The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (57 page)

"Hello?" The voice was scarily familiar, even
after all this time.

"Stacy? Is that you?"

"Bella, thank God you picked up."

Stacy was a girl Bella had shared a cell with
in prison and knew all about her past. They had looked out for each
other on the inside but after her release Bella had cut off all
contact with everyone associated with that world.

"Stacy… how did you find me?"

"It's okay Bella, I don’t want anything from
you. I understand why you didn’t contact anyone after prison. You
aren’t like me and the other girls, of course you didn't want to
have anything to do with us. We're not mad at you."

"Who's we?" The voice that had once helped
Bella through the lowest moments in her life now had a deeply
unsettling effect.

"Don’t worry Bella, I'm still on your side,
just like old times. I want to help you."

"I don’t need your help Stacy--"

"I know who it was that called you last
night."

Bella swallowed and tasted her own fear.

"You have to do what he says."

"I don’t know what this is all about Stacy,
but I'm hanging up now. Don’t call me again."

"Don't do that Bella. Don’t do it, he can
hurt you and not just with blackmail."

Bella hesitated. This could all be bullshit,
in which case it wouldn't matter to go along with it for a while
and find out what was really going on. On the other hand, if this
was for real then hanging up could just leave her at the mercy of
whoever it was who was threatening her.

"You're a smart kid Bella, you always were.
Don’t be stupid. You've got to listen to me. This guy who called
you, he's crazy, really crazy, but all he wants is money, that's
all, nothing else. Just get him what he wants and all this will go
away."

"Who is he Stacy? How did he find me? How
does he know who I am?"

"How does anyone know who you are? You've
been on TV honey? Ain't you seen it?"

Life had been so exciting and happy for
everyone recently that she hadn't wasted her time with the
celebrity gossip magazines or TV shows in months, but she knew what
the paparazzi were like and that they followed the Demovic brothers
everywhere so it was entirely possible her face had shown up next
to them somewhere.

"Who is he Stacy? And how did he get my
number?"

"I… I'm so sorry honey, it's all my
fault."

"What are you talking about? How can it be
your fault?"

"He's my boyfriend Bella. Christ kid, I can’t
tell you how sorry I am."

"The person who called me is your boyfriend?"
Bella was going into a state of shock. Stacy had been her guardian
angel in prison, but now she ruining her life.

"God forgive me Bella, I had no idea he would
do anything like this. You've gotta believe me that I didn’t want
this. He was always good to me until now but when I saw you on TV I
got excited and then he wanted to know how I knew you and shit… It
all just started from there. He's an ex-con, like you and me, but
he was a fraudster. I thought he was going straight now but when he
saw you…"

Bella's palms were wet and cold, her pallor
had gone distinctly gray. Stacy had protected her for years, saved
her life on more than one occasion, but she was also a consummate
liar. Like her new boyfriend, she had been a con artist and one of
considerable skill.

"…we've been so down on our luck Bella, so
goddamn down on our luck. I'm using again and nobody will hire us
and we ain't got no experience in anything except what we used to
do before--"

"Stacy, stop. Just stop it now. I don’t know
what you think but I haven't got anything to give you and I'm
leaving town now anyway."

"Jesus honey, please don't do that. Not after
all this time, it's so good to hear your voice again. You have to
help me get free from Steve, the guy is crazy. Please just give him
something. Please. For me. Remember how I helped you out? You
wouldn't have lasted one day on the inside, it was a crime to put a
little lady like you behind bars."

The memories were intense and unwelcome.
Although she had been raised poor and her mother had been in
trouble a lot Bella had never broken the law once in her life. Not
until that one single time and even then it had only been to help
her mom and because their backs had been pushed hard against the
wall.

"You're boyfriend is threatening me with
blackmail but he's wasting his time. Harrison already knows about
my past--"

"Does he? Does he know all about what you
did? Or does he just know you got a record?"

The feeling of constriction around Bella's
throat was increasing. Maybe that was true. It was possible he
might have been able to get the name of her crime but were all the
details a matter of public record? Would the authorities reveal
them?

"None of it matters," She said. "He'll never
see me again after tonight anyway. I disappeared once before and I
can do it again."

"Oh my God sweetie, please don’t do that,
Steve will be pissed and trust me, he
will
find you--the guy
has connections."

"A dope using ex-con who's down on his luck?
I don't think so."

"If he can't find you he can sure as hell
find Suzy and Melissa Price."

Bella had to sit down. The walls seemed to be
closing in and her vision was shutting in around her to the width
of a narrow, suffocating tunnel.

"Don't leave Bella, please don’t go anywhere.
Steve is a psycho, trust me. I'd leave the bastard but I'm too
scared. Please just give him something, anything-- even just steal
one of the rich guy's watches and then Steve can live for months.
It's all he wants; he'll leave you alone then until he needs more
money. In the meantime I'll get him onto some other scam and you
can go back to living your life the way you do right now. Believe
me kid, running ain't the way to solve this. Stay where you are, be
nice to this Demovic guy and he'll give you things. The guy's a
billionaire and he's into you. Me and Steve, we ain't got nothing.
Shit, he's coming, I gotta go."

The fear in Stacy's voice sent shivers down
Bella's spine. She remembered her friend as a tough and fearless
woman who would back down to no-one, so how could this Steve guy
have such an effect on her?

She put her phone down and looked at her wall
clock. The second hand ticked to 8pm and exactly on cue the
doorbell went.

It was her date and her decision time.

She let it ring one more time before she
stood up and answered.

"Mr. Demovic's car is here for you." A polite
and professional male voice informed her.

She looked at her packed bags and thought of
her friends; the two women who had given her a new life after the
darkness of her previous existence.

I can't run out on them.
She thought.
Not until I have this Steve guy out of the way.

