Billionaire's Secret: The Complete Series

by Simone Sowood

  Something was going on, and I knew it was only going to cost me more money.

  * * *

  I thought Friday would never come. I put on my new suit, Italian silk cut, tailored for me by my guy from Savile Row. He always argued with me about using Italian fabrics, claiming British fabrics were much more hard-wearing and longer lasting. Who cares how long a suit lasts as long as it looks good?

  The club heaved with people, every one of them lining my pockets with more money. A massive grin spread across my face as I surveyed the dance floor.

  Jenny, Abbie and two other women I didn’t know danced in a little circle. Jenny looked stunning, as always. Her tight black dress clung to her petite frame, and the sight of her made my dick twitch.

  Some blond guy moved in on Abbie, grinding her from behind in a way I wanted to be doing to Jenny.

  “Hey, Blake,” I barked out my office door.

  “Yes, Collin?”

  “Go get Jenny for me.” I’d already filled him in ahead of time, he knew who she was. Everyone here had been told to treat her like gold.

  “Will do.”

  I closed my office door and sat down at my desk. Realistically I didn’t have a need for a desk. Aside from fronting the cash and giving the final approval for issues, all I had to do these days was mingle with the VIP clients. For whatever reason, mingling and hanging out with me gave them a thrill.

  They were the ones who spent the real money and meeting me made them feel special, which made them open their wallets even wider. Each one of them spent as much as fifty or a hundred regular customers.

  Hell, they didn’t even bother with Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Champagne, since it was only hundreds a bottle. They liked their Champagne to be in the four figures and were straight onto special edition Bollingers and Cristals. And my markup on those was huge.

  * * *

  The door opened and my eyes shot up to see Jenny standing sheepishly in the doorframe, her hands clasped in front of her like she was nervous. I jumped to my feet and walked to her.

  “Babe, you look stunning,” I took each of her hands in mine and pulled them away from her so I could get a good look at her.

  “Thanks,” Her voice was unsure and her lips pursed. I didn’t like it. She should feel comfortable with me. Why the fuck didn’t she feel totally comfortable with me?

  I wrapped my arms around her and drew her close to me, kissing the top of her head as she reached my chest.

  “It’s good to see you here, and dressed.”

  “Dressed? I thought you only wanted me undressed.”

  “Dressed is good so I can do the undressing,” I laughed but remembered how I have to keep this: undressed. Dressed is too much in girlfriend territory, and that’s just not possible. I grabbed her ass and squeezed, sending her the message.

  “So, this is your office,” she said pulling away and looking around.

  “Yeah, what do you think? Come look over here, you can see the dance floor,” I led her to the one-way glass and Jenny looked down on the people below.

  “Ha, look. Abbie’s found herself a blond.”

  I didn’t bother to look at the dance floor, I was too busy looking at Jenny. I played with her long, dark hair. The silken strands glided through my fingers, slipped out of my hands and down her back.

  When I inhaled, I’d expected to small the fresh smell of her coconut shampoo. Instead I got a wafting scent I recognized, but it couldn’t be. How would Jenny be wearing Clive Christian perfume when it’s four figures a bottle? The Jenny I knew would never care about wasting her money on something like that. Could she even afford to buy it if she wanted it that bad?

  Her shoulders were bare except for a thin strap and I put my hands on her soft skin. I wondered if she had a bra on. The thought sent blood straight to my dick and it took everything I had to suppress the urge to bend her over my desk and fuck her hard right that second.

  First, I wanted her to get comfortable here. I didn’t want her feeling awkward around me or in my office. Jenny needed to know she was always welcome here. So long as she didn’t get the wrong idea.

  Jenny spun around and plunked herself on the leather sofa. Her amber eyes looked up at me, like they were pleading for something. I sat down beside her, putting my arm around her shoulder.

