The Owner's Secret (A Secret Billionaire Romance Book 4)

by Kimberley Montpetit

  Melody touched up her hair and makeup one last time until she knew Britt had finished dressing.

  She stood at the balcony, gazing out over the White Castle property with its exploding springtime gardens and spreading oaks. She breathed a deep sigh of joy and gratitude. Love for Britt and all of their sweet moments together over the last year overflowed her heart and soul.

  A knock came at the door, and she hurried over, holding onto her veil to make sure the pins didn’t come loose.

  “Is it time?” she asked.

  Britt’s voice came through the door. “It’s me, Melody.”

  Her heart leaped. “Britt! Don’t jinx anything by opening the door.”

  “You silly girl, there’s no jinxing us.”

  “That’s true. But you might decide to let your incorrigible nature let loose and march in here to shock me.”

  “I’ll be marching into our bridal suite later tonight,” he chuckled in his deep, sexy voice. “As fast as we can sneak away.”

  “See? You are incorrigible,” Melody whispered back. “But I can’t wait to be alone together either.”

  “Melody, sweetheart, I can’t wait to see you in your wedding gown and marry you in front of the whole world. I love you more than life and I can’t wait to start our life together. See you in a few minutes, my beautiful girl.”

  Leaning her head back against the door, Melody heard Britt descend the stairs, and eagerness spilled over as she opened the door to glide down the sweeping, winding staircase, just like Cordelia Randolph had done so long ago.

  The past and the present mingled together, and the image of the home she and Britt would create over the years to come rose in her mind.

  Floral arrangements of roses, daisies, and hyacinths lined the grand foyer. The late afternoon sparkled with sunshine and the heady perfumed scent of the flowers brought the spring season right into the house.

  Melody stood in the Victorian drawing room while Avery and her two young daughters spread out her lace-trimmed satin train. Avery gave her the bridal bouquet and the string trio began the classical music of Chopin.

  Seated in the ballroom, friends, neighbors, and family, including Britt’s foster parents, Melody’s cousins, Mirry, and the staff at White Castle, all stood and turned around to watch the matron of honor, followed by the bride, walk sedately down the foyer toward them.

  The chandeliers sparkled overhead and sunshine poured in through the upper windows.

  Britt was waiting for Melody at the top of the ballroom, standing with the priest between the twelve foot windows, the white draperies elegantly cascading to the floor.

  Melody watched Britt’s handsome face widen with surprise and delight, and then love when he saw her coming toward him.

  He grasped her hand and pulled her in close to his side. “You are the most beautiful creature I ever saw,” he whispered with his adoring eyes.

  Her heart fluttered while her stomach jumped at this long-awaited day. “You’re pretty gorgeous yourself, Mr. Mandeville.”

  Turning toward the priest who began the wedding ceremony, Melody and Britt couldn’t help but keep catching each other’s gaze and feel the love and promise of the many years ahead shining from each other’s eyes.

  After the ceremony was over and the “I do’s” enthusiastically pronounced, the guests applauded when the priest announced them as Mr. and Mrs. Britt Mandeville.

  Dinner was served in the gardens and the azalea bushes were in their splendorous pink and purple April bloom. The fountains burst with a shower of water, catching the setting sun under the oak trees. Avery’s children, pumped up with too much wedding cake, splashed their hands in the fountains and played tag across the acres of lawn.

  Smiles and laughter filled the air and afterward, there was dancing in the ballroom and a toast to the new owners of White Castle.

  “May the walls of this blessed home always contain peace and joy,” Granny Mirry told the newlyweds in a quivery voice as she raised a glass while leaning on her cane. “And many happy children in the years to come. As long as I always have a guest room to claim when I need to visit the great-grandchildren.”

  “Always.” Melody gazed about the beauty of the day and their happy guests, tears of joy overflowing her eyes and heart. In another decade or so it would be a hundred years since Mirry had been born in this very house. Life had certainly come full circle in the best way possible.

