Billionaire On Fire: The Complete Series (A Bad Boy Alpha Billionaire Romance) (5 page)

"Oh my gosh, you're so
right! How silly of me!" she laughed as she pulled out a pen and wrote her
number on my hand. I breathed deeply as I felt her hands cupping mine and
smelled the fresh scent of her hair inches away from my nose. I fought the urge
to grab her and kiss her again. When she was done, she looked up at me for a
moment before leaning in and quickly kissing my lips, and then she was gone.

I watched her walk to the
door and let herself in. She turned and waved before disappearing into the
building. Only when the light went on in the second floor apartment she'd
pointed out did I start the truck and drive away.

The whole ride home, I wondered
how long I needed to wait until I called her for a second date.

#

When
I reported for duty the next morning, the
overnight crew ribbed me about my new role as station tour guide.

"So, you've decided to
pick up a second job, have you, Connor?" Mike Kelly laughed as he and
Victor cooked breakfast.

"Who told you
that?" I asked as I poured a cup of coffee and sat down to read the paper
ignoring the wolf whistles coming from the couch on the other side of the room.

"The guys going off duty
said you were pretty hot and heavy up in the bunk room with some little blonde
you'd offered to give a tour to," Mike said as he flipped pancakes on the
griddle.

"Yeah, they said the
only thing that stopped the action was the alarm," Victor added as he
moved the sizzling bacon from the pan to the plate on the counter. "You
take her home and get some?"

"Jesus, Vangel," I
said shaking my head. "It's always about the score with you, isn't
it?"

"What else is
there?" he asked looking mystified by my disgust. “We’re young,
red-blooded, American males, and women love guys in uniforms.”

“You’re a dick, Vangel,” I
said. “I happen to view women as human beings, not a means to an end.”

"Ooooh, it's love!"
Newsome said in a singsong voice that made even me laugh. "Conner's in love!"

"Dude, I just met her,
it's not likely," I said waving them all off as I tried to focus on the
Tribune's headlines. It wasn’t love, but I certainly liked Alex more than any
woman I’d dated in the past few years.

"So, why'd you bring her
here?" Kelly asked.

"We went to O'Neil's for
dinner and got to talking about our jobs and I offered to show her where I work
since I'd already seen where she works," I shrugged. "Nothing
terribly complicated."

"You've seen where she
works?" Victor said. "I didn't know you were attracted to strippers,
Connor!"

"Vangel, shut the hell
up," Newsome said without a smile. “No one wants to hear any more of the
offensive shit you have running around in that little brain of yours.”

"What did I say
now?" Victor asked as he looked back and forth between me and Newsome.
“I’m just talking about getting very real needs met.”

"Why do you always have
to take it a step too far, Vangel?" Mike asked as he flipped the last
batch of pancakes onto the platter and yelled, "Breakfast is served! Come
and get it!"

Victor shot me a smug look
that told me he knew exactly what he was doing. I let it go, knowing that
pursuing it would not end well, and asked Newsome if he'd heard anything about
promotions.

"Nah, nothing yet,"
he said cutting up a stack of pancakes and drenching them in syrup. "But
Chief Riley told me that they'd be making announcements about new positions in
the next week or so. Damn, I want to make Lieutenant."

"I hear you," I
said biting into a crispy slice of bacon and chewing slowly. "You think
any of us have a real chance?"

"Some of us more than
others," Victor muttered at his plate.

"What does that mean,
Vangel?" Mike asked as he helped himself to another stack of pancakes.

"Nothing," Victor
shrugged. "It just means that some of us are better suited for promotion
than others."

"Why do you always have
to be such a condescending asshole, Vangel?" Newsome said in an irritated
tone.

"I don't, I'm just
right," Victor said as he focused on his breakfast and ignored the mumbled
curse words aimed at plates. We all had formed an intense dislike of Victor
from the moment he entered the station. He hadn’t done anything to make it any
easier, either. He had a reputation as a dangerous firefighter and as an
arrogant know-it-all who had no problem lording his knowledge over the rest of
the guys. He hadn't been popular when he'd first joined the force, and his
popularity level had declined every year. I tried to avoid him as much as
possible because every time he opened his mouth, he made my blood boil.

