The Shameless Billionaire Series: Billionaire Romance Box Set (An Alpha-Male, Billionaire, Bad Boy, Bad Girl, Romance)

by Michelle Love

  His handsome face seems to be begging me to understand him. Is that all he really has ever needed? Someone who can understand him?

  Can I understand him? Can anyone understand why he’s chosen to make these fake relationships with not one but many women?

  “Jason, if I asked you to take a lie detector test, would you?”

  He glances at me as he pushes on the accelerator as the light has changed to green. “Why would you need me to do that? I’ve been upfront with you this whole time. I’ve told you everything. You’re the one person I’ve done that with.”

  “How do I know that for sure? And how do I know you’re being completely upfront with me now?”

  The hurt in his eyes has my heart pounding. I can’t stand to hurt this man. Being hard and honest with men has never been a problem with me but with Jason, it seems to be so hard it actually hurts me too.

  Chapter 6

  JASON

  Brittany having doubts in me not only hurts, it pisses me off. “I can’t understand how you don’t see how different I am with you, Baby.”

  “I see that.” She looks out the window and sighs. “I’m kind of torn about what to believe.”

  “You know what?” I ask as I find myself speeding down the highway toward our hometown. “I’ll take a fucking lie detector test if that’s what you want. I do want you to know I’m mad as hell that you don’t have any faith in my ass. But I’ll do it if it’ll ease your mind.”

  She looks at me for a while. “I can’t make you do that. I don’t want to bring distrust into this. You’re right, you have been honest with me. I could tell each time you told me things, you’d have skirted around before, that it was hard for you to make yourself do that.”

  Taking her hand, I kiss the top. “I love you so much I doubt you even have a clue to how deep my love is for you.”

  Her lips curve into a smile. “I have some idea. Because I love you that much too.”

  With a two-hour drive ahead of us, the last thing I want is tension hanging in the air. “Good. Let’s put this shit to bed for now. For the next couple of days, I don’t want to think about any of it. I only want to think about you and I and our future together. So where do you want to live?”

  The frown on her beautiful face has me frowning too. She looks at me with a furrowed brow. “Jason, I don’t think we should be getting into that just yet.”

  “And why not?” I ask as my insides heat up with nerves.

  “Because I think we shouldn’t get married as fast as we were thinking.” She looks at me as she pulls her hand up to bite one of her nails.

  “Stop biting your nails, Britt,” I say as I let go of the one hand I have to take the other away from her mouth. “And why should we put our plans on any type of hold, other than waiting for the test results, that is?”

  “Because this is not ordinary.” She looks away and makes a groan. “This is so far from an ordinary situation. And, in all honesty, I don’t want to see my parents right now. I don’t feel up to it. I’m going to have to defend you to them as it is. God forbid that baby is yours and I have to add that to the pot that is you.”

  Fire rushes through me. “Embarrassed of me, Princess Perfect?”

  She shakes her head. “No! That’s not it at all, Jason! God damn it!”

  “You know what, I am sorry I did all I’ve done. I will deal with my fucking consequences. If you don’t want to help me raise that kid if he is mine, then you don’t have to. Fuck!” I slam my hand against the steering wheel and notice her cringing.

  My damn temper has done it again. I’m too mad to even apologize, though.

  She goes quiet and looks out the window. The tall pine trees zip by in green blurs as I speed down the highway. My pulse is racing and my head is pounding.

  She doesn’t even want to go to see her family so now I’m wondering why the fuck I’m hauling ass to a place it seems neither of us really wants to go. “I’m taking you to the airport and putting you on a jet back to New York. It seems you’d rather be back there than here with me, waiting to find out if I have a burden or not.”

  “Don’t Jason! Don’t you do that to me! I have a right to be worried about moving too fast into something I have always thought of as permanent.” She glares at me and I think that’s been about three times today that she’s done that to me.

