by Nicole Casey
I glanced at my watch nervously and then across the courtroom at the empty respondent seat.
“I’m sorry, judge but she is not answering her phone.”
Judge Bateman scowled.
“And I don’t suppose you know what happened to opposing counsel and her client either?”
“No, your honor. I spoke with Ms. Viera this morning in fact and she was on schedule to be here.”
Worry was beginning to tickle my stomach.
I had never known Yve to be late for anything in her life, let alone a court appearance.
“Try to call again,” the irate arbiter ordered. “If they have not shown in ten minutes, I am holding Ms. Viera in contempt and charging your clients a fine for wasting the court’s time.”
“I assure, judge, this is highly unusual. Ms. Viera and Mrs. Sterling are both very punctual. I imagine there must be traffic or – “
“I don’t need excuses, Mr. Archer, just find them.”
I bit back the desire to snap at him that something was obviously very wrong.
It wouldn’t serve anyone a bit of good if I got held in contempt too.
I jumped from the petitioner’s chair and pulled out my cell phone to text Yvette again as I headed into the hallway.
No sooner had I opened the door when she appeared hurrying down the hall.
“Where the hell were you?” I demanded, relief coloring my face. “Judge Bateman is about to birth kittens he’s so mad.”
“Never mind, come on,” she replied, grabbing my arm and steering me back into the courtroom.
“Where is Sterling?” I asked but she threw open the doors and rushed up the aisle toward the head of the courtroom.
“Apologies, your honor,” she started.
“Oh, Ms. Viera, how nice of you to join us,” he replied caustically. “Don’t you own a cell phone?”
“I do, your honor and I was on it with my client. I have some good news and bad news.”
Bateman’s growl deepened.
“Do I look like I’m in the mood to play games, Ms. Viera?”
“No, sir,” she said smoothly. “I’ll give you the good news first.”
“Wonderful,” he spat.
“The Sterlings have decided not to terminate their marriage after all.”
“What?” I gasped. “What do you mean?”
The judge eyed us.
“You’re certain of this, Yvette?”
“Yes, judge. Mr. Sterling sends his sincerest apologies for wasting your time and assures me he will attend to the necessary paperwork to forget this ever happened.”
“And what about Mrs. Sterling?” I asked sarcastically. “Was she going to call me and let me know?”
Yvette shrugged and grinned.
“She wanted me to pass along the message.”
I rolled my eyes and inhaled.
“What’s the bad news, Ms. Viera?”
I had almost forgotten about that.
We stared at her expectantly.
“The bad news, sir, is that I will never be heard before you in this courtroom again. I have retired from divorce law.”
Judge Bateman groaned.
“Court is adjourned,” he barked. “In the future, young lady, no matter what judge you’re standing before, make sure you call.”
He rose from the bench and disappeared, leaving me to gape at her uncomprehendingly.
“What do you mean you’ve ‘retired from divorce law’?”
She sashayed toward me, slipping her arms over my broad shoulders.
“I have been offered a job as Ryerson’s in-house counsel at Ryerson Media,” she explained, her eyes bright with happiness.
A combination of warmth and worry seized me as I looked at her.
“That’s incredible!” I choked, hoping I didn’t seem dismayed. “Congratulations, babe!”
I wasn’t sure how to process the news exactly although a thousand questions were flooding my mind.
She nodded, holding my gaze.
“Thanks. The pay is two and a half times what I’m making now and that’s just to start.”
I swallowed quickly as I thought of how much money that would be.
We could have a great life together without any worries, I thought, warming to the idea instantly. We always talked about a house with a pool –
A stab of uncertainty hit my heart as I studied her face.
What does that mean for me?
“He wants you too,” she continued as if my question had been spoken aloud, and I felt my heart quicken.
“What? Really? Why?”
The words spilled out before I could stop them, and Yvette laughed.
“For some reason, he thinks you’re a good lawyer. I tried to tell him differently, but his wife wouldn’t back me up.”
My eyes almost bugged out of their sockets.
“Angeline spoke for me?”
The idea that Angeline had anything nice to say about me seemed suspect, but Yvette nodded.
“She did. She said something about how you made her realize that her husband wasn’t such a bad guy after all.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“They are waiting for us at the Four Seasons,” Yvette continued. “They have a mound of paperwork for us to sign.”
I continued to blink at her, disbelievingly.
“Are you all right?” she asked and suddenly her face turned white. “You don’t want this job, do you? I should have checked with you first. I’m sorry, I just got so excited by the opportunity and we had talked about getting out of divorce law and – “
I chortled, holding my hand up to stop her rambling.
I then reached down to seize her by the waist, spinning her around while she squealed at the unexpected gesture.
“Of course I want this job!” I howled, kissing her lips with fervor. “It’s exactly what we were talking about!”
Yve seemed to relax slightly but her dark eyebrows still knit.
“It’s a big step,” she said cautiously, and I nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes,” I agreed. “It is. Are you having second thoughts?”