"You hear about that
fire on the North Side last night?" I asked trying to change the subject.
"Preliminary investigation says it was arson and that it's linked to the
fire we were at last week. Says it's a landlord who is trying to evict tenants
by bypassing the proper legal channels."

"If I had to deal with
all the crap they have to deal with, I'd probably do the same thing,"
Victor muttered. The rest of us ignored him.

"Anybody hurt?"
Mike asked.

"Looks like some of the
building's occupants were taken to Chicago General, but no firefighters
hurt," I said scanning the article again. I had a funny feeling about the
recent string of fires, but since I couldn't connect it to anything concrete, I
let it go.

Tesla whined to go out and
Newsome motioned that he'd take care of it while I cleaned up breakfast dishes.
As I was elbow deep in a sink full of suds thinking about Alex and the way it
had felt to kiss her, Victor sidled up next to me and said, "I need to
talk to you, Connor. When you're done."

"What do you want,
Vangel?" I asked irritated that he'd interrupted my thoughts.

"I don't think you want
to discuss it out here in the common room," he said raising an eyebrow.
"Meet me in the bunk room when you're done."

"If you're running a new
deal," I said. "I'm out."

"Oh, this is something
you'll definitely want to be in on, Connor," he smiled, but it was a slimy
smile that didn't reach his eyes. I hurried up and finished the dishes and then
quickly made my way up to the bunkroom.

Victor was on his bed in the
far corner, back against the wall reading a new issue of Playboy. I rolled my
eyes and walked over to him.

"What do you want,
Vangel?" I asked. "And make it quick."

"You'd be wise to speak
a little more respectfully to me, Connor," he said as he put the magazine
down, cover facing up. "I've got some information that will interest
you."

"What is it?" I
asked in a bored tone, knowing that Victor was mostly drama without much
evidence.

"Well, it seems that
someone has leaked information about the new security team that will be
protecting the mayoral candidates this year," he said looking at me
expectantly.

"And your point
is?" I shrugged. I knew that it was unlikely that Victor had any real
information and that this was a fishing expedition designed to get me to tell
him what he suspected, but didn't yet know for sure.

"I think you know the
CEO of Chicago Security Company, don't you?" he asked.

"Yeah, Leo Marini. I've
known him since we were kids," I said. "What about it?"

"Well, there's some
rumors floating around that you're far more involved with the company than just
knowing the CEO, Connor," he said quietly as he stalked his prey. The
problem with Victor was that he always counted on having more information than
he actually had, so I knew that if I continued to play dumb, he'd give up out
of frustration.

"And again, what's your
point, Vangel?" I asked looking down at my fingernails and then back up at
him. "Rumors fly about everything in this town. Three fourths of it isn't
true, so I'm not sure why you're talking to me about it."

"Look, I was trying to
give you a heads up about what's being said out there, but if you don't care,
well," he shrugged. "Then I guess I can take it elsewhere and see
what I can get for it."

"You're going to take a
dubious rumor to whom, exactly?" I laughed. "I think if you're going
to sell information to the highest bidder, you'd better make sure it's actually
true first, don't you? Don't make yourself into any more of an ass than you
already are, Victor."

I could see the blood rising
in Victor's cheeks as he fumed over my insult. He'd been counting on me rising
to the bait, and when I didn't, he didn't know where else to go.

"You'd better watch
yourself, Connor," he said narrowing his eyes. "My sources are solid
and I'm in a position to release your financial records to the papers. Then
what would people say, huh? The poor firefighter who they donate money to every
year is one of the richest men in the city. How would that play out, eh?"

"That money goes to
charity and you know it," I said rising to the bait. "Why would you
want to ruin that?"

