All That He Loves (Volume 2 The Billionaires Seduction)

by Thorne, Olivia

  Sebastian caught my eye and shook his head ‘no,’ an almost imperceptible movement.

  I closed my mouth and stared out the opposite window.

  No one spoke for the rest of the car ride.

  25

  Well, that’s not entirely true. There was a brief burst of conversation when we saw the paparazzi.

  They were outside the front of the Dubai’s covered valet circle, twenty or thirty men with cameras and flashes. I didn’t see anybody with a microphone standing in front of a video camera, so I was guessing the legitimate news reporters hadn’t shown up yet.

  “Are they here for us?” I whispered, my stomach full of dread.

  “Ohhhhhhh yes,” Sebastian nodded.

  Johnny clicked a button on the console between him and Sebastian. “Gerard, keep going down a few blocks and then take us around back to the private entrance.”

  “Will do,” the driver acknowledged.

  We passed by the group, not fifty feet away. They all turned and looked out at the street, but the windows of the limo were black, so they had no idea who was inside. The car didn’t pause in the slightest, which I guess convinced them that these weren’t the droids they were looking for. And, to be entirely fair to the slimebuckets, a limo on Sunset is a fairly regular sight, even on a Tuesday evening.

  Still, all their heads swiveled and followed us, like zombies tracking the living… and then we were past. They all turned around and started waiting for their prey again… who, unbeknownst to them, had just escaped.

  Connor watched the small crowd of photographers as we passed by them, then went back to staring into the darkness.

  26

  As soon as we stepped inside the penthouse at the Dubai, Connor fixed himself another drink from the bar. More scotch. Then he went over to the floor-to-ceiling window and stared out at the lights of the city.

  I wanted to kill him, I was so angry. First talking to me and Sebastian like that in the car, now acting like an aloof asshole.

  Johnny stowed our bags in the bedroom, then said goodnight and went across the hall to the bodyguard’s quarters.

  Sebastian stayed a few minutes longer, lingering at the door. He watched Connor fix his drink, but didn’t say anything. At least not directly.

  He held up a keycard. “I’m coming in here at 3:30. That’s exactly five hours from now. You had better not be in the middle of any shenanigans, and you had better not be passed out drunk, or so help me God, I will let you hang in the wind.”

  “I’ll be ready when you walk in,” Connor said emotionlessly, never turning away from the window.

  “Mm,” Sebastian muttered, indicating he didn’t believe him.

  “Oh, God, that’s early,” I moaned.

  Connor looked around and frowned as though puzzled. “You’re not going.”

  I stared at him in shock – which turned into anger. “Why, are you ashamed of me?”

  Connor didn’t say anything, just turned back to the dark window.

  Jesus he was infuriating.

  “No, of course he isn’t,” Sebastian said softly. “But the paparazzi will be all over you the second you step outside, Lily. You saw them outside the hotel.”

  “How’d they know we were coming?”

  “I always stay here,” Connor muttered, still staring out the window and sipping his scotch. “This is the obvious choice to stake out.”

  “The safest place for you right now is here,” Sebastian said soothingly. “You step out of the hotel – in fact, you step out of the penthouse – and you’re going to get mobbed.”

  Connor glanced over his shoulder. “I thought I told you to post security – ”

  “I did,” Sebastian snapped. “Two guards outside the elevator, 24/7. They should be there now. But she shouldn’t go down to the pool or the main lobby tomorrow, it’s just not safe.”

  I exhaled in disbelief. “So… now I’m in prison.”

  Sebastian shrugged. “At least it’s a nice prison.”

  I glared at Connor. “I’m not so sure about my fellow inmates.”

  For the first time ever, Sebastian actually grinned. Then he glanced at Connor’s back, shook his head, and looked at me with raised eyebrows like, Good luck.

  “3:30 AM,” he called out to Connor.

  “I’ll be ready,” Connor answered, never turning around.

  “Goodnight, Lily,” Sebastian said.

  “Goodnight,” I said as he closed the door.

  Connor and I were alone.

  I waited about two seconds before I started in on him.

  27

  “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that? Sebastian’s just trying to help you, and you’re getting drunk – how dare you talk to him that way – how dare you talk to me that way – ”

  Connor didn’t turn around when he asked, “You mean back in the limo?”

  “Yes, back in the limo,” I snapped. “You may think just because you’re a billionaire you can be a douchebag to people, but – ”

  “I’m sorry,” he said as he stared out into the night.

  I stopped short.

  Hadn’t been expecting that.

  I was still furious with him, though, and the way he’d said it wasn’t making me any less angry. “You should look at people when you fake apologize.”

  He turned around to face me – no annoyance in his expression, no anger, no nothing. He just looked tired. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. And it wasn’t a fake apology. I am sorry.”

  I clenched my fists. I wasn’t quite sure what to do.

  “You need to tell Sebastian you’re sorry, too,” I finally managed.

  He gave a sharp laugh, looked away from me, then closed his eyes and nodded. “Tomorrow morning.”

  “I think you should do it now – ”

  “Tomorrow morning,” he said as he turned back to the window and sipped his drink.

