The BilLIONaire's Ball (Shifter Brides Everafter Book 3)

by Lola Kidd

  “How did you know?”

  “My stepmother has a terrible habit of going through my things whenever she can. It only got better after I switched bedrooms. If I hadn’t gotten a new room, I was going to figure out how to install a lock on my door.”

  “I’m glad to find a kindred spirit, then. It’s nice to have someone who understands.”

  Connor stood around awkwardly while Mary started to clean. It was always hard getting used to a new cleaning crew. He should have gone in to work at the office today, but he wanted to make sure he was around if she had any questions.

  They’d gone back and forth with emails for the past week. He was more than prepared for what she was going to do, but he still felt some hesitation. He didn’t know her. Who was to say she wasn’t going to do the opposite of what she’d said in her emails? Maybe she’d even try to slip things into her pockets when he wasn’t around. His lion liked her, but that didn’t mean she was perfect.

  He kept one eye on her and one on the task at hand. He was going through the local papers and adding to what he thought was a pattern of robberies.

  He didn’t tell his father what he was working on anymore, but he thought someone might be using their app to rob shifters. There had only been two reports of it happening so far, but he saw in the paper that there had been robberies at least once a week for the last three months. He was sure that if he put all these pieces together, he’d see that someone was using theirs and other dating apps to do this.

  This wasn’t a project his father was going to appreciate, but Connor wanted to be sure the app was safe. They’d included a number of safety procedures and background checking, but something about it was still off.

  His father would say he was just trying to find a way to sabotage the app, but that wasn’t true. Connor was happy when anyone found a mate. He wanted to find one too, but he wanted everyone to do it in a safe way. If his little project could help achieve that, he’d be over the moon.

  “I’m done now. I’m going to move to the bedroom, if that’s all right,” Mary told him what seemed like a second later.

  Connor checked his watch and saw that it had already been half an hour. “You’ve already done the kitchen and the living room?”

  Mary tilted her head. “You’ve been here the whole time. Didn’t you hear me vacuuming?”

  “I guess not.” He looked around the room and saw that it had been straightened. He was sitting in a cyclone of mess in the middle of a clean room. “Nice job. I thought this would take you at least two hours.”

  “I thought it would, too.” She put her hands on her hips and looked around the room. “Don’t tell me you cleaned before I came.”

  He chuckled. “Guilty as charged. But not much. I just made sure I didn’t have any incriminating evidence lying around.”

  “Well, you did a good job. I have to assume that I’ll have more work next time.”

  “I can’t promise anything. I’m not that messy.”

  “Well, if I’m finishing too quickly, we can always adjust your services. I could do the monthly cleanings twice a month instead.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Connor pointed to the bedroom. “But we’d better not make any promises before you see what I have in there.”

  She gave him a slight smile. “I’m not sure you’re supposed to talk to your maid like that, Mr. Hansen.”

  “That’s not how... I mean... I didn’t mean it like…” He hung his head. “You’re funny. I’m going to have to watch out for you.”

  “Really? From those comments, I think I’m the one who needs to watch out for you.”

  She left him with his jaw on the floor. Cute, and a good sense of humor. Maybe his mother wasn’t wrong about this one. He was starting to wish he hadn’t hired her on a whim.

  He continued working on his project, and after he’d gotten through three more newspapers, Mary came back to him.

  “All finished.” She looked at the clippings laid out in front of him. “This isn’t going to be a scenario where I find jars of pee sitting around, is it?”

  “What?” Connor looked at the stacks around him and laughed. “Oh, I see. No, don’t worry, I’m not going crazy. This is for a special project I’m doing.”

  “Is it okay if I ask what it is?”

  “I think it is. I haven’t had anyone to talk about it with.” Connor had her sit on the couch, then put everything up in front of her. “This will be good for me, actually. This is a private project I’ve been working on. When I’m done with my presentation, if anything sounds crazy, please tell me.”

  “I understand.”

  “This is part of the NDA too. Don’t go telling this to anyone,” Connor told her firmly. He realized that if she went around spreading rumors about his findings, it might be bad for the company, but he really did want to talk about it with someone, anyone. He didn’t know if he was going crazy or if there really was something here.

  “Scout’s honor.” She held up three fingers. “Get on with it. I’m very curious about what you’re working on here.”

  “You know I work with the MateMe app. I’ve always had a feeling that the app could be used for something nefarious.”

  She sat forward on the couch. “I’ve always thought the same thing. All these dating apps—it seems like there’s a huge chance for them to be used for the wrong reasons. Or at least to do something that isn’t above-board. It’s like putting on your status that your family is going on vacation for three weeks. That’s like announcing to all your shady friends that your house is a prime target for a robbery.”

  “Exactly,” Connor said with a smile. “So, I’ve been looking at police reports and internal reports to the app. Have I mentioned the NDA?”

  She laughed. “Seriously, if I couldn’t keep a secret, I wouldn’t have a job anymore. I worked with sensitive information at my last job, too. Not to mention all the stuff I learn about here. If you don’t trust me, why did you hire me? I’ve already seen some very personal things of yours.”

  She held her hands together at the wrist and winked at him.

  His eyebrows hit his hairline. The handcuffs! He’d thought he’d gotten everything cleaned up.

  “Those aren’t mine,” he stammered.

  “Sure, they aren’t. Not that it matters, because I’m not judging you. You’re a grown man. You can do whatever you want. I’m just pointing out that I’ve already seen things. You have to trust me a little to even let me in here.”

  “That’s true.” He turned back to his stack of papers. “Those really aren’t mine, either. I know it sounds lame, but they were a gag gift from an ex.”

  Mary smirked. “How do you know they were a gag and not a hint?”

  He looked at her sharply, heat spreading through his chest. She was flirting with him. He couldn’t encourage it, but damn, his lion wanted to see where this would go.

  “Anyway, I collected these reports, and I’m starting to think that someone or a group of someones may be using the app to rob people.”

  “That’s pretty serious. I haven’t heard anything about people getting robbed like that before.”

  “Because it isn’t obvious. It was just a hunch I was going on, before. But then we had two emails from people who had stopped using the service. They agreed to do a follow-up call, and they both complained that they thought they were being robbed while they were out on dates.”

  “Wow, that’s disturbing. My little sisters use that app.”

  “I’m not saying the app is dangerous,” Connor backtracked. “I’m just trying to get some measures put in place to stop this kind of thing from happening.”

  “But, how would you do that?”

  “That’s the hard part,” he admitted. “First, I have to prove that it is happening. No other app has had this problem before.”

  “Or they haven’t admitted that it was a problem,” Mary pointed out. “Are you sure there isn’t anyone else in the company working on this?”

  He s
hook his head. “No one else is doing this. That’s why it’s a pet project. My dad thinks it’s a waste of time.”

  “If you’re right, it won’t be.” She rested her chin on her hand and rifled through his papers. “I’m still not convinced this is a good idea, though. If there was a problem, the police would find the person, and it won’t matter. The way I see it, you’re going to make a problem for the company if you go through with this.”

  “How?”

  She sounded just like his dad, but he wanted to hear her out. She was a neutral party, after all. It didn’t matter to her what happened with the app. In fact, since her sisters used the app, she’d want it to be as safe as possible.

  “You could open yourself up to lawsuits. It’s better to not know about a problem than know and do nothing. And I don’t see what you can do about this practically. You shouldn’t show your findings to your dad or anyone else in the company.”

  He looked at all the newspaper clippings he’d found and the file on his tablet. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That can’t be what you take away from this. This is a serious problem! People could get hurt. I can’t say nothing.”

  “You sure can. You aren’t a law enforcement officer. This isn’t your job. Your job is to make the best app you can, not try to catch criminals. Do you have something against the app?”

  Connor scooped the papers up from the table and snapped the tablet closed. “I do not. Thanks for your input.”

  She sighed. “You asked for my opinion. Don’t get mad because I said something you didn’t want to hear.”

  “That’s not it. I have somewhere to be.”

  “Not true. You have a problem with the app, and you want to tank it.”

  “That isn’t it,” he snapped. “I wanted feedback, and you gave it to me. Thank you for your honest opinion. But I do have somewhere to be.”

  “Okay. I’ll see myself out.”

  He remained on the couch while she gathered her things and left the apartment. He kept his eyes trained on his phone the whole time. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of seeing him ruffled.

  He didn’t have a problem with the app. He had a problem with how unsafe it was. People were putting their trust in the thing, and he wanted to be sure they weren’t opening themselves up to danger.

  He wasn’t being unreasonable. Everyone else wasn’t being cautious enough.

  Mary was no different than any of the others. She couldn’t see what was at stake, which wasn’t surprising. It also wasn’t surprising that she’d tried to flirt with him. All the maids tried it. Hell, most of the employees tried it. He understood. He was a very good-looking man, after all.

  The next time she came by, he wouldn’t be so friendly. It always took him too long to learn his lesson, but he’d learned it this time. He wouldn’t encourage her again.

  Chapter Seven

  Mary waited in her car for a few minutes before going inside. The girls were already home and were going to jump on her the minute she walked in the door. After her weird day of work, she needed a moment to collect her thoughts and wind down.

  Connor was off his rocker, most likely. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that someone was using his family’s app for nefarious purposes, but she wasn’t going to bet on it. He was looking for a reason to complain.

  There had been stories in the paper that he and his older brother didn’t like his father’s newest project. Supposedly, Mr. Hansen had created the app hoping to find mates for his sons. It sounded like a good plan: he could get his sons matched up and make a truckload of money in the process. Except that his sons were stubborn and didn’t want love.

  Or at least, that was what the papers had said. Mary didn’t put much stock in gossip, but after meeting Connor, she thought maybe the papers were on to something. He had a good thing going with the app. The security company was going to be viable forever, but it was always good to diversify your portfolio. It wasn’t going to hurt the company to put out MateMe. It was a great idea, and they had a great marketing campaign. They’d had an actual matchmaker help them set the whole thing up.

  It would be awesome to be matched by a professional. The app was coming out of beta soon, and her sisters were excited about the whole thing. Maybe she’d try it out herself and make sure it was safe. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to be matched with a shifter. At least she’d have someone around to help her out and have her back.

  Jeez, she sounded like a gold digger, but that wasn’t how she meant it. It would just be nice to have some help. She wouldn’t be stuck outside trying to calm herself. She wouldn’t have to worry about what was coming her way next—although a relationship and dating had their own challenges.

  She frowned. Maybe it was more work than it was worth. It could all blow up in her face and add to her endless list of things to do. The more she thought about it, the worse it sounded. She didn’t have time for dating at all, not until she’d sorted all this business and life stuff out.

  How many men wanted to date a jobless, homeless woman? Because that was basically what she was.

  She got out of her car and opened the front door. That was more than enough “relaxing” time for the day.

  “I’m here.”

  There was a rush of feet as her sisters tumbled down the stairs and ran at her.

  “How was your first day?” Hilary asked.

  “Okay.”

  “Just okay?” Melody asked. “What did his apartment look like?”

  “I already told you.” Mary took off her shoes and went to the kitchen. “Did you start dinner?”

  “Already in the oven.” Melody bounced on the balls of her feet. “What did his bedroom look like, though?”

  “I bet it was super fancy,” Hilary said. “Did he have satin sheets?”

  “Silk.” Mary checked the casserole in the oven. “Did you set the timer?”

  Melody held up her phone, showing off the ticking clock. “Did he really have silk sheets?”

  “No.” But he did have handcuffs. Mary smirked to herself. Apparently, some billionaires were right out of some fantasy novel. She couldn’t see him ever using the handcuffs, but it was an intriguing thought. He’d been so uncomfortable when she mentioned them and had been quick to point out that they weren’t his. Yeah, right. He’d probably used them with some one-night stand and didn’t want the maid to know.

  Normally, she would never comment on that kind of thing, but he was being so weird, like she was going to tell all his secrets. As if she wanted to ruin her family’s business just to make a quick buck.

  “Did he flirt with you?” Melody asked. “He’s so dreamy. You’re so lucky you get to go to his house and see him every week.”

  “Yeah, I get to go in and clean his toilets a few times a week. So lucky.” Mary rolled her eyes. “I’m the maid. I’m not there to flirt, and this isn’t a movie. I clean, and that’s it.”

  “But you do talk to him a little, right?” Melody asked.

  “Drop it, Mel.” Hilary smacked her sister’s arm. “Mary is way too busy for a workplace romance. Even with someone as foxy as Connor Hansen.”

  “Hey, are you girls still using that MateMe app?” Mary asked.

  “We sure are. Do you want us to sign you up?” Hilary already had her phone out. “What do you want to use as your handle? Do you want it to be something sexy, or something sweet?”

  “I use sexy,” Mel said.

  “And I use sweet,” Hilary said.

  “And then we switch when we want to mix it up,” Hilary laughed.

  “That doesn’t sound very nice.” Mary crossed her arms. “You two are going to have to stop that. What if you met a boy you like, and he thinks you’re the wrong twin?”

  Mel giggled behind her hand. “Oh my gosh, do you think we use this for dating?”

  Hilary nudged her sister. “She totally does. Look at her face. Like this is OkCupid or something. Come on, Mary, this isn’t 2007. We just want to hook up
with hot shifter boys. Nobody wants to get serious.”

  Mary sighed. “I don’t care what you’re doing on the app. I just want to make sure you’re only meeting these people in public places and you’re not giving out any identifying information.”

  “It connects to your social media,” Hilary said. “And it only works for people in the local area.”

  Mary frowned. “That isn’t great. I want you guys to cool it on the app for a while.”

  “No way,” Hilary said. “Mom already said it was fine. You know she’s on it, too.”

  That made Mary think twice about joining. The entire family looking for love on the same app. What was the world coming to?

  “Maybe try meeting people in real life for a while,” she told them. “Just until I can check the thing out some more. If you do, I’ll take you guys to that club in Mill Town.”

  Mel’s eyes lit up. “Deal.”

  “When are you going to take us?” Hilary asked. “Because we’re going to have to go shopping for something new, first. We don’t have any clothes nice enough for the club.”

  “In three weeks, and no shopping. You have more than enough clothes.” And we don’t have the money for that right now.

  Mary hated having to tell them no, but it was going to be a few weeks before they could buy new things again. Hopefully, that would buy her enough time to check out the app before the girls got bored with her offer. With any luck, they would get tired of the whole thing, and she could forget about it. She didn’t have time to set up dates, even fake dates, to make sure the app was safe.

  This was Connor’s fault. He was adding drama to her life without even trying.

  She knew she should have been more careful. It was always the handsome ones that caused the most trouble. She should never have listened to his rant about the family business.

  “I’m going to get showered before dinner.”

  “Wait.” Hil looked at Mel. “We have a surprise for you.”

  “Okay.” Mary rubbed the back of her neck. She had no idea why she was so tired and achy. She’d barely done any work today, but she felt like she’d been hit by a two-ton truck. “Out with it.”