All That He Loves (Volume 2 The Billionaires Seduction) (3 page)

“We’re talking about your entire
dream
here, too,” I insisted. “Or was all of that just talk last night?”

“No,” he said, riding the edge between annoyed and amused. He knew I was trying to manipulate him. “But you have no idea what Miranda and my parents are capable of. They would
destroy
you without a second thought.”

“And you’re going to let them get away with destroying your dreams? You’re going to let them get away with bulldozing that perfect world you want to build? You’re going to let them screw over all those billions of people you want to help?”

“Not if it means sacrificing you.”

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” I said. “Or the one.”

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan.

Thank you, Mr. Spock.

(I told you I was a geek.)

Connor held up his hands to his face, covering his nose and his mouth, and just looked at me. Then he took them away and started pacing.

“Okay… hypothetically, let’s just
say
we do what you’re talking about. We tell them ‘no.’ Immediately they slam the airwaves and internet with those pictures. They tie me to every one of the politicians I need to do the deal. They start running attack ads, they pay and cajole and incite hundreds of thousands of ‘concerned citizens’ to start making phone calls. There’s no
way
the politicians are going to stick with me. I lose them, I lose the deal anyway. That’s what I meant about Miranda plotting six moves ahead.” His voice turned bitter. “I may hate that bitch, but I have to admit she’s good at what she does.”

“I thought you said you had the politicians nailed down.”

“Not
that
nailed down.”

“Just fifteen minutes ago you were telling your dad you were going to fund their entire campaigns – ”

“Lily, this is going to be a tornado of a shitstorm. Miranda will make sure of that. If the politicians stick with me, they won’t be able to run from it. And above all else, politicians do whatever it takes to stay in office. Being associated with me is going to be the kiss of death. With all the media attention, they won’t do the deals – and if I don’t have the land, it’s over before it begins.” He threw up his hands. “Miranda and my family won. It’s not your fault, it’s entirely mine. I was stupid, I let my guard down. They never did, they bided their time, they took advantage – and now, either way, they’ve won. We either play their game and keep you safe and they win, or we take them on head-first and ruin your life, and they still win. Either way… they win.”

I felt horrible. This wasn’t the way this was supposed to happen. I couldn’t jeopardize Connor’s dreams – I couldn’t ruin the futures of a billion people I’d never met, just because of one brief moment that wasn’t hurting anybody –

“Sebastian,” Johnny suddenly said.

Connor and I both looked over at him.

“…what?” Connor asked, as though he hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Sebastian. He’s coming. I called him and told him your parents were here. He’ll be here in two, two-and-a-half hours.”

Connor looked at Johnny and shrugged like,
Why are you telling me this?

“Oh God,” I moaned, and put my head in my hands. “He’s going to
kill
me for letting this happen to you – ”

“Sebastian doesn’t like Lily that much,” Johnny said.

I looked up from my hands. “Thanks for rubbing it in.”

Connor got angry. “Is this supposed to make me feel better? Because, hint: it’s
not.
”

“No, no… Sebastian is totally clear-headed about this,” Johnny said excitedly. “You’re not thinking straight. And I’m not good at this stuff at all. But
he is.
And he can see what the best thing to do is, even if…”

Johnny paused and looked at me apologetically.

“…even if it means Lily gets hurt.”

For a second, my insides twisted, thinking that my future might be in the hands of the guy who had been urging his boss to dump me for the last five days.

Then I remembered that I had been perfectly willing to throw myself on the funeral pyre just a few minutes ago.

Even though I didn’t exactly want
Sebastian
to do the throwing, my heart lifted just the tiniest bit.

Connor narrowed his eyes like he was thinking it through. “You’re kind of clutching at straws, Johnny.”

“I don’t think we have much left to clutch at. Just don’t make that phone call to Miranda until you talk to Sebastian,” Johnny pleaded.

Connor thought for a second more. “How long ago did you call him?”

“Back when Lily and I were in the kitchen.”

“He’ll be here in two-and-a-half hours, you said?” Connor asked.

