Plain Jane and the Billionaire (Plain Jane Series)

by Tmonique Stephens

  Ugh! Stop it. None of it mattered because none of it would last. It couldn’t. They were a house of cards with a hurricane approaching from which direction, she hadn’t a clue, but Murphy’s Law, anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and nothing this good could last.

  Chapter 34

  JOSHUA: Thanxs 4 saving me. I owe u & repaying my debt right now. Head 2 Germany. Deal w German dude off. Mom blew it. Board wouldn’t approve. Balls in ur court.

  Immediately, Julius fired off a text to his broker and one to Meckler. Once the stock hit bottom he wanted to buy it all. His losses would be huge—until he kicked Lynda out and steered the company to higher ground.

  He waited for the affirmative from his broker and studied the text from his brother. So much for going home for an extended rest. Close. So damn close to everything he wanted. He looked over the breakfast table at Calista. The white hotel robe lay open all the way to her lap, the belt a suggestion. The exposed strip of caramel skin fucked with him. Her sensual chuckle had his gaze darting from all that tempting skin to her eyes that twinkled with mirth. Knowing the luscious picture she presented, she laughed at him. And he didn’t have a problem with that. Why? Because he felt great.

  He had the woman he wanted, and he was about to leverage his father’s company into a position they couldn’t refuse. Life was good.

  Except… One thing was missing. The one thing he’d been desperate to regain since his father’s death.

  “What is it?” Calista asked. While he ruminated, she’d fisted her robe, hiding her lushness from view, her gaze the intensity of the sun.

  She didn’t know he could’ve won the poker game. She didn’t know how or why he lost. He made a choice and it cost him. Now he had a chance to rectify that decision. “Our next stop is Germany.”

  “Germany? I thought we were going home?”

  “I thought so too.”

  “You’re supposed to be resting. Not globetrotting.”

  “I’ll rest on the plane.”

  “Julius…”

  He didn’t need hand-holding or nagging. He needed focus.

  Calista sighed and belted the robe tightly, the sensual playfulness was gone replaced by the Calista he met in the hospital. “When do we leave?”

  “Ninety minutes.”

  She rose. “Guess I’m wearing the same suit.”

  “There’s a garment bag for you in the living room. Davien’s personal shopper bought a few clothes for all of us.” A text from Meckler came through.

  MECKLER: Confirmed everything Joshua said. It’s true. Morgan International stock is tanking. Stockholders are jumping ship. Heading to Germany. Will meet you there. I also have the contract you requested.

  Julius felt her glare and carefully drew his gaze from his phone. Robe belted tight and hugging curves he’d recently stroked. Hands on her hips, scowl on her face, she looked down at him.

  “Some woman went shopping for me. Care to tell me how she knew my sizes, my taste?”

  “Got no idea.”

  Grumbling, she stormed away.

  Julius didn’t get why Joshua was helping him. Parental animus was too simple an answer. There had to be more. Asking Joshua wouldn’t yield results. The boy didn’t trust him and Julius couldn’t fault the logic. They were strangers linked by paternal DNA. Nothing more, unfortunately. Julius wished things were different. Wished they were closer, true brothers, not cordial adversaries.

  What was his brother’s endgame, and was getting him to Germany part of it? The poker game? Was that a botched trap set by Joshua? Julius clutched the phone in his hand remembering the panic on Joshua’s face as Sunny carried him though a barrage of bullets to safety.

  No. He wouldn’t believe it. Joshua didn’t have the balls to set up a hit, especially one where he was in the line of fire. He could’ve been killed.

  But Lynda…

  “Ugh! Really?” Came from the living room. Someone didn’t like the wardrobe picked out for her. Calista stormed back into the dining room. Hands on her hips she practically skidded to a halt, the robe accentuating everything it was supposed to hide. Fuming, she growled, “I’m not hard to shop for, I swear. But who did Davien tell his personal shopper I was?”

  Damn she was hot when riled. He hadn’t called his pilot. They had time for him to pull her into his lap. Julius shrugged. “The question didn’t come up.”