  “I have never even thought of getting married before at all, Britt. And with you, that’s all I can think about. All the time. I want you like I’ve never wanted any other person. I’ve come out of the man I was and I did that for you. So please tell me now if you’re going to flake on me.”

  I sit and wait to hear her. I trust this woman to be honest with me. She seems to have no problem letting men know her true intentions after all.

  “Flaking? No, I’m not going to be flaking. I’m just saying a lot of things are coming at me very fast.”

  “Me too, Baby!”

  “I know that. I also know that you’re very good at making quick decisions that end up being bad ones.” She reaches out and takes my right hand off the steering wheel. Holding it to her heart she says, “Jason, I just want to be sure you really can be faithful.”

  “Marry me and give me a reason to be,” I say as I look at her.

  Her eyes go wide as she points. “Jason, watch the road!”

  The taillights of the truck in front of me are red as it comes to a complete stop in front of me. Slamming on the brakes, I manage to come to a stop, millimeters away from the huge bumper that would’ve surely turned this little car into rubble.

  “What the fuck?” I shout.

  “Jason, there’s a wreck,” she says as she opens the car door and jumps out, running at full speed.

  I put the car in park and find my entire body shaking as I run after her. “What are you doing?”

  “We have to help,” she calls out over her shoulder.

  My eyes catch a pool of red coming from a mangled mess of what used to be a car door. A few others are getting out of their cars to rush to where it seems two cars have plowed into each other.

  The sound of children screaming and crying suddenly make me feel as if I’m drowning. I can’t breathe. Then I see one red-faced little girl pounding on the unbroken window of the little blue car she and what seems to be her family are in.

  The doors are crushed and everyone else in that vehicle seems to be knocked out as they hang limply in their seat belts. Britt stops at the window, holding her hand to the glass.

  “You’re going to be okay,” she tells the poor kid who looks about three. Britt turns back to me. “In my purse is a small tool. It’s black and it can break the glass. Will you get it?”

  I turn around and haul ass to get the thing, rushing past people who are heading this way. Once I get to the car, I find the tool she was talking about and grab the little blanket out of the backseat she threw in here.

  Making my way back, I can hear the sirens letting me know help is coming and I have never felt more relieved to hear that sound in my life. More people have gathered around the window where Brittany waits for me.

  “This is it, right?” I ask as I show it to her.

  She nods at me then looks back at the girl. “Move back, Sweetie. He’s going to break the window and we’ll get you out.”

  The kid moves back just as I hear a man say, “That smells like gas.”

  Breaking the glass, I can hear an odd sound inside the car. It’s the sound of only a child crying and screaming and nothing else even though the car has four other people in it.

  A chill runs through me as Britt touches my arm. “Pull off your jacket, Baby. Lay it over the window so I can pull her through it without her getting cut.”

  I jerk off my jacket and lay it over the broken glass then the little girl moves like lightning into Brittany’s arms. I can’t stop looking at the other people in the car.

  There’s a little boy about five. He’s hanging at an odd angle in his seatbelt. He was too small to be in that and
that alone. As was this little girl who also wasn’t in a car seat. Her seatbelt is still intact. She must’ve slipped right out of it.

  It’s a miracle she’s alive. As I look at the woman who was driving and another woman on the passenger side, I have to pray they’re still alive. It doesn’t seem they are to me.

  We step back as paramedics pull up. The crying girl is clinging to Brittany. After putting the blanket over the child, I put my arm around Britt and find her steady as a rock. Not shaking in the least bit.

  “Are you okay, Baby?”

  She nods. “This isn’t about me.”

  The woman is the most selfless person I think I’ve ever known. Looking at her as she holds the hysterical child and soothes the poor girl fills me with respect for her.

  A police officer comes up to us. “Is this child part of the people in this car?”

  I nod. “Yes, she is.”

  He holds out his hands. “I’ll take her.”

  Brittany shakes her head. “She’s very upset, sir. Please let me calm her down.”

