Billionaire Romance Boxed Set (9 Book Bundle) (52 page)

Chapter Four

Will

The
bright store lights of Hargrove’s seemed more annoying than usual. I didn’t
even know why I was there other than needing a change of scenery and knowing
the store, with all its people was the safest place to go. Still, all those
people annoyed me and made me wish I stayed home.

That
was until I saw her. With a frustrated look on her face, she straightened up
the men’s fitting room. As she gathered a stack of dress pants to hang, I moved
further into the suit department not ready to let her out of my sight.

I
wondered if she’d be as easy as the others. While I regularly satisfied
whatever physical needs I had with the many willing women available to me, this
one was different. Most of those eager women were very proud of the work they
had done on their bodies, but it left me cold.

A
woman should be soft and curvy. The one I watched in the store had a round
plump ass and enticingly large breasts that jiggled as she walked. They
threatened to spill out of that low cut blouse she wore and that was something
I didn’t want to miss. She was quite the delicious package and with her short
height, I couldn’t help but think of her as ‘fun sized’ like the candy people
gave away on Halloween.

Turning
to look at the suits so I wouldn’t look like the deviant I really was, I
couldn’t keep my eyes off her. I looked back at her and our eyes met.
This is going to be easier than I thought. Now
to find out her name,
I thought as I smiled and made my way over to her.

***

As
I marched towards the exit, where my black limo waited at the curb, the crowd
parted before me as it always did. Stepping out of the department store’s large
glass doors, my driver opened the car’s back door and waited as I slipped
inside.

“Home,
sir?” He asked with a slight nod of his bald head.

“You
need to ask?” I growled at him.

Stewart
had been a driver for my family since I was a child. His appearance
was average in every sense of the word and it gave him the uncanny ability to
blend into any crowd. There were many little things that made me suspect he did
more for my father years ago than just drive. Stewart started working directly
for me fifteen years ago when I took over running the family business.

Stewart
and I had a long, complicated history. While we were as close as brothers,
there was much about him I didn’t know. To call him mysterious was an
understatement. Yet I trusted him with my life.

As
he merged the long black vehicle into traffic, the screen between us lowered.
Stewart’s brown eyes looked at me through his rear view mirror.

“Meet
anyone interesting?” He asked.

“Were
you spying on me again?”

“You
don’t usually take so long.”

I
noticed he didn’t answer my question but I let it slide. Having known him most
of my life, I knew I’d never get an answer.

“I’m
a busy man. I shouldn’t be wasting time in a department store,” I said.

I
didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts of her.
Deborah, as her name tag so nicely revealed.

Pressing
the button, I watched the screen rise between us then took a glance outside to
see how far from home we were. Through the tinted glass the city faded into the
distance giving me about thirty minutes alone with my memories.

My
mind couldn’t help but go back to when I first noticed Deborah piling her arms
with hangers. I wasn’t paying attention to the hangers though, it was her
curves that caught my attention. It wasn’t like me to not take what I wanted
when I found a woman I desired, but once I got closer I could tell she was
different.

Maybe
it was her clothes. They were well made yet obviously her own design. Clothing
didn’t normally fit a big girl so well. The way her pants hugged her bottom,
the soft sheen of the fabric highlighted her curves. Or that blouse…at once
showing a little too much cleavage but leaving me wanting so much more.

Unsure
if she would recognize me, I avoided her at first by busying myself by the new
suits. It annoyed me beyond belief that people knew me while I didn’t know
them. I valued my privacy but being the sole heir to the King family fortune
made it impossible to find someone who didn’t approach me with dollar signs in
their eyes. At least it was until today.

Finally
giving in to the urge to be closer to her, I approached. What I saw in her
sweet brown eyes wasn’t recognition though, it was something else. Maybe the
same desire I felt for her.

“Sir,
will you be heading out tonight?” Stewart’s voice came over the speaker
system, disturbing my thoughts.

“No,
I’ll be working tonight. Take the night off.”

“Thank
you sir, but I have other matters to attend to at the residence. You know I
never take off. Your security is of utmost importance.”

“You
don’t have to be so formal all the time. You practically raised me,” I
reminded him.

“Practically
and reality are two very different things. You didn’t need me, your parents did
a fine job before—”

“Just
drive,” I barked angrily at him. “Every day is enough of a reminder
of
before
.”

Hearing
the speaker quietly shut off, I gazed out the window again. The view changed
from tall skyscrapers to low buildings surrounded by grass and trees.

It
was the same view as always. None of it different than years ago. A view I
hated and looked forward to at the same time. I couldn’t help it. I was a
creature of habit. Certainly the only reason I still lived where I grew up was
more out of habit than anything. Although the home was private. And safe.

I
valued those two things above all. Knowing first hand the cost of familiarity,
I locked myself away from the public most of the time. Usually a trip into the
city would last me quite a while, but this time I was already thinking about
returning to Hargrove’s.

“Sir?
Forgive my intrusion,” Stewart said as he rolled down the divider again.

“What
is it? And stop with the sir bullshit. You know I can’t stand it.”

“You
know you can call the store for her schedule.”

