My Stepbrother, His Highness: A Royal Stepbrother Billionaire Bad Boy Romance

by Victoria Cabot

  “Christine, how are you love?”

  There was a pause and deep sigh from the other end of the line. “Silas, my name is Nerissa. I told you this a year ago when I introduced myself.”

  Silas smiled. He loved needling her. I stayed, resting on Silas’s chest, looking into his beautiful eyes.

  “What can I do for you for you and yours?” Silas asked.

  “Well, Your Highness, it’s what we can do for you. We’ve found some extra accounts that we can use towards our US operations that had been overlooked before. John’s preparing the presentation. We’d like to go over it with you before you depart the country.”

  “That’s great,” Silas said. “I’ll stop by the offices tomorrow and we can sort it out.”

  When the phone hung up, he looked at me. “Christine and her boyfriend are two great accountants. Couldn’t have asked to hire two better people.”

  I remembered her trying to kiss Silas and scowled. But I knew there was nothing there. Silas had given them jobs when they were unemployed. To bring his mind back, I instead brought my hand down, descending to his crotch.

  “Easy now, love,” he said with a smirk. I paused, and saw Mother and the King coming outside.

  “Samantha,” the King said, coming outside with her. “It’s just that you need one remote to turn on the bloody thing. And then one remote for the volume, and then one remote to change channels. You lose track of the bloody thing!”

  Mom gripped her husband’s arm, smiling at his consternation. “It’s not that hard Percy,” she whispered. “You’re just not used to these things.”

  “St. Penares has the fourth highest per capita earnings in the world,” the King chastised her. “Our subjects just go hiking.”

  I rolled my eyes and Silas laughed. Mom and the King had decided to come with us this time to the house. They’d be heading out on state visits afterwards but it was a nice way for them to relax.

  Silas had turned on the grill, and was making us some steaks. He poured a glass of whiskey for his dad and for him, and the King thanked Silas. “Kind of reminds you of the cabin in the Alps, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes,” we both said, my cheeks going red.

  Mom saw it and laughed. “That bed has some great memories.”

  I made a grimace as my mom smiled and Tommy and his girlfriend Mary Zimmerman came over and poured themselves some juice.

  “Where’s Pearson, Silas?” Mom asked my husband.

  “And where is Clara, dear?” the King asked me, hearing my mom.

  I looked at Silas. “They asked for the week off,” I said to both. “To go up to Yellowstone.”

  There was silence. And then a startled, “Oh,” from my mother. “I didn’t realize…”

  “That my man was shagging her bird?” Silas said with a grin. I rolled my eyes and Mom basically nodded her head.

  “Since the wedding, yeah,” Silas continued with a grin. “Little bit too much grappa at the reception and Clara Bow came out of his room the next morning. He’s already teaching her Thai.”

  “Well good for them,” the King said sitting down, looking every inch the suburban house-Dad. “Love strikes us all in mysterious ways, but when it does, it’s best not to fight it.”

  “To not fighting love,” Silas said as he raised his glass.

  “To not fighting love,” we toasted back. I touched my glass to mother’s and took a sip of my wine.

  Yes, life was perfect with my Prince. Whatever the world used to call him, to me, he was Prince Perfect. And this was happily ever after.

  Note From The Author

  Thank you so much for reading my book! I am so excited that people actually read what I write.

  So…yay!! I hope you liked it. But if you didn’t that’s fine too - not everyone will like everything. But I would love, love, LOVE, to know what you thought - love it or hate it. Reviews like yours are what help me write better stuff for readers!

  If you want to sign up to receive ARC’s or find expansions to the story, or to receive word when new books are about to drop, feel free to join my mailing list at Victoria’s Secrets.

  Or just copy this link: http://eepurl.com/b938Fz

  Thanks again!

  I’m attaching a bonus copy on the next page of another Billionaire Prince Romance, Rent With Benefits. I hope you like it too.

  Kisses!!!

  Victoria

  About the Author

  Victoria Cabot is an emerging author in contemporary romance. She is currently hard at work on her first novel, Illicit Proposal.

  When she is not writing, Victoria lives in Manhattan with her husband, two young sons, and golden retriever.

  Join her mailing list to keep up with updates on her novel, due to be completed shortly.

  Just click on the link below:

  Victoria’s Secrets

  Rent With Benefits

  Mysterious Billionaires Part 1

  by Victoria Cabot

  Rent With Benefits

  Mysterious Billionaires Part 1

  By Victoria Cabot

  Copyright 2016 by Victoria Cabot

  All rights reserved

  Kindle Edition

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental. This work is intended for adults only.

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  The Meeting

  I sighed to myself as I checked the angry automated text my bank had sent to my phone. I was down to my last $150 dollars. I had no idea how I was going to get through this evening. I normally didn't have the cash to go out for drinks with friends, but Ricardo was leaving for China - to teach English. This was probably the last time I would ever see him again.

  You’re just going to have to act extra sweet, Alicia. Get those guys to buy you some drinks!