  He looks at me. “Don’t leave the scene with this child.”

  I nod in agreement and he walks away to tend to other matters. The girl starts to ease her cries as she realizes she’s in safe arms. Brittany hums to her and I watch the child going limp in her arms.

  The little girl murmurs. “I want my daddy.”

  “Is that your momma who is driving?” Brittany asks her.

  “Uh, huh.”

  “Ask the officer if he can try to call the father, Jason.”

  I try to get to the officer who came up to us and finally manage to get to him just as they pull the driver out. I see a horrible gash on her head then my eyes move to the hole in her stomach.

  Fighting my gag reflex, I touch the officer on his shoulder. He looks back at me. “Sir, you really shouldn’t see this.”

  “Tell me about it. The kid said this is her mother. Do you think you could see if her cell phone is in there and call the kids’ father?”

  “Sure.” He reaches over the pool of blood on what’s left of the seat and pulls out a phone with blood all over it. “Poor man.”

  I nod and find a lump in my throat. “We’ll stay around until he gets here for his daughter. If he can come. We want to take care of her until some family comes for her.”

  He gives me a thumbs up and I walk away from the scene which is making me light headed. Tears fill my eyes as paramedics remove the little boy from the car and I see blood pouring out of the side of his head as they move him onto a stretcher.

  From the other car, a paramedic looks up. “I need Halo Flight ASAP!”

  “On it,” another man shouts.

  People around me seem to be moving in slow motion. The sounds seem to be fading and I feel like I’m walking on air.

  “Jason!” I hear Brittany’s voice but can’t see her as darkness moves in from the sides. “Catch him!”

  Several arms hold me then I’m lying on the pavement, looking up at the blue sky with three little wispy clouds floating through it like everything’s okay. It’s a beautiful day.

  Some strange faces look down at me then there’s Britt’s. “Baby, are you okay?”

  I can’t seem to answer her. I’m not okay. I’m not hurt or anything. I suppose I’m in shock.

  She never lets go of the little girl as she kneels beside me. “It’s okay, Jason.”

  But I know it’s not okay. I know there’s a man who is about to get a phone call that will fracture his world.

  He may have been having an awesome day. He may have been having the shittiest day ever. All that doesn’t matter as he’s about to find his world is completely different. In a matter of minutes, there’s going to be people whose lives have been changed today.

  And this could happen to me if I allow it to. If I allow myself to love, what’s about to happen to that man, this little girl’s father, could happen to me.

  I don’t know if I can take that.

  Chapter 7

  BRITTANY

  Holding the little girl in one arm as she lies her head on my shoulder, I take Jason’s hand. “Baby, it’s going to be okay.”

  He doesn’t nod or speak. He just looks into my eyes then past me, up into the sky.

  I feel this odd sensation of him slipping away from me. Slipping into another world. And then I realize he’s shutting himself down. Closing himself off.

  “Jason, Baby, I love you,” I say softly as he continues to look up.

  Running my hand over his cheek has him looking back at me. His eyes look a bit cloudy as he simply stares at me. Then, like some kind of robot, he sits up. “I’ll be fine.”

  I get up as he does and find his body language very cold all of a sudden. “Stay over here, away from all of that over there, Baby.” I pull on his arm to get him to follow me away from all the turmoil.

  Leaning against one of the policeman’s cruisers, I rock the little girl in my arms as Jason leans on it next to me. His arms are crossed as if he’s closing himself off.

  A truck honking as it drives up the access road draws everyone’s attention as it screeches to a stop. A man comes out of the passenger side, screeching, “My wife! My kids!”

  The little girl raises her head off my shoulder and shouts, “Daddy!”

  The man makes a b-line toward me. “Abby!”

  She’s wiggling, so I put her down and she runs to her father. I reach over to take Jason’s hand but his arms are still crossed. “Poor bastard,” he mumbles.

  A few officers go to the man. I overhear one of them say, “Sir, are you the husband of Rose?”