  “Can we be alone yet?” Britt asked, holding Melody in his arms, their cheeks pressed together under the starlight of the gardens as he swayed with her in a silent dance, humming a waltz in her ear. The string trio had long since packed up.

  “Do you think anyone would notice if we sneak away?” Melody teased back.

  Britt gave her a sly grin. “Probably only Trevor who I promised a ride in the Maserati before we fly to Greece.”

  That made Melody laugh. “I’ll finish packing while you take him for a spin tomorrow afternoon. But I get you all to myself until then.”

  “Have I told you lately that you are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen?”

  “About a hundred times,” she said, grinning up at him and inhaling his spicy masculine scent that sent her head spinning. “But I never said you get to stop.”

  “Oh, I’m a lucky man, Melody de Lyon—”

  She cut him off, gently pressing a finger against his lips and leaning in close to whisper, “That’ll be Melody Mandeville to you! Just for that you can give me a foot massage in the hot tub tonight.”

  Britt growled in her ear while he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a warm and passionate kiss which she returned with a moan of delight, sliding her arms up around his neck and melting against him.

  They kissed again while the lingering guests teased and cheered from the sidelines.

  “Shall we get a room?” Melody whispered into his ear.

  “With pleasure, Mrs. Mandeville,” he said, picking her up into his strong arms to carry her across the threshold of White Castle and up the curving staircase.

  About the Author

  Kimberley Montpetit once spent all her souvenir money at the La Patisserie shops when she was in Paris—on the arm of her adorable husband. The author grew up in San Francisco, but currently lives in a small town along the Rio Grande with her big, messy family.

  Kimberley reads a book a day and loves to travel. She’s stayed in the haunted tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland, sailed the Seine in Paris, ridden a camel among the glorious cliffs of Petra, shopped the maze of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria.

  Find all of Kimberley’s Novels on Amazon

  Get FREE Books when you subscribe to Kimberley’s Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/NBXon

  Also by Kimberley Montpetit

  The romantic & bestselling series set in Snow Valley, Montana:

  Risking it all for Love

  Romancing Rebecca

  Sealed with a Kiss

  Unbreak my Heart

  The Secret of a Kiss

  Grab the Complete Collection of all 5 of my Snow Valley Romances right here: Love in Snow Valley

  A Secret Billionaire Romance series has launched!

  The Neighbor’s Secret

  The Executive’s Secret

  The Mafia’s Secret

  The Owner’s Secret

  Purchase Kimberley’s Books on Amazon

  Subscribe to Kimberley’s Newsletter and get a FREE copy of THE EXECUTIVE’S SECRET from the

  Secret Billionaire Romance Collection.

  http://eepurl.com/NBXon

  Dear Romance Lover

  I hope you enjoyed reading The Owner’s Secret! I love writing sweet romance that sweeps me into new and wonderful worlds.

  White Castle Louisiana is one of my very favorite places and I have been there several times as a guest. If you want to see some beautiful pictures of the grand old Nottoway Plantation mansion as well as read some of its history a
nd take a tour go here: https://www.nottoway.com

  Thank you for reading, and please check out my other romance novels on Amazon, including my Secret Billionaire Romances. They’re all FREE on Kindle Unlimited, too.

  If you’d like to be the first to hear about new releases subscribe to my Reader’s Club Newsletter and never miss a thing. When you sign up, you’ll receive two Free books! Just go here: http://eepurl.com/NBXon

  xo,

  ~Kimberley Montpetit

  P.S. Keep turning the pages to read the first chapter in THE NEIGHBOR’S SECRET and THE EXECUTIVE’S SECRET from my Secret Billionaire Romance series! Leave a quick review on Amazon for THE OWNER’S SECRET and it’s a sure thing I’ll love you forever. :-)

  THE NEIGHBOR’S SECRET: A Secret Billionaire Romance

  By Kimberley Montpetit

  It was the perfect day for a wedding. After months of trying on wedding gowns, ordering invitations, and searching every bridal boutique in Toronto for the perfect shoes, Allie Strickland was ready to walk—maybe even run—down the aisle of the church and into Sean Carter’s waiting arms.

