“Actually, I’ve made reservations for us. It’s a very nice restaurant just around the corner. I want us to be seen out in public together, and that’s a good place to start.”
Dinner. Together. As a couple. It felt like too much, but Liam was right—it would be the easiest way to ease into it.
“I think we started the public awareness campaign with a bang last night. It feels like everyone on the street knows who I am.”
Liam chuckled. “You’re just reading into things too much. I bet not a single person recognized you. No one reads those papers these days.”
“Actually, I know for a fact that someone recognized me. They even said so.”
“Is that right? What did they say?”
“She…” I trailed off. Her words came back to me. He’s bad news. “Just that she saw me on the cover, that’s all.”
It felt like I could trust Liam, but what if the mystery woman was right? I had to figure it out for myself.
10
~ Liam ~
“We’re going where?”
It had become a common question from Addison. I liked it—being able to elicit that surprise and shock from her time and again.
Every time I made reservations or arranged for a social activity to show off the new “relationship,” Addison became convinced that it would unravel the entire charade. Several weeks in close quarters and spending most of our time together had accustomed her to the idea, but she remained opposed to taking things further.
We’re practically dating in every way except for sex.
“Wimbledon. It’s a tennis tourney.”
She glared at me, also a familiar reaction.
“I know what Wimbledon is, Liam. What I don’t know is why we’re going. That’s public—way too public.”
I nodded to acknowledge her point. “It is. That’s the idea. We’re ready to prove this relationship is legitimate, and Wimbledon is the master stroke. The blackmailer would never believe that you’re helping me track them down.”
“I’m not, really, am I? We’ve been going out every day and every night to establish this fiction you’ve created of us dating. I’ve barely had time to look at the encryption on the emails you have, let alone crack it. They haven’t been in touch, and who knows when they will? Maybe they lost interest and you won’t hear from them again. Maybe it was all an elaborate prank. Are we going to end up married, raising kids and growing old together waiting for another cryptic email?”
Addison’s rant started with an edge, but by the end, it had softened.
I took her hand in mine, and she didn’t resist. “No. No, I don’t believe that. I have to trust my gut—I know they’re out there, waiting to push their demands. I don’t know why they’re playing it so slowly, but it will happen.”
The promise of action mollified her, and she rubbed her thumb on my hand.
“So, Wimbledon? You’re taking me to Wimbledon?”
I smiled. “That’s right. There’s a royal box, so we’ll have incredible seats at Centre Court. I’ve been before—it’s a fantastic atmosphere.”
“The royal box?” Addison squeaked. “We’ll sit with the other royals? Will the Queen be there?”
“No, the Queen rarely goes to Wimbledon these days. There will just be a few of my cousins—distant relations. No one you have to be super concerned about.”
She relaxed. “But it will still be in public. With lots of people around.”
Addison had been taken aback by how much attention she received in her day-to-day life. I’d been feeding the papers all the gossip they could take, and Addison had become a minor celebrity in her own right.
Still, she’d never been the focus of this much attention at once.
“You’ll be fine. We’ll be there together, and the focus will be on the match. We’ll just take in the sights, be seen a little, and then there’s a small after-party I’m throwing for the entire royal family and my closest friends.”
She paled. “The entire family? Liam, this time, I really might strangle you.”
I laughed off the threat. “You’ll love it. I promise. They’re all good people. Polite, at least. I’ll make sure you have a good time.”
“You'd better. You’re already asking a lot to bring me out in front of that many people for the tennis match.”
“There is one other reason behind the party,” I said. “Every single person who has my personal email is going. There’s a good chance that the blackmailer will be there.”
* * *
“Right through here, Mr. Windsor.”
I took Addison’s hand and assisted her up the steps to the box. She complained in private about the acting and jumping through hoops, but in public, she was the perfect girlfriend—better than any real one I’d ever had. Her brilliant red hair shone in the bright sunlight as we escaped the shadows, the vibrant color a jewel by my side.
“Ah, there’s my father’s cousin, Arthur. He’s my favorite member of the royal family. Let’s go sit with him.”
Heads swiveled in the stands as Addison and I edged in to take our places. The public was always curious to see who sat in the royal box each day. I hoped she didn’t notice how many looks were cast in our direction.
“Liam!” Arthur exclaimed as I took the seat next to him. “How are you? And who is this beauty? I’d heard you had found yourself a new girlfriend, but no one told me how radiant she is.”
Addison blushed, and I grinned. If she complained about me being too charming, she was in for a treat with Arthur. The man had taught me everything I knew.
“It’s good to see you, Arthur. This is Addison. She’s from America and is staying with me in London.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said as Arthur took her hand.
“The pleasure is all mine. I’m so glad you’ve come to share this enchanting afternoon with me.”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” I said. “It’s been too long.”
The introductions for the match began, and we caught up while the players warmed up and got ready to start.
“How has your wave farm been, Arthur?”