  I stood there, still angry as hell, still not knowing what to do.

  He wanted to ignore me?

  Fine.

  Fuck you, Connor.

  “Goodnight,” I spat, and turned to go.

  “Do you know why I lost it in Vegas?” he asked, still staring out into the darkness.

  I stopped and stared at him. “…lost what?”

  He chuckled. “My shit. When I went crazy over the pictures.”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  He looked over at me, slightly amused. “I don’t know – is it?”

  “You were furious that Miranda’s blackmailing you.”

  “Well, yeah… but that’s not the reason I flipped out.”

  “You were mad that she’s trying to wreck all your plans.”

  “True… but that’s not really the reason.”

  “Then… you’re mad because she got one up on you.”

  “Yes, but again, that’s not the main reason.” He gave a wry grin. “But way to twist the knife, there.”

  I folded my arms. It was a lot harder to say the next sentence.

  “You were angry she betrayed you.”

  “I wouldn’t call this betrayal so much as a brilliant, asshole move. She betrayed me before, eight months ago, and I didn’t flip out then.”

  I sighed, tired of the guessing game. “So why now?”

  He drank his scotch and stared into the darkness. “Because, for the first time since I walked out of my father’s study when I was nineteen years old… I was afraid.”

  That didn’t seem like such a big revelation. “Okay, so you were afraid you were going to lose it all.”

  “No, not even close. If I don’t go forward on this deal, I lose a few million dollars. A lot of planning, yes, a lot of time, but next to nothing in terms of money.”

  “You were afraid that all your plans were going to be destroyed.”

  “Pissed, yes. Afraid, no.”

  I clenched my jaw. I was tired of the asshole act back in the limo, I was tired of the inscrutability now, I was tired of
Twenty Questions. “So what were you afraid of?”

  “For the first time ever, I had a mortal weakness. Which Miranda found and exploited.”

  I frowned. “The photos?”

  He turned and looked at me. “No. You.”

  28

  I could feel the blood rushing out of my face. My legs felt unsteady.

  “But I did this so you wouldn’t have to sacrifice your dreams… I said okay so that – ”

  “That’s not what I meant.” He walked over to the sofa opposite the window, plopped down, and patted the cushion beside him. “Come here.”

  I stayed frozen to the spot. “I think… we need to go to bed.”

  “We need to talk first.”

  My stomach was in knots. Double and triple knots. “I…”

  “Lily… please. I need to talk to you,” he said quietly.

  I stood there, afraid and unsure, for a good five seconds… and then I slowly walked over and sat next to him on the couch.

  He sighed and looked down at the almost empty glass in his hands. “If it had been anybody but you, I would have just paid them off. Written them a check, big as they wanted, just to go away… said ‘Fuck you’ to Miranda and my family… and then ride out the shockwave. Try to salvage the situation.”

  I sat up straight, pissed off and offended. “I don’t want your money – ”

  He looked over and stared me in the eyes. “And I never offered it, because I knew you wouldn’t take it. And because I didn’t want you to take it.”

  I frowned. “I don’t understand… I didn’t go away – ”

  “I know.” He gave me a rueful smile. “I know.”

  “So…?”

  “So I’m still terrified. You’re still my Achilles heel.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” I sneered.

  He laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Then exactly how did you mean it?” I asked acidly.

  He leaned back into the couch and stared out into the distance. “I never cared about anybody… not deeply. I could cut people loose like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. “People were assets for exactly as long as they were useful, and after that they were liabilities.”

  “You don’t feel that way about Johnny or Sebastian,” I said, horrified – and not exactly sure if what I was saying was correct. Which horrified me more.

  “No… they’re friends, and I’d take care of them if something happened. But if I’d had to sacrifice them today, I would have,” Connor said, no trace of guilt in his voice at all.

  I stared at him. “Are you serious?”

  “I said I’d take care of them. They’d never have to work another day in their life. But no matter how much hell they’d have to go through, I probably would have tossed them overboard. If keeping them meant that they’d disrupt my plans.”

  I was shocked and repulsed to hear him say it.

  But… despite my initial reaction… I realized he was also giving me an astounding, unbelievably huge compliment.

  In a really fucked-up way.

  “What about Miranda?” I asked quietly.

  He looked at me and grinned like, Are you KIDDING me?! “I’d have gladly cut her throat. Metaphorically speaking, anyway.”

  “No, not today. Before,” I whispered. “Eight… nine months ago.”

  He looked at me, then looked away. Rubbed his jaw.

  “No, you’re right, I probably wouldn’t have cut her loose then. But it’s hard to know. I think, more than anything, I would have kept her by me because… well… I’d put a ring on her finger. I would’ve felt obligated to make sure she was safe.”

  I stared at him. “Weren’t you in love with her?”

  He shrugged. “Yes… and no.”

  “I don’t understand. You were going to marry her.”

  “Yes.”

  “Didn’t you love her?”

  He exhaled. “It was complicated.”

  “So explain it.”

  “If I went to a shrink, he’d probably say something about an Oedipal complex – ”

  He paused and looked confused. It must have been the alcohol. I’d never seen him look that way before.