“Roughly. He booked a flight, then he’s got to get a cab.”

“Get him back on the phone and tell him to use the Gulfstream you and I flew in on Friday. And I want you to meet him at the airport and get him here as fast as possible.”

Johnny beamed and pulled out his phone.

I have to admit, I was starting to feel something like hope.

Connor shook his head and grumbled, “If there’s even a shot he can help, we’re going to need every last second.”

Apparently the ‘Gulfstream’ was Connor’s private jet, which he had used Friday – the day I met him – to fly from New York to LA. By taking it instead of a commercial flight, Sebastian bumped up his departure by over an hour. The flight was typically forty minutes, though Sebastian said the pilot could push it to thirty.

Before the plane had even taxied off the runway in LA, Johnny was walking out the door of the penthouse.

“Do NOT leave this place,” he ordered Connor angrily. “Do NOT open the fucking door.”

“Relax, they’ve already ruined me. There’s no need for them to shoot me now.”

“Connor – ”

“I
promise.
Jesus.”

“If you’d just followed my instructions, none of this would be happening,” Johnny scowled, then looked at me like he’d just put his foot in his mouth. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

“What are you saying ‘sorry’ to her for? I’m the one who fucked everything up,” Connor snapped.

“Well, don’t go fucking it up even more.”

“Go get Sebastian,” Connor said as he pushed him out of the penthouse.

Then he and I were alone.

Connor went over and sat down on the couch, elbows on his legs, back hunched over, head between his knees. He looked like a weary old man beaten down by the world.

I went over and sat down beside him. I didn’t know what to do, so I put my arm across his shoulders and leaned my head against his shoulder.

“…I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Why are
you
sorry? You didn’t do anything.”

“I… I could have said ‘no.’”

I could only see one eye as he turned his head slightly to look at me. His eyebrow was cocked mischievously, and his voice was impish. “No you couldn’t have.”

I pulled back. “What, were you going to
force
me?”

He sat up and collapsed with his back against the sofa, which was an improvement. Now he just looked tired, not beaten down.

“No, of course not. But there was no way you could say ‘no.’”

“Oh, because you’re
sooo
irre
sistible
,” I said mockingly.

His eyebrow arched higher and he grinned silently.

I started to blush.

“Fine,” I snapped. “Okay, so you are.”

He laughed, pulled me against him, and kissed me soft and deep.

Ohhhhhh…

That felt much better.

Until he pulled back and said, “I
am
pretty irresistible…”

Then he just laughed as I swatted him several times.

After I simmered down, he held me and stroked my arm. “What I meant was, when I set my mind to something, I don’t let anything stand in my way. And I was dead set on having you right away, anywhere I could get you.”

Heat rose inside me.

I wanted to touch him, to kiss him, to pull him into the bedroom – but stopped myself.

Now was a
really
bad time.

“So why don’t you just set your mind that you’re going to beat Miranda and your parents?”

He was silent for a few seconds. Then, finally, he said, “Because it’s conflicting with something else I want.”

“Which is… ?”

“Keeping you safe.”

I almost cried when he said that.

But then I pulled back and looked him square in the eye. “I don’t want you to worry about that. This is more important than me.”

“You say that now…”

He trailed off.

The unspoken end to that sentence frightened me, so I leaned back into him, and he encircled me with his arms.

We didn’t say much more until Johnny finally got back.

The penthouse door opened and in burst Sebastian.

“Oh my GOD, I left LA thinking I was coming to a party, and here I walk into a funeral.”

He wasn’t what I’d been expecting. I don’t
know
what I’d been expecting, exactly – Stanford from
Sex And The City?
Jack from
Will And Grace?
Neil Patrick Harris without the Barney womanizer schtick?

I certainly wasn’t expecting a six-foot-five guy with an unruly mop of platinum blonde hair that looked like a salon had spent two hours making him look like he’d just rolled out of bed. He wore top-dollar blue jeans, bomb-ass suede Italian loafers, a lavender t-shirt under a sports jacket, and a beautiful silk scarf knotted casually around his neck.

