Billionaire Erotic Romance Boxed Set: 7 Steamy Full-Length Novels

by Priscilla West

  We stood in silence for a moment: me, Charles, and Justin. Finally, Justin spoke. “Oh my god.. Caitlyn. You’re really alive!”

  I nodded, not wanting to speak lest my own tears start forming. Even though I didn’t know him, the emotion my presence elicited couldn’t help but make me feel something. I wanted desperately to be able to give him more.

  He got up and shuffled toward me before giving me a hug. I hugged him back gently, still not sure what to say. But I had to say something.

  “Hi,” I tried.

  We parted, and stood awkwardly. He was clearly at a loss for words.

  Charles jumped in. “I was just telling Justin how your memories were coming back slowly, and it might take some time for you to remember everything.”

  I nodded.

  “So you don’t remember me at all? Us?” Justin asked.

  I looked at him and blinked several times. How could he ever really understand? I shook my head. “No,” I said softly.

  Justin nodded, thin-lipped.

  “Let’s all sit down,” Charles said. “Maybe talking will help. Besides, we have a lot to catch up on.”

  We all took our seats around the living room, Charles and Justin on the couch, while I nestled awkwardly into a chair. Justin was the first to break the silence.

  “So, Charles hasn’t really told me what you’ve been doing these past two years. He just said that you had amnesia.”

  Thankfully, he was sitting down. “Well, until recently I was homeless.”

  “…homeless?” Justin repeated, his eyes narrowed in disbelief.

  “Yeah. On the streets of San Francisco. For two years.”

  It sounded foreign even to me, and didn’t begin to tell the story. Those years had been a blur of survival. Struggling day to day like that didn’t even feel real as it was happening, but up until a few months ago that had been my life. I prayed the natural follow-up question wouldn’t come, but I knew it would.

  “So,” Justin began. He had to feel so awkward. “Did Charles find you on the streets? Is that what happened?”

  “You know what,” Charles cut in, before I could answer. “I’m forgetting my manners. I’ll leave you two alone while I run out and get some food to cook for lunch. You two have a lot to catch up on.”

  My stomach dropped as I realized the conversation ahead of me. There was no escape from this, awkward as it would be. Justin nodded to Charles and watched him go.

  When we were alone, he repeated himself. “What happened? How did you get off the streets? I take it Charles didn’t find you there.”

  I gave him a sweet smile. There was no way around it. “No, it wasn’t Charles. I ended up being saved by one of the richest men in America. I lived in his mansion and worked as his maid, accompanied him to social events, went on trips with him, that kind of thing.”

  “I see. So are you seeing him now?”

  I bit my lip. “You know what, why don’t we take a walk? I want to see the neighborhood. Maybe it will help my memory.”

  Justin looked confused, but he shrugged. “Sure, that’s fine.”

  I went upstairs to my room to grab the black designer purse Victor had given me. It was a chilly day outside, so I decided to bring my cashmere scarf and fur-lined coat Victor had given me on our trip to Paris before descending down the stairs.

  I appeared back in the living room a few minutes later. “Wow, it looks like you’re about ready for a stroll in Paris or Milan or something with that getup. How much does your job pay you?” he asked, staring at my attire. “Or is this from that billionaire guy? What’s his name, anyway?”

  “Victor.”

  Justin nodded. “Victor, then.”

  I smiled.

  Once we were outside, Justin led the way toward town. “I can’t even begin to describe what it feels like to have you back again.”

  I nodded wordlessly at his remark, not really sure how to reply. Luckily, he continued.

  “This must be really weird for you, recovering from amnesia.”

  I nodded again. “Weird is an understatement.”

  “I mean, it’s really strange for me too. You’re next to me but you’re not really there. I just kind of hope you’ll come back. I thought you were dead, and now it’s like you’re a ghost. If I know there’s hope that you might come back, I can wait.”

  “I know this has to be hard for you. It’s been hard for Charles, I think.”

  This time it was Justin’s turn to nod. “So, this billionaire. Victor. Are you seeing him?”

  I took a deep breath. Was I? Up to this point, nobody had really cared how I characterized our relationship. I decided to be truthful. “I don’t know. We had... a relationship, but right now things are really up in the air.”

  “Does he love you?”

  What I would give to know the answer to that question, I thought. “I don’t know, honestly.”

  “Well,” Justin said. “I still love you, Caitlyn. Or I love the girl you were. I’ve thought about you every day, whether you were alive, just in case. I just had to know. Now that you’re here, I have to tell you that. I have loved you every day since your accident. I loved you before then, I have loved you since then, and I love you now. If your memories of me—of us—ever come back, I need you to know that.”

  I shook my head sadly because I had no idea what to say. I didn’t even know this man and he was telling me he loved me. What’s more, I knew by his tone that he meant it.

  “Or—I don’t know. This is all so confusing. I just look at you and you’re there and you’re not and it’s crazy. But here I am. I’m still in love with you.”

  I turned and looked at him. “Look, this is all really fast. I appreciate that you need to get this off your chest, but it’s hard for me to process. I really don’t remember if—”

  “Do you still have the ring I gave you?”

  I reached in my pocket, pulled it out, and held it up. “You mean this?”

  “Yes. Can I see it?”

  Well, he bought it. It belonged to him as much as it belonged to anyone. I handed it to him. He turned it over in his fingers for a few moments as we walked. After a moment of silence, we stopped.

  “I know you’re going to think this is weird, but give me your left hand.”

  I couldn’t keep doing this. It wasn’t getting into his head that I was not the girl he remembered. He thought I could come back, but I knew at that moment that he was wrong. Even if I regained my memories, I wasn’t coming back. I knew it.

  “Please don’t do this.”

  “Caitlyn, for two years I thought that you were probably dead, and I didn’t give up hope that maybe, just maybe, I’d get to see your hand with this ring on it again. Please, just let me see how it fits. I know it’s weird. Just please.”

  I gave him my hand, and as he slipped the ring on, it came.

  ***

  We were walking across the Golden Gate Bridge in the evening, something we often did in the spring. It was romantic and almost intoxicating to be on the bridge during that hour, one of the most beautiful cities in the world at our back. It was a cool day in May, and even though I was wearing long sleeves, I was shivering and pulled closer to Justin. Walking there with him, I wanted to soak the world into every pore, to capture the feeling I had with him at that moment, the day before my graduation.

  Justin took a deep breath. “Let’s stop here.”

  We turned and looked back. I traced the outline of the building tops with my eyes, like I was coloring in the sky around them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Justin duck his head down. No. He was on one knee, reaching into his pocket.

  “Caitlyn Pamela Ray, will you marry me?”

  I looked down and saw an engagement ring with a huge diamond on it. This was really happening. My heart flew up into my throat. I was overwhelmed with excitement, and also a little fear. More than anything though, I looked into those eyes and realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with that man.

  “Y
es,” I said tearfully.

  ***

  It was my senior prom. We had gotten a limo with a dozen friends, and everyone was sweaty from the dance. The limo was driving us to a friend’s after party. Half the couples in the limo were making out, while the others were gossiping excitedly about what would go down at our friend’s beach house.

  Justin squeezed me tighter to him, and I put my head on his shoulder. We had danced pretty hard, and the dampness under his neck proved it. I liked that smell.

  He picked my face up toward his and gave me a wet, slow kiss, sucking on my tongue.

  “I love you,” he said quietly.

  I couldn’t believe my ears. I’d been waiting for him to say it for months, and I had thought that maybe tonight would be the night, but to actually hear it brought a huge smile to my face.

  “I love you too.”

  ***

  The movie hadn’t been very good, but cuddling with Justin had been exciting. We were in his car; he already had his license even though I had to wait another two months. It was late spring, and he’d just gotten the courage to ask me out the previous day.

  We arrived back in front of my parents’ light blue two-story house. It was nine o’clock, and I was sure my dad was still waiting up—as was my mom, probably. Justin stopped the car and looked over at me, his green eyes open a little extra wide.

  “Well, I had fun,” I said.

  “Me too.”

  I waited. Was he going to kiss me?

  He leaned over and did just that, depositing a chaste peck right on my lips. At least he didn’t miss.

  “We should go out again some time,” he said.

  “Yeah, I’d really like that.” I could see a lot more of him, actually.

  ***

  All of the memories of the things we had done and the things we had felt were coming back to me. We had done so much together, and grown up too.

  As I thought about the person who remembered those things, it still didn’t feel like me. That had been years ago, in a different time, before I had been homeless, before I had been to Paris, met Victor, met Oscar and Karen and Betty, been rescued by that sweet old woman from sleeping under a cardboard box in the rain in an alley so I could sleep in a house and eat warm food.

  “Caitlyn, are you all right? You’re looking at me strange. Do you remember?”

  I had changed so much. I had reset and I had changed: on the streets, in Victor’s house, in Paris, at the art gallery. What had previously been a happy girl from a good family that went to art school and had experienced a relatively trouble free life had turned into something else. That girl was never going to come back; it was more than my memories that were assuring that. Too much time and too much experience had intervened.

  And yet Charles and Justin were being so kind to me. My life before the accident had been a good one, definitely less confusing than my life with Victor. Maybe I could fall in love with the same man again; it would be a different relationship, but he obviously loved me, and he was pretty cute too.

  “Caitlyn? Hey, can you hear me? Say something.”

  But then I would never see Victor again. Confused as I was, I didn’t want that.

  Someone was shaking me. I shook my head and focused my eyes. It was Justin. His green eyes looked worried. I wondered how long it had been since he put the ring on my hand.

  “I’m okay,” I choked. I grabbed him by the wrists and removed his hands from my shoulders. He reached for my hand and I swatted it away. “I’m sorry, but I need time to think. I’m going to go back into the city. Tell Charles I’m fine and I’ll talk to him soon.”

  “Caitlyn wait. Do you remember?”

  “No. Or, maybe. It really doesn’t matter. I need to regroup.” I took off the ring on my finger and shoved it into his palm.

  With that I turned around and left him there, taking the road south toward San Francisco.

  I managed to catch a public bus headed toward San Francisco, which was fortunate, because by the time I got to the city, I had a screaming headache. I got off the bus at the Golden Gate Park. The scenic view of the city’s skyline was gorgeous as always. Fog had begun to roll in, covering the tips of the tall buildings. Life was so much simpler when I was alone. I began the walk to downtown.

  What did I want to do from here? Seeing Charles and Justin had been overwhelming; they both wanted to continue on as if the past two years of my life hadn’t happened. I knew that could never work; even if I somehow forgot the past two years, I knew I’d still be a different person. I couldn’t go back to the life of a person that was no longer myself. I decided I’d spend some time downtown, thinking the fresh air might help my screaming headache, before calling Victor and having him or Oscar pick me up. Victor’s mansion would be a much better place to sort out what I wanted to do next than being under the constant eye of Charles.

  When I arrived downtown, the fog had settled in and the sky was beginning to grow darker. The usual crowd of tourists and shoppers still lingered, and I picked my way through them until I got to Union Square. There I spotted someone I recognized leaning against the edge of the fountain: an old lady who was never seen without her small, somewhat dingy looking poodle. It both warmed my heart and saddened me to see her out here. She was wearing a thin sweater and a small, tattered blanket was draped around her shoulders. Her eyes were half closed, but I knew she was awake, just off in her own little world.

  “Hi Marge,” I said to her.

  The old lady snapped her head up. She peered up at me, her dull, milky eyes confused. “How do you know…” she began and then her eyes brightened. “You’re that girl I knew, the girl with no name.”

  I laughed. “Yep, that’s me.” I petted the poodle.

  “You sure look different. Where did you find clothes like that?”

  I stared down at my designer clothes. “It’s a long story,” I told her. I pulled off my cashmere scarf and handed it to her. “Here, you look like you need this more than I do.”

  “Really? Thank you.” The old lady took it from me and wrapped it around her neck. “It’s so warm!” she said with a smile. Her eyes glazed back over.

  I turned to go, but the old woman continued talking. “It does get pretty lonely out here sometimes. I doubt they would accept me as one of their own.”

  I didn’t know how to respond—Marge had always been mostly lost in her own world— so I just gave her a small nod and left. I supposed it did get pretty lonely when your world was different from that of the people around you.

  It was completely dark by the time I exited the park. The crowds had thinned out a bit, and I walked aimlessly, lost in my thoughts. After a couple of turns, I realized I was the only one walking on the block.

  Despite my warm jacket, I was chilled straight to the bone. I wrapped my arms around my body for extra warmth, but that did little to help me. The cool, damp air had previously been doing my headache some good, but I was starting to think I needed to lay down. Maybe it was time to call Victor. He would be mad, but I was sure he’d send Oscar to pick me up and bring me back to the mansion. I could deal with his anger later.

  A pair of feet quickened behind me then stopped. “Hand over everything you’ve got,” a gruff voice behind me barked.

  I froze in place and slowly turned around. A man shrouded in a hooded jacket loomed over me, pointing a handgun at my chest with his right hand.

  My mind and the rest of my body stopped working. I stared at him, my mouth hanging open in shock.

  “You stupid? Hand over the purse now or I’ll shoot you. And keep your eyes down.”

  Shaking, I handed him the purse. He paused.

  “The coat too,” he said. “Looks expensive.”

  Shivering, I complied. Why hadn’t I paid attention to where I was going? How was I going to call Victor? Could I at least have the phone?

  “All right, turn around.” I turned. “See that alley up ahead to the right? Walk to it.”

  I hesitated and gasped when
I felt the barrel of his gun on my back. Oh my god, I thought. He’s going to kill me. I walked forward as he prodded me again. After several steps, I turned into the alley. I felt the barrel of the gun removed from my back and let out a breath of relief. Then, with a sharp pain at the back of my head, the world went black.

  ***

  I woke up hours later feeling like death.

  I was also completely disoriented. At first I didn’t know where the hell I was, and that made me panic. Quickly, I registered that I was shivering from the damp cold. I had been sleeping on concrete; little pebbles had gotten tangled into my hair and fell onto my torn up knees when I sat up. My head was throbbing from every angle. I felt the back of my head and found a huge lump. It was a little damp and sticky; when I looked at my hand I found a bit of blood.

  What had happened? I looked around and finally registered where I was: an alley. Again. In the night. Through the pulses of pain, I registered the smell of garbage. There was a dumpster nearby. The sound outside was quiet, and there weren’t many cars passing by. Probably a side street. A decent alley. I wouldn’t be bothered for the rest of the night.

  Fatigue swept over me like a heavy blanket. I put my head back down to the concrete. After some sleep I could figure out what to do next. At that moment what I really needed was sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  In my dreams I saw Victor.

  Not only did I see him, I was standing next to him. His hand held mine, our fingers interlaced with one another’s. He was smiling down at me. The dream was so real I could smell his cologne. I ached for him to kiss me.

  We were at his mansion, but it did not look like the mansion I had lived in all these weeks. Some of it was the same, but it also had a different touch, a feeling of warmth.

  I realized I was the one who had made the place warmer, just as Karen had said. There were vases filled with fresh flowers; some of my paintings featuring bright colors hung on the walls. It didn’t look as austere as when I had first arrived. Neither did Victor as he stood there smiling over me.