  “Thanks for getting us in here tonight.” She smiled at me, the same pinched-lip smile she always used when she felt out of place or nervous. Some things never change, but I never once thought I’d ever be the person on the receiving end of one of those smiles.

  “Babe, you and your friends are always welcome here.”

  Her pinched lip smile stayed on her face, and it fucking pained me to see it. I ran my hand through her hair until I cupped the back of her head. Her amber eyes drew me in, and I couldn’t stop staring at them, wishing I could dive inside them. Her lips parted slightly, not enough to be relaxed, but enough to take the pinched look from her cheeks.

  Her eyes pulled away from mine and shifted to the floor. She twisted the hem of her short dress in her fingers, revealing even more of her shapely thighs.

  “I, uh, I don’t know,” she said.

  “What, babe, what don’t you know?” I tried to coax the words out of her.

  “It’s just, I worry we’re taking up where we left off.” Her voice was so quiet I strained to hear her. It took me a minute to get over the surprise of what she’d said.

  “Baby, whatever is between us is exactly whatever you want it to be,” I paused to laugh. “As long as you don’t expect to get married and have children or anything.”

  Jenny’s face shuddered at my comment, the look impossible to miss. She regained her composure just as fast. I’d always admired her ability to react so quickly to a situation or comment. It would take me ten minutes to get to the same conclusion as something she could reason through in seconds.

  The pinched lip smile reappeared as she looked at me. It killed me to realize she was still hurting after the way I left things when I moved to London. I’d never wanted to hurt her. Hell, I’d never even wanted to leave her. Which is I guess why I didn’t have enough balls to tell her we were over when I moved away.

  But there’s no way to change the past. I thought enough time had passed between us. That we’d have a nice little fling to get all my Jenny hang-ups out of my system for good.

  “I don’t know what we’re doing. This all seems so crazy.”

  “We’re not doing anything. Just having some fun is all.” I leaned over and kissed the fleshy bit of her neck. She’d applied perfume right above it and I drank it in.

  Jenny twisted her body, taking her neck away from me. She lifted her hand, motioned it around the room and stood and walked to my desk.

  “You did great. Just like I always knew you would,” she said as her eyes flicked up to mine. I couldn’t help but smile, a broad involuntary smile that took over my whole face.

  “You always were my biggest believer, babe.”

  “I just wish I’d bought stock in you.”

  I held her eyes in mine, my vision narrowed by my smile.

  “I’m a private company, you can’t buy stock.” She looked over at me with coyness in her eyes.

  “You could’ve given me some private stock. Isn’t that what you used to tell me? That you were doing all this for me?”

  I looked away, both embarrassed and pissed. She was right, I did used to tell her that. But those words were forgotten at some point during the party that was Paris.

  That was my first solo club, and I pulled in money faster than they could throw it at me. The kind of money that would fuck up the head of any twenty-three-year old.

  Why didn’t I fly her out to live with me in Paris? Because I’m a fucking idiot, that’s why.

  Those bad choices are only magnified now that she’s sitting here beside me. Now it’s too late. I can’t pull her into the way my life turned out. All I can do is wonder about the way my life would’ve turned out if I hadn’t le
ft her behind. I shook my head.

  “It’s too bad things turned out the way they did, baby.” From across the room, Jenny’s amber eyes searched my face for something.

  “I don’t know what you’re sorry about. From what I read on the internet, you’re loaded. That’s what you always wanted isn’t it? To be rich?”

  For a moment I almost told her about Raylene, how we got together, and about my need to get my son Harlan away from her so I can give him a straight upbringing. But I decided against it.

  This wasn’t a relationship, I didn’t need to tell her everything I’ve done since I left Chicago. I didn’t need to do anything that would make her think less of me. What I needed was to make sure she’d keep falling into my arms. There was no way I could resist her now I’d had another taste of her.

  My office door flung open and Blake burst in.

  * * *

  “Quick, Collin, there’s a problem in the VIP lounge,” Blake said, his brow furrowed.