  Was this seriously what I’d come to? Is this what a four year Art History degree from a top Ivy League university was worth? Having to make smiley faces at random strangers hoping they'd buy me a drink? And then trying to extricate myself from their conversations so I could go spend time with my real friends?

  Life was supposed to be easier after college, I had always told myself. No more studying for finals. No more dissertations being written at the last minute. A lot of the perks of student life would go away, yes, but it was supposed to be more freedom.

  That freedom basically now meant that I was free to decide where to live after my three roommates and I received notice from our landlord that we had 30 days to vacate the apartment we were in because the building was being condemned.

  That freedom now meant having to look for a job. Because while a degree in Art History was enjoyable to get, it served me absolutely zero purpose right now.

  When I had graduated, I had thought I would take a year or so to find myself and figure out the direction I wanted in my life. But before I could even find myself I had to find a job. Some sort of occupation that would pay me more than the pittance I was making at the coffee shop.

  It was telling that each of my roommates was moving back in with their parents. Grown women, in their mid-20s were heading back to the nest, tails tucked between their legs. But I couldn't do that. I had wanted to get as far away from home as I possibly could. I had purposely chosen the best school I could get into that was far from home. I had loaded up on student loans and decided to get out of the comfort of the safety net. And then I had probably burned what last bridges I had with them - I never knew. But I did know that going back to their house was something that I did not have the freedom to do.

  Life after college was supposed to be sink or swim, Alicia. But you’re not just sinking. You’re gasping for your last breath.

  My jo
b wasn't enough to pay for student loans and other bills. I couldn't focus on finding on full time work without a place to stay. Any incidental expenses I had had were cut long, long ago. Gone were the things I had gotten used to when I had Daddy’s credit card. Manicures and pedicures were a distant memory. Netflix and Hulu? Gone the way of the dodo bird. Cable TV? Distant memory.

  But maybe, one day, these things would be part of a future life. For now, I had more pressing concerns.

  The one thing that I had spades of was friends. Poor, idealistic, friends. And it was into that scrum of friends that I sighed, put my phone (prepaid plan whose bill I barely scraped by to make each month) in my pocket, and dove into.

  I spotted two friends, Dawn and Christina at a bar, talking to two guys. Bingo! That’s where Drink #1 was coming from. What guy wouldn't offer to buy me a drink if he could look hot in front of her friend?

  “Hey girl,” I greeted as I came up to Dawn, lightly touching her on her shoulder. She turned to me with a big smile.

  “Oh my god, Alicia!” she exclaimed, as per her usual sensibilities. “We were just talking about how we found the perfect guy for you!”

  We?

  Found the perfect guy?

  For me?

  I was intrigued. But I was also thirsty. So, trying to keep it casual, I asked, “Who?”

  Christina, hearing this, joined in. The guys they were talking to had kept a respectful silence as I entered the fray. I had given them a glance to see who I was dealing with. They were okay. 5’ 8” and 6’, with sandy colored hair and brown hair respectively, they were average looking guys. Sandy colored hair guy could stand to lose a few pounds and brown hair guy could be served well by bulking up. I didn’t know if either of them was the guy.

  “Robert and Derek here have a friend coming,” Christina explained, with much less ado than Dawn. “They work for him but he sounds totally chill.”

  “Well,” I said, not sure if I should even invest the mental energy into thinking about guys with my precarious financial condition. “Let me get a drink and you can tell me all about him,” I directed my statement to Christina but my eyes were directly on Robert. He looked like the guy who could afford a drink for a girl when he was trying to promote his guy friend as well as impress another girl. I made my way to the bar.

  “What you drinking?” Robert asked. Bingo.

  “Jack and coke, please,” I said, making my eyes look like he was just passing my order.

  Robert turned towards the bar, signaled to the bartender, and spoke up, “Mikey! Can you add one Jack and Coke to my tab?”

  Mikey gave him the thumbs up and started mixing the drink. It was in my hands in a few moments, with Robert making sure Mikey the bartender got his name down correctly.

  I was suitably impressed with the guy. He was able to get ahold of the bartender with little difficulty. Did he come here often? Was that alcohol fat on him?

  I took a sip of my drink, and pondered my situation.

  Here I was, in a college bar - a bit divey, a bit sports bar-ish - a year and a half after graduating. The Taylor Swift was playing overhead and all things being considered, I had an evening ahead where I could at least forget my problems for a moment.

  Besides, who was this guy?

  Over the Jack and Coke, Robert and Derek said that they worked in a startup in Midtown that produced apps for phones. The owner, Tristan, was the guy that Christina had thought I would be interested in.

  But why?

  “Oh that’s simple!” Dawn said. “Tristan is coming back from interviews. He’s interviewing for a roommate!”

  “The guy’s looking to get a roommate?” I asked. Was this the only criteria that my friends had for who would be good for me?

  Jesus, maybe I need to reconsider my friends.

  “Not just looking for a roommate, silly. There’s plenty of those people,” Dawn continued. “But a roommate who pays no rent!”

  No rent? What kind of arrangement was this?

