Undercover Billionaire Boss: A BWWM Contemporary Romance (7 page)

The children carried their own plates to the counter and then ran upstairs to get ready for bed.

Raina joined him and dried the dishes as he cleaned up. They worked in companionable silence. Christian was painfully aware of how close she was to him and her light and airy perfume invaded his senses. He was reminded again of how long it had been since he’d had a woman.

“Were you born in Florida?” Her soft voice broke the tension that had settled between them.

“Oh no, my parents and I lived on the outskirts of New York in a small rural town called Riverview.” Christian said. “My mother was a teacher and dad was an engineer.”

“Do you go back to visit often?” she said.

He hesitated, then told her the truth. “No. My parents are both dead.” Christian replied.

“I’m so sorry; a death in the family is very painful.” She looked up at him with compassion and her large brown eyes shone with unshed tears. He realized she did know the pain he felt, and whatever pain she felt was very fresh.

Christian contemplated asking her about the children then thought not to. If she wanted to confide in him, she would in her own time. Besides, he had learned that Raina was a private person; it was unlikely that she would want to talk about it with him—an employee.

After the dishes were cleaned up, Raina invited him to share a cup of coffee in the living room.

The kids, now wearing their pjs, were sprawled on the carpet working on a puzzle.

“Ah, the silence.” Raina said as she handed him the steaming cup of coffee.

For some reason, Christian felt like talking, especially because he knew that she was curious about him. Somehow they fell into companionable conversation as they watched the kids play. He told her about growing up with his parents and how his dad had lost his job and fallen prey to the bottle. He told the tale in a matter of fact way, he had come to terms with his childhood long ago and the issues of the past no longer bothered him. He stuck close to the truth but avoided mentioning some important things in his history.

Well
,
three billion important things
, he thought wryly, as he recalled the state of his bank account.

Still, what he shared was not something he had ever confided to any women in his past. It felt good to speak the truth to Raina for once. He sensed she would not judge him—hell, if she didn’t judge the “homeless handy man” there wasn’t a judgmental bone in her body, that was clear. For once in his life he felt completely free. Free to be himself.

It was ironic,
he thought a bit grimly,
that to be himself he’d had to become someone else.

Suddenly, he wished that their friendship could have begun on an honest note. He wished he could tell her that he was the owner of the Del Mar Hotels.

Then he imagined her reaction. A wall would come up between them and the Raina he saw now would disappear from him forever. She would feel humiliated and think that he had been toying with her. Besides, as much as he had strong feelings for her, it was important for him to remain undercover and figure out what was really going on at the hotel. He still needed to find out where the missing funds were going.

“Wow, that’s a harsh way to grow up.” she said as she finished listening to his story.

“Not really,” he smiled a bit sadly. “I know a lot of people have it worse. At least my mom was there and she was working, so we never went hungry.”

“You have a good attitude about it.” Raina said. Her lips curved up and she pulled her knees up to her chest. He sat across from her, watching intently. “That was something I liked about you—that first day.” she reminded him. “When you came into my office you didn’t blame anyone or make any excuses for whatever happened in your life.”

He nodded curtly and then brought his mug to his mouth, hiding the slight grimace he made.
Lies
. So many lies. He needed to get the topic off of himself so that he could stop lying to her. Every lie he told her was one more he would have to apologize for—someday.

“I passed your boss in the hall the other day—Roger?” Christian said, keeping his voice casual, steering the conversation in another direction. “He seemed—intense?”

Raina made a face, one of deep disgust that didn’t go unnoticed. “Be careful around him, he … he’s had people fired over the flimsiest of reasons.”

“Really?” His tone invited her to continue.

Raina wrapped her arms around herself in a manner he noted as a protective one, as though she was trying to shield herself. She shot an anxious glance at the kids, noting that they were engrossed with their puzzle before she continued. Still, she lowered her voice so they would not hear her.

“Don’t worry. He probably won’t bother you.” she laughed grimly. “Lucky for you that you’re not a woman, otherwise, you’d be very familiar with him.” Her lips turned up in disgust. She looked away, but he noted her arms were covered in goose-bumps and she was almost trembling.

Christian was puzzling over her comments, when Chantal looked up from where she sat on the carpet.

“Aunty, did you decide who will come to school for Father’s Day?”

Raina took a deep breath to steady herself and slowly let it out. He noticed she plastered a bright smile on her face before answering. “I haven’t sweetheart, but don’t you worry about it. I’ll figure it out.”

“Father’s Day?” Christian said. He watched the little girl bite her lip and then nod.

“Yes, they have this thing at school where fathers go in for an hour or so. It’s a special event every year. The problem is the school hadn’t thought of kids without fathers or other male relatives.” Raina explained in a whisper.

