Ensnared (The Accidental Billionaires Book 1)

by J. S. Scott

  “I’m not contagious,” I confessed. “But I had a fight with the flu and pneumonia. The viruses and bacteria won.”

  She held out her hand, and I took it because she was so damn fierce that I didn’t even consider refusing.

  “I’m taking you to lunch,” she informed me as I got to my feet. “And then you’ll explain why you’re even back in the office if you aren’t fully recovered.”

  She grabbed her purse on the way to the door, but tightened her hold on my hand. “What sounds good?” she questioned as we left the office together.

  “Nothing,” I said honestly.

  “Good. Then soup and sandwiches it is,” she decided.

  I grinned as we waited for her vehicle to be brought around by the valet. She’d gotten decidedly bossy, but I kind of liked it. Jade had always been meant to lead instead of be hidden away in the woods somewhere. She’d just never realized that she was fully capable of doing more than one thing, or being good at a whole lot of things.

  I’d never doubted it.

  “This is me,” she said, pointing toward an arriving vehicle.

  “Since when are you driving a BMW?” I asked in surprise. “What happened to the Jeep?”

  “I still have it,” she answered as she moved to the driver’s side and handed the valet a tip. “I need it for my survival stuff. But I think it was time to buy a new vehicle. It’s not exactly a Bugatti, but I love it.”

  I headed for the passenger’s side. It was a 3 series, so it wasn’t an extravagant spend for her, but the classy black exterior suited her.

  “And the butterfly finally escapes from the cocoon, stretches her wings, and flies away,” I muttered as I got into the car.

  Jade had indeed broken out of the protective shell she’d lived in, but she wasn’t escaping very far.

  If I had my way—which I would—she was flying home to me.

  CHAPTER 27

  JADE

  I’d been in Eli’s office early every single day for the last two weeks.

  Maybe I’d planned to try to be businesslike, and for the most part, I’d succeeded. But I’d nearly crumbled that first day when I’d found out that he’d been sick enough to end up in the hospital.

  In my heart of hearts, maybe I really wanted to believe that Eli hadn’t called me because he’d been too sick to do so. And the excuse was likely plausible, since he’d personally told me that much of what had happened during his illness was a blur. He’d been on a ton of medication, including pain meds, during his hospitalization.

  But then . . . there were those heartbreaking texts. I hadn’t asked about them. Perhaps I honestly didn’t want to know.

  For the most part, we talked about business, and that seemed to be enough for him. So I’d just continued to be his makeshift intern, harboring some stupid idea that he hadn’t called me because he’d been physically incapacitated.

  Had I looked closely when I’d first seen him in the office, I would have noticed that he had lost some weight, and he hadn’t had the energy he usually did. But I’d been so busy worrying about him finding out that I was a fraud that I hadn’t been really looking at him.

  Once I had discovered that he’d been in the hospital, he hadn’t looked so good.

  I brought breakfast every morning, and made sure he ate lunch. As the days passed, we frequented better and better restaurants, most of them his eateries, for lunch.

  He was fully recovered now, and probably had been for at least a week. But I still found myself looking forward to seeing him every single morning.

  Our days were productive, and I’d gotten to the point where I could preview some of the proposals he had stacked up on his desk. If they were definitely duds, I could save him time by pointing out why they weren’t going to work, and I could toss him the ones that were questionable.

  All in all, I was learning fast and getting more comfortable in my business suits. Well, maybe I wasn’t literally used to my wardrobe, but I was starting to feel more like a businesswoman.

  “Good morning, Alice,” I said happily as I came through the door to the outer offices.

  The gray-haired woman smiled. “Good morning, Ms. Sinclair.”

  “Cheese omelet with a bagel, cream cheese on the side,” I informed her as I put the boxed breakfast on her desk. “And when are you going to call me Jade?”

  Alice and I had struck up a friendship while I’d been working with Eli, but I still hadn’t been able to get her to stop being so formal.

  “Probably about the same time that I refer to Mr. Stone by his first name. It’s been years, so stop trying to teach an old woman new tricks,” she advised.

  I laughed, and picked up one of the many magazines on her desk. “What’s all this?”

  “New magazines,” she answered. “It was the strangest thing. Mr. Stone asked me to change our subscriptions right after your first visit here.”

  I rummaged through the magazines, trying not to mess them up.

  Time.

  Rolling Stone.

  National Geographic.

  Wired.

  The Economist.

  The Atlantic.

  Harper’s.

  There wasn’t one single fluffy women’s magazine in the bunch. “Oh, my God.” I let out a silly giggle that I’d never heard come from my lips before. I couldn’t believe that Eli had actually taken my advice on reading material in his waiting room.

  “What’s the matter?” Alice asked.

  “Not a thing,” I answered with a smile on my face. “Is Eli already in?”

  She nodded. “He just got in a few minutes ago.”

  I juggled my boxes and moved forward, not arguing when Alice got up to open his office door for me.

  “Good morning,” I said to Eli as I carried the boxes to his desk.

  “You could have called me down to help you,” he grumbled as he stood up. “And it is a good morning now.”

