss was what gave me my greatest pleasures in life lately.

  I threw a chair that hit a guy square on the head. He staggered backwards and sent several glasses crashing to the ground. On the way out I would toss a few thousand pesos to the owner to pay for the damages and he would be happy.

  The biggest, ugliest guy in the group stepped forward towards me. So, it was going to be a personal duel to settle it, was it? He was even bigger than me and looked almost as mean as I guessed I looked at that moment.

  Just as I was about to launch into the attack, a strong hand held me back. Joe was there now. Joe Thompson, he was the guy who currently took on the role of looking after me. He was doing a good job, even if I didn’t admit it to him very often.

  “What the Hell kept you, Joe? You left me here all alone with these savages.”

  “Sorry, Adam. I was parking your car and I got lost on the way back. Do you need some help?”

  “Go and get him, buddy.” I laughed as I took a couple of steps back towards my table. “He’s all yours.”

  Joe didn’t complain, just like I knew he wouldn’t. Instead, he rushed in and sent the guy flying backwards.

  I sat down with a fairly decent bottle of Argentine wine and lit up a cigar as the fight progressed. Joe was in trouble now as the guy got him in a headlock. I almost felt sorry for my little helper who was also currently my only friend in the world, but I had to admit that it was great entertainment.

  It was only fair that I gave Joe a few pesos tonight to make up for the bruises he was going to have. God, this wine was actually awful but I forced myself to swallow the rest of the glass.

  I must have spent tens of thousands of dollars on food and drink in the last few months but I couldn’t remember enjoying any of it. Life just seemed to lack flavor these days for some strange reason.

  Ouch. That must have hurt. It was getting boring to watch now.

  “Stop fighting! Paren de pelear!”

  Every single person in the bar stopped what they were doing and turned around. Well, except me. I puffed slowly on my cigar and then looked round as coolly as I could (which was pretty damned cool, to be fair).

  Wow. Who was that girl standing there with her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes? This night might get interesting after all.

  “Joe. Get out of here.” She grabbed my friend and pulled him away from the gang while the others just stood and watched. It couldn’t be his girlfriend, could it? There was no way he could get a girl like that without my help but why else would someone in this city know who he was? I was the famous one here and no-one had even recognized me yet.

  The two of them were arguing at the other end of the bar now while the guys we were fighting left the bar giving us dirty looks and what sounded like vague promises of finding us in the city at some other time. My cigar was raised in a cheerful salute that made them all shake their heads.

  I took the opportunity to look the girl up and down very slowly without her noticing what I was doing. She was very, very attractive indeed, I had to confess.

  In fact, upon closer inspection, she was exactly the kind of woman that I like best. Tall and slim but with curves in all of the right places, she looked a lot like the famous model that I had dumped a couple of months ago due to boredom.

  Her long, blond hair tumbled down over her shoulders as she argued with Joe. It was the sort of wild and untamed yet attractive hair that I would have loved to run my fingers through.

  I could see that she had an intense stare and a way of gesturing as she spoke that made watching her a real pleasure.

  It was clear that she was wearing pretty cheap clothes but she made them look as good as fine as the most expensive designer gear. She had on a faded denim shirt and a pair of stone colored pants with several zipped pockets on them.

  Going by her appearance I decided that she was probably a backpacker or some other sort of budget tourist visiting Argentina but how did she know Joe?

  I strolled over to them as slowly and casually as I could manage. The truth was that I was longing to find out more about her. It was a long time since I had been so intrigued by a strange woman.

  “Hey Joe, you never told me that you had such a beautiful friend in this part of the world.”

  The girl turned to look at me. Her light blue eyes were shining wildly with an emotion that I couldn’t quite put my finger on but that put me on guard right away.

  “Adam, this my sister, Jessie. Jessie, this is the great guy I told you about the other day.”

  I took her hand up to my lips and kissed it. Well, I tried to kiss it at least. My lips had barely brushed her smooth, tanned skin when I felt the hand pull itself away, leaving me to kiss thin air.

  I looked at her furiously. No woman had ever done that to me and I felt utterly humiliated.

  “So you’re the famous, rich playboy that I have heard all about.” She looked down her nose at me as though I was a piece of trash rather than one of the planet’s richest and most eligible bachelors. Most sane women would have given anything to be there with me, so I was going to take a wild guess at her being clinically insane or playing hard to get. Very hard to get.

  “The very same, Adam Hargraves. What about if we go back to my hotel for-“

  “I want you to stay away from me and my brother. You rich people sicken me, taking advantage of kind-hearted people like Joe just because he is such a nice guy.”

  “The only person taking advantage of anyone here is your delightful brother. I give him somewhere to stay and plenty to eat every day, no questions asked.”

  “Just like you do with your dog, eh? What don’t you leave us both alone?”

  “I’m a gentleman, Jessie. I would never normally dream of arguing with such a highly attractive lady but Joe is my friend.”