  She’d licked stamps to post the more than one hundred announcements until her tongue was dry. She’d suffered through at least that many long-distance phone calls with her mother that sometimes ended in arguments and tears.

  If she didn’t stop weeping, Allie’s mother joked, their tiny town of Heartland Cove was going to flood over. The calls and planning were finally over, and Allie’s wedding day was here.

  That morning she’d taken her big fat red marker and made an X on the calendar.

  “Mrs. Sean Carter, here I come,” she whispered as she capped the pen and tossed it inside a packing box.

  During their five years of dating, she and Sean had gone through grad school together, first jobs, and now Sean was climbing the ladder to become a partner with Learner & Associates Law Firm.

  Tonight she’d be with the man of her dreams forever. No more work interruptions. No more hurried lunches. No more agonizingly long street car rides to get to one another’s apartments. Lately, they’d just meet somewhere for a late dinner.

  Tomorrow, new renters were moving into her apartment on Bloor Street. When she and Sean returned from their honeymoon to the Bahamas, Allie would unpack the boxes sitting inside Sean’s apartment and officially move in.

  Allie’s stomach jumped as she checked the time on her phone. Her wedding began in ninety minutes and it would take at least half of that just to get through Toronto traffic.

  She sent a text to Sean and then tried to take deep breaths in an effort to settle her nerves while staring at tightly packed buildings and Roger’s Stadium glinting in the late afternoon sun.

  With her brother Jake at the wheel and the car full of her mother, sister, and best friend Marla on their way to the Episcopal Church, Allie’s brain went over her luggage packed for fun, sun, and the beach.

  Three bikinis; red, black, and purple.

  Slinky dresses for candlelit dinners.

  Five pairs of shoes, including a pair of running shoes.

  Lingerie and toiletries.

  She couldn’t wait to get on that plane tomorrow morning and leave work and stress and family behind.

  Seven perfect days with Sean. Finally, finally, finally.

  “I don’t think Toronto has ever looked lovelier,” Allie sighed happily, pressing her nose against the window glass like a kid.

  She was excited, anxious, and terrified all at once—and missing Sean. She hadn’t seen him in three days due to his working overtime so he’d have a few days off for their honeymoon.

  “I promise we’ll have a longer honeymoon when I’m finished with this current trial,” he’d said last week. “A cruise of the Greek Islands in autumn.”

  “You know all my dreams,” she’d told him, throwing her arms around his neck and feeling the beat of his heart against hers.

  Pulling her arms down, Sean had given her a peck goodbye. “You know I have to be in the courtroom at seven a.m., Allie.”

  She’d frowned, turning away to stare out the window of her apartment. It was a spectacular view of downtown and the lake. She’d been lucky to get this flat a year ago and hated to let it go, but Sean had a bigger place so she’d reluctantly given up her dream apartment.

  “That case has taken over your life. Our lives,” she said, trying not to whine. “We haven’t been out in ages. We’ve hardly kissed in months.”

  “But we’re getting married in a few days, Allie. Be a grown-up and get used to the hectic life of a criminal defense lawyer.”

  She despised those moments when he treated her like a child. But all she could say was, “But I miss you. Don’t you miss me?”

  As soon as she spoke the words, Allie chomped down on her tongue. Sentiments like those merely underscored his assessment of her as a petulant child.

  “Your dress!” Mrs. Strickland suddenly shrieked from the front passenger seat, motioning to Jake that there was a red light before throwing a glare at her daughter in her wedding finery.

  “These darn no left turn streets,” Jake muttered, braking so hard they all lunged forward. “Traffic is horrible. They’ve got the next two streets blocked off for a 10K run.”

  Quickly, Allie hitched up the beaded satin wedding gown around her to prevent wrinkles on the back end.

  “You simply can’t have wrinkles when you walk down the aisle,” her sister Erin said with a dose of sarcasm. “It would be, like, a crime or something.”

