The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (9 page)

"Since you signed an agreement to work with a
therapist to resolve your emotional issues. Since then."

"I need to fuck this woman and she is the
first one in three years who's come even close to making me feel
like this. Don’t you get it? This is the key to the whole
problem."

"You're telling me if you fuck her then
you'll stop throwing away the companies money? Is this thing really
that crazy?"

There was no answer.

"I don’t get the connection Jason. Is that
what you're telling me or not?"

"It's not that simple."

"Well the terms of the contract you signed
are pretty damn simple. She's therapist number three. Work with
her. Do
not
fuck her. Understand?"

Jason cursed under his breath.

"Promise me Jason. I want to hear you say
it."

If he made the promise he had to keep it.
That was his way. It had always been his. It was a part of who he
was like a lung or the beat of his heart.

"Shit. Fuck you Zach. Okay. I promise I won’t
sleep with her, but there's a time limit on this. Do you understand
me? Dr. Price has some personal issues of her own. She has a
hearing coming up next week which could be compromised by us being
together so I'll hold off until then. That gives you until Tuesday.
After that I will do what God damn I please and you can do all the
suing you want if you really want to go down that route. You know I
won’t make it easy for you."

"It's a deal. We'll talk Tuesday. You call me
on Tuesday because I'm not saying you have permission to fuck her
then either but if you're telling me we have until next week then
I'll take it, but you listen to me Jay, you're not the only one who
knows how to play hardball in this family. If we take legal action
it's going to be the biggest fight of your life. Don’t forget
that."

"So you'll leave us alone until Tuesday?"

"Until Tuesday. Midnight. Not a minute
more."

Jason smiled. He was happy with the
concession wrung from his implacable younger brother and the
threats of legal action meant nothing to him. They never had, never
would.

"I have to go. I'm at the Channel Five
Network building now."

"What are you doing there Jason? Don't do
anything embarrassing for Demovic, I'm warning you--"

The call ended without a goodbye. Jason
relaxed back into his seat, his face expressionless as they pulled
up outside an ultra modern glass and steel tower. He reached for
the bouquet of flowers on the seat next to him.

When his driver opened the door he
immediately switched into public relations mode, smiling easily at
everyone and anyone who happened to pass him by. He was good at
this and even complete strangers rarely failed to match his winning
joviality. Every movement, every gesture made it seem as though a
person of great importance and of great magnanimity was among the
masses and although most people didn’t recognize him, still they
could sense that he was a man of power.

He held the bouquet of flowers high and proud
as he strode into the Channel Five office building and submitted
graciously to the pat down from security.

"Would you mind these for me?" He said to a
pretty but heavy-set security guard who was standing by. "They're
for a very special lady. I chose them to match the color of her
eyes." The bouquet was exquisite. He had ordered them from his
personal florist with whom he spent thousands of dollars every
year. They always asked what the ladies eye color was and what she
had been wearing the last time they had been together. Luckily he
had an excellent memory for those things. The security guard looked
at him incredulously and was about to tell him where to stick his
flowers but he wasn't finished yet. "Your eyes are a lot like hers.
Sapphire blue." He gazed intently into the woman's eyes as he
spoke. She put out her hands to take the flowers but he drew them
back. "I'm sorry." He said. "Please forgive me. How gauche of me to
ask you to hold another woman's flowers." He turned to a male
security guard. "Do you mind? Please don't damage them." He plucked
one beautiful flower from the bunch and handed it to the female
guard. "This one's for you."

The hard as nails security professional
blushed and smiled as she looked up at the insanely handsome man
before her. She accepted the flower and then turned fiercely to the
other security guards who were watching and grinning.

"What the hell are you all looking at?" She
bellowed at them. Their eyes dropped and heads turned away in
frightened unison.

Beth Lindsay was just walking out of her
office to get coffee and to escape the excruciating atmosphere of
her workplace. Her eyes were hidden behind outsized sun glasses
which she hoped would obscure her identity if the gutter press that
followed Jason Demovic had decided to keep tabs on her. She had
already been given the dressing down of her life by her boss and
even her employment it seemed, was hanging in the balance. She
needed to be very, very careful what she said, what she said and
above all with whom she did it.

When she saw Jason Demovic standing in the
lobby she froze.

"Oh. My. God." She said, her jaw hanging open
on the last word.

"Pease excuse me." Jason said graciously to
the security team. "I see my lunch date arriving. Beth! Sweetheart!
I love the movie star look. Have you got somewhere we can put
these?" He held up the bouquet.

Beth walked over to him wordlessly and took
the flowers from his hands. He leaned in and placed one large hand
to the small of her back and drew her in effortlessly to place a
slow sensuous kiss on her lips.

"Come on. The limo is waiting. I have a table
reserved at Le Petit Choux and I don't want you to have to rush
your dessert."

Beth didn't say a word as he took her hand
and led her to the car. On the way out a Fame TV camera crew had
just arrived. Chauncey Tales jumped from the van and ran towards
the couple.

"Beth! Jason! A few words about your
relationship. It's Chauncey from Fame TV."

They were almost in the car, the driver just
about to shut the door and deny Chauncey her daily scoop when Jason
stopped him and gestured to Chauncey to come closer.

"Is Beth is wearing panties today Jason?"
Chauncey couldn't keep the sly grin off her face. If Beth or Jason
lashed out at her or her camera crew it would be network gold.

Jason stared at Chauncey for five long
seconds. The reporter held her breath. He was a big man and very
powerful. She was taking a risk but the payoff could be
tremendous--viral, YouTube clips making millions for her employers
and putting her at the top of the pile in her department.

Jason cracked his stern gaze into a winning
smile and then without a word turned to Beth and gave her a long
slow, loving kiss. When he released her she looked stunned.