“Oh, dreadful. The calmest seas for a hundred years in Cornwall, they say. It should eventually pay back the investment, but it will be many years, now. I might even be dead by then.”
He leaned back in his chair as though the thought amused him. Arthur was an avid investor in the latest technologies, but his picks ended up in the garbage more often than they paid off. He had an uncanny knack for finding companies that would fold within a year.
“Excuse me, but what’s a wave farm?” Addison asked.
Arthur’s face lit up as he leaned across me to answer the question. “Oh, it’s the future of electricity. Waves have kinetic energy, and we can use devices to harvest that energy for the grid. Clean energy, and no unsightly turbines to be seen—it’s all underwater.”
“Ah, I see. So it’s like a wind farm, but with waves instead of wind?”
“Precisely! That’s exactly right. Hold on to this one, Liam. She’s a keeper.” Arthur gave an overly exaggerated wink.
“Oh, I don’t plan on letting go,” I said. I took Addison’s hand and laced our fingers together. She blushed and looked down at the court.
The tennis match was an exciting one. This late in the tournament, there were a few matches with high seeds pitted against each other. Each player fought for the right to hoist the prestigious trophy at the end of the tournament and have his name put up on the wall of champions.
“This isn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Addison whispered in my ear as the players took a break between sets. “For some reason, I thought everyone would be looking at us. It happens everywhere we go.”
I smiled. “I told you it wouldn’t be overwhelming. Although you’re wrong about the attention you’re drawing. You’re a drop of sunshine on a dull landscape, and people can’t look away.”
Addison flushed. “Oh, stop it. You’re just saying that.”
“I
can prove it to you.”
She looked up at me with a small smile. “I doubt that.”
We’d drawn closer during the exchange, and I put a hand on the back of her head to draw her close. Kissing in public was the only time she didn’t turn me away, and I took advantage—it would ruin the fiction if she pushed her boyfriend away all the time.
Addison had remained strong in her stance that we couldn’t sleep together, but the moments I kissed her were when I could feel how narrowly she held to her control. She moaned a little at the back of her throat, and her lips parted wide for me as our kiss grew more passionate.
As I expected, several whoops and cheers started in the audience. Because I’d been looking for them, I caught them at the beginning. Those hollers turned more attention our way, and more and more cheers added to the sound until it became a roar of applause.
I could sense the moment Addison pieced it together.
She broke off the kiss to look around, only to find every eye in the stadium on us.
“Oh, my God! Liam!”
Addison slapped me on the shoulder, and I let out the cheeky grin I’d been holding back.
“You thought I couldn’t prove it.” I waved my hand at the crowd, and they roared a little louder. “You should wave to the people. They like you.”
Her cheeks flamed a bright scarlet, almost matching the glory of her hair, but Addison raised a hand and gave a half-hearted wave.
“This is insane,” she said out of the corner of her mouth as she looked out in wonder.
The tennis players had resumed their positions on the court but had to wait for the hubbub to die down before they could return to the match. The judge used his microphone to calm the crowd and ask for silence, but it took a few minutes before the somber courtside mood returned.
“I told you. I promise you, that doesn’t happen every time a couple kisses in this building.”
Addison shook her head slowly. “I can’t believe that just happened. That’s because of who you are, though. Not me. You’re Liam Windsor. I swear you’re more famous than the Queen.”
She wasn’t wrong, but she sold herself short. “I’ve kissed other women here before, and I can guarantee it didn’t get that reaction. The people love you, Addison.”
This time she didn’t argue, but sat and watched the game. Every few serves, she would look around the stadium and shake her head with a little smile, but I pretended not to notice.
I wasn’t sure what I was trying to accomplish, pushing Addison so far out of her comfort zone. She was right that it was far more than necessary for the cover story we’d concocted.
One thing was certain—I needed more of her.
11
~ Addison ~
“You should be able to stick to my side all night, but if we get separated, don’t panic. We’ve only been dating publicly for a few weeks, and our story is that before that, we saw each other off and on for a month. They won’t expect you to know everything about me and the family—especially because you’re American.”
“Right.” I nodded, projecting a confidence I didn’t feel. I was the reserved hacker, not the front man. My place was hidden away behind a bank of computer screens. It felt unnatural trying to prop up such a massive lie in front of so many people. “I’ll just stick to your side and answer questions, and that’s it.”
Liam squeezed my hand. “It’s a party. Try to have fun. It’ll make everything much easier and more natural.”
“Fun. Got it.” My heart was beating so fast that I didn’t even try to take my hand back from Liam. Besides, it felt nice holding his.
I’d gotten used to the constant physical contact over the past few weeks. Liam used any excuse to touch me when we were out in public, and unlike at the apartment, I couldn’t tell him to shove it. It had gotten to where he would be too familiar with me and I would forget to even be upset.
It was hard to remember to be upset when I was so turned on all the time.
