Tempted (The Dark Billionaire, #5)

Tempted

The Dark Billionaire #5

L.N. Pearl

By the same author:

The Setup – The Dark Billionaire Book #1 (FREE)

Broken – The Dark Billionaire Book #2

Darker – The Dark Billionaire Book #3

Dangerous – The Dark Billionaire Book #4

Damaged – The Dark Billionaire Book #6

The Last Kiss 1 - Ashley's Wet Dreams (FREE)

The Last Kiss 2 - Ashley's Wet Dreams

The Last Kiss 3 - Ashley's Wet Dreams

My romantic suspense books (different pen name):

The Kiss of the Don 1 - Bad Boy Billionaire Series (FREE)

The Kiss of the Don 2 - Bad Boy Billionaire Series

The Kiss of the Don 3 - Bad Boy Billionaire Series

Copyright © 2014 by L.N. Pearl All rights reserved worldwide.

No part of this publication may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form without the prior written consent of the author/publisher or the terms relayed to you herein.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Blog:
http://authorlnpearl.blogspot.com/

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https://twitter.com/LNPearlAuthor

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https://www.facebook.com/billionaireromancebooks

Check Bruce Wilson’s lifestyle in pictures
:
http://pinterest.com/authorlnpearl/billionaire-bruce-wilsons-lifestyle/

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Jennifer was sitting next to Bruce in a large and bright office in the headquarters of investment bank Doyle Brothers. For a change, Bruce wasn’t behind the desk but on the other side.

In front of them was trading floor manager Victoria De Lissieu, a gorgeous blonde with a face that seemed to have been chiseled and modeled after a queen. She was beautiful and successful, and Jennifer immediately felt impressed by her presence and confidence.

That’s exactly the kind of woman I want to be... Elegant, charismatic and respected.

Victoria De Lissieu was managing more than a hundred traders. Her bank - and her department in particular - was well-known among the rich and famous of New York. Only a few carefully selected clients could invest their money with them to have guaranteed returns, way above the market. Bruce had been in touch with Doyle Brothers for two months, right after breaking his contract with Kenichi. He wasn’t losing millions of dollars daily anymore, but his finances had greatly suffered. Bruce had been working very hard to restore confidence among his investors, and was slowly rebuild his image and reputation.

However, despite all his efforts, many people had withdrawn their funds from Wilson Corp. and Bruce was now desperately looking for fresh capital to run his company.

Victoria De Lissieu had contacted Bruce and convinced him to have a meeting, so they could figure out a way to recoup Bruce’s losses. She was extremely sharp and professional. Her voice was smooth and seductive but she wasn’t flirtatious; she knew how to keep her distance while being approachable at the same time.

She was definitively friendly but also very tough and determined. Jennifer couldn’t quite figure how she managed to trigger so many different emotions within her, but one thing for sure was that Victoria was an inspiration for her. She represented everything Jennifer had dreamed about when she was a student. She embodied the perfect successful woman, working in a big city in her own office and meeting extremely important people.

Jennifer couldn’t help but feel slightly envious and curious: Victoria didn’t seem to be much older than her. Actually, they were probably the same age, however their situations were completely different. Jennifer could have been her assistant, just like she used to be with Bruce.

I definitely missed something during my student days. How did I end up being an assistant? What did I do wrong? I always thought I had to start at the bottom and work my way up... but look at Victoria: she clearly didn’t start at the very bottom like me. Or maybe she did and somehow, her career skyrocketed because she did something right. Well, I’m not a secretary anymore. I shouldn’t feel low, there’s no point in comparing. I’m trying to be my own boss now. I’ll be someone too!

Jennifer wasn’t really listening to what Bruce and Victoria were saying. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of her: she was fascinated and intrigued. She wanted to be closer in order to pick her brain. Being the girlfriend of a billionaire was already a good thing and Jennifer had learned a lot. However, she didn’t see Bruce and Victoria the same way: she didn’t aspire to become Bruce but she clearly intended to be like Victoria.

Jennifer tried to follow their conversation but she couldn’t really catch and understand everything. They were talking financial instruments, risk rewards, potential of gains, time frames, risk profiles and other subjects that were too technical for her. Jennifer quickly disconnected and her mind got lost in her favorite memory of the moment: Bruce’s proposal.

That night on the beach had been magic. Jennifer had melted into tears and Bruce had had to repeat that it was real at least a dozen times. It had been too good to be true yet, it was real: she was going to become Bruce’s wife. Jennifer Stuart was about to become Jennifer Wilson. Yes, Mrs. Wilson... Who would have imagined? It was clearly a dream come true. It was a fairytale where Jennifer had struggled and worked her butt off, and at the end she was rewarded. And what a reward! Bruce was one of the hottest men she had ever seen and definitively the most incredible lover she’d ever had. The fact that he was a billionaire was just a bonus, like icing on a cake. He was a man first and foremost, and she was crazy in love with the man - not with the businessman.

Jennifer had always imagined that Bruce would have proposed her in a more theatrical way, with lots of lights, a fancy dinner, champagne, lobster, a tuxedo and a limo etc. In her mind, since Bruce had the money, she thought he would have recreated a sort of prom night for her but Jennifer realized that this was quite a childish version.

Instead, Bruce had recreated their first night together with a romantic dinner on the beach with roses and candle lights. He hadn’t forgotten their first time and that night was clearly important for him as well. It represented something for him and Jennifer had been very happy to see him so thoughtful and sensitive.

After a quick and light dinner, Bruce and Jennifer had made love on the beach for the second time. Bruce had picked the exact same location. This beach was now a symbol: the symbol of their love for each other, where they had discovered their mutual attraction for the first time and then, agreed to spend the rest of their lives together.

Jennifer closed her eyes and a warm feeling spread throughout her body: she was calm and deeply fulfilled. Her life was about to take a whole new direction. Without a doubt, it was the best time of her life. She wished things could stay this way forever and thanked God for being so generous with her.

When she opened her eyes, Bruce and Victoria were looking at her.

“Are you okay, honey?” Bruce asked, as he grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it.

“Y... yes, I’m fine, thank you,” Jennifer said. “I was just thinking.”

“Thinking about how you two are going to spend so much money?” Victoria said with a smile.

“Pardon me?” Jennifer said. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening. I’m not sure I understand what you mean...”

“Victoria is just teasing you,” Bruce said.

“Please, call me Vicky,” Victoria said.

Bruce turned his head towards Vicky and nodded to acknowledge her request. “Vicky and I have agreed to start with a reasonable amount of capital to start trading with,” he said. “I’m a cautious man but she’s convinced me to start with a hundred million dollars.”

A hundred million dollars?

Jennifer frowned and felt a pit in her stomach. The disastrous joint-venture with Kenichi was still fresