Billionaires On Holiday: An Alpha Billionaire Christmas Romance (2 page)

The man’s voice dripped in apologies.
It would have to, working for a man like James.
He was a trickster, an occasional cad, and loved playing every practical joke he could get away with. Arranging for multiple friends to stay at his villa on the same weekend was right up his alley.

“Well…” Monica pushed past Eva and motioned to the study. “We’ve got a fire and some brandy in here. Won’t you join us? You two look dreadfully cold.”

It was probably a good thing that someone like Monica was here first. She was a natural hostess, pleaser, and so good at diffusing situations that she could probably work for the police – when they weren’t hassling her place of business, anyway.

Ian shrugged and went into the study. Kathryn remained in the chilly foyer, exchanging glances with Eva, who was smirking like it was Christmas and her best friend was delivered as entertainment.
It’s not that I don’t want to see her… but this was supposed to be a romantic weekend for Ian and me.

“Throwing some wrenches into your plans, eh?”

Kathryn gave her friend a cold smile. “I had fully intended on having a Fuckathon this weekend.” She thought of Ian trying to guide her hand to his cock. The reason she didn’t go for it right there was because she thought she could go for it the moment they arrived at their guestroom.

Now they would have to wait until later. And probably try to keep quiet. What was the fun in that?

“Come on,
Katie,
” Eva said, giving her a hard time with Ian’s nickname for her. “Let’s have some drinks and make the most of this prison of ours for the weekend.”

They went into the study, where Ian was already pouring drinks for himself and Kathryn. After she took a glass, Kathryn sat on the couch by the fireplace, warming her body… although she would have much rather warmed her body with Ian’s. In bed. Or in a closet. They were not above that.

“If it makes any difference to anyone,” Henry began, standing in a corner where he perused the books on the shelves. “I hear we are having roast for dinner.”

I can’t wait.

“Indeed we are,” the butler said, appearing in the doorway. To Bernadette the maid he continued, “Be sure that all eight places are set.”

“Eight places?” Ian looked around the room. “There are five of us.”

“Uh oh.”

As if clockwork, Bernadette announced another car pulling up into the driveway.

Chapter 3

Jasmine

“Holy crap, this place is gorgeous!” Jasmine pressed her face against the glass, taking in the sights of the purple sunlight descending behind a grove of trees. A light snow was blanketing the tops of them. It didn’t stick to the ground, but the driver slowed down anyway. “Who did you say is letting us borrow this place?”

Ethan, her boyfriend, put his cell phone away. He had been glued to that thing ever since they came out of the dead zone a mile back. “James. The man I’ve been doing some business with recently.”

Jasmine nodded. She only recalled James because he and his girlfriend came by the Cole Estate one night for dinner, and Jasmine had to be on her best hostess behavior. While James and Gwen were an exceptionally laid back couple, Jasmine always fretted about her manners and not embarrassing her billionaire, CEO boyfriend. Lots of well-to-do people did business with Ethan Cole, the founder and leader of Cole Enterprises. Having a girlfriend who could be as uncouth as Jasmine was sometimes a liability.

Thankfully, she was a patient woman. She had to be, because Ethan would drag his work with him wherever he went.

“Put that away,” she chastised, smacking Ethan’s phone out of his hand. “You said that it would be all about us this weekend.”

Ethan cleared his throat and looked to the seat across from him.

“Uh, don’t mind me,” Nadia, Ethan’s office receptionist turned temporary assistant, took her boss’s phone and finished his business texts for him. “You guys relax this weekend. I will… take in the sights, drink some booze, and get paid my overtime.”

Jasmine sighed dramatically, flinging herself across the back of the seat and landing in Ethan’s lap.
Freedom from seatbelts in cars like these!
“I can’t believe you brought that much work with you…” She looked to Nadia. “No offense!”

“None taken.”

“I’ve told you, my flower,” Ethan said, stroking the top of his girlfriend’s head. “It’s the busiest time of the year. Not only do we have Christmas to contend with, but we need to get everything done before the holidays. Well, if yours truly can do that, then I’ll be able to take the whole week off between Christmas and New Year’s. Not a single conference call… assuming nothing goes to hell, of course.”

Jasmine groaned. “Don’t jinx it. And you taking a whole week off is like a solar eclipse. Happens so rarely that I’m blinded.”

Ethan flashed his perfect white teeth at her. “I thought those were my dazzling good looks blinding you.”

‘Ha, ha.”

“There’s a call coming in from Hong Kong, Mr. Cole.” Nadia passed the phone back.

Jasmine gave her a look that accused her friend of being a traitor.

True, Jasmine and Nadia were friends, going back to when Jasmine started working for Ethan a year ago. Usually Nadia was the 9-5 receptionist in Ethan’s executive office, but he was currently between personal assistants and desperately needed someone to fill in this weekend so he could get everything taken care of by Christmas.
I don’t want him working while we’re on vacation… but this is how he is.
Ethan only stopped working when he was too tired to keep going… or when Jasmine convinced him with her feminine wiles. She was only human, though, and couldn’t be on call for sex 24/7.
As much as I want to be…

She opened her bag and stared at her ruby-studded collar, encased in a clear container. Jasmine wondered if Ethan would want to take his frustrations out this weekend the old fashioned way.

The car came to a stop as it turned dark outside. Jasmine couldn’t see the villa, but she was sure it was as beautiful as the pictures James sent Ethan.

They didn’t
need
to borrow a villa for a weekend. Ethan had a penthouse in the city if they wanted absolute privacy to relax or be kinky. They also had the house in the Hills, which was where they lived fulltime. Ethan was so loaded they could go anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice.