“They don’t have anyone?’

Raina shook her head. “No. No, the only family any of us have is sitting right here in this room.” Her voice was soft but he heard the pain in it.

A small part of him noted that
he
was sitting in the room with them as well, and he briefly wondered if she had overlooked that fact.

“That has to be tough on you.” Christian said, turning his body toward her. He wanted to reach out and take her small hand in his, but he worried about her reaction.

“Not as tough as it is for them. Only a year ago, they had both their parents and now they only have their Aunty Raina. I’m hardly a good enough substitute.”

“Don’t put yourself down, Raina, it doesn’t suit you. Besides, if you hadn’t risen to the occasion, what would have happened?”

Raina shuddered visibly. “They’d have been split up.” she whispered. “I’d hate to imagine them in foster care.” She squared her shoulders.

“Yes you’re right; feeling sorry for myself doesn’t do any good. Besides, the joy they bring into my life more than compensates for any issues that come up.” Christian shot her a smile and she returned it back. That was the Raina he knew.

The rest of their conversation was carried out in whispers and Christian enjoyed the sudden intimacy but it was also giving him indecent ideas. He followed the delicate line of her neck with his eyes and longed to trace the rich smoothness of her skin with his lips. He would have given anything to take her into his arms at that very moment and kiss her as she had never been kissed before.

His face remained impassive, his thoughts hidden and his desires private. It would definitely not do to seduce the woman who was both his boss and now his landlord.

The conversation returned to work and Raina made him laugh with her descriptions of their colleagues. It was clear that her favorite person was Kelly, the head housekeeper.

“She’s a nice person, she’d give anyone the shirt off her back. Just … be careful she doesn’t take her shirt off and try to give it to you.” Raina winked at him. “She likes you, you know.”

Christian groaned and threw his head back. The last thing he needed was for Raina to think that he had designs on Kelly.

He sighed. “She’s a nice girl but the truth is that I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I have enough on my plate as it is.” Christian said, implying that his financial problems would not allow him the time or peace of mind to date.

Raina nodded understandingly and he suddenly realized his words had also shut the door for Raina to regard him romantically.

He groaned once again and adjusted his pants.

After the kids had been hustled off to bed, Raina and Christian’s conversation had continued long into the late hours of the night.

R
oger screwed
his eyes as he observed the monitors. His eyes were fixed on the camera positioned in the hallway that led to the staff offices.

He noted, with narrowed eyes, that Raina and a maintenance man were standing very close to each other; it looked like they were whispering and Raina reached out her hand to pick an invisible piece of lint from the man’s forearm. Roger frowned when she threw her head back and laughed at something the man said.

Raina had a body he had been dying to get his hands on since the first time he had laid eyes on her. It was a body made for sin and the fact that she wore those uptight professional clothes all the time made it even hotter.

He knew how the game was played—it was the same one all women played. She would make him sweat for it, she would make him pay a pretty penny before she would give in—but like all of them, eventually she would.

Still he was getting tired of that game. He wanted to screw her, pound her, nail her, and get it over and done with. As soon as he had her, Roger knew that he would lose interest and he could finally move on to other pursuits.

It had always been like that for him. A woman would capture his imagination and he would enjoy the sweet anticipation of the chase. But after he got her in between the sheets his interest faded almost immediately. He thought of women as a game of roulette. Except with women, he was never on a losing streak. Roger’s fists clenched when he remembered his loss from last night.

The Orlando slot machines did not favor him like the ones in New York. He had lost three hundred grand that he could not afford to lose. And a week before that he’d lost another two hundred grand; each time chasing wins to cover previous losses.

He had nothing to worry about though. His nephew, Christian was a bleeding heart half-wit who’d gotten lucky in finance. He would never suspect that his own uncle was fleecing the company. Roger’s little money siphoning scheme was going very well. Creating shell companies and submitting false invoices for supplies that were never delivered had turned out to be child’s play. And best of all, since he was the one who audited the books and fielded the complaints, no one would be the wiser.

Besides, Roger figured he deserved the money. Christian had so much; in fact, the least he could do was give Roger one damned hotel of his own. But when Roger had asked, Christian had just put him off.

After all, Roger thought spitefully, he was Christian’s only remaining relative and at the rate each of them was going, neither was likely to sire any children any time soon. Roger because kids were a damned disgusting nuisance and Christian because he clearly didn’t trust women and never wanted to marry. Though, from what Roger had heard, his nephew went through his fair share of stunning ladies. Clearly chasing after beautiful women ran in their family.

He chuckled, prompting the two security men to look at him. Roger snarled at them and turned on his heel. He did not care what “
the help
” thought of him.