"I'm sick of seeing you
being lauded as a hero after what you did," he said standing up so that we
were face to face. Victor's mouth was twisted into an ugly grin as he spoke,
"You destroyed her. She was a good girl from a good family and you
destroyed her. You moved her into a house that was unsafe and she died because
of your selfish negligence! If it hadn’t been for your stubborn insistence, she
never would have been working at that clinic."

"You son of a
bitch," I seethed as he spoke. "I loved her. I would have never in a
million years put her in danger, and you know it, so fuck off."

"That's it, just shrug
off responsibility like you've always done," Victor said shaking his head.
"God, you live such a golden life, Connor. Nothing can tarnish your
saintly halo, can it?"

"What's your beef,
Vangel?" I said through clenched teeth. "Why the hell are you so
concerned with what happened in my life?"

"Don't play stupid with
me and act like you don't know," he spat.

"I'm not, I seriously
have no idea what your damn beef is, Vangel," I countered.

We'd known each other in high
school, but then most of us had gone to the same school. Victor and I had
played on the football team together, along with Mike Kelly and Danny Newsome,
but other than the fact that we hadn't run in the same crowd, I had no idea why
Victor was so angry with me.

"Never mind," he
said. "It doesn't matter, but what does matter is that you need to support
my bid for Lieutenant at this house or else I'll release the information I've
got about your security firm, and then everyone will know that you're a
deep-pocketed billionaire who's stealing money from the donors who fund your
charity."

"I'm not bilking
anyone!" I growled. "You can't do that!"

"I can do anything I
like," he said smiling as he narrowed his eyes again. "I'm the one
with the information, and the connections to the higher ups in the department."

"You're a
son-of-a-bitch, Vangel," I shot back. "Mind your own damn
business!"

"Well, your business is
integral to me minding my own," he grinned. "So, minding your
business is rather like minding my own. Can I count on your support? Then
again, if I can earn the support of the Chief, I might not need you and the
other guys."

"Asshole," I said
as I turned and walked toward the door to the bunkroom.

"I'll take that as a
yes," he said before sinking back down on his bed and picking up his
magazine.

I ran down the stairs and
burst into the common room muttering curse words under my breath.

"Something wrong,
Cam?" Newsome asked as he played tug with Tesla.

"Fucking Vangel," I
cursed as I walked out to the bay where I spent the next hour checking
equipment and hoping for a call.

CHAPTER
TEN

Alex

It
was three days before I talked with Cam again.
Between his schedule at the firehouse and my school and work schedules, we had
trouble finding time when our free time coincided. He wasn't very good about
texting, but then neither was I, so we contented ourselves with the odd phone
call here and there, and joked about our old school dating style.

"We're taking this back
a couple of decades, you know?" I laughed as I walked over to Liz's
apartment to pick her up for class. It was a cold morning and I could see my
breath as I chatted with Cam.

"Yeah, but what was so
bad about the nineties?" he asked. "I mean, all that hair and synth
pop, it was cool."

"You're weird," I
laughed harder. "Were you into that stuff?"

"Nah, I'm a classic rock
guy myself," he said as I heard the overhead speaker announce a call.
"Sorry, gotta run! Talk to you later!"

"Be careful!" I
called as the line went dead. I quickly covered the block to Liz's apartment
and pressed on her buzzer. When there was no answer, I dialed her number and
waited for her to pick up.

"Wha…what?" Liz
said in a sleepy voice that told me she was nowhere near ready to leave for
class.

"Liz, it's Alex! Get up,
you're going to be late for class!" I yelled into the phone. Two seconds ,later
the door buzzed. I yanked it open and ran up the flight of stairs to Liz's
apartment where the door stood ajar. Liz was fumbling with her clothes in the
bedroom as she tried to get ready as fast as she could. I stepped into the
kitchen and was dismayed to find dishes piled high in the sink and nothing but
beer, sparkling water and a couple of chunks of moldy cheese in the fridge.

"Liz, when was the last
time you shopped for food?" I called out.

"Dunno," she said.
"Few weeks ago?"

"What are you surviving
on?" I asked as I turned on the tap and tried to get some hot water in the
crusty dishes.