  “…no, that’s wanting to kill your father… and we already know I’d love to do that… so whatever the hell it is when you subconsciously seek out someone like your parent of the opposite sex.”

  “I think that’s everybody, actually.”

  He looked at me and cocked an eyebrow. “You’re looking for a guy who’s like your father? Do I remind you of your – ”

  “This is kind of a disturbing topic,” I interrupted. “Can we just stick with Miranda?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, okay. Well, obviously, Miranda and my mother are very similar in a lot of respects… both focused on wealth, both insanely ambitious, both extremely intelligent… but beyond that, I think I was looking for love and affection from someone like my mother… and Miranda was definitely that. Almost exactly like her. Except she was kinder, sweeter… at first,” he said darkly.

  “She didn’t need me, which was attractive as hell. I’ve already told you this, but most women want me for my money, or my family name, or fame, or to flaunt me as a catch, or for whatever else they think I can give them. She didn’t want any of that. She had her own fortune, her own power… we were on a relatively equal footing, which was a first for me. And she was a prize to be caught. Elusive… challenging. She resisted every advance, played coy – never saying ‘no,’ but never quite saying ‘yes,’ either. I wasn’t used to that. I asked her out ten times before she agreed to have dinner with me. It just made me want her more. Women fling themselves at me all the time…”

  I was wincing as he talked – especially during those last few sentences. Luckily, he was so far into his tale that I don’t think he saw my expression.

  “…but not Miranda. She played hard to get at the beginning. Never stopped, really. She never gave away any more of herself than she had to. I didn’t realize it at the time, but she hooked me like a fish, and then she just reeled me in at her leisure.” Connor looked over at me. “Does it bother you to hear me talk about her like this?”

  Yes.

  “…no. But you loved her, right?”

  He shrugged. “Like I said, she was a prize. Something to be won. To the victor, the spoils.”

  “But you got her.”

  “Except I didn’t. Not really. I never really won her… and I think that drove me crazy. Something I couldn’t vanquish, someone I couldn’t possess. Not fully. And I think she knew it, and she played me along, and that… that was what I felt for her, more than love, really. She was a challenge. I wanted all of her, and she never fully gave in.”

  Every word, every sentence, was like a pinprick at my heart.

  Actually, a lot worse than a pinprick.

  She was a challenge.

  So what am I? I wondered miserably.

  An Achilles heel, a little voice whispered.

  “What happened between you?” I asked.

  Connor’s face clouded over, and hatred sparked in his eyes.

  “It’s long and boring… but the short version is, I told her about a bunch of complicated business plans I had in store. I was going to buy out a bunch of weakened technology companies and leverage them for… never mind. Anyway, I warned her ahead of time because, well, she’s the CEO of a hedge fund. She had tens of millions of her own money invested in various companies, not to mention tens of billions of her clients’ money. I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want to destroy everything she’d built.” Then he smirked. “Even if she inherited half of it from ‘Daddy.’”

  I stared at him. “You gave her insider trading information?”

  “She was my fiancée. What was I supposed to do, let her lose half of everything she owned? Destroy her business, her reputation?”

  I raised my eyebrows. “I guess not… so what happened?”

  “Weeks before the first round of buyouts, the companie
s I was targeting suddenly got a huge infusion of cash from anonymous investors. Every single one of them. Their stock shot up almost overnight, basically destroying all my plans, a year’s worth of preparation. I looked into it a little further, and guess who had dumped a shit-ton of money into those companies?”

  “Miranda?”

  “Yes, her, too… but my father.”

  My hand flew to my mouth. “Your father found out about your plans?”

  “He didn’t just ‘find out.’ Miranda told him.”

  I stared at him. “You’re kidding me.”

  “Nope.”

  “Why?!”

  “Because when she convinced him to go all in, the value of what she already had invested in those companies quadrupled overnight.”

  I stared at him. “But… you warned her so she wouldn’t lose anything – ”

  “And she fucked me over.”

  “She sold you out for money?!”

  “Not just that. Power.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My family’s far more powerful and wealthy than I am, Lily. I’m getting closer to where they are, but until this solar power deal, I was basically a thorn in their side. A very annoying thorn, maybe, but a thorn all the same. Think of my family as the Kennedys, say, around 1955. JFK was still a senator, Bobby was tagging along, but all the power, all the real power, resided in their father and all the money and influence he had. Miranda obviously didn’t see me as JFK, she saw me as Teddy. Did a lot of good in his life, but after his fuckup at Chappaquiddick, he was never going to be President. And she decided she’d rather go with Joe Kennedy and the rest of the clan than with the black sheep, I guess.”

  “You guess? Didn’t you ask her?”

  “Of course. I confronted her as soon as I found out my father was behind the investments.”

  “And what did she say?”

  “She laughed and said, ‘Of course.’ She didn’t try to deny it at all.”

  I stared at him. “But why? Did she say why she did it?”

  “I think her words were something along the lines of, ‘You’re splitting the resources of your family. If you would just stop fighting with them and join forces, you could take over the entire world.’”