The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (75 page)

She moved herself closer to him.

"It's time to tell me everything." She
said.

He shook his head.

"I can’t Bella, it's been too long and I've
never told anyone what really happened that day."

Her face came closer to his, filling his
view, making her presence inescapable before him.

"I'm not anyone Harrison, I'm the woman you
saved from her own secrets."

"Your secrets and mine are different."

"You owe it to me Harrison." She lowered her
voice and came in closer still, crowding him, forcing him to
retreat further but there was nowhere else to go.

"You owe it to the mother of your child."

His breathing was rapid and labored. She put
a hand to his forehead and brushed his hair aside. His expression
looked to be carved from chilled solid stone but he was perspiring
and his flesh was anything but cold.

"Tell me Harrison. Tell me now. No more
secrets between us."

He shook his head weakly. Bella reached out
and found the button to lower his seat slowly down and then climbed
on top of him, straddling her legs over his hips. His rock hard
erection pushed against her ripe softness, surely he would crack
now?

She lowered more heavily onto him and felt
him strain upwards, involuntarily, his hardness swelling in
response to the firm enclosure of her thighs.

Leaning her elbows to his chest she came in
close to his face again.

"Tell me Harrison. We can beat this together
but you have to tell me."

He shook his head weakly, his face still
impassive but his rod throbbing like crazy against the wet heat of
her desire.

"I can't." His usually strong, resounding
voice had cracked. "Bella, we have to go… we can win this, Frank is
running scared."

Bella shook her head emphatically. "You don’t
know how many copies he's made Harrison." She pushed herself
against him as she spoke, causing him to release just the slightest
restrained moan. She would break him. Surely he would crack and
reveal everything to her.

She lowered herself further and wrapped her
arms around his neck, squeezing him hard against her.

"You need to be honest with me. Tell me
everything. He could have given copies to anyone, you didn't know
he existed until today, all your surveillance was in the wrong
place."

She continued to squeeze hard against him,
the fabric of her panties pressing against his bulge, the soft,
sustained pressure edging them both closer to the first prickles of
orgasm.

She stopped moving, clenched herself around
him and pressed her lips to his ear.

"Tell me." She whispered.

The burst of noise in the car sounded like a
tidal wave compared to the shared whispers they had been
exchanging.

"Sorry to interrupt, uh… whatever, Mr.
Demovic." It was Marsha's voice filling the car on loudspeaker.
"But Frank has reached his destination and left his vehicle. We
have a twenty minute ETA if we leave right now. Would you like us
to take care of it or will you be handling this yourself?"

Bella shook her head and pinned herself to
him, causing him to release another small groan.

"Are you okay Mr. Demovic?" Marsha sounded
concerned. "Do you need us to get you out of there?"

Harrison looked so ridiculously desperate
that Bella just couldn't hold the laughter in. She giggled like a
schoolgirl at his predicament.

"Well 'Mr. Demovic'?" She whispered. "Do you
need your team to rescue you?"

He shook his head to recover from the
mesmerized daze he was in.

"That won’t be necessary Marsha, we we're,
uh, just leaving."

"Roger that. See you at the helipad in
ten."

The line went silent and Harrison began to
gently extricate himself from Bella.

"I'm sorry." He said. "But now we really
don’t have time."

The moment was lost, but Bella was sure it
would come again. They were more alike than she had thought. The
billionaire playboy and the data entry girl had a whole lot more in
common than anybody could have ever guessed, at least in the power
that the secrets of their lives held over them.

"I'll wait." She said when she was upright in
the passenger seat again. "But not for much longer."

Harrison looked at her, one hand on the gear
stick, the other on the wheel.

"I'll make you a deal." He said. "We go take
care of your father first. Once he's no longer an issue then
I'll…", it was hard for him to even form the words, "then I'll tell
you everything."

Bella breathed a deep sigh of relief and
leaned in to embrace him but he held her back with a hand to her
shoulder.

"I'll tell you everything but the condition
is that you have to tell your story as well. No holding back."

She knew it was fair but still the very
thought made her gut contract sharply.

"If we're going to be together and be
responsible for this little one here," he looked down to her
slightly rounded abdomen, "then there can be no secrets between
us."

"You already know my story." She said.

"I've read notes on your story Bella, media
reports and public records, but you've never told me anything. I
want to hear your story, your version of events with no excuses, no
filters; just your truth as you see it."

Without wanting to she understood her man
even more. Of course he was afraid; she felt exactly the same fear.
The past was right there in their faces, looming over them and
threatening to destroy the future but still it was so hard to speak
out. She looked down to her belly and then back to Harrison
again.

"If you can do it, I can do it." She
whispered.

"You need to tell everyone. Everyone you care
about."

"I don’t know Harrison, I don't know--"

There was a loud thump on the roof of the
car. Harrison held her gaze for another second and then hit the
button to defrost the windows. Marsha was standing outside with a
look of frustrated disbelief on her face. She jutted a finger at
her watch and then waved her finger in a circle like spinning
helicopter blades.

Harrison nodded and then put his foot to the
gas.

The growl of the car's engine was loud, but
not enough to mask the sickening butterflies in Bella's stomach as
she felt her terrifying moment of truth come ever closer.

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

Frank and Mabel were back on the road again.
She was at the wheel while he made calls from the passenger
seat.

"We're about to become millionaires Mabel.
Payback time from that bitch of a daughter of yours."

Mabel was in no position to reply. Untreated
mental illness dating from her childhood had left her at the mercy
of her increasingly selfish and crooked husband. There was a part
of her that recoiled from the hatred he showed for their only child
but it wasn't enough for her to rebel against him.