  I jumped to my feet. A new nightclub can’t afford any issues or the neighbors and cops would be all over us from the start.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Some fucker in a suit is pummeling another guest.”

  We strode out of my office, Jenny tagging along behind. The VIP lounge was on the same level as my office. Sometimes I invited guests into my office for a private drink and I needed the route to be nice. We walked down the dimly lit, soundproofed hallway lined with weird gold and silver shit the interior designer had chosen.

  As soon as we opened the door, the noise and music hit us like a tidal wave. I followed Blake to an area towards the back, away from the railing overlooking the main dance floor.

  A blond guy was on the floor and another man was hoofing him in the ribs. Jenny screamed. Even though the man doing the kicking was a big guy, Blake was a mammoth and managed to get his arms around the dark-haired guy long enough for the blond to get to his feet.

  “This asshole drugged her and was going to rape her,” the guy said.

  I tuned into Jenny’s voice long enough to hear, “It’s Abbie!” I thought she’d just been screaming at the violence. She’d run over to a sofa and cuddled Abbie. This wasn’t right. This blond drugged Jenny’s friend and I wouldn’t stand for that.

  The man who’d been doing the kicking fought off Blake and bolted to Jenny and Abbie on the sofa.

  I balled my fist and clocked the blond, my knuckles connecting with his cheekbone. His head flung back, a shot of blood flying from his nose as he went down and landed in a heap. He was out cold by the time he’d hit the floor.

  * * *

  “Bundle that fucker up and get him to the police station,” I ordered Blake. I didn’t need the flashing lights of a cop car turning up at my club. I helped Blake carry the deadweight of the unconscious body into the private hallway, away from the crowd of onlookers. I wondered if I should call an ambulance but thought fuck it, he doesn’t deserve one.

  I hurried back to the table Jenny had been given near the dance floor to find the Champagne glass Abbie had drunk from and gathered up all the glasses on the table with the napkins for evidence. If there’s one thing I won’t stand for in my clubs, it’s this type of shit.

  By the time I got back upstairs, Abbie and the man were gone and Jenny was sitting by herself, looking shell-shocked and shaking. Still conscious all my VIPs were looking at me about the commotion, I pulled Jenny up into my arms and hustled her back to my office.

  “What happened?” I asked her after we’d sat back on my sofa.

  “That was Jay, the guy she’d been seeing. He noticed the blond and how Abbie was behaving and knew something wasn’t right. So he kicked the shit out of him.”

  I patted her hands. “Don’t worry, babe. That guy’s on his way to be arrested as we speak.”

  “Is he okay? I mean, Jay was doing enough of a number on him, but I saw that punch you knocked him out with.” I laughed, unsure if she approved of it or not.

  “Baby, I would floor anyone who messed with you or one of your friends.”

  Jenny was still shaking, so I got up and poured her a single malt scotch.

  “Here, have a drink to calm your nerves.” I passed her the tumbler and sat back down beside her, putting my arm around her.

  “Aren’t you having one?”

  “No, I don’t drink.” Her brow creased at my answer, but it didn’t stop her from knocking back the amber liquid.

  “I’m so worried about Abbie.”

  “Of course you are, and if there’s anything I can do to help her, just say.”

  “Jay convinced me to let him take her to his house, where the best doctors will see to her. He’s loaded and all. He can make that happen.” I squeezed her shoulder.

  “That’s great, babe. She’s going to be well taken care of. You don’t need to worry.”

  Jenny set her empty glass down and slid her hands over my shirt, my abs hard underneath. Her hands moved under my suit jacket and up my back. She pulled herself toward me and rested her head on my chest. Her hands squeezed my back but she otherwise stayed motionless.

  I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight. We stayed like that for several minutes, and I never wanted to let her go. Even with all the shit going on in my life, her presence chilled me out. The way she cared for Abbie, for her mom. Jenny was perfect. Far too perfect for me.