  “We thought it was perfect for you, considering you know, you’re getting kicked out of your apartment,” Christina said in a very diplomatic fashion. Very diplomatic. She had been out with me a couple times when my debit card was declined, so she knew the financial straits I was in.

  “Yeah, all the person has to do in exchange is some ‘household duties’,” Derek said, using his fingers to denote quotation marks.

  Household duties? I could do that. I could clean, somewhat. I could learn to cook. I could take care of kids if it came to that.

  “So, basically like a housekeeper?” I asked, sipping the last of my drink.

  Another drink somehow materialized in my hand as Robert answered with a shrug, “I guess. Housework for room and board.

  Wait. Board? As in food included? I had to clean house and someone would pay my rent and my food bills. In New York City?

  “Where’s the place?” I asked the guys.

  “Upper East Side,” a voice to the side of me answered. I turned to find its owner.

  “72nd and Lexington Avenue,” the voice said as I got a look at the man.

  He was like a wet dream come to life! 6’ 3”. Blondish-brown hair. Blue, distant eyes that seemed to gaze into my soul. Dimples. A strong jawline. Broad shoulders. Muscles. Oh my god, the muscles. He was perfectly proportioned, with a strong upper body. I could tell he had some nice pecs and abs based on how the button down collared shirt fit on his body. He had a narrow waist and some powerful legs, again based on the jeans and how they tapered around his legs.

  I instinctively smoothed my jeans and my top, wondering if I had applied enough make-up and how my hair looked. God, I must look awful compared to Dawn and Christine. Couldn’t I have worn a lower cut shirt today? Did it have any stains? Did I have something in my teeth? How did my ass look? God, his ass must look so hot.

  Enough! Get a grip!

  “Oh, is it your place?” I asked with what I hoped was a coquettish smile. This was an alpha-male, by what I could see. Both the guys there before, Derek and Robert, acted a bit deferentially to him. Derek made a little room so Tristan could come in and Robert ordered him a beer.

  Tristan for his part walked over and joined the circle, but it felt like the guy never took his eyes off of me. I continued devouring his body with my eyes.

  Uh-oh!

  There it was. On his finger. I noticed a ring. A wedding ring.

  Fuck!

  But still, play it cool. If I could live in the same apartment with a gorgeous man that was paying my rent, and possibly my food, I wasn’t complaining. Even if I had to see his wife every day.

  “Yeah, it’s my apartment,” he said in a voice that sounded like angels singing. Okay, I think I was getting a little carried away there. I took a deep breath. “I was just interviewing for a roommate.”

  “How’d it go, bro?” Derek asked, a sly smile on his face.

  Tristan shook his head. “I don’t think either of them will work out, to be honest.”

  “Alicia’s single!” Dawn blurted out by way of her introduction.

  I sighed. So much for playing it coy.

  I decided to make the best of a bad situation.

  “Hi, I’m Alicia,” I said with a dismissive laugh as I extended my hand.

  Tristan took it and returned my greeting. “Tristan. Tristan Carnahan.”

  He shook my hand with a firm grip before letting it go. I got a vibe from him that I tried to interpret. Tristan was polite, and he was mature. But the guy didn’t seem that overly friendly. I mean, he didn’t seem rude or anything. But like his eyes, he seemed a bit distant. As if there was something that made him really sad. Or tired.

  I decided to broach the subject that had, after all, brought us together. “So you’re looking for a roommate for an Upper East Side apartment?”

  Tristan nodded. That’s all.

  I took a sip of my drink. “I’m looking for an apartment…” I trailed off, hoping it would be enough to goad him to talk. He nodd
ed again.

  Jesus Buddy! Give me a bone here!

  I decided to try one last time. “Have you found someone already, because based on what these guys said, I might be interested…”

  Tristan looked at me in silence. I was a bit thankful that Christine and Dawn had gotten bored and were talking to Robert and Derek behind me as I kept getting shot down by Tristan.

  Finally, after what seemed like an interminable silence, the man spoke. “I’m still looking for a roommate, are you sure you would like to, uhm, apply?” he said haltingly.

  I smiled broadly. “Sure. I mean I can cook and clean and stuff…” I never got a chance to finish.

  “Let’s talk about this where it’s a little more quiet,” Tristan said pointing outside. I nodded, understanding. The Britney Spears was going full blast at this point over the speakers in the bar. Tristan turned around to walk outside with his beer and I took my Jack and Coke with me.

  And yes, he did indeed have a fantastic ass.

  We got outside the bar and I had a chance to see Tristan with the sun hitting his body.

  I was definitely impressed. God had taken his time on this man.

  Tristan walked over to an outdoor table and I followed him.

  “Ready?” he asked, a bit stiffly. I nodded, wondering if he was always like this.

  We got started. After about five to ten minutes of formalities like where I was from (California), where I worked at (at a coffee shop but I was searching for a real job, just not sure what), what my plans were for the future (well, get a job first. Save money. Maybe a dog?), why I moved to New York (it’s the center of the world? Actually, it got me as far away from my parents as possible), what kind of social life and hours I kept (Netflix and ice cream, anyone?), Tristan shifted his feet and sighed.