"I just gotta figure out how the hell to get
our money without being double crossed by that rich asshole. He
thinks he's clever but he doesn't know who he's dealing with. I put
cuffs on plenty of those white collar scumbags when I was on the
force."

A plan was hatching in Steve's mind. He had
lost his trump card by handing over Bella, but there had been no
way around that. Now what he had was digital information. He was no
technology expert but he knew the advantage of digital versus
physical media. On the memory stick were scanned copies of
Harrison's records as a youth offender, details of the reason for
his arrest and the length of his incarceration. There was also a
detailed description of the events written by Harrison himself but
there was no real evidence it was penned by him, just a simple word
document. Nevertheless, together with the other evidence it would
make very compelling reading.

He dialed his daughter's number and smiled
when she picked up.

"Ain't this nice." He said sarcastically. "At
least we get to talk to each other more these days. Maybe blackmail
ain't as bad as people say it is."

"Where and when?" Bella said coldly and put
the phone on speaker.

"Aw, that really hurts baby." He said with a
cackle. Bella didn’t respond and his voice went serious. "Okay
bitch, this is how it goes down. I can’t trust that boyfriend of
yours so I'm getting out of town with mommy. No offence Harry, if
you're listening there, which I presume you are." Harrison didn't
reply either

"I don’t want ten million anymore." Steve
continued. "I'm a reasonable man. Mabel and I just want to live our
lives peacefully, so in exchange for us not revealing your
boyfriend's dirty past all you have to do is set us up with a nice
little offshore bank account where we can collect our monthly
checks--"

"Not happening." Harrison said without a
trace of emotion.

Mabel was pulling over to the side of the
road. "What the hell?" Frank looked up to see a routine highway
check taking place. He cut the call to his daughter as an officer
approached their vehicle and tapped on the driver's side window.
Mabel was frozen in terror.

"Please roll down the window ma'am." He
said.

She looked nervously at Frank who nodded his
assent and she hit the button.

"Is there a problem officer?" She said, her
voice laced with fear.

"Please step out of the vehicle ma'am. You
too sir."

"Me? What's going on here officer? I'm
ex-NYPD, is there anything I can--"

"We're aware of that sir. Please just step
out of the car."

Frank darted a look around, a second officer
was on his side of the car with one hand resting on her weapon. A
large SUV was rolling to a halt behind them.

"What the fuck is going on here?" He said.
The officer on the driver's side put his hand to his weapon.
Frank's own pistol was in the glove compartment but it might as
well have been locked away at home for all the chance he would have
to reach it. Besides, all he wanted was a pension from his good for
nothing daughter--payback for putting him in the hospital and
making him lose his job. He didn't need a gunfight with a
guaranteed stretch in the pen.

"What I mean is officer, just what exactly is
going on here?"

"I'm going to ask you just one more time
Frank, step out of the vehicle and keep your hands where I can see
them."

Frank didn't move. Despite his years on the
force his heart was racing. He looked over his shoulder and saw the
passengers of the SUV emerge.

"Shit." he hissed. "Don’t worry officer, I'm
not going anywhere. This is all just a misunderstanding."

"I'm sure it is Frank, now for the last time,
get out of the car and keep your damn hands where I can see
'em."

Frank slowly lifted his hands up and then
stepped from the car while the officer held the door open.

"Hey Bella, Harrison. What's going on here?
These officers appear to believe Mabel and I have done something
wrong."

"Shut up Frank." Bella said, holding tightly
onto Harrison's hand. "It's over."

The officer behind Frank moved to put cuffs
on him and began reading him his rights.

"You better get ready to have your whole life
spread all over the news rich boy. Think you can deal with that?
With all your--"

"It's too late Frank." Bella interrupted him.
"Harrison has already informed the boards of 2nd Chance and of the
Demovic Corporation about the information in your possession. All
the local news channels have received copies of the files you have
on your little stick so there's nothing left to negotiate."

"So what am I under arrest for?" He said,
beginning to struggle against his restraints. "Get these fuckin'
things offa me."

"Weren't you listening when I read you your
rights Frank?" The officer said. "The charge is attempted
blackmail. Now shut up unless you want it to be held in evidence
against you in a court of law."

"You've got no proof." He hissed from a mouth
squashed against the hard metal of the car's roof.

"Take a look in the back officer. In case the
audio and video evidence aren't enough." Bella said.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing
in there and you don't have probable cause." Frank could feel the
'double-cross' closing in around him.

"You're an ex-cop Frank." The officer said
drily. "Don’t talk to me about probable cause."

He popped the trunk and then walked around to
take a look inside while Frank disputed and wrestled uselessly. To
his knowledge there should have been nothing in there except a
spare tire and jump leads but he was pretty sure the cop would find
more than that.

"It's a set up." He shouted. "Whatever the
hell is in there, it's a stinking set up."

"Is this bag yours sir?" The officer
asked.

"No it is not. Nothing in there is mine. That
trunk was empty this morning. Anything in there was planted by
these assholes."

The officer put on latex gloves and carefully
unzipped the bag while Frank strained to see what was inside.

"Is this money yours Sir?"

"Money? I ain't got any money. All I got is
in my wallet. I don't know anything about that bag and my wife can
verify. Mabel, tell 'em that ain't our bag."

The bewildered Mabel looked nervously from
her thrashing husband to the officer and began shaking her head
rapidly from side to side.

"I don't know anything about anything
officer. I'm just Mabel. I don’t know anything."

"You stupid bi--." Frank hollered but the
officer restraining him pushed his face heavily into the roof of
the car.

"That's enough Frank. You're under arrest and
you're going down. Leave the lady alone." He put a painful lock
onto his arms and began hauling him to the patrol car.

"I think you'll find there's exactly one
million dollars in there officer, in marked bills. We have a record
of the serial numbers and they should match up." Harrison said.