Except this was an excuse. Emotionally, they needed this. Ethan had been so busy that he missed half of Thanksgiving, leaving Jasmine to sit with a cooling turkey and mashed potatoes until Ethan came stumbling downstairs with the sorriest look on his face.
At least I had the cats to keep me company…
Still, not the best way to spend their first Thanksgiving together.

Ethan slipped his driver instructions for picking them up Sunday afternoon before getting out and helping both Nadia and Jasmine to their feet. A maid came out to help with their belongings while a butler greeted them at the front door.

Jasmine heard other voices inside, including groans of disbelief.

They weren’t in the house for two minutes before a bevy of familiar faces appeared nearby.
What the fuck?
Three women. Two men. And jasmine knew every single one of them in some capacity or another.

There were her friends Monica and Henry, as well as Henry’s sister Eva looking like the most dapper person in the room with her three-piece suit and flawless makeup. Then there was Kathryn Alison, a socialite and philanthropist who talked to Jasmine often enough and even adopted a kitten from her.
Then
Kathryn’s boyfriend, Ian Mathers, a man whom Jasmine wasn’t very familiar with.

“You didn’t tell me that there would be others here…” Jasmine accepted a kiss on the cheek from Monica. “What’s going on, Ethan?”

Her boyfriend stood, intimidating in his business suit – certainly dressed more formally than the other men there. Henry wore his usual tan suit that was like a second skin to him, and Ian was dressed down – as far as billionaires went – in winter pants and a sweater. Ethan had crashed the wrong party.

“I would also like to know what’s going on,” Ethan said, handing Nadia his briefcase, who in turn passed it along to the maid to take up to their room. “I was under the impression that this was a private affair this weekend.”

“So were we,” came a chorus.

Ethan turned to the butler. “What is going on here?”

The butler shrugged. “Mr. Merange… only told me that there would be guests this weekend. I didn’t find out how many until a few hours ago. I believe you are the bulk of it.”

“There are eight of us, all right,” Ian muttered. He poured more drinks for the new arrivals. “It’s a fucking party.”

Nadia was the last to enter the room – and the first to try to turn around to leave.

“Oh, my,” Eva said, enjoying her drink next to Kathryn Alison. “Look who showed up.”

Nadia’s cheeks turned the pinkest hue Jasmine had ever seen.
Those two go back.
Every once in a while Eva Warren showed up at Ethan’s office for whatever business, and every so often Nadia had the distinct privilege of being heavily flirted with. Eva was one of the city’s most eligible lesbian bachelorettes… and Nadia was a beautiful lover of the female form. As far as Jasmine knew, nothing ever happened. Nadia always turned down Eva’s advances, although she confided to Jasmine one day that she thought Ms. Warren quite pleasing to be around.

She’s single, so why hasn’t she gone for it?

Jasmine sat on a loveseat by a chess table. Around her were six men and women all looking uncomfortably at one another. It wasn’t that they couldn’t get along, but Jasmine had quickly deduced that everyone had been told the same thing: James Merange promised them a private weekend getaway at this mountain villa. Except this was hardly anything
private.

Ethan ripped off his jacket and slouched next to Jasmine. “I’m going to wring his neck,” he muttered to his girlfriend. “I have no idea what his game is, but this is ridiculous.” He took a glass of brandy from Ian Mathers without thanks and knocked it back in one gulp.

After taking the glass back, Ian said, “I had a double as well. By the way, did you know that we’re having
roast
for dinner?”

“Hopefully nobody here is a vegetarian,” Kathryn quipped.

“Nobody here is a vegetarian.”

Everyone turned to look at Monica, sitting by herself next to the fireplace. She shrugged. It was her business to know the preferences of every elite person in the area. Especially those into kink.

Which every last one of them – perhaps sans Nadia – was into.

Jasmine sighed. Something was up, and she was starving. This non-vegetarian dinner couldn’t come soon enough.

Chapter 4

Monica

“I need to speak with you. Privately.” Henry’s breath was hot in Monica’s ear, sending a quick shiver down her spine. “Come.” His hand wrapped secretly around her wrist. Nobody paid them any mind as Monica rose from her seat and followed her Dom out of the study.

This is either good or bad.
On a night like tonight, Monica had a hard time telling. She could safely say she was a bit irate too.

“Where’s the nearest private room?” Henry asked the butler. “My fiancé and I need to make a call.”

The man pointed to a room across the hall. “The guest office, sir. It should be unlocked. You are free to use the landline if you wish.”

Henry put his hand protectively on the small of Monica’s back. “That won’t be necessary. When’s dinner? We’ll only be a few minutes, but I don’t want to miss it.”
The damned roast.
Monica could faintly smell it there in the foyer.

“Dinner should be in about thirty minutes, sir. Would you like me to put you into contact with Mr. Merange? Although he may not be available at this time.”

“No thank you. I’ll chew him out myself later.” Henry guided Monica across the hall, his pace rough and fast. The man was almost twice as tall as Monica, and it was moments like these that made her feel so overpowered… in a good way.
I’m being herded. Lovely.
She liked it when her Dom took absolute control. She contained a smile. Monica liked where this was going.

The room was dark when Monica entered, and it remained dark after Henry closed and latched the door behind them. As soon as Monica’s eyes adjusted to the faint light coming through the faraway windows, she felt her Dom’s hand touch her stomach and bring her into his backward embrace.

“I can’t believe the amount of people here,” he grumbled into her ear, hold as fast as a vice grip. “And I thought I was taking a chance bringing my sister with us. At least she would keep to herself…”

Monica shifted to find more comfort. What she found instead was Henry’s erection pushing into her back.
Oh, my.
“I had a feeling you were a bit ornery, sir.” And she had a feeling Henry would be interested in only one thing when they arrived. Finding as many people in their midst as they did must have thrown his game off. “I’m sorry I couldn’t take care of it earlier.”