S*x and Secrets: Alpha Billionaire Forbidden Romance (3 page)

Levi’s eyebrows drew together. “Must you really go? I was just enjoying our chat. Usually we’re so busy fucking we don’t have time for conversation. You’ve never told me anything about your childhood before.”

I shrugged. “There really isn’t much more to know. I’m boring as batshit.” I tilted my head so I could take in his beautiful face. “But yes, I really need to go.”

With a swift movement I rolled away from him to the edge of the bed and got to my feet. If I stayed a moment longer, I might just have been tempted to break the rules and stay. TV cameras were unforgiving. I needed to get to sleep soon or risk looking a hot mess during my interview.

“You couldn’t be boring if you tried.” He chuckled softly, but then his expression turned serious. “I bet there’s a lot more underneath that well-composed exterior. Something tells me I’ve just scratched the surface with you, Montana, and that there’s much more than you’re willing to show me.”

Casting my gaze to the floor to avoid those deeply penetrating eyes, I searched for my panties under the bed. Luckily they were right by my feet, so I swept them up and slipped them into my skirt’s pocket. I couldn’t be bothered putting them back on when I’d just be having a shower and going to bed as soon as I got back to my apartment.

Straightening my back, I gave Levi a crooked smile. “Exactly why I don’t want a husband. Too many questions.”

L
oosening the top button of my woven dove-grey-and-white Chanel jacket, I shuffled in my chair until I was comfortable and crossed my legs, showing off their length while plastering an enormous smile on my lips. My hands were folded loosely on my lap, and I was confident that I looked sharp and professional.

I faced the camera.
I’m ready.

Three.

Two.

One.

“You’re live,” a male voice said into my earpiece.

Regardless of how many interviews I’d done, my nerves ate at the insides of my stomach. I’d learned how to keep my hands from trembling, but my knees were like jelly.

“Good evening Miss Marx and welcome to ABN.” The handsome host in the expensive tailored suit leaned back in his chair as he appraised me from head to toe.  

“Please call me Montana. We’re like old friends already, aren’t we, Jake?” I smiled warmly at the camera. I’d been a guest on American Business Network, or ABN, before for winning an award. “Even the viewers know me a little by now.”

Jake shook his head. “Actually, we know surprisingly little about you, Miss Ma . . . Montana. Since it’s your one-year anniversary coming up at Drake & Sons, I went through the old footage of previous interviews. I was surprised to find that you mostly evaded questions about your personal life. But since we’re friends, as you rightly said, I want to go back a year, if I may.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. What to do? If I protested too hard he’d become suspicious and maybe dig deeper than I’d like him too, so perhaps if I indulged him at first, I could steer the questions in the direction I wanted.

At least I can try.

“Sure, Jake, as long as your questions are business-related, fire away,” I said with a laugh, hoping my high level of anxiety wasn’t transparent in my voice.

Jake licked his lips like he was onto something, and I couldn’t help clasping my hands together briefly before taking a deep breath and purposely unfolding my hands, resting them in my lap to appear more relaxed.

“Interesting . . . and I don’t know how I missed this before—” He paused to give me a shit-eating grin which sent a shiver down my spine.

Deep breaths, Montana. Deep breaths.

I nodded to encourage him to continue. Not that I really wanted him to; I was petrified of what he may have dug up. If my arrangement with Levi Barrington ever became known, my career was well and truly screwed. Levi may have had enough clout behind him to recover from the scandal, but it would spell the end for me at my company and I loved working at Drake and Sons.

Fighting the urge to wipe my clammy palms on my designer skirt, I straightened my back as I waited for Jake’s big question. My heart thudded in my earpiece and small droplets of sweat broke out on my skin. God, I hoped everyone watching would put the profuse sweating down to the strong camera lights burning down on me mercilessly. I could practically feel my hair frizzing under those warm lights, so a little perspiration would appear natural.