  Disappointment streaked across her features. Raw and unguarded. Then it was gone, replaced by an indifference he didn’t believe. “Never mind,” she grumbled and plopped back into her chair with her phone before he made good on his plan.

  Feeling possessive, he demanded, “Who are you calling?”

  Her soft gaze hardened. She wasn’t used to answering to another person. Neither was he, yet he wanted her to answer to him. The importance of the moment wasn’t lost on either of them. Answering him would further the bond between them, or she could tell him to go screw himself and cement their boundaries.

  “Laverne,” she said matter-of-factly. “I need an update on my mother.”

  Tension tweaking his muscles bled away. “Thank you. You didn’t have to share.”

  “No. I didn’t. But, I’m glad you asked.” Laverne’s voice came through the phone, diverting her attention. “How’s my mother?… Oh yeah?... He’s still coming around?... He's not? Yeah, me either. How’s my mother taking his disappearance?... That’s why I didn’t want him around her!... Bedridden, for how long?… What new meds?… There’s never any guarantee… I know we were warned. That doesn’t make it any easier…” She sighed and hung her head. “That’s why I’m calling, I won’t be home soon. We’re heading to Germany… I don’t know how long. Should I come home?... Alright, I’ll wait ’til you call with the results... Julius is fine.”

  Julius listened to the one-sided conversation, gleaning information as it rambled on. Her mother continued to decline. It was a hard road to travel, for mother and daughter. Maybe he should allow her to return to New York. Watching her animated face, listening to her slightly husky voice, he needed her with him. It was selfish, but he couldn’t help himself. The need he had for her consumed him. But he wasn’t heartless, not when it came to her.

  “Would you like to return home and see your mother?” he asked after she ended the call. “I won’t be in Germany long.”

  “I-I-” She seemed lost for words and stunned. Good.

  Pleased he’d surprised her, Julius cut her off because he knew where she was headed. “The sniper is still out there but Harden is leading him away.” Yesterday’s conversation rushed back to him and he shoved it away. He wasn’t the common denominator in the sniper equation. “I’ll be fine with Sunny, Scotts, and Edwards.” Plus, he put a rush order in for a few specialty items. Just in case.

  Calista came to him. She cupped his face, her thumbs stroked his freshly shaved jaw. Next thing, she’d shoved his chair back and straddled his hips. Her robe opened of its own accord, knowing it wasn’t needed.

  She brought him to her, her lips fluid over his, taking his mouth in a torrid kiss, sucking his tongue into her hot, wet mouth. He was hard the instant she landed in his lap. Now, he pulsed, needing to be balls deep inside her as if he weren’t in paradise hours ago.

  She eased back to rub her cheek against his and purr in his ear. “You are not the asshole I initially assumed.”

  “I’m still an asshole.” He kept it honest between them. It was important.

  “I know.” She breathed into his mouth, her hazel eyes smoldered. “Thank you for not being my asshole.”

  He accepted the praise along with another torrid kiss. Their tongues danced, an erotic tango of give and take and take and take, drugging him, enticing him. It wasn’t enough. He needed more.

  Hands palming her hips, dragging her wet core across the length of his cock, he broke their connection. “You are fucking welcome.” He lifted her. She freed his cock from the prison of his pants and place the broad head at her opening. The down slide into her
heat was the best kind of agony. Hot. Slick. Being inside her made him want to explode. The clench of her wall, exquisite. He gasped and flexed his hips, driving into her, going deeper.

  Her eyes were glazed, rolling in her head, until she focused on him. “Oh, fuck.”

  Yeah, that’s exactly what she was doing. Fucking him. Taking what she wanted. Yet, it was so much more than two bodies coupling. Her body moved on its own and he moved with her, in unison. Their bodies and minds linked. He felt her in his soul, her tenterhooks latching on and sinking deep. He never wanted that connection, until Calista. A part of him rejected the connection. It wasn’t the right time to fall in love, even if that ship had already sailed. He had a company to run and a company to conquer, like he couldn’t do both.