  She pulled back and looked up at me. “I have to go find Sam and Marla and tell them.”

  I let her go, knowing that was what she needed to do right now. Abbie’s well-being was all that mattered to her right now. Jenny would do everything in her power to keep everyone filled in and she’d be stressing over this for ages.

  Jenny’s everything Raylene isn’t. I couldn’t help but visualize Harlan in Jenny’s arms. She was exactly what my son needed. But I just couldn’t see a way to taint Jenny with my life.

  Jenny

  I walked out of Collin’s office, stunned at the way he had handled the attack on Abbie as well as the way he comforted me afterwards. When I first went to his office that night, I’d thought he was going to bend me over his desk and fuck me hard. Instead, after Abbie, he only cared about how I was feeling.

  For some reason that shocked me. I guess I’d been thinking he only wanted me for one thing: sex. But tonight made me think otherwise.

  The way he’d sprung into action for Abbie, getting her tainted drink and having the blond whisked off to the police. I don’t know why but for some reason I hadn’t expected it.

  And my God, the way he knocked the guy out with one punch shocked the hell out of me: I didn’t know he could fight like that. Not that it was much of a fight, he only needed one punch to knock the guy unconscious. When did he learn to do that? I’d thought he was just a suit-wearing business owner.

  Once through the heavy door marking the private section of Collin’s area, I pushed my way through the noisy dance floor, searching for Marla and Sam. They were nowhere in sight so I started on the tables, stools and benches that ringed the room.

  Holy cow, was that for real? They were sitting side by side on a bench against the wall, each with their mouths locked on what could only be a set of twins. Damn, I didn’t want to break up that kind of fun, but I had to. Abbie mattered more.

  I marched up to them. None of the four noticed me standing in front of them, so I whacked the backs of Sam’s and Marla’s heads at the same time.

  They both yanked away from their men in confusion.

  “Jenny? What the fuck?” Marla said.

  “Yeah, lady. Can’t you see we’re busy here?”

  “It’s an emergency. You need to come with me now.” I gritted my teeth as I said now and tugged on their hands.

  The two must’ve sensed the seriousness in my voice and stood.

  “Whoa, ladies. You’re leaving us?”

  “Sorry, cuties. Another time,” Sam said.

  “Here, take our numbers at least.”

  Marla snapped a phot
o of her twin’s screen with his number showing and we took off.

  * * *

  We ended up back at Marla’s, since, after Abbie, she lived the nearest to the city center. Her condo always floored me, like I’d walked straight into the pages of a home magazine.

  It reflected how perfectly in control she was. Even though she couldn’t see how sometimes she needed to loosen that self-control and take some risks.

  I doubt she’d ever would though, she was too concerned with not opening herself to the kind of stupid risks and actions she thought Abbie took. She put Abbie in the lovable basket case category and saw herself as the polar opposite. At some point she was going to have to realize there’s a happy middle ground.

  “Don’t worry, honey. Jay will make sure she’s taken care of,” Sam said, putting her arms around me and hugging me for the zillionth time since we left the club. I forced a smile to try to relax her. I didn’t need her worrying about me at a time like this, our thoughts should have been focused on Abbie.

  “She’s right, sweetie, it doesn’t serve any purpose to have us fretting about her here, where there’s nothing we can do anyway.” I couldn’t believe Marla said that. She was probably still annoyed I pulled her face off that twin.

  “Excuse me for ruining your little night of fun with twin boy,” I snapped at her.

  “Okay, ladies, enough.” Sam positioned herself between us and gave us each a little playful slap. “It’s been a crazy few weeks, and too much booze and drama tonight. All we can do now is wait and see how things turn out.”

  “I hope Abbie doesn’t get mad with me for letting Jay take her home instead of me.”

  “She won’t,” Sam said.

  “How would you know that?”

  “I was there when the blow up happened at work, remember? She might not have seen it, but it was pretty damn obvious to me that she loves him.”