"Granola bars and
whatever I can scrounge at work," she shrugged as she opened a cabinet and
revealed several boxes of granola bars stacked on top of one another.

"This is not healthy,"
I said shaking my head. "We're going to have to change this situation this
afternoon, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah,"
Liz nodded as she looked at me through glassy eyes. "Whatever you say. Do
you have any aspirin? I got a migraine coming on, I think."

I dug in my bag and produced
a bottle of ibuprofen and poured two into her hand. She proceeded to pop them
in her mouth and swallow without drinking anything.

"Liz, are you all
right?" I asked feeling concerned about my friend.

"Yeah, fine," she
nodded. "Just up late studying and I don't feel so good."

"Let's pick up some food
on our way to class," I suggested as she gathered up her books and
supplies. "I think you'll feel better once you eat."

"Sure," she nodded
as she stood staring into space before suddenly remembering that she needed her
coat and gloves. "Lemme get my stuff."

"I'm worried about you,
Liz," I said quietly as she pulled on her coat and shouldered her
backpack.

"Don't be, kiddo,"
she smiled. "I'm good."

We stopped at Panera on our
way to class and bought a bag full of bagels and cream cheese along with two
steaming hot coffees.
 
Liz ate two bagels
right out of the bag on the walk to class. I stared at her, wondering what was
going on, but the bagels seemed to improve whatever it was that had been ailing
her, and by the time we reached the classroom, the Liz I knew and loved was
back.

"So, what happened with
lover boy the other night?" she asked. "You two go back to your
place?"

"Liz!" I laughed.
"No, we got dinner and then he took me on a tour of the fire house before
he dropped me off."

"Oh my, aren't you two
so cute!" she said as she clapped her hands and pulled another bagel out
of the bag. This time she covered it in cream cheese and ate half in three bites.
"It's like a good old-fashioned romance! Jimmy Stewart and all."

"Stop it, Liz," I
said looking down at my boots suddenly feeling ashamed that she saw me as a
prude. "I did kiss him, you know."

"Oooooh, this is looking
up!" she laughed and then when she saw the serious look on my face stopped
and patted my shoulder. "Awww, don't get worked up about it, kiddo. I'm
just teasing you."

"I know, but I'm not a
total prude, you know," I said defensively. "I have needs, too."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah,"
she nodded biting into the other half of the cream cheese covered bagel and
getting the creamy white topping all over her nose. "I know you do. You're
just better at keeping those needs at bay than the rest of us. I'm jealous of
your ability to delay gratification, actually."

"You are?" I asked
surprised by this revelation.

"Hell yeah, I am,"
she said. "I'm impulsive; an in-the-moment girl who can't deny herself
anything. Gets me into trouble a lot, but you know that."

"Are you in trouble,
Liz?" I asked grateful for the chance to swing the conversation in her
direction.

"Nah, I'm good,"
she said waving me off. "I'm just...you know. Me."

At that moment, Professor
Jackson entered the room and signaled the start of class. She began class with
a lecture on the lymphatic system and the ways in which it functions as a
filter for all kinds of bacteria and debris that enters the body. I spent the
hour taking copious notes and redrawing the diagrams Professor Jackson created
on the board.

At the end of class, I looked
over and saw that Liz had put her head down and fallen asleep on the desk.
Irritated with her inattentiveness, I poked her awake knowing that later she'd
be borrowing my notes to study for the exam.

"Miss Baker, I'd like to
have a word with you," Professor Jackson said as we pulled on our coats
and prepared to head over to the anatomy lab. "You may go on along to the
lab, Miss Pierce."

I gave Liz a concerned look
as she shrugged, then I walked out into the corridor and waited for her.
Something wasn't right with Liz, but by the time she walked out of the
classroom, she'd regained her sassy manner and spent the walk over to the lab
mimicking Professor Jackson's academic concern. She had me giggling until I
couldn't control myself as my doubts about her slipped away.