  Her core fisted him on the up stroke, bathed him on the down stroke, which ended on a hard grind. Her rhythmic movements, intent on one thing. Whatever ailed him, mentally or physically, vanished on a tidal wave of lust. He dropped his head to suck her pert nipples into his mouth.

  “Baby,” she moaned, and he kissed her. Slid his tongue to the back of her throat. Her hips jerked, her strokes now erratic, unfocused. Her breath short bursts of air between his kisses. Pupils blown, she was on the cusp of breaking apart. And the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He leaned her against the table and took over, fucking into her as she clenched and released, her body shuddering, sweaty, stunning as she milked his seed as if she owned it. He roared her name as he came.

  The ride back to sanity was slow, filled with soft kisses and nuzzles. Their kisses lingered, their lips never breaking contact as her breasts pillowed against his chest, his cock softening inside her heat. He couldn’t stop touching her, gliding his hands up and down her back. Her silky skin flushed with warmth. Her scent blended with his, creating a heady mixture that calmed as equally as it enticed. His arms tightened as if he could keep them there in their own bubble when nothing could keep reality from encroaching, where this moment lasted forever.

  She moaned, a contented sigh of a satisfied woman. Could his ego get any bigger? Not at this moment, but give him a few.

  She had to go, they had to go, but separating from her, watching her leave, proved harder than he ever thought possible, especially when her walls still tossed out random flutters along with the not so subtle flexing of her hips. They had to stop, or they’d never leave, and his cock had no problem with that.

  She sighed again, regret clinging to the wistful note, and slowly pulled herself off him. He felt the loss of her warmth in the center of his chest and forced himself not to yank her back. “I’ll have Roguex charter a plane for you. It’ll get you to Teterboro.”

  A taste of her lips and, “Thank you.” Then she was gone, back to the bedroom to dress.

  Without her in his line of sight, his thoughts returned to his stepmother. Meckler and Newsome had caught wind of a rumor. Morgan International board wasn’t pleased with the declining market share. Through Joshua, Lynda controlled fifty-two percent of the company. The board wanted her out. A few had approached Joshua through a third party to keep their interests anonymous. Joshua wouldn’t betray his mother, until last night’s poker game. Throwing the stock options into the pot wasn’t done on impulse. It was a calculated move. He wanted to cut ties with the company. Worse—depending on how one considered it—he wanted to cut ties with his mother. Losing the stock in a poker game was his passive aggressive way to accomplish his goal with Julius as the villain. A role he had no problem with, as long as he got what he wanted.

  And this time, nothing would stand in his way.

  Chapter 35

  A private jet all to herself to Teterboro in New Jersey. A Range Rover all to herself took her to the front door of her home. The next day the same Range Rover took her and Laverne to Long Island. They talked about everything except her mother. Julius became the topic of conversation. Laverne wanted details. Calista just smiled. They’d spoken twice since she’d left. Nothing important, yet, it made her feel things, which was exactly what she needed. The visit was rough. Her mother was incoherent and had no idea who Calista was. The time had come, and Calista was heartbroken.

  “You knew this was coming.” Laverne rubbed Calista’s back slowly.

  Putting her mother in a nursing home hurt deeply. No one wanted to do that. It signified the beginning of the end. The inevitable march of time progressing to the day when her mother would no longer be here.

  In reality, that moment had came and went years ago. She’d already pre-selected a facility. A simple call and signature was all it would take for them to take her fifty miles north to Rochester. She went to the office to sign the paperwork and get the ball rolling, and pray the place had a bed available.

  It did. An ambulance would pick her up tomorrow. Calista would follow the ambulance to the nursing home.

  They ended up at a bar drinking Long Islands and eating popcorn shrimp. She got a little tipsy. It was a bit early in the day, but she needed the sharp edges of the day blunted.

  “She’s not gonna remember me at all, Laverne. I’m gonna be some random, faceless person, not her daughter anymore. There’s no one to call me Calico anymore.” Calista sobbed and dragged her arm across her wet cheeks.

  Laverne had no answer, no witty repertoire to alleviate the pain with humor. She did have strong arms to wrap around her younger cousin’s shoulders. And that was enough.