  Just like I’d been doing for the last two weeks, I pretty much ignored his compliment, and wondered how much longer I could play the good intern.

  I’d put myself in a dangerous situation by accepting the relationship. But I wasn’t sure if I could keep pretending that I wasn’t crazy in love with the CEO.

  Eli had retreated to wash his hands, and I took the food out of its protective container.

  I bent and stretched across the desk to put Eli’s stuff on his side of the desk.

  I squeaked as a strong body slammed into me from the back. Eli covered my hands with his, his front plastered against my back as he growled, “If you bend over my desk one more fucking time, I’m not responsible for what happens after that.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Unfortunately, all I could smell was Eli’s masculine scent.

  “Does it bother you?” I asked.

  I wasn’t about to shy away from him. My whole objective had been to get him to notice me and realize that he cared. Lately, I’d come to the conclusion that I was just like one of the pathetic women in the magazines who wants to catch a man she can’t have, and who doesn’t want her.

  “Hell, yes, it bothers me,” he said in a husky voice next to my ear. “You bother me, Butterfly. Do you know how damn hard it’s been not to bend you over my desk and make my dick happier than it’s ever been? You have the most gorgeous ass I’ve ever seen.”

  Everything inside me wanted to give in, but as I contemplated how I’d feel later if I let him fuck me, my stomach got tied up in knots.

  I wanted him desperately.

  But I knew I deserved more.

  “Let go,” I requested as I pushed back against his chest. “I don’t want this, Eli.”

  He backed away immediately.

  “I can’t do this anymore,” I told him as I turned to get my purse. “I have to go.”

  Even though my heart was breaking, I knew I needed to finally find the strength to walk away.

  It wasn’t fair to ask him to change, and I’d known the arrangement going in . . . sex
only, with no commitments.

  It wasn’t his fault that I needed more.

  “Jade, wait. We need to talk. Listen to me—”

  “No,” I interrupted. “You listen to me.”

  I was done playing games. But I wasn’t leaving until he heard everything I needed to say. “I played your silly cat-and-mouse game in the beginning because I wanted to get to know you. I have no problem admitting that I also wanted to end up in your bed because I was so damn attracted to you. But I ran into a problem somewhere along the way.” I took a deep breath and looked at him as I continued. “I ended up wanting more, Eli. Even though you made it pretty clear that you didn’t. This isn’t really your fault. You were honest. It was me who fell in love with you. I didn’t want to, but it happened. I should have gotten the message when I didn’t hear from you after we slept together. And it definitely should have sunk in when you texted me about how you felt. But I wasn’t sure if you needed time to sort through everything that happened with your brother. Or if you didn’t call me because you were so sick. I foolishly thought that you might eventually realize that you loved me, too. But you didn’t. So I have to move on. Empty sex isn’t going to ever be enough for me. I’m not made that way. I’m sorry.”

  “It was never empty, Jade,” I heard him say as I moved like lightning toward the door.

  I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I had to leave before I ended up making a bigger fool out of myself.

  I pulled out my cell phone as I moved down the hallway as fast as my high-heeled shoes would take me.

  “Huge tip if you get my BMW to the front door before I get down the elevator and outside,” I said to the valet on my cell.

  “I’m on it,” the valet answered.

  I jumped into an open lift and pushed the button for the lobby, thankful that nobody else had entered the same one.

  I let my head fall back as I rode down, trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears that desperately wanted to escape from my eyes.

  “You can do this, Jade. You can do this,” I whispered to myself.

  Maybe I would have lasted another week if Eli hadn’t touched me. But what good would it have done? I couldn’t make him love me, and I loved him so much that I couldn’t take the pain of being close to him every single day and not want more.

  When the elevator opened, I strode across the marble floors, my heels clicking wildly as I made my way outside.

  My BMW was just pulling up to the curb.

  “Hey, Mr. Stone said to hold up,” a second valet called from near the building.

  The guy who jumped out of my car hesitated, but I pushed several twenties into his hand as I said, “Mr. Stone doesn’t always get everything he wants.”

  I hopped into my car and left, and I finally had the very ugly cry I’d been holding back. It lasted all the way to Citrus Beach.

  CHAPTER 28

  JADE

  I found out later that day that I had gotten an interview for my dream job as a researcher/scientist in San Diego, so I knew I had to pull my shit back together.

  It was Friday, and I had to be coherent by Monday.

  Maybe I should have called Skye or Brooke, but I didn’t want to do much of anything except lie on my couch and devour as much ice cream as possible.

  My food drug of choice was Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream that was made by Ben & Jerry’s. And I was well stocked. Besides the carton I had in my hand, there were four more in the freezer.

  I dug my spoon into the caramel and chocolate-covered-ice-cream-cone mixture and shoved it into my mouth before I picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels.

  Yeah, I realized that I couldn’t sit and eat Ben & Jerry’s every night, but I needed some time to get my head together.

  Maybe approaching Eli to follow through on his offer to act as an intern hadn’t been a good idea, but I didn’t regret it. I’d learned a lot, and those few weeks had helped me gain some confidence in a world I knew nothing about.