I couldn’t tell if Liam knew what he did to me—the struggle he provoked in me every single day. How when his graceful fingers brushed my lower back, I wished they’d slide right down over my ass instead.
“The party is at the Empire ballroom. It’s a useful spot for these types of events.”
The building’s architecture was textbook modern London, a blend of old and new styles that could have taken its place in sightseeing brochures. It was a breathtaking building.
“You rented this out for the party? Isn’t it really expensive?” I knew Liam had more money than he could spend in his lifetime, but wealthy people had a habit of not spending money they didn’t have to. That’s how they held onto it and became wealthy.
He laughed, the low rumble sensual. It never failed to remind me how sexy his voice was. “It would be, for other people. One of my smaller companies owns and operates it, so the cost is minimal—just overhead for hiring staff that we would have had no matter where it was held.”
I still wasn’t used to the casual displays of wealth that came with billionaire status, never mind royalty.
“Of course. Somehow, once you get to be that rich, everything you do actually becomes cheaper.”
Liam shrugged. “I didn’t make the rules. I was just lucky enough to be born in a position to take advantage of them.”
And I’ve been able to take advantage of them with you.
I had to admit it was a nice life. Having a net worth of several million from years of con work paled in comparison to the doors that opened when you were on the arm of a billionaire.
A billionaire who’s far too handsome for his own good and knows it. And who, for some reason, wants me.
Sometimes I forgot why I even resisted. The blackmailer was nowhere to be found, and every night, I stayed awake thinking about how good it would feel to cross the hallway and climb on top of Liam.
What harm could there be?
It was a dangerous line of thought, and I had to shove it to the rear of my mind as we entered the building.
There were dozens of people in the foyer, and from the sounds of things, hundreds more filled the ballroom.
“Liam!” I hissed. “I thought you said this was a small party for your family and friends. This is huge!”
He still held my hand—true to the start of our relationship, he liked holding hands wherever we went. I pretended like it annoyed me, but I enjoyed the way our hands fit together and it was never awkward. He brought the back of my hand to his lips and kissed it.
“Never fear, my dear. We will prevail.”
Liam’s propensity for cheesy lines was one thing that made him so hard to resist—he wasn’t as stuffy as he should have been, growing up both a Windsor and a Roquefort.
We cut through the crowd only momentarily. As soon as guests saw who walked among them, everyone wanted a piece of Liam’s ear. Most of the conversation was mundane, talking about the tennis match and dissecting who outplayed who at what points in the match, and whether the eventual winner deserved it or not.
Not knowing much about tennis, I paid little attention but used the opportunity to study those around us.
The blackmailer might be here.
It was a chilling thought. My suggestions to Liam to the contrary, the threat felt real, and the silence and lack of demands was hair-raising. Someone in this building might have built a stack of evidence that could destroy Liam’s life, and there was no way to tell who it was or what they wanted until they made another move.
Liam worked his way through the crowd, and by extension, I did too. A familiar face across the ballroom gave me pause, and I frowned as I tried to remember where I had seen the woman before.
Oh! That’s the woman who’d stopped me on the sidewalk.
It had been so long that I had forgotten about her and her warning. Nothing Liam had done gave any credence to her words, so I’d let the memory slip away.
I tugged Liam’s hand the next time there was a break in his conversation. “I need to go fr
eshen up. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Despite being wrapped up in what sounded like an intense business discussion, Liam turned and leaned in. “Are you sure? You’re doing okay?”
I nodded. “I think I can handle myself. Worst-case scenario, I’ll just run out of the building screaming and you can come after me.”
He smiled. “That would be an interesting one to explain to the family.”
With one last squeeze of my hand, he let go and turned back to his conversation.
I knew it had to happen, but the loss of his hand around mine took a few seconds to get over—it felt cold without him.
Now, where’d she go?
With measured steps, I made my way across the room toward the last spot I’d seen the woman. I nearly got there before her platinum hair appeared right in front of me.
It was my turn to shout to get her attention.
“Hey! You! Blondie!”
She turned to face me, and I was relieved to see that it was the same woman. If it had been a doppelgänger, I would have died in embarrassment.
“It’s you,” she said. “Addison Stewart. I’ve been keeping an eye on you. It looks like you didn’t take my warning seriously.”
“You didn’t exactly give me much to go on. Would you trust a random woman on the street over your own experiences with a man?”
She shrugged. “I was just trying to look out for your best interests, since you weren’t. Not my fault if you didn’t heed me.”
“Who are you? How do you know Liam?”
The woman looked at me with pursed lips and shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll tell you that. If Liam finds out we spoke, that’ll be the end of that.”
“End of what?” Talking to this woman was frustrating. “You can’t just give me a warning like that and then be unwilling to share any information.”
“I can and I will.” She continued on her way. “Do yourself a favor and leave Liam before it’s too late.”
For the second time, I was left to stare after the woman as she disappeared into the crowd.
Bad Boy Boxed Set Page 20