  Mrs. Strickland gave her youngest daughter a second glare and then silently held out her palm when Erin snapped her gum.

  Erin stuck her wad of chewing gum in her mother’s hand, smashing it down vehemently in revenge, and leaned back with a sulk.

  “Thanks for the gum sacrifice,” Allie told her, nudging at her sister’s shoulder.

  “Huh,” Erin grunted, sliding another pack of spearmint contraband from her handbag.

  “Look at the blue sky and enjoy the fact that there isn’t ten feet of snow on the ground.”

  “You mean smog and obnoxiously tall concrete they call architecture.”

  “You only think that because you’re sixteen.”

  “Girls!” their mother cried, craning her neck to check the name of the cross street. “Don’t fight on your wedding day.”

  Jake remained stoic, his mobile giving out directions in an English accent.

  “It’s not my wedding day,” Erin said, making one of her famous faces, eyes wide, nostrils flaring.

  “Obviously. But today is Allie’s most special day in her entire life. Be nice. Mind your manners. And please don’t put your chewed gum on the dinner plate at the reception this evening.”

  “I’m not eight!” Erin crossed her arms over the deep maroon bridesmaid dress. Lower cut in the bust line than Mrs. Strickland had suggested, but nobody had listened to her protests when the wedding planning rose to extreme levels of tension.

  Marla Perry, Allie’s best friend since Kindergarten, reached over with a tissue. “You’ve got a smudge of frosting on your face, Allie.”

  “Where?” Allie scrabbled inside her white lace-covered wedding bag for a mirror, which, of course, only held two tissues and a lipstick for refreshing. Allie had a tendency to bite off her lip color. “How could you let me leave the house like that?”

  “It’s just a tiny smidge,” Marla assured her. “Probably cream cheese from the cinnamon roll.”

  “You just had to go and make cinnamon rolls for breakfast on the day I wanted to be my skinniest best self,” Allie teased.

  “I knew you’d go all day without food if I didn’t give you something. And then we’d be picking you up off the floor in front of the minister when you fainted from starvation.”

  “Not starvation. Sugar overload. I should have had a granola bar.”

  “Granola bars are for birds, not real people,” Marla said. “Fainting can be a means to an end. Sean could scoop you up from the cold floor and kiss yo
u passionately.”

  Marla had snagged the lead role in Romeo and Juliet in their high school drama production class and swore she’d leave the tiny town of Heartland Cove and run away to New York City. She’d gotten as far as Toronto—which, for a Heartland Cove resident, that boasted a population of 899 was, nevertheless, a major feat. But her Fine Arts degree in photography was proving difficult to find a decent paying job.

  She’d finally taken a position shooting kids school photos all over town with Life Touch, but was determined to open her own business.

  The thought of having your own business was exciting. Despite using her MBA to snag a good paying position, Allie was bored to tears with financial reports and office politics as the manager at a small branch of The Royal Bank.

  “Mom. Chill,” Jake said at last. Miss British GPS voice told him to turn right, but when he did he hit another red light and jerked to a stop. All the women braced a hand on their seats, then adjusted dresses and jewelry.

  “Warn us next time, Jake,” Mrs. Strickland said, the frown deepening between her eyes.

  Allie did not miss the family dynamics living in Toronto, although she sometimes got nostalgic for Heartland Cove, the town where she’d been born, worked her teen summers at the Strickland Family Fry Truck, and had her first kiss on the Bridge of Heartland Cove with a boy who told her he’d love her forever—and then promptly moved to Newfoundland three weeks later. It might as well have been Timbuktu.

  After a few sexy Facebook messages, he’d posted a picture of himself with a suntanned blond girl—and disappeared from her life forever.

  In Heartland Cove he’d been her only possibility for a boyfriend until she’d met Sean her senior year as an undergrad in Business School.

  Sean Carter was the complete opposite of the boy from tiny Heartland Cove High. Tall, slim and dark-haired with smoldering eyes and a crooked grin that melted her heart.