  I also didn’t regret the new wardrobe. I’d need it if I was going to start interviewing.

  The makeover had boosted my confidence, and I finally felt okay in my own skin.

  I was over my guilt about becoming a billionaire. I was more interested in figuring out how I could make a difference with my wealth.

  At some point over the last several weeks, I’d changed. I’d stopped being the shy student, and had decided to be the best person I could be.

  Eli had helped me get there, so I didn’t regret the time I’d spent with him.

  What I really felt devastated over was the fact that Eli hadn’t returned my feelings, and I wasn’t so sure I was ever going to feel the same way about a man again.

  I stopped changing channels when I got to Shark Tank, and tossed the remote back on the coffee table. I could listen to the show while I was answering my emails.

  I opened my laptop and started deleting all the junk mail I got on a daily basis. It seemed like I unsubscribed from a million places, but I still had more ads in my box the next day.

  I clicked on a notice from the DNA site I’d used when I’d discovered that Evan was my half brother. I went to delete it because I got ads or notifications almost every day, but I hesitated when I saw the first line.

  I have a new match?

  I clicked to the site and looked at the current entry. I scanned with a little more interest when I saw that I had a new relative match.

  Relationship—Niece.

  “What the hell?” I mumbled. “How is that possible?”

  I was a scientist. And DNA didn’t lie.

  My mind raced as I stared at the notification. There was no half designation, so the logical conclusion was that one of my brothers had fathered a child. But none of them were old enough to have a grown daughter.

  “It wasn’t Brooke,” I said aloud. “It has to be one of my brothers.”

  I couldn’t imagine any of my siblings walking away from their own daughter, but there was a possibility they’d never known that they had impregnated a woman they had dated. None of my brothers had lacked female attention, and they’d all had girlfriends. But the whole thing wasn’t sitting right with me.

  How could they not know?

  And which one of them had a child they didn’t know existed?

  There was no real information about who my niece might be, but I could write to the relative through the site.

  I wrote a few lines, introducing myself and letting them know that they’d matched to me.

  I still had to wonder if the information was somehow incorrect.

  I’d just reached for my cell to call Brooke when the doorbell rang.

  Probably Aiden or Seth.

  I got my rear off the couch and headed toward the door. I wasn’t exactly dressed for visitors, but it wasn’t like my brothers hadn’t seen me in my pajama shorts and a sweatshirt before.

  I opened the door, startled at first because no one was standing there.

  Then I heard a yelp of excitement.

  “Charlie?” I opened the screen door and let the canine in, and then reached down to pet him. “What are you doing here?”

  I frowned as I noticed something attached to his collar.

  There was an envelope that said Read me first and a small box that said Keep me.

  Both were lightly attached, so I pulled them off Charlie’s collar, sat down on the floor to cuddle with the canine I’d come to adore, and opened the envelope.

  If Charlie is here, I know Eli isn’t very far away.

  My heart stuttered at the thought that Eli was probably close by. What was he up to?

  The big, gaping wound I’d opened when I’d confronted Eli this morning was still raw, and I wasn’t sure I could bear to see him so soon.

  I pulled out the papers that were in the envelope, my hands shaking with emotion.

  “Oh, Eli, what did you do?” I whispered as I looked at the quitclaim deed.

  He’d deeded the Lucifer’s Canyon proper
ty to me.

  I dropped the paper in my lap and wrapped my arms around Charlie as tears flowed down my cheeks.

  I was pretty sure it meant that the property didn’t have a hold on Eli anymore. And if he was finally free of his demons, I was happy for him.

  “It’s really hell when I have to be jealous of my mutt,” I heard Eli’s baritone say hoarsely from the door.

  I got up, and picked up the box and the deed. “What are you doing here? And why did you do this?” I motioned to the paper.

  He opened the screen door and stepped in. “Because I want you to have it. There’s no strings attached, no matter what you say about what’s in the box.”

  “I haven’t opened it yet.”

  “Don’t,” he requested. “Not yet.”

  He took my hand and led me into the small living room. I grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. “I was just . . . eating,” I said as I grabbed the container of ice cream, took it to the kitchen, and tossed it in the freezer. Since it was a tiny house, I was back in seconds.

  I stopped in front of him, my chest aching because he looked so damn good in a pair of jeans and a sweater. “Eli, I—”

  He put his fingers on my lips. “No. Don’t talk. I have some things I want to say before you run away again.”

  I nodded, and he started to use his thumb to wipe the tears from my face.

  “I want to thank you for helping me get my head straight. I buried everything about my brother for way too long. So long that I guess I wasn’t sure what was me and what was Austin anymore. Because of you, I think I have everything figured out now.”

  “So what was you?” I asked.

  “When I started doing the things Austin did, I did it on my own terms. He did crazy things just because he wanted to do them. I did them to make money for my charities. So I guess some of it was always me. And there are a few things I actually do like to do for me, like the mountain climbing and the car racing. But I can do without the useless things. So I’ll do what I want and dump the others. I don’t have a death wish like Austin did.”

  “And the tats?”

  “Done to honor my brother. I don’t regret it.”