"Did you get that shot Chauncey?"

"Wow Jason, that was steamy! I think I'm
getting a hot flash just standing next to you guys."

Jason winked. "If that's all Chauncey, Beth
and I really have to go. We're doing lunch at Le Petit Choux if you
want to follow us over and then later we're going lingerie shopping
but I can't disclose the location. You'll have to do a little work
to find out where that is."

"Lingerie shopping? Is that because Beth
still has a bare butt today?"

"Do you hear me complaining?" He smiled and
winked again. "Why do you think I only ever watch the Channel Five
news?"

The couple disappeared into the limo and sped
away. Chauncey turned back to her camera crew.

"There you have it folks. Looks like New
York's sexiest eligible bachelor is off the market, at least
temporarily. What is it that news reporter Beth Lindsay has that
cast the magic spell on her billionaire lover? Tune in to find out
all the latest in our special Beth Lindsay health, beauty, sex and
romance tips montage later on today. Looks like we have found our
It Girl of the week. Chauncey Tales, over and out."

Inside the car Beth sat as though in a dream
holding her flowers. She was in the middle seat of the limo because
of the booster seat which was still there from the night before.
She glanced at it and put the flowers down on the seat. As far as
she knew none of the three Demovic brothers had children. Her
reporter's nose for a story began to get the better of her.

"Jason." She said, her voice still breathy
from the surprise of being kissed not once but twice by the dream
guy of half the women in the country. "What's with the booster
seat? Can I put that thing down on the floor or something?"

When he looked at her his expression had
changed and his eyes shot through her but this time not with
affection. She shivered involuntarily.

"Jason?"

"Leave it where it is." He said sternly.

She nodded her head in mute shock.

"Do you understand?" He repeated.

"Yes. I understand." She answered
compliantly.

The bouquet of flowers slid slowly down to
the floor. Jason watched them fall without a move to prevent
them.

He took out his personal cell phone--the
ultra secret secure line for family and close friends only.
Scrolling down he quickly found the name he was looking for.
Glancing outside he watched the city flow past outside and felt a
deep knot of anxiety grip the pit of his normally fearless
stomach.

I've got to get out of here.
He
thought and began tapping an urgent message into his phone.

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

David hesitated, Melissa held her breath.

"Uh, okay, sure, even better." He said
finally. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Eight it is." David continued. "And
Melissa?"

"Yes?"

"Wear something sexy."

Melissa froze in her chair, rigid with
shock.

"Relax Melissa, God I can feel the rage all
the way across town, it's just a joke!"

"Not funny David. See you tomorrow at eight."
She ended the call and sank back into her chair. Friday night was
when most people let their hair down and forgot about their
problems until Sunday night or Monday morning if they were lucky,
but instead she would be torn in half trying to decide what she was
going to do about her controversial date tomorrow. If she figured
that one out then she would have to spend the evening with her
increasingly inappropriate supervisor working through the
embarrassing details of her disciplinary procedure.

Next Tuesday evening, post hearing, couldn’t
come soon enough, whatever the final outcome.

Digging her nails into the armrests on her
chair she unleashed a scream comprised of just one, short, angry
syllable:

"Men!"

"I hear you girlfriend." Sandy's muffled
response came from the reception area.

She allowed her head to sink forwards onto
the desk and as she did so the pounding from her metabolic
intolerance to alcohol and her late night intensified.

"Men." She whispered into the surface of her
desk.

Her phone beeped with a text message. She
slid her hand over to pick it up and saw that it was from Jason
Demovic:

'Bring passport tomorrow. Trip to Canada and
back.'

Flying to Canada?
She lifted her head
quickly and felt it spin. When she was steady she texted an urgent
reply.

'No time appt 8pm'.

She waited.

'Back in plenty of time. Bring passport.
Don’t be late.'

She pushed the phone away and closed her
eyes.

Men.

Melissa spent the evening until the wee hours
compulsively channel surfing. It was totally unlike her, but it was
also the second night in a row she had found herself doing so. She
studiously avoided Channel Twenty-Seven because she knew this was
where she would find Fame TV and the LiveWildCelbs program. She
almost never watched TV and certainly never trash TV but tonight
again she felt compelled. Somehow it was linked in her mind with
her seemingly illicit date tomorrow, should she choose to go.

Every hour that passed would make it more
difficult to refuse.

If refusing was what she even wanted to
do.

She checked the channel she was watching.
Twenty-Six. One down from Fame TV. Although she didn't want to
admit it, even turning the set on was already a confession of
interest in the man of her very, very questionable dreams.

Her finger hovered over the remote.

I don't need it. I do not need this.
She told herself.
I do not need him. I do not need to have sex
with him.

She gulped. Sex with him. The very thought.
She liked her dry lips and thought about the open bottle of wine in
the refrigerator from the night before.

No way. Never again.

She put the remote down but continued staring
at the screen. It was a wildlife documentary in which a python was
trying to ingest a crocodile while sinking down into a pool of mud.
The snake would drown before it got to finish its meal.

If it let the croc go it might still have a
chance of survival.

She watched the last of the animal's tail go
under before picking up her phone and then hesitated some more.
Jason Demovic had given her his personal number and told her to be
careful about what she did with it. If she was going to turn him
down all she had to was text him. Simplest thing in the world.

She chose a number from her short list of
personal contacts and after a short pause she hit dial and put the
phone to her ear. When the line picked up she was still staring at
the TV screen as though in a trance.

"Hi Suzy. It's me. Your big sister." She
whispered the words. "I think I'm having… I think I'm having a
nervous breakdown."

"Who is this? Melissa is that you?"

"It's me Suzy. It's really me."