His nephew though? Well, he did care a bit what Christian thought of him—only because he needed Christian to trust him. As it was, his nephew kept him at bay, giving him responsibility, but not a ton of control over Christian’s growing empire.

Roger had tried to be friendly but was rebuffed every time, so he had given up and kept their contact to their professional and distant familial relationship. He remembered the questioning about the drop in income from the Palm Beach Del Mar that Christian had subjected him to over a month ago and his face reddened with anger.

His nephew had treated him like nothing more than a hired hand, asking why the Palm Beach hotel was doing more poorly than the rest.
It’s business
, Roger had tried to explain to him, though his instincts had been to fling the file he was holding at Christian and walking off. Common sense told him that it wouldn’t be the smartest move.

The fact was that he still needed his nephew. He still needed his job. And he still needed the money he was able to siphon off from the Del Mar.

It was time he quit gambling
, Roger told himself—and he would …
after
he had recouped his losses.

He left the control room without a word to the security guards and strolled across the lobby, on the lookout for any influential people he knew. One never knew with hotels. Most of the important people that Roger knew—from the mayor to major business owners, he had met at one of the hotel properties he managed. Schmoozing and offering upgrades did a great deal to help grease wheels and win favors.

“Mr. Del Mar?” the restaurant manager came rushing up to him.

“Yes?” Roger replied curtly.

“We have a rather difficult guest who—"

“Can’t Raina sort it out? She’s the manager isn’t she?” he said impatiently.

The restaurant manager looked at his feet and started to make excuses. Roger turned on his heel and left him standing there mumbling to himself.

He felt a twinge of annoyance. What was it with people, why couldn’t they do their jobs without involving others? He thought then to give that order to Raina; it would give him an excuse to admire those curves again.

Not that he needed any excuse to enter any office in the hotel, but there was something about her that made him feel like a schoolboy going to see the headmistress. The thought of Raina wielding a whip and looking down on him sternly got his body hot. He wiped his nose and adjusted his trousers where the thighs met before entering her office.

He stood at the door admiring Raina. His eyes went down to the shadowed swell of her breast and he imagined tweaking her dark nipples until she screamed out with desire. She looked up then, startled to see him standing there. He got a sense of satisfaction when he saw her reaction.

“You look beautiful.” he said his breathing coming out fast.

Roger felt hornier than he had in years and he contemplated taking her right there and then in her office. He shut the door and moved towards her keeping his eyes locked on her. He knew that as soon as he kissed her, all her protests would die away. They all pretended not to want, yet deep down, she was as hungry for him as he was for her.

She stood up and backed herself into a corner. Roger kept going, observing her body movements. Her chest heaved up and down, making her nipples strain out of her blouse. He grinned when he realized that they were on the same wavelength.

‘Raina, stop resisting me. You know you want this.” Roger groaned. “I can give you everything you’ve always wanted, if you’re a good girl.”

He closed the distance between them and reached her, running his fingers down her bare neck. He let his finger run further down until it reached the full curve of her breast. He anticipated squeezing her nipple and maybe even sucking on it. Biting it gently and then harder. The strain against his trousers grew. Roger closed his eyes in ecstasy and in one fluid movement; he gripped Raina by the back of the neck and brought her mouth to his.

He probed her closed mouth until his tongue found an opening. One moment he was in ecstasy and the next, searing pain, as though his mouth had been burnt with hot metal. He jumped back and clutched his mouth, moaning aloud.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?
Bitch
! Are you insane?”

“
Don’t touch me again, you bastard!”
Raina shoved him hard and he fell back against her desk, hitting his spine on the sharp corner. He fell to his knees in pain as she ran from her office.

Roger’s lips were bleeding. The stupid bitch had bitten him hard. His feelings quickly changed from unbridled lust to seething anger and hatred. Who did she think she was?

“You’ll pay for this! You’ve taken your games too far this time. Mark my words, you’ll pay for this.”
he shouted after her, not caring who heard him.

Roger reached into his pocket and removed his pristine white handkerchief and dabbed his mouth with it. He wanted to cry out in pain. He looked down and realized that his white shirt was stained with drops of blood.

He felt murderous.

How had he ever thought her attractive? She was a disgusting animal! She didn’t know the honor he had given her in deigning to give her his attentions.

He rushed to the door and after checking that there was no one in the hallway, he ran to the washrooms. He stood at the mirror and checked his mouth. His lower lip was swollen to almost the size of his thumb. Roger swore angrily.

He poured cold water on his wounds, wincing every time he touched his raw lip. Next, he poured cold water on the collar of his shirt and attempted to rub off the blood. Most of it came out but his face still looked like he had been run over by a truck. Knowing that he wouldn’t relax until he had figured out how to pay back that bitch, Roger hurriedly left the washrooms and went to the temporary office he used, which was the last one in the hallway.