  “Excuse me, Ms. Coleman.”

  She looked up to find Harvey’s bodyguard. The same bodyguard she took apart at the assisted living facility. “What do you want?” And how the fuck did you find me?

  “I’m sorry for interrupting,” he said politely, his demeanor opposite from their last encounter. “Mr. Bryn requests your presence.”

  “No. Now leave.” Back to her conversation with Laverne whose gaze ping-ponged between the two of them, Calista ignored the man. The second Laverne had a chance, she’d demand every detail.

  “He’s dying. This may be your only chance to see him before he goes. He’s at his Park Avenue townhouse. I can take you there,” he persisted.

  His words had the subtlety of a sledgehammer but didn’t change her mind. “I said no.”

  Laverne squeezed Calista’s arm. “Don’t be so hasty. If this is your only chance to get that boulder off your shoulders, you should take it,” she urged.

  It was tempting, but… “There’s nothing he can say that I want to hear.”

  One shoulder lifted, silently saying, so what. “Maybe there’s something you want to say.”

  She shook her head. “I’ve said everything I needed to. There’s nothing left.”

  Laverne rolled her eyes. “You spoke to him for five minutes. Three hundred seconds. Are you sure there’s nothing left to get off your chest?”

  No. She wasn’t sure, which didn’t stop her from saying, “Positively, absolutely sure.”

  The bodyguard retrieved a card from his pocket. “Mr. Bryn will be disappointed. If you change your mind.” He placed the card on the table.

  She ignored the card. “I won’t.”

  “We are traveling to Switzerland late tomorrow. It will likely be his last trip.” The ominous proclamation left a wedge in her chest.

  The bodyguard was on his way out toward the exit when she shouted, “However you tracked me. Stop. Or risk getting shot.”

  Laverne couldn’t help herself the moment they were alone. “I think you’re making a mistake, but it’s your life. Far be it for me to judge you.”

  Which she just did.

  “Or tell you what to do, but you’re gonna regret this as sure as my ass is wide. But I’m going to keep my opinion to myself. You’re a grown woman and don’t need advice from anyone.”

  Calista sat back in the booth and signaled the server for another drink. It was time for a rum and coke because regardless of what Laverne said, she was going to tell Calista exactly what she should do and she didn’t need to be completely sober for the lecture.

  The
move to the nursing home took four hours. Not bad considering the ambulance and the traffic. Only her mother’s clothing, essentials, and a few mementos—pictures of Calista and her mother’s siblings and parents—made the journey. What belonged to the facility stayed, what didn’t was donated. Her mother was oblivious to it all until they reached the nursing home.

  Suddenly, her mother was clearheaded and combative. She made it clear about her dislike of change. Any change, and this was a big one. She wanted to go back to her home, in Queens. Calista tried to explain, but how do you explain to a person with dementia. In the end, she had to be sedated, which added to Calista’s guilt. Placing her mother in a nursing home was the very last thing she wanted to do. Yet, it was the one thing she had to do.

  A sedative and the private duty nurse who came with them from the assisted living facility seemed to calm her down. Not Calista, regardless of how much she tried.

  Once her mother was asleep, Calista escaped. She retreated back to Queens and the small home her mother made for them. She packed, made a phone call, and headed for Teterboro Airport for the trip to Germany.

  The car made it a block to the expressway when she told the driver to turn around and head for Manhattan.

  Chapter 36

  Julius moved through the restaurant with purpose. Two days wasted in Hamburg as Siedel avoided him. One would think he wanted to kill the man instead of giving him a ton of money. He knew there were a dueling amount of companies interested in locking Siedel into a deal and transforming his faltering telecom company. With the right connections and an influx of money, the company would succeed in emerging markets.

  Those markets are worth billions. Many companies had the money, but those same companies couldn’t assume the risk. That’s why Siedel couldn’t find a buyer. And why he rejected Lynda’s lowball proposal. She had the capital, but not unrestricted access, and even if she did, the board wouldn’t assume the risk. She tried to hide the fact but couldn’t when the board rejected the merger and the news leaked to the press.