A Very Bad Billionaire (BWWM Contemporary Romance Novel) (2 page)

“It was fine. Completely uneventful,” I lied with a smile on my face.

“Excellent. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll show you around the house and go over your duties with you?”

Bailey took me around the house and introduced me to everyone I’d be working with. For the most part, everyone seemed to be pretty nice although there were a couple of people who didn’t seem too thrilled that I had been hired for the position. I would later find out from Lupita that it was because they’d been working there for a long time and thought they had deserved the job. I could see where they were coming from, but I hoped they wouldn’t take it out on me. I was just there to do the job I was hired to do.

From what I gathered from Bailey, the main part of my position is to coordinate the two maids, the cook, and the gardener. It will be my job to make sure they stick to their schedules and ensure there is coverage if someone was sick or if there ever is a special event scheduled. I had the ability to pull from a list of temporary employees that would be called on an as-needed basis. I would also be responsible for making sure the offices of Bailey and Mr. Melrose were kept clean and orderly. For whatever reason, he didn’t like the maids inside of his office.

As we returned back down the stairs, the front door opened and the most gorgeous man I have ever seen walked in. The first thing that grabbed my attention was his brooding hazel eyes and his rigid posture. His presence alone commanded the room the second he entered it, stopping me—and the others—dead in our tracks. I took notice immediately that the staff even gestured a slight bow as he surveyed the room, eyeing each one of them.

“Ah great, you almost entered right on cue,” Bailey said as we reached the bottom of the stairs. “This is Natalia Queens, the new housekeeper that I’d told you about. Miss Queens, this is Kaiden Melrose.”

Standing before a billionaire, I felt the color drain from my face as my shoulders tightened. With trembling lips I said, “It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Melrose.” As I extended my hand to shake his and locked my elbow stiffly into place, he looked at me with a smirk before taking off his suit jacket and putting it on my outstretched arm—completely ignoring my request to shake his hand, using my arm as a coat rack instead.

Without saying a word to me, he turned to his assistant, cocked his head and asked what was on the schedule for the day. I couldn’t believe how badly he disrespected me. I know I’m just hired help, but that’s no reason to treat me like I’m a piece of trash. I can get enough of that in my own neighborhood. I sure as hell don’t need to deal with it at work too. I thought about quitting on the spot, but I couldn’t do it. My rent wasn’t going to pay itself.

“Hey, don’t worry about him,” Lupita told me after she had witnessed his disgusting behavior once we were alone. “That’s just the way Mr. Melrose is. He doesn’t like to get to personal with anybody, especially the help. Just stay out of his way and you’ll be fine.”

I’m so glad I have her for a best friend.
She always knows what to say to make me feel better. I took a few minutes and decided to put on my best smile. I had this fantastic new job and I was going to rock it with all I had. It was a shame that my new boss didn’t like to get personal with anyone because he was one fine ass man. I couldn’t help but feel attracted to him from the moment I laid my eyes on him. There was something mysterious and alluring about him, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. After all, what could a man of his social status have to hide? His billions of dollars and good looks could buy him any woman he wanted and take him anywhere he wanted to go. Of course, even if he did get personal with people, it’s not like I would have had the guts to do anything about it.

§

By late morning, I had already begun to get comfortable with most of the staff. I met with each person that I would be overseeing individually to formally introduce myself. I told each of them that I will always make myself available to them if they ever need anything. After I had the opportunity to visit with everyone, Bailey assigned me a computer login and showed me how to enter the accounts receivable and accounts payable from a printout. It was a menial task and not at all mentally stimulating
,
but I couldn’t complain about easy work for such nice pay.

After finishing with the paperwork, I decided to get some of the cleaning done in the offices. I started with Bailey’s since it is much smaller and wouldn’t take me very long to do. She had papers everywhere and it was clear that she gets very into her job. Kaiden’s office, on the other hand, looked like it didn’t get used very often. There were a few things here and there, but it was pretty orderly for the most part. All it really needed was a good dusting and some vacuuming.

I was almost finishing up when I saw the only thing left to do was organize some papers that were sitting on his desk. When I picked up the stack, a yellow envelope slipped out of the pile and fell to the floor, spilling the contents in the process. It appeared to be a bunch of pictures. Several images in black and white to be exact. I gathered them as quickly as I could and went to put them back in the envelope. When I caught a glimpse of what was on the photos, I froze like a deer in headlights.

I gasped loudly as I tried to process the site of Kaiden Melrose having sex with a woman in what appeared to be some kind of shady nightclub. The face of the woman was not visible in any of the photos, but his was clear as day. The pictures themselves appeared to be taken from a bit of a distance but with a magnificent zoom. Out of sheer curiosity, I flipped through the photos. Near the end of the stack, one of the last images showed the name of the club in the background. It was a place called The Phoenix.

A combination of shame, guilt, embarrassment and lust coursed through my body faster than my mind could even process everything that I was feeling. I’m not gonna lie, the pictures were hot and had me a bit flushed. I was also scared because I was sure these photos were not supposed to be seen. I was trying to compose myself when I looked up and saw Kaiden standing in the doorway. His face turned pale when he saw I was holding the photos in my hand. I didn’t know what to do. Dropping the photos on the desk, I turned and ran out of the room, darting right past him. Kaiden yelled out for me to wait, but I couldn’t. I had to get out of there. I ran down the stairs, out the door and out onto the busy streets of Manhattan.