Industrial espionage was a huge thing at Drake & Sons. I’d signed a tree’s worth of paper on watertight contracts in which the company had the right to claim my firstborn and every other child for the next ten generations. They didn’t make it to the top ten in the Communications industry without being thorough and meticulous.

Bernard Drake and his two sons had accepted me into their fold as if I were family. They treated me like a valued member of their team, but as surely as what I was sitting there—one wrong step and I’d be out on my ass. That was just the way our business worked. It wasn’t a game and it wasn’t meant to be fun.

All the goodwill, all the hard work—
everything
would mean
nothing
if the boss thought I was sleeping with the enemy and leaking company secrets during pillow talk.

They’d never understand that Levi and I had sex only and never discussed business. I mean, who’d believe such a ludicrous story? Both Levi and I would be the first to be skeptical if we heard of such a preposterous idea. Rival companies each stayed on their own turf. That was just the way it was done. Until Levi and I broke the rules . . .

Jake’s voice broke through my apprehensive thoughts. He smiled like a cat who’d just scored a large bowl of cream. “I understand from a trusted source that you actually interviewed at your biggest competitor before you were offered a position at Drake and Sons. Is that true? And if so, why did you favor the smaller father-and-sons business when you could have scored bigger and better at the number one company?”

I almost sighed with relief. So far this wasn’t too tough to answer. I smiled sweetly at Jake, making eye contact and holding it.

I’m not afraid of you.

Okay, that’s a total lie, but fake it till you make it, right?

“I applied and interviewed at both companies on the same day. I wasn’t partial to either at that point, but certainly eager to get into a Fortune 500 company.”

Jake smirked. “I’ll bet. For a small town girl, landing a job at either the number ten or number two company would be an enormous achievement.”

Even though it was meant to sound like a compliment, it wasn’t. I gritted my teeth and smiled, determined to keep cool.
You condescending prick. I got the job because I’m smart and I worked my ass off. It doesn’t matter where I came from.

I didn’t miss a beat. I gestured toward him with a sweep of my hand. “Well look at you, Jake. Who would have guessed a small-town boy could become a TV star?”

Jake’s eyes widened, and the smirk slid from his face. I’d hit a nerve alright. Thanks to my photographic memory I’d remembered an article I’d read in a magazine a while back. The writer had alluded to Jake’s humble beginnings. If it wasn’t confirmed then, it certainly was now.

It takes one to know one
. I could spot anyone who grew up in a small town a mile away, regardless of how hard they tried to hide it or how polished they appeared to be when they moved to the city. There was always something that gave them away, from the type of food they preferred to their favorite music or a turn of phrase. Obviously Jake had the same misplaced talent.

I wondered what it was about me that gave it away? I’d certainly never offered that information to
anyone.

Not that there was anything wrong with growing up in a small town. I’d loved it when I was a kid; playing outdoors till dusk and knowing all the kids in the neighborhood were bonuses in my opinion. It was what had happened there that drove me away, not the place itself.

Jake’s tone had an icy edge to it. “So tell us how you landed your job to become the first female executive at Drake and Sons. And why you chose them over Barrington-Essex? I’m assuming you had a reason for your choice? I mean, who wouldn’t go for the number two company over number ten if given a choice.”

I cleared my throat before answering. “Interesting question, Jake. Let’s just say there was more scope and better chances of growing at Drake and Sons. My work could really make a difference and help the business go up the charts. I thrive on challenges, and that’s exactly what I get from my current position.”

Jake leaned forward, and for a moment I imagined he was going to touch my leg or arm, but then he sat back with a smug look on his face and folded his arms across his chest. “Well, that sounds feasible. But since you had an interview at the number two company, could it possibly be that they turned you down?”

Sneaky little bastard.
Was he implying that I wasn’t good enough for Barrington-Essex?

I crossed my legs in the other direction and lifted my chin.

“When I left the interview I’d had with Mr. Barrington the Second, all I had was a promise he’d call within a week if I was successful at landing the job. I had the distinct impression that he was old-school and not too crazy about hiring a female for an executive position.” I paused for effect and looked straight into the camera with a slight smirk.