She shook her head.
“No,” she answered. “But…”
I stared at her expectantly, but I already knew what she was thinking.
Still, I waited for her to speak.
“Is everything moving too fast?” she whispered, and I saw a slight doubt in her eyes.
My heart melted at the vulnerability in her face and I stepped forward to wrap her in my arms.
“Too fast?” I murmured into her hair. “We have worked like cavemen to get where we are today. How many all-nighters have we pulled? How many abusive clients have we cajoled? We have earned a spot at the grown-up table.”
She peered up at me.
“And us?” she asked. “Are we going to survive working together like this?”
I laughed.
“We haven’t killed each other thus far,” I replied. “In fact, I think we make a pretty good team.”
She nodded and slowly the cloud began to lift from her eyes.
I was saying everything she needed to hear, and it made me feel good to know I was alleviating her doubts.
It was high time that someone was there to lift her up for, despite her icy façade, Yve was a sensitive soul.
I was so grateful that I was the one she had chosen.
“What is it, darling?” I asked, sensing that there was something else she wanted to say.
“Are you happy, Drave?” she breathed, and I could see the answer terrified her.
My face exploded into a smile of pleasure and I nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as I peered into her face.
“I might be too happy,” I replied, our eyes locking.
She eyed me cynically.
“Too happy?” she echoed. “How is that?”
“I have everything I ever wanted suddenly, and I feel like it’s too good to be true!”
Her shoul
ders seemed to fall, and she giggled.
“I know how you feel,” she sighed.
“It’s like a dream, isn’t it?” I asked, and she nodded her smile broadening. I couldn’t resist sweeping her into my arms again.
The urge to be near her, to touch her at every opportunity was more than I could stand sometimes.
“Just don’t pinch me,” Yve joked but the look in her eyes melted me and I placed her on her feet gently.
“I can pinch you,” I told her tenderly. “Because while it is a dream, it’s our dream and we’re never going to wake from it.”
“I love dreaming with you,” she murmured, nuzzling my neck.
“And I love you,” I breathed.
- THE END -
Mercury Billionaires
Book 1: The Billionaire’s Conquest
Book 2: The Billionaire’s Bid
Book 3: The Billionaire’s Proposal
Book 4: The Billionaire’s Desires
Book 5: The Billionaire’s Past
Book 6: The Billionaire’s Deal
The Billionaire’s Conquest
Mercury Billionaires Book 1
Book Description
The Billionaire’s Conquest
I need to save Mercury Wild, but who would save my heart?
I'm Trevor Wild, Billionaire and Entrepreneur of Mercury Wild, a club that I inherited from my father.
Men admire me for the fortune that came with my name. Women flock to me for the man of their dreams, but along the way, I lose sight of who I am, and my business is at stake.
So desperate to save the club, I have to put pride behind me and seek out help, and help comes in the form of Jasmine Washington.
Her skin is smooth as silk. Her eyes are piercing green that would burn holes into my soul.
But it’s her steadfast attitude, her honest business sense, and her genuine heart, that pull me in.
Yet, it doesn’t hurt that she has a rockin’ body that makes me want to beg for her every chance I get, and learning that she’s a virgin only intensifies those desires.
Will I be able to have both my club and Jasmine, or will going after her cause everything to crumble around me?
1
Jasmine
The sound of Aerosmith played in the background as I walked into the club. I looked around to see if Sydney was there yet. We had been best friends since Elementary school. It was Mrs. Harper’s third-grade class when Sydney asked if she could sit next to me. I didn’t know anyone then; I was the new student in a big place and Sydney was there. She always remained there and we vowed to be best friends for life.
I waved to her from across the bar, then hurried over to her. We hugged and made small talk, how’ve you been, what’s new, how are you enjoying the humid weather, things like that, until others started to join us. I hadn’t seen Sydney in nearly three months.
She had taken a trip to New York to visit her grandmother, who didn’t have long to live. Unfortunately, her grandmother didn’t make it much past the timeline the doctor provided, and now Sydney was back home.
She immediately reached out to her friends and asked them to go out to the bar and that brought them there this night.
“You look good, Syd,” I said, taking a drink of the beer that the waitress had brought me.
She smiled. “Thank you! I’m doing well, actually.”
I was relieved to hear that. I didn’t know how she was handling the passing of her grandmother, but she did seem to be doing better than expected.
“Have your parents come back from New York, yet?” Tracey, another friend posed the question.
Sydney shook her head.
“When grandma passed, they decided to stay back there and help to facilitate the sale of her property. But I didn’t want to stay behind. I needed to get back into work and it just was easier to make the escape back to Montana. How are you guys doing?” she asked.
Everyone eagerly chatted away about what they’d been up to, but I stayed mostly quietly. I didn’t have much to add. How could you when your job consisted of filing papers and phone calls and your life in itself was mostly struggling with not fighting with your boyfriend? Things were tough and the last thing Sydney needed was my problems piled on top of everything she had going on.