Stewart
looked at me through the rear view mirror, his face stoic as always. Reaching
for the button, I stopped before clicking to gain my privacy again.

“Thank
you, Stewart. It’s not everyday I get advice on stalking innocent women.”

“You
are the expert…s
ir
,” he said. I
could tell by the tone of his voice he was reminding me who he thought was
really in charge.

The
limo jolted forward as Stewart slammed on the brakes. A small red coupe cut us
off, forcing us to slow. Stewart attempted to get around the slow moving car by
moving into another lane, but trucks on either lane beside us wouldn’t let us
out of our lane.

The
trucks picked up speed and blocked us in behind the red car. Stewart turned to
look at me, concern covered his face briefly before changing to an emptiness I
had first seen more than twenty-five years ago.

“Will,
whatever happens stay in the car.”

“What’s
going on?” I asked sternly.

He
began raising the divider and I hit the button on my side trying to stop it but
it was useless. The limo jerked to the side as one of the trucks careened into
us. The other truck moved over and I realized they were forcing our vehicle
wherever they wanted.

Pushing
us off the highway, they maneuvered us onto a dirt emergency access road. The
trucks allowed us more space and I wondered why Stewart didn’t just slam on his
brakes to escape. Turning around I got my answer.

A
silver sedan close behind us had two muscle heads with Aviator sunglasses on.
They looked like they meant business. As we drove further down the road, with
clouds of dust flying everywhere, the two trucks that were alongside the limo
veered off, leaving us with only the small red car and their cohorts behind us.

Suddenly
the limo jerked and spun as Stewart slammed on the brakes. Knocked to the side,
I scrambled as I heard a quick series of loud pops. The limo stopped, now
facing where we came from. As I reached to open the door, a smallish man in a
leather motorcycle jacket leapt from the red coupe and rolled on the road
before his car bursts into flames.

As
I ducked from the explosion, I heard the man scream as the fire engulfed him.
Stewart left the car. I tried the doors but they wouldn’t budge. I was trapped.

The
grey sedan’s front end was stuck in the rear of our limo. A couple of equally
large men exited the back doors of the car with the driver. The man in the
passenger seat, now covered in his own blood and glass from the windshield, was
obviously dead.

Kicking
the door, I tried to get out again. I wanted to help Stewart who was
outnumbered at three to one. Meanwhile he glared at the trio, his feet
shoulder-width apart, ready for anything.

I
had never seen him like this before. The man who dedicated most of his life to
raising me was suddenly larger than life with a look of danger in his eyes that
would put fear into most men.

In
a flash two of the men launched at him. Stewart fought them off with ease.
Wondering where the third man went, I searched for him from the windows of the
limo until I spotted him trying to get into the car.

“Bring
it asshole, I’m dying to kick your ass,” I growled at him.

The
doors didn’t work for him either. Using the force of his body, he threw himself
towards one of the windows. With fists clenched I waited for him to break into
the car, instead he bounced off like a toy.

Looking
like he grew tired of playing with the two men, Stewart quickly grabbed one by
the shoulder in a deadly dance, and spun him in one direction as he turned the
man’s head in the other. With a sly grin he beckoned the other man closer who
paused seeing his fate.

A
flash of light sparked out of the corner of my eye and a loud bang hit the
window next to me. I turned to see the third man holding a gun towards the car,
but again nothing happened. As fast as lightning, Stewart pulled out a sleek black
gun. He fired one shot at my assailant, then kicked the man attacking him in
the temple, causing both men to drop to the ground.

Stewart
spat at the ground, looking confident and deadly as he surveyed the three men
and then walked over to the limo. The car door opened for him with ease.
Without a word, he smoothed his hand over his head as if pushing his hair back
and put his driver’s cap back on. As he began driving, he suddenly became my
peaceful, aging driver again, only now with a satisfied smirk on his face.

This
wasn’t the first time I had been in danger and I knew it wouldn’t be the last.
Each time they attacked they got a little closer, but the end result was always
the same—they never got what they came for.

The
car slowed at the large, ornate iron gates of King Manor. No matter how many
years it had been since I rode in the car with my mother, the gates always
reminded me of her. She would tell stories about a trip to the French
countryside she and my father took before I was born. Originally these gates
were part of an ancient abandoned monastery and she fell in love with them. She
told her stories with such vivid detail I easily imagined the gates outside an
old dilapidated abbey instead of blocking access to the King family’s mansion.

While
I traveled extensively for business, I never took time for personal trips. They
were too dangerous so I never saw the monastery myself. Filling most of my days
with work, I made sure I didn’t have time for social events. I didn’t want any
part of them. My father enjoyed the spotlight and it killed him. I had no
interest in being a person people felt familiar with.

As
the limo went through the powered gate, I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Stewart had a point, it was easy enough to get the information I wanted.

“Thank
you for calling Hargrove’s,” the automated voice on the other end of the
call answered. “You’ve reached the Human Resources department. Your call
will be answered shortly.”

“Human
Resources, this is Joan.”

“Joan,
this is William King. I need you to give me some employee information.” I
said.