I just goggled up at him. It was Sebastian’s voice coming out of a good-looking, impossibly tall beanpole… but it just didn’t
fit.
Very disconcerting.

Connor smiled grimly at his assistant. “Thanks for coming.”

“You see? What did I tell you? I go on vacation, it all falls apart.” Then Sebastian’s eyes trailed over to me, and he feigned excitement as he clapped his hands together. “Ohhh, yaaay, our very own little Whore of Babylon!”

“Hey,” I snapped,
not
in the mood – and not happy to hear the word ‘whore’ thrown around so casually, especially in reference to me.

“You’re here to make things better,” Connor warned him, “not
worse.
”

“Oh, excuse me, I was under the impression that that’s exactly how Miranda is planning to paint her on the news, the internet, and children’s Saturday morning TV shows. Am I wrong?”

“You know?
Already?”
I asked, terror rising up inside me. I imagined the news was on the radio
at this very moment
, that he had heard it on the drive over –

“Johnny already briefed me on the basics,” Sebasian said.

I relaxed a little bit, knowing that Miranda hadn’t destroyed my reputation yet.

‘Yet’ being the operative word.

What scared me a little was how panicked I’d been to think it had already started.

Sebastian turned back towards the open door. “Where
is
Johnny? He’s got my things. And I have someone I need you to meet before we turn entirely to business. Ah, here they are.”

Someone else walked into the penthouse.

Javier, I presumed.

Again, not what I was expecting.

From Sebastian’s earlier comments –
I am having Mai Tai’s by the most delightful swimming pool with the most handsome man in California –
I was expecting a young Antonio Banderas. And, considering how Sebastian was, kind of flaming.

Not so much.

Javier was short –
much
shorter than Sebastian, probably about 5’ 5”. His skin was medium brown. He was dressed only in a formfitting black t-shirt, black dress pants, and swanky black shoes. He had an impeccably trimmed goatee, and his long hair was slicked back and pulled into a short ponytail. He had big, soft brown eyes and a friendly smile. He was carrying a heavy bag in each hand, which showed off his gym-worthy muscles. He was nice-looking in a very ordinary way – but he was definitely
not
the ‘most handsome man in California.’

I liked him immediately.

And I liked Sebastian even more for liking him – especially when I saw the look in Sebastian’s eyes. He was obviously smitten.

It was
so
cute.

“Javier, this is my boss, whose clueless ass I came to save,” Sebastian said, gesturing to us on the couch.

Connor darted a scornful look at Sebastian as he got up off the couch and extended his arm.

Javier dropped his bags, leaned in, and shook Connor’s hand. “Very nice to meet you,” he said in a mellow voice, with just the faintest hint of a Hispanic accent.

“Same here. I’m sorry to disturb your vacation.”

Javier smiled. “It’s alright. Sebastian cares about you very much.”

“Really?” Connor grinned. “You should tell him to demonstrate it in a less insulting manner.”

“Impossible, I’m afraid,” Javier shrugged.

“Ex
cuse
me, I’m
here
, aren’t I?” Sebastian huffed. “That’s demonstration enough. And
you,
” he said, tapping Javier’s nose, “giving away all my secrets…”

Johnny came in carrying not only a giant bag in each hand, but a smaller one under each arm. “
Damn,
Sebastian, how much crap did you
bring?
”

“Oh, hush. Javier, this is Lily. She’s the cause of all our current problems.”

“Sebastian,” Connor warned.

“Oh, I forgot, it’s not Lily, it’s your dick,” Sebastian said, as though suddenly remembering. “And your inability to keep it in your pants the last few days. You’re celibate for eight months, during which time I
beg
you to get a little action, and now you’re just
whippin’
it out in public – ”

“SEBASTIAN,” Connor snapped.

“Sorry, it’s the Mai Tai’s talking,” Sebastian said, not sorry at all.

I was grinning ear to ear as I got up from the couch. Despite Sebastian’s abrasiveness towards me, it was nice to see Connor get picked on occasionally.

And to be reminded that he hadn’t slept with anyone else besides me for eight months.