  The man nods as tears fall over his red face. Another officer takes his attention as he says, “You should come sit in my car. It’s cool in there and away from everyone.”

  “I want to see my wife and where’s our son?” the man asks as he follows the officers to the car.

  “Dead,” Jason mutters under his breath. “They’re all dead, dude.”

  Taking Jason by the arm, I pull him along with me. “We can leave now. This is messing your head up too much.”

  He comes with me but seems so distant. We pass the car they took the man and little girl to and the wailing coming from the backseat makes me stop and look over at the poor guy.

  The word, no, keeps coming out of his mouth as his daughter holds him and cries. It’s a horrible scene that should never occur. Unfortunately, it does, more than once a day even, and all over the planet.

  “His life will never be the same. All because he fell in love,” Jason mumbles.

  I start moving again, pulling him along with me. “Death happens, Jason. Living a life with no love doesn’t stop that.”

  “It stops you from being devastated.”

  We get to the car and I take him around to the passenger side. “I’m driving.”

  He gets in with no argument what so ever. I find that odd and the thing he just said is seeping into my brain and I’m not liking the words nor his actions at all.

  Starting the car, I pull away and follow the other traffic that’s been diverted from the highway. Through the little median I go and end up on the access road. As I pass the truck, the man came up in I see Jason looking at it.

  “I wonder what kind of day he was having up until that moment.”

  “Terrible things happen all the time. It’s not for us to question,” I say as I drive away from the tragic scene.

  “I’m not questioning it. I’m just becoming very aware of the reality of life.” He stares out the window and I notice how he keeps looking up at the sky. “You’d think the sky wouldn’t look so peaceful. You’d think the day wouldn’t be so beautiful. You’d think the powers that be might see fit to send a little rain down to show the sorrow for the loss of lives.”

  “That’s not how things work, Baby.”

  Pulling back onto the highway, I head toward our hometown. I think we should go visit some of the people who helped make us who we are. A couple of broken people in n
eed of some real help.

  He glances at me. “Still going home?”

  I nod. “I think I’d like to give Mom and Dad a hug. Maybe see if my sister wants to bring her kids over and visit with them some.”

  He looks back out the window. “I’d like to go somewhere else. Just have quiet time in a hotel room. Maybe buy a fifth of whiskey and try to forget I ever saw that back there.”

  “Well, we aren’t going to hide from the pain, Baby. You think you feel bad, imagine how the people who know them are feeling.”

  “I am. That’s really all I can think about. When you love someone, it makes you a target for pain and anguish.” He clasps his hands together in his lap.

  “You’re shutting yourself off, I recognize that look. I had it once. It’s not the way to let this affect you. You should be thinking about how little time there is and how you should enjoy it the best you can and try to touch as many lives as you can in great ways.” I reach out for him but he pulls his hands even further out of my reach.

  “I’d rather not be touched right now.”

  “I can see that. And tell me if you think that’s healthy, Jason?”

  “Don’t care.”

  I watch him out of the corner of my eye. His face is void of expression. His mouth is held tight and his body is rigid.

  The thought sneaks through my mind that I am losing him. I have no idea of what to do.

  Should I take him to a hotel like he said he wants? Or home to see his family like he should want?

  I have no idea what the right thing to do is. I’ve never seen anyone this bad off. Not even I was this fucked up when I caught him with his pants down six years ago.

  “I hope that baby isn’t mine. I don’t want one anymore,” he says.

  I nearly pull the car over I want to knock the shit out of him so damn bad!

  “You know what? That’s the most selfish shit I’ve ever heard. And what if I’m pregnant?” I shriek.

  My loud words haven’t phased him. He sits silently for a while then says, “You thought I’d fuck around on you, anyway. What do you care?”

  I take the next exit and pull into the first parking lot I can find. A Home Depot parking lot seems to be where we’re about to hash this out or go our separate ways.