CHAPTER TWO

Kaiden

How stupid can I be? Why in the hell wasn’t I more careful? I didn’t become the rich and powerful man that I am by being careless. So why did I leave that envelope on my desk where anyone would be able to walk in and find it? Someone apparently didn’t give the new girl the memo that under no circumstances is anyone allowed to touch my desk. Her job is to keep my office clean, not go through my shit. Either that or she was told and didn’t listen, or maybe she’s just nosey. I made a mental note to ask Bailey about the instructions she had given her. No matter what, I was no longer the only person in the house who knew about the pictures. There was no way to sugarcoat what was in them and I could be in some very serious trouble if she decided to flap her jaws to anyone, especially the tabloids.

Of course, it had to be the new girl that found them. I’ve got all those employees who have been loyal to me for years and the new girl is the one to come across them. I began to regret the fact that I was such a dick to her when I initially met her—the only interaction I’d ever had with the girl before she found my dirty laundry inside that envelope. The stunt with my coat this morning could cost me my reputation, my business and everything I’ve worked so hard to build if she was holding any resentment towards me. With the morning I’d had before I came home from my business meeting at the hotel conference room, my mind went straight to business and I didn’t have time to play nice boss. I needed to get busy in my work but unfortunately throughout the day, the new girl kept popping into my head. In fact, she’s the only reason I had left my office once I came back home. I couldn’t get her out of my mind and took a break to collect my thoughts. If I would’ve stayed in my office, I could’ve prevented her from touching that envelope.

I had to ask Bailey several times what the girls name was. For some reason, I couldn’t remember Natalia. I wanted to call her Natalie for some reason. Bailey even made a joke when I asked for the third time.

“Why do you care what her name is? You got a hot date with her?” she teased.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I replied. “I simply like to know who the hired help is in my house.”

The truth was I was lying to Bailey. As hot as my new hired hand was, I wished I had a date with her and hoped Bailey couldn’t see right through it. I’ve never entertained the idea of dating any of the help, but this woman is drop dead beautiful. The ability to bend the truth when I need to is one of my strong suits. Anyone with money and good business sense has to have that ability. Without it, you’d get crushed in the enterprise world. You’ll never meet an honest billionaire, at least not one who is completely honest in business. The truth was that I was taken aback by Natalia. There was a pure, natural beauty about her and I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her all day. I had actually planned on talking to her when she came in to clean my office, but she’d gotten in there while I was gone.

The plan was to simply have a second chance at an introduction. I planned on reintroducing myself, a little more…intimately than I had earlier, and maybe a bit softer. In my mind, all I could think about was how sexy she was and how badly I wanted her. I was so tempted to make a move on her, but I had to feel her out first. I was sure she would be stand-offish after the way we had met. It didn’t matter anyway. I had a feeling that she wasn’t the type of girl that would want to be kept a secret. She would want the world to know that she was having a relationship with Kaiden Melrose. That’s one thing I could never allow to happen. It would be bad for my public image if the word got out that I was sleeping with my housekeeper. Not to mention my family would likely disown me. They’re so traditional and uptight. They’ve never escaped the backward thinking of the past. I would never hear the end of it from them if word got out that I was involved with a black woman.

Once I was able to wrap my mind around the seriousness of the situation at hand, I knew that I had to speak with Natalia. I left my office and went downstairs asking if anyone had seen her. Nobody had a clue where she was. Finally, I came across Lupita.

“Lupita, you’re friends with the new housekeeper, right?”

“Yes, Mr. Melrose. I told her to apply for the job here,” she nervously smiled.

“Do you happen to know where she is?”

“Not exactly. She ran out the front door a few minutes ago. She looked like she might be upset. Is everything okay sir?” her eyes darted from side to side as she kept a hushed tone.

“Yes Lupita, everything is fine. You can go back to work now.”

Lupita smiled and went back to her regular duties.

Everything was not fine. This was awful. Was she quitting over what she saw? Did it offend her somehow? Or was she going to try to get a big payday by selling the story to whoever would pay her the most for it? I had to talk to her to find out what her intentions were. I ran into Bailey’s office and got Natalia’s contact information. With her cell phone number in hand, I went into my office and closed the door. I couldn’t risk anyone else hearing me talk about the pictures. I dialed the number and the phone rang four times before an automated voice mail box picked up. I hesitated when I heard the beep, knowing that a recorded message could be particularly damning, but I figured I didn’t have anything else to lose. I just needed to stay calm and talk as nicely as I possibly could.

“Natalia, this is Kaiden Melrose. I’m sorry about the incident this afternoon. Please give me a call or come back to the house so we can discuss the matter privately.”

I hoped the message I left would be so vague that it wouldn’t be interesting enough to run in the press or on the supermarket tabloids if she decided to cross me and sell my private life to the highest bidder. As I hung up the phone, I threw myself back in my chair restlessly and rubbed my temples. This whole ordeal was giving me a terrible headache. Sitting down to reflect on the day’s happenings, a sinking feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. The whirlwind of events had only continued to spiral out of control since the early hours of dawn before I’d even woke up.

Earlier that morning, before any of this nonsense started, there was a knock on my front door. I was still asleep and found it odd that someone would be visiting at that hour. Since the housekeepers were not yet in for the day, I got up and answered the door myself. A middle-aged woman, with an envelope in her hand, stood proudly on my doorstep. At first, I was positive that I was being served court documents of some sort—perhaps I’d stepped on someone’s latest patent developing new software for my company or my favorite, another personal property injury. You’d be astounded at how many people can slip on your lawn when you have billions of dollars. People have tried to bring my business down any way they can and filing frivolous lawsuits is one game they love trying to play.