What would the old man’s reaction be if he knew that I was secretly screwing his son?

“
His loss
,” I said, with all the conviction I could muster in my voice. Did it make me a bitch that I hoped he was watching the interview and he heard my comment?

Jake raised a carefully plucked eyebrow. His forehead hardly moved.
Botox?
Jake was a hell of a lot braver than I was, and I had to give him kudos for that. I was petrified of injecting toxins into my body that numbed my nerve endings. When it had become fashionable and a few of my friends had hosted Botox parties, I’d made the decision that I’d rather wear my wrinkles gracefully than risk those damn toxic injectables.

Jake’s voice brought me back to the moment. “You’re saying that Mr. Barrington is sexist?”

I laughed. “Don’t put words in my mouth, Jake,” I scolded, with just enough playfulness that it didn’t sound too harsh.

“What are you saying then, Miss Marx?”

It didn’t go unnoticed that Jake had reverted back to being formal. “Mr. Drake Senior and his eldest son, Beckham Drake, saw my potential at the first interview and snapped me up immediately, before I even had a chance to mull things over like I usually do. They made me a ridiculously good offer on the spot—a great salary, shares in the company, a car and driver at my disposal, as well as an extra two weeks’ annual vacation, which included the use of company facilities, like the yacht and the villa on a Greek Island.” I paused to draw in a deep breath. “There was only one catch.”

“And that was?”

I smacked my lips together and said, “He wanted an answer before I left the interview.”

“So you said ‘yes’ on the spot?”

I tugged at my jacket ends to pull it down and nodded. “It was a no-brainer. I’d done extensive research on both companies before, and I’d learned that although Drake and Sons was a decade younger than Barrington-Essex, it was a force to be reckoned with. I’ve never regretted my choice. The company I work for is dynamic, fast-growing, and cutting edge. Every day is a challenge and keeps my adrenaline pumping. Frankly, I love my job.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re just one big happy family at Drake and Sons?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. One big happy family.”

Until Levi and I got caught out, of course.
But I wasn’t telling Jake that part.

U
sually I had the TV muted in the mornings while I drank two cups of coffee, just glancing at the screen occasionally to catch the latest developments. But today I was riveted, glued to the potential screw-up that was unfolding before my eyes.

I knew Jake Monroe, aka Jake the Snake, well.
Too well.
He was a sneaky bastard. Charming and witty, he lulled his unsuspecting victims into believing he was just conducting a friendly chat. But then the sting came—usually in such a way that there was no backing out. He cornered and devoured high-powered business people and dug out dirt from the most unlikely sources.

Surely Montana is aware of Jake’s tricks? Fuck, if she drops the ball, we’re in deep shit.

In business there’s the saying: any publicity is good publicity.
I disagree.
Vehemently. Some things were simply better kept under wraps. If only Montana had told me she was interviewing with American Business Network, I could have warned her.

So far she was holding her own, keeping the interview under control. Yet by reading her body language, I could tell that she was squirming in that chair. Talk about anything in general that was related to business and she couldn’t shut up, but get close and personal and she closed down. In the time I’d known her, I’d hardly learned anything about her past directly from her. Most of what I did know I’d read in the thick file we gathered on all our competitors.

I knew every inch of her delectable body. I knew the moaning sounds she made when she was about to come and the louder ones when she was in the throes of an orgasm. I knew what drove her insane in the bedroom. I knew the color of her eyes but not what her favorite color was.

It’s pretty bizarre
. Knowing someone so intimately, yet not at all.

Before Montana, I’d had a string of beauties to warm my bed and service my cock. At a mere scroll through my contacts list, I could always find a lay at short notice whenever the urge grabbed me. But I’d become tired of the endless stream of changing faces and the effort it took to remember their names and what they liked in bed. I hadn’t needed that list in a long time and neither did I intend using it again any time soon.

I wiped the sweat off my brow. If my arrangement with Montana leaked out the whole thing could come crashing down. I didn’t want to have to end what so far had been the best sex of my life.