The waitress came back to the table and I ordered another beer, while everyone went on about their glorious lives. I just listened intently, drank my beer, and tried not to be jealous…too much. Sydney kept saying things like, that’s amazing, good for you, I’m so proud of you, sounds great, and I just indulged in my self-pity.
Yeah, jealousy was certainly prevalent.
After everyone else had gone about getting another drink, Sydney spoke up. “So, I do have some news and thought now would be as good of a time as any to let you in on it.”
I sipped on my beer, then swallowed it down and tried to be enthusiastic to hear about what she needed to say.
“What is it, Syd?” I asked.
That was when I noticed it. I’m not sure if I was the only one, but my eyes were directed to her left hand. She was playing with a ring that was on her finger. I don’t know if she was playing with that throughout the course of the night, but it was clear that she was extremely nervous.
My mouth hung open as the realization hit me. I didn’t want to blurt it out, but I was anxious to hear her spread the news. She then held up her left hand and sighed. “I’m getting married!”
A round of squeals came around the table, as she showed off her engagement ring. I couldn’t believe the news. The last I’d known, she wasn’t even dating anyone. “Who?” I suddenly asked.
She looked at me and there was a smile in her eyes. “You don’t know him. I met him in New York.” She paused, before continuing. “He’s a lawyer.”
I wondered if that meant she was leaving. She had made this big mention of getting back to her job and to her hometown, but if she was just going to turn around and leave again, I wondered what the point was. I was being a bit selfish, I’d admit that, but I didn’t want to see her go again. Luckily, I didn’t need to ask the question, because Mary had it on her mind.
“So, you’re moving to New York?” Mary asked.
Sydney looked at each of us, before shaking her head. “I’m not. Michael is getting a job in Maine. He stayed back home to finish up a couple different cases, but he’s moving here right before the wedding.” She glanced at me and it was like we had that inner connection where she would know exactly what I was thinking before I had a chance to say it. She smiled and nodded and I gave her a slight smile response back.
I wasn’t surprised to hear she was marrying a lawyer. After all, Sydney came from wealth and prestige, with her mother being a doctor and her father a chemist. It was like Sydney had gold in her blood. Great things came to her and I was always supportive of that, but it made sense that she would ultimately meet and marry a lawyer to continue her road to wealth.
We all congratulated her and I got up and walked around to where she was sitting. “Congratulations, Syd!” We hugged. “I’m so happy for you!”
When she pulled away, there were tears in her eyes. She had to wipe them away and I saw her hand shaking. “You’ll really like him,” she said.
I smiled. “All that matters is that you’re in love and if you are, then that’s good enough for me.” We hugged again and she nodded, I felt her shaking slightly. I knew that this was love for her, because Sydney wasn’t one to settle down easily. She’d never had a long-term boyfriend, let alone a man I could see that she would want to marry. I was truly happy for her and couldn’t wait to meet the man that stole my friend’s heart.
2
Trevor
The smell of bourbon penetrated through me as I lifted the glass to my lips and drank. I heaved a sigh and let the cool liquid slide down my throat.
It’d been a crazy busy day and I was glad to get out of the bar I owned, into a place that wouldn’t recognize me for my name or knowledge of the bar
scene. Sometimes it was just good to get away. I took another drink and closed my eyes. Sometimes I wondered how I got to where I was.
I was twenty-eight and an owner of the bar and restaurant, Mercury Wild. It’d been sort of an inheritance passed down to me since my father’s passing five years earlier. Men admired me for the fortune that came with my name. Women flocked to me for the man of their dreams, or at least they liked the fact that I was wealthy, but along the way I lost sight of who I was.
I never saw that in my father, so I wondered again how I got to where I was. I took another drink, then ordered up another one. I was only two when my grandfather passed away, so I also questioned if maybe we were cut from the same cloth. Was I more like him?
“This seat taken?” I looked up into the eyes of a tall blonde woman. She had waves of curls that cascaded over her shoulders and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. In every man’s fantasy, she would be the ideal catch. I just smiled and shook my head.
“Have a seat!” I then took another drink and looked away, literally ignoring the woman and probably offending her with my cavalier attitude.
She did make small talk, but I didn’t even acknowledge her talking and I was sure I had offended her, because about fifteen minutes later she was getting down from the bar stool. She mumbled something about having a nice life and then she was gone.
The truth was the blonde-haired woman was the typical woman that I would gravitate towards and that was exactly why I didn’t indulge in any thoughts of communication with her. I was tired of going the typical route. I needed to change things up or I was bound to go crazy.
After a couple more drinks, finishing off my bourbon, I left behind the glass and turned around to leave. I spotted Dylan coming closer to me. Dylan was one of my good friends and not one I could easily ignore. I put on a smile and waved to him, just as he got closer.
“Hey, buddy, thought that was you over here. Wanna come to my table and hang?” he asked.