He shut the door and sat down thoughtfully. The longer he sat there seething—both about his unfulfilled lust, that stupid bitch Raina, and his gambling problems, the more they all seemed to intermingle.

Christian had been at him to figure out what was happening to the profits of the hotel and Roger could feel that the excuses he had given weren’t going to satisfy his nephew much longer.

But … He could solve two problems with one stone
.

The idea came to him in a flash. He could get his nephew off his back and and teach that bitch a lesson she wouldn’t forget.
No one
messed with Roger Del Mar.

It had been easy dipping his hands into the hotel earnings. He had simply ordered the supply manager to have several more supply companies added to the records. Shell companies that he had registered overseas and of which he was the secret owner.

Every month those companies submitted invoices for goods that were never delivered, and every month Roger found himself a little richer.

Roger had been patient, he hadn’t been taking much, content to build his wealth over time. But now he was tiring of that too. Why should he have to wait when he had done all the work and it was his ass on the line if anything happened. One of the supply managers had gotten concerned though, and gone to Roger with his suspicion that something was not quite right.

Like him, the supply manager liked to gamble, though his chosen game was poker. A thin, unassuming, sniveling man, the moment Roger had hired him he had known that he had found a weakling who could help him carry out his plans.

Roger thought hard. If he could have the records altered so that the bank account money being deposited into an account he could tie back to Raina, she would be done. Christian would come down on her like a ton of bricks and have her behind bars in no time. He smiled with a good deal of satisfaction at the neatness of this idea.

Who would be laughing then? She would wish over and over again that she had not played those stupid games with Roger Del Mar.
Well,
he imagined with a smirk,
she would have 10-20 years to think about her mistake.

He thought back with longing at the missed opportunity of burying himself between her curvy thighs and of gripping that perfectly rounded ass. Well, there were plenty more whores in Palm Beach though, Roger told himself. That other little tart, Kelly, might be just the ticket, or perhaps that kitchen helper with the huge tits.

Still, he felt a sense of failure, a feeling that he was not familiar with. His pride was wounded and felt like lashing out some more, but where to turn?

Planning Raina’s fall had not entirely given him the satisfaction he had expected, and he paced up and down the office, agitated. He took calming breaths.
Kelly.
There was a girl who would be willing to do as he asked. She smiled at him demurely every time they were together and her eyes spoke volumes about her feelings for him.

She was too slim for his liking with thighs hardly bigger than his own forearm, but still, he would enjoy a romp with her. He wondered if she would be hot in the sack, holding nothing back. Or if she would enjoy his wild side, not complaining when he bit too hard or brought his whip down harder than was the agreement.

Despite her slimness, she did have curves in all the right places. She was not Raina, but she would do. Who knew? Kelly might even hold her own grudge against her boss, Raina, who behaved as though she ruled an entire kingdom. Feeling much better, Roger went to the table and poured himself a glass of water.

He winced when the glass touched his lip. Wanting to get his revenge over and done with immediately, Roger left his office intending to go to the Human Resources department where Horace had an office. He stopped midway down the hall when he heard Kelly on the phone. Wanting to confirm his suspicions that she was indeed a good little whore, he pushed the door open.

She wasn’t on the phone. Sitting across her desk was the same maintenance man that Roger had seen Raina with a few days earlier. They were going over a work order.

Kelly looked up at him, while the maintenance man pulled his cap lower and bowed his head at Roger.

“Don’t let me disturb you.” Roger said his voice loaded with sarcasm.

Employees had this ridiculous idea that without them, the hotel would not function. He looked at Kelly now and then at the man, knowing how important they imagined themselves to be. He gave a sneering smile. To his surprise, the man he had barely glanced, jumped to his feet and shuffled out the door, his back half turned to Roger. There, that’s what Roger described as respect, that was a man who knew his betters. The man knew where his money came from and he was quick to show it.

On Kelly’s face he thought he saw a fleeting expression of irritation which quickly changed to reverence. From his games in the casinos, Roger had learned to read faces. He could tell what someone was thinking just by observing their mouths and the tilt of their heads.

“How can I help you, sir?” Her voice dripped kindness.

“No, no, Kelly, it is I who can help you.” Roger said. “Do you know? You’re my favorite person in this place, and I thought I would give you a little warning. As a friend, you see.” Her expression changed and he saw real fear in her eyes. Roger liked that. It would make his work much easier if she was frightened of him. Usually, he enjoyed a chase but was now tired of it. He wanted a quick lay and soon—no playing around this time.