Billionaire's Threat (10 page)

“Do you care?” I asked, as I placed my rocks glass back down on the table. As I reclined back into the couch, the room seemed to turn, almost spin.

The woman’s lips stretched to their maximum, barely restraining the flash of her teeth. She shook her head once in each direction then slid her fingertips to my knee.

“No. I don’t,” she replied.

She sucked her lower lip and tossed a swath of her hair away from her eyes. I stared at her as an overwhelming urge rose up inside of me. I didn’t want to tip my hand, so I leaned away from her and pressed my back into the couch. Undaunted, she scooted closer to me, like a wanton serpent, wrapping the fingers of her free hand over my thigh as well. She curled her nails under like sexual talons and communicated her intent.

“What are you doing whilst you’re here?” she asked.

I arched a brow at her as I fought to restrain a hard swallow. “Does it matter?”

She licked her lips as she ran her hands further along the inside of my thigh. Her smile vanished. A look of unmistakable intent took its place.

“No. It doesn’t.”

“Okay, so let’s talk about something else.”

She shook her head and moved in closer. “No.”

“No? What?”

“Let’s not talk.”

She leaned in pressed her lips against mine.

It was the last thing I remembered.

GREY

When consciousness returned, I awoke to a headache that felt like someone had taken a goddamn brick to my skull. I rolled my head with a slow twist to the nightstand and spun the clock in my direction. It was just past eight in the morning. I inhaled, pressed my head back into the pillow and rubbed my eyes with the base of my palms.

“Fuck,” I muttered.

Just then, to my left, I heard a soft whimper.

Arching a brow, I cast a glance in the direction of the sound. Streaks of bright white sunlight poured in through the half-open window curtains. Lying next to me, nude, was the prostitute from the club. Too ill to react, I shook my head in confusion.

Huh? What the fuck?

I shot to my feet, nearly losing my balance in the process.

She had almost no reaction to my sudden movement. She only moaned and shifted her position a bit. My eyes wandered along her body, which lay partially exposed from beneath the fine hotel bed linens. Even in my hungover state, it was an easy eyeful. She was fucking perfect. Long legs, round ass. I continued to linger, trailing my eyes up the length of her backside until I reached her angelic face, draped in unruly stands of her black hair.

I wiped my hands down the length of my face. Clenching my teeth, I turned away from her and went to the restroom. A few moments later, I grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Hammering it back, I savored the cool liquid as it quenched my thirst, but only a little. In rapid succession, I drank several more until at last, after the third glass, I placed it back down on the marble sink with a
clink
.

I braced myself over the sink, locking my arms in place.

I stood there in silence for a few seconds, hoping some goddamn memory would come back. Nothing did. Exhaling, I reached for the faucet, turned it on and cupping one handful after another, I splashed cold water in my face. The wetness woke me up a little more, clearing away the vodka-laced cobwebs from my mind. I reached for a towel and pressed it hard against my face, breathing heat into it as I exhaled.

Just then, I felt a pair of hands slip low across my waist and head straight for my cock. Shocked, I tossed the towel away from my face and spun in place. Even a night of heavy drinking had no effect on her. Her skin glowed with a youthful lust. Dark hair hung down low, just covering the top of her ample tits.

Her dark eyes sparkled with eagerness as she moved close to me, pressing her shapely figure against my body. It felt good. No straight man would think otherwise. Her eyes softened and narrowed as she reached down towards my dick and made a slow caress against it. I remained still, stone-faced, as she leaned in towards me and kissed me on the cheek. Afterward, she moved her lips up to my ear and after kissing my earlobe, she whispered, “Good morning.”

I swallowed as she pulled away from me. She turned away and walked to the toilet, closing the door behind her. I didn’t respond. What the fuck would I even say? I didn’t remember a goddamn thing. Her greeting left little to the imagination though, so I exhaled and walked back to the bed where I sat down and tried to stop the room from spinning so goddamn much.

She reappeared and hovered over the sink. The water gurgled and splashed for a few seconds until she finished, turned and began to walk back towards me. Once she’d gotten to within a few feet, she paused and placed a hand on her hip.

“Well?” she asked.

I grimaced at her. “Well, what?”

“My money,” she began. “Remember you said you’d pay me first thing.”

“I did?” I replied. “Honey, I don’t remember a fucking thing from last night.”

She scoffed. “Well, you did. Listen, don’t force me to make a call here. You seem like a nice guy.”

I nodded and waved her off.

“Just, okay. Look, don’t worry about it. Relax.”

I stood and walked past her. “How much?”

“Four thousand pounds.”

I stopped in place and scoffed as I reached down for my billfold. Fishing out the money, I turned back towards her, extending the cash in her direction. “Jesus Christ honey, whatdya have—a cape hanging off that pussy of yours?”

She took the money from me with a firm tug.

“The money’s not for my pussy,” she replied. Waving it in my face, she continued, “It’s for my time.”