She took a deep breath to steady her voice
and then put her lips close the intercom.

"I'll be down soon." She said, with a tone of
heavy resignation in her voice.

********************

When the driver opened the limo door the last
thing Bella expected to see was Harrison waiting for her. He had
said the car would pick her up, not that he would personally
collect her. She had planned to use the drive to prepare herself
mentally for how she would behave tonight and for how she would
answer his awkward questions, but now she would have to think on
her feet.

"Bella, you look really beautiful." Harrison
said. "Please have a seat. You have no idea how happy it makes me
that you chose to meet me tonight. Trust me, you won't regret this
decision."

If only that were true.
She thought as
she stepped silently and carefully into the limo.

Harrison, to her surprise, was dressed
casually. He still looked impeccable and rippled with athletic
muscle, but his clothes, although clearly expensive, were dressed
down and suitable for nearly any occasion. The relief she felt was
a surprise to her. Although she had tried to ignore it the pressure
to be well turned out for someone so rich and privileged, not to
mention hot, had always been there to add another fine level of
anxiety to the more serious issues at stake.

"Whatever your concerns are," he continued,
"put them aside, just for tonight."

Everything he said exuded authority.

"Is that an order or a request?" Bella said.
She had had enough of people trying to bend her to their will
tonight already.

"Definitely a request." He said, sure that
this would make her compliant to his desires with the least amount
of resistance.

"Okay then, I'll try."

Bella made herself as comfortable as she
could and the car pulled out into traffic. After a few minutes of
nervous silence for Bella and calm control for Harrison, the
good-looking billionaire spoke again.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind."
He said.

"I'm sure it's nothing compared to all the
things you have to worry about."

"I'm not worried about anything right now,
except for one thing."

"Oh really? And what's that?"

"I'm worried that you're here for the wrong
reasons."

"Then you have nothing to worry about at all.
I'm just fine. If I didn't want to be here then I wouldn’t."

"The problem is you don't look or sound like
the girl who was exchanging hot glances with me at her best
friend's engagement announcement two days ago."

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but did it
ever occur to you that running a background check on someone might
make them feel a little uncomfortable?"

Harrison considered her words. The girl next
to him was tempting in every possible way. She was still defying
him and it was still turning him on wildly. He had known it would
be risky to reveal to her that he knew about her past, but he also
knew that she wouldn't be sitting there next to him if he hadn't
played that particular card. That's why he had planned this date
differently to any other he had ever orchestrated. He couldn't get
this strange little girl off his mind and until he could get her
into bed, willingly, she would be his top priority.

"I'm sorry about the check but it's standard
procedure. Someone in my position can't afford to get involved with
anyone, no matter how attractive, without knowing who they
are."

The compliment wasn't lost on Bella. Despite
herself and despite the situation, she could feel her head turn
just a little more each time he snuck in a reference to her
attractiveness and charm.

"So why are we still here? If you know all
about me then why didn’t you just cross me off your list and leave
me alone? What's the point of a background check if you go ahead
and date… if you date people like me anyway?"

"What kind of people would that be?"

"Stop playing with me Harrison. You know what
I'm talking about, that's the reason I'm here with you now, because
of who I am, not because I made a free decision to be here."

"I don’t believe that for a second Bella, and
neither do you."

Bella's heart began racing again. Was he
right? Was she confused about her motives?

"You think you know everything there is to
know about me but you're wrong. You don't know a goddamn
thing."

He shifted in his seat and moved closer to
her, his proximity more alive and real to her than her own
existence.

"You're right." He said, reading her,
watching her, looking as deeply into her as he knew how. "I know
about your past but only what it says on paper. I don’t know the
real Bella Wilson and that has to change. Just don’t know the real
Harrison Demovic. You think you do, but in reality you know as
little about me as I do about you. You're pre-judging me Bella,
before you know a thing about me."

"Me? Pre-judging you? I'm not one who ran a
background check before going on a first date. What does that say
about pre-judging people? I don’t think I'm the one at fault
here."

Her words were angry but the truth was that
since she had stepped into the limo she had begun to
it
again; the same crazy attraction, pure chemistry and animal
magnetism that had made her face burn crimson at just a look from
him at the Demovic house. It was the same wild energy that had set
her on fire when his lips had met hers and for a fleeting, infinite
moment she had forgotten about everything else and been in ecstasy
in his arms.

With all the troubles weighing down on her
now another moment of escape seemed more desirable than ever.

If she had to pre-judge this man on anything,
then she would have bet all the money in the world on his being the
greatest lover imaginable. If one kiss could make her troubles
disappear in an instant then what would a whole night with him
do?

She felt his strong, warm hand cover her own
and she didn’t move, didn't draw back. She glanced down to her arm
and noticed the expensive watch he was wearing. Stacy's words
echoed through her mind;
just steal one of the rich guy's
watches and then Steve can live for months. It's all he
wants.

She shook her head, disgusted at the thought
Stacy had polluted her mind with.

"Just trust me." Harrison said in his deep
voice.

Why not?
She thought as she felt her
body respond inexorably to his warm touch.
I can pretend. And
who knows, maybe Stacy can take care of this, get rid of Steve and
then maybe…

No. That was just crazy. She looked at the
man beside her, gazing at her intently.

"If I say I trust you," she asked, "then what
are you going to do me?"

"Whatever you want me to." He said slowly.
Stacy didn't move, she didn't dare. What she wanted him to do to
her could be summed up pretty easily.

Save me.
She thought, not daring to
look at him. She kept her head down and remained perfectly still.
Harrison's hand never left hers for a moment of the remaining
journey and when the car finally pulled into a ritzy spot in
Midtown it was with reluctance that he let her go to leave his side
in the limo.