"So, tell me about the
boy," Liz said over lunch once we'd finished our anatomy lab assignment.
"Was he a good kisser?"

"Mmm hmm," I nodded
with a mouth full of peri peri chicken. I swallowed, and said, "He was an
incredibly good kisser. I wanted more, but the alarm broke it ,up and then when
he drove me home it didn't feel right, you know?"

"No, I do not
know," Liz said as she picked at the cucumber salad. "If I want to
have sex, I have sex. I don't have this weird guilt thing going on. Where does
that even come from?"

"Probably the
church," I mumbled as I put another forkful of chicken in my mouth.

"Ah, I see, that's why I
have no guilt," she grinned. "No church doctrine to cloud my
upbringing."

"It wasn't all bad,
Liz," I said feeling both guilty and ashamed. I hated this mix of
feelings, and had fought it my entire adult life. I always felt like I was
fighting a battle against corruption and freedom to make my own choices, and I
never felt like I won, even when I made good decisions. "It's just
that..."

"Just that you wanted to
take him upstairs, strip him naked and have your way with him, and you let the
guilt take hold and drive him away?" she asked in her blunt way.
"Look, there's nothing wrong with making healthy choices, Alex. I'm not
saying you should hop in bed with every guy that crosses your path. In fact,
don't do that. It's not healthy, but you are an adult female with a sex drive
and occasionally you're going to meet men who seem like they would be good at
taking care of your needs. Don't shy away from those guys."

"You make it sound so
easy," I said as I picked up a sweet potato fry and popped it in my mouth.
"It's not always so clear cut. Plus, I don't want a guy I like to think
I'm easy."

"Oh, please, give me a
break," she said rolling her eyes. "I'm sick and tired of that double
standard that says that men always want sex and women are just waiting for Mr.
Right. That's bullshit, and you know it. This is the twenty-first century;
we're allowed to have sex when and where we want to so long as it's safe, sane
and consensual."

"Where do you learn
these things, Liz?" I laughed. "It's like you've been studying sex
and writing lectures."

"Maybe I have
been," she said grinning as she finished the food on her plate and gave me
a mischievous grin. "I want ice cream. Let's go get some!"

We stopped at Jenny's for
scoops of the infamous Salted Caramel ice cream and Liz gave me her lecture of
responsible sexual behavior. She had some good points, and by the time she had
finished, I was fairly sure that I'd convinced myself that sex with Cam Connor
was a stellar idea.

"Oh shit," Liz said
as we were finishing up our treats. "Here comes the human wrecking ball
and her two chains."

"Well, fancy seeing you
two here," Violet said with a smile that told me she wasn't at all glad to
see either of us. As usual, she was impeccably dressed and not a hair was out
of place. "I would have thought you'd be at the library studying given
your performance on the last test, Baker."

"Yeah, well, I believe
in taking my chances rather than jamming my nose up the professor's ass to
ensure my grade," Liz shot back. Violet and her friends gasped before
frowning disapprovingly. I wondered if they practiced the expressions so that
they could do it in unison.

"I don't have to brown
nose, Baker," Violet sniffed. "I received a good education, unlike
some people."

"Yes, Violet, we're all
very aware of the fact that your daddy has more money than God and can buy you
the best of everything," Liz said licking her spoon obscenely sending a
shock wave through the small group yet again. "It's really too bad he
couldn't invest some of that money in a personality or a soul for you."

"You're a terrible
person," Jessica Watkins hissed as she grabbed Violet's arm and tried to
pull her away from the table.

"No, I'm really
not," Liz said. "It's you three who are terrible. You are petty, mean
and small little girls who bully everyone. You just don't like me because I'm
not intimidated by you. Go on, now, shoo. We're done here."

Violet, Jessica and Lydia all
shot nasty looks at Liz before turning back toward the counter.

"You think that was a
good idea?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow and tipped my head
questioningly.

"Screw them," Liz
said waving a hand in the girls' general direction. "I'm tired of their
bullying tactics and I'm sick of everyone cowing to them. I'll take my
chances."