Confused, I rubbed the top of my head. “What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean your time?”

All of a sudden, she started gathering up her things. As she began to get dressed, she explained further.

“Yeah, nothing happened,” she said with a shrug.

“But… you’re naked.”

“Oh, I can’t sleep unless I’m nude.” She paused with an armful of clothes and stood to face me. Continuing, she said, “I’d be willing to give you a go though, if you’re ready.”

This chick was fucking crackers. Certifiable. How would I not fuck her?

She stepped towards me and cradled my cock in her hands, “Because I know I am ready for
this
.”

Shaking my head, I gently pried her hand loose.

“Honey, what the hell are you talking about?” I gestured towards her and then back to myself. “We… We didn’t fuck?”

“No,” she said with a casual shrug. “You just wanted to talk.”

I was goddamn clueless.

“Well, what did we talk about?”

She shook the money in my face again for emphasis. “Ah-ah! You told me I couldn’t say. In case you asked.”

This was getting crazier by the second.

“This is ridiculous,” I began. “Look, just tell me what we talked about.”

She shook her head as she continued to get dressed.

“No.”

Clenching my jaw, I winced from the hangover as my frustration with her built. I shook my head.

“Um,” I muttered. “So what is this about? You want some more money or what?”

I walked back over to get some from my billfold. As I did, she grabbed my arm.

“No,” she said as shook her head. “I don’t want any more of your money. And, I’m not going to tell you. Listen, you seem like a decent guy. Don’t worry about it. You’re sweet.”

Sweet?

She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. No sooner had her lips left my skin than she turned and began to walk away. I watched her until she left, closing the door behind her.

Sweet?

GREY

I spent most of the day in meetings again, only with a nasty hangover. I didn’t make a habit of negotiating in such a state, but I sensed I had the upper hand. We broke early that night and headed out to grab a bite. I had no reason to think I couldn’t get the deal done over dinner. That’s how confident I was.

Anyway, I took a cab across town and reflected on what the whore told me earlier that day. It didn’t make a goddamn bit of sense to me. I’d have nothing to say to her. She’s a prostitute. There was no way I discussed the deal I was doing. Why would I? It was going according to plan and there wasn’t a thing to worry about.

Still though, it bugged me I couldn’t remember and it bugged me even more she wouldn’t tell me.

Just then, the cab pulled up outside the restaurant. Stepping out in the goddamn rain,
again
, I paid the driver and hustled toward the entrance. As I approached, the doorman stepped forward and let me in.

“Sir.”

I nodded. “Thanks pal.”

As I walked inside, I shook off a bit of moisture from my coat and began to remove it when I heard my cell phone ring inside my pocket. I figured it might be the guys, so I craned my neck around the entrance of the restaurant. They were nowhere in sight. I grimaced, reached inside my coat to retrieve my phone and turned it over.

Katy?

I stepped aside a bit, just out of the flow of foot traffic. Pinning my finger against my open ear to drown out the clink of silverware against fine china, I answered. The hiss of long distance crackled over the line.

“Grey!”

“Yeah,” I began. “Katy? I’m busy. Can it wait?”

“No, Grey. It can’t.”

It was still way too noisy for me to hear much of what she might say.

“Hang on, Katy.” I said as I placed my hand over the phone. Glancing around my immediate vicinity, I spotted a corner off to the side of the coat room. I paced towards it and once the din from the restaurant faded, I lifted the phone back to my ear.

“Okay, now what the hell is the goddamn problem?”

“It’s Maddie, Grey.”

“Maddie? What about her?”

“What do you mean? What about her?”

I shook my head. “Katy what the hell are you talking about? Look, you’ve got about five seconds to tell me what the hell is going on or I’m hanging up the phone.”

“It’s the baby, Grey. The complications, they’re…”

“Whoa, whoa!” I said as I raised my right hand in the air. Pointing my finger at nothing in particular, I continued, “What complications, Katy?”

“Uhm,” she sputtered. “Well the complications with the baby. The FAS?”

“Katy, I have no goddamn idea what you’re talking about right now. What. The. Fuck. Is FAS?”

“Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,” she stammered. Her voice had a sudden tone of remorsefulness to it. “Ohhh, oh no. Grey, please tell me you know about this. Please.”

Biting my lip, I straightened my spine. The fingers of my free hand flexed, threatening to curl into a fist. My silence didn’t go unnoticed.

“Oh Grey,” Katy began as her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so, sorry. I thought you knew. I thought Maddie told you.”

“Out with it, Katy. Right now. Tell me everything. You have my word I won’t hold it against you.”

With that, she swallowed and proceeded to spew out all of the ridiculous nonsense Maddie kept from me. The fact that her drinking probably would result in permanent birth defects to the child. And that’s if it even lived! There was the risk she posed to her own life by going through with this whole fucking charade. And for what? Why?