  “Your nose is still bleeding.” She nodded curtly in the direction of my bloody nose.

  I wiped the blood away with one of the monogrammed handkerchiefs that I always took away with me.

  “That group over there didn’t show me any respect. They spilled my drink and I hate when that happens.”

  “So why was it Joe that was fighting them instead of you, little rich boy?”

  “Your brother is a brave and loyal friend.” I gave him a thump on the shoulder as a mark of respect and tried to ignore her rudeness, even though I could feel my anger levels rising.

  “And you’re a cowardly weasel who uses other people.” Her eyes burned with passion as she spoke.

  I let my eyes wander down to where she had left the top buttons of her faded denim shirt unbuttoned, showing a generous amount of cleavage that tempted me to pop open the rest of the button and discover more right there and then.

  A hand quickly closed the buttons. I looked up and saw her glaring at me as though I was the worst person she had ever met. Maybe I was.

  “Why are so quiet, Joe? Why don’t you tell your sister how good I am to you? We’ve been through a lot in the last year while you were…” It just clicked in my head that she must be the sister who had gone off to hug trees and kiss sick monkeys better in the jungle. “…making the planet a better place for future generations.”

  Hadn’t he called her a painfully shy nerd? She turned away from us. As she flicked her hair and lea
ned against the bar she looked anything like a nerd to me. She certainly wasn’t too shy to speak her mind either.

  If she had been a timid little nerd before then a year in the jungle had apparently given her a degree of confidence in herself that intrigued me. No woman had ever treated me like this before and it was turning me on like crazy. Her supermodel looks were helping as well, to be honest.

  Joe was looking uneasy, though. He grabbed my arm to get my full attention.

  “The cops are outside asking questions of that group of guys we were fighting with.”

  It was time for me to make a speedy exit.

  Too late, though.

  2

  Jessie

  I had been really excited about meeting up with my little brother again the night before. It was over a year and a half since I had last seen him face to face, although we spoke regularly on Skype and chatted on Facebook whenever our paths crossed online.

  It had all gone horribly wrong because of that spoiled rich kid that he had been hanging around with since I left. How could he have become best friends with someone so horrible and shallow?

  Adam Hargreaves. I had a bad feeling about him the first time the Joe had mentioned his name and called him an international playboy. However, nothing could have prepared me for how truly annoying he was to meet in real life.

  When he strolled over I had been struck first of all by his physical appearance. I had always imagined him to be a weak-chinned idiot with skinny legs but he was, well, an absolute hunk. With a broad chest and handsome tanned features, he looked like a sports star or an actor rather than a pampered rich boy.

  Of course, any physical attraction that I might have felt went up in smoke as soon as he opened his mouth. Sure, he had that deep voice that sent vibrations through my body, but the words that came out of his stupid mouth made my blood boil.

  His short dark hair and olive skin gave him a Mediterranean look but it was his eyes that had captivated me. Playful, arrogant, and dangerous, he looked at me with an expression that made me feel a wild mixture of contrasting emotions.

  Should I punch him or ignore him when he looked at me with that typical arrogance? The other option that had crossed my mind was best ignored if I could help it.

  I looked up at the police station in the San Telmo district of the city. There had been so many new experiences for me to deal with since I gave up my boring job to travel the world but this would be my first time inside a police station. Hopefully, it would be my last as well.

  My legs were shaking a little as I walked up the stairs. I had no idea what the police were like in Argentina but I kind of half expected that corruption and brutality would be key elements to look out for.

  A serious faced man was drinking yerba mate behind the desk. I had heard that this infusion drink was a national obsession in the country and I was keen to give it a try. This wasn’t the moment to ask to share some with him, I guessed.

  The cop turned out to be friendly enough and even smiled at me when he saw me enter. He told me that Joe would be freed in a few minutes and that he should be more careful where he goes in Buenos Aires in the future. I told him that my brother had just gone out with the wrong person.

  Then I thanked him and sat down to wait. The cop came over to offer me a sip of yerba mate. It was a lot hotter and more bitter than I had expected it to be, so I guessed it was an acquired taste.

  Joe finally appeared, looking sheepish and with a big bruise over his left eye.

  “Joe, are you okay?” I gave my brother a hug and was surprised to feel that he was a lot bigger and stronger than the last time I had hugged him, at the airport on my departure day. He was growing up to be a man and I had missed a lot of the time I could have shared with him lately.

  This wasn’t the first time that I had felt guilty about heading off to backpack for so long. Some nights I lay awake in bed unable to get to sleep because I felt guilty about being so selfish by living out my own personal dreams like this. My mom had missed me badly and so did Joe, although I wasn’t sure whether there was anyone else who even noticed that I was gone.

  “I’ve been better.” He shrugged it off.

  “Let’s go and get some empanadas while we catch up.”

  We were both starving and ate 5 or 6 meat empanadas each while telling each other about our adventures since he had waved me a sad goodbye at the airport so long ago. It felt like half a lifetime ago that I had pulled my rucksack over my shoulders and gave him a farewell kiss on the cheek, wondering if I would ever see him again.

  The empanadas were delicious and a lot meatier than the ones I had eaten in Bolivia and Peru on my way down to Argentina. It was already obvious that this was a city where eating and drinking well was a huge part of the culture.

  I was proud of myself for leaving a steady job to go abroad and find my true self abroad. Joe looked proud too, as I told him how I had climbed up a giant waterfall, planted hundreds of trees, and learned how to look after myself so far from home.

  I had even had to burn a horrible tick out of my foot, a story which nearly made my brother faint. Well, I left out the bit about screaming in horror when I had seen its nasty little, bloated body sticking out of my foot.

  “Are you planning to go home and go back to work in the bank now that your voluntary work is over?”

  My mouth was full of empanada so I waved at him to wait a second. It gave me an extra second or two to think as well, to find the right words. Having said that, it was something I had thought about over and over again in the last few weeks.

  “No way. I’ve seen so much here that I can’t go back to my old, boring life again. I saw a lost Inca city in Peru, ate fresh bananas straight from the tree in Ecuador, and cycled down the world’s most dangerous road in Bolivia. I feel truly alive for the first time in my life.”

  “The pictures you put on Facebook were all awesome. I couldn’t believe that it was my sister who was afraid of Barney the Dinosaur not long ago that was in some of them. ”

  “It was Baby Bop I was scared of if you don’t mind. That weird voice just freaked me out but I’m over it now.”

  “Now you’ve grown into a woman who savagely burns off ticks and single-handedly saves the rainforest from destruction.”

  “I’ve changed, Joe. I’m not the shy, awkward little girl who was terrified of her own shadow once. I can’t go back to phoning people about their overdrafts from a comfortable office every day when I’ve nurtured a sick sloth back to health and eaten grilled bugs.”

  “Yuck, what were they like?”

  “Do you remember that time you made cupcakes…?”

  “Hey, they were great. You must be short of money, though.”

  I tried to look unconcerned. The truth was that ever since La Paz I had been dangerously short of cash. I had briefly worked in a hostel in Salta, in the north of Argentina, on the way down here but I was running out of money again.

  In Buenos Aires I was staying in the cheapest hotel I could find and was planning to do some bar or restaurant work to make ends meet. Anything to keep my adventure going for longer and keep me from having to go back to a lifestyle that no longer held the slightest attraction for me.

  I still had high hopes of finding a way to make a difference in the world but I had to have enough money to survive before I could think about that. I had spent my entire life savings on this trip but I didn’t care about that.

  There were still plenty of years ahead for me to earn money and get a career that I was inspired by. Right now, I had to live out new experiences and discover who I really was.

  “What about you, Joe? Are you happy now?”

  “I’m getting there. I’ve been seeing the world in style with Adam.”

  “You don’t need that spoiled rich kid to see the world.”

  “I don’t need him but he’s fun to be around. He knows so much stuff and he is different when he isn’t putting on a show for the world.”

  “He’s taking advanta
ge of your good nature.”

  “You’re wrong, sis. Everyone gets him wrong but he’s a good guy really. I think he’s just lonely…or bored of himself. It can’t be easy being so rich. You just have to get to know him really well and get him to trust you.”

  “I’d rather get to know a bad case of botulism.”

  “He’s not so bad if you just give him a chance. I think he might be scared of you, though.”

  “So he should be. The next time he annoys me I’m going to kick his ass good and proper.”

  Joe paid the bill and we stepped out into the bright sunshine. It was a glorious day but my concerns for my little brother made me feel less enthusiastic than I should have been.

  A middle-aged couple was dancing tango elegantly on the sidewalk and I threw a few coins into their hat. The way that they glided back and forward so sensually and in perfect harmony was a joy to watch. Would I ever find someone that I fitted together with so well?

  A long, white limousine pulled up in front of us, causing several other drivers to toot their horns as it cut in front of them sharply.

  I knew who it was even before the dark glass slid down to reveal his handsome, smug face and crooked smile.

  “Jump in Joe. We’ve got things to do and places to go to.” He looked out at me from behind expensive looking sunglasses. “Unless you were planning to go and plant some trees with your hippy chick sister.”

  “Hey, maybe the three of us can go out together.” Joe turned to me. “We’re going out on Adam’s yacht. It’s a beauty, with a home cinema and a full bar and everything. It’s moored down in Puerto Madero.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got better things to do than hang about with Little Lord Fauntleroy and his expensive toys.”

  “Good. The last thing I want on my boat is a miserable goody two shoes telling me about how she planted trees to save the planet and wiped the asses of sick monkeys.”

  “Come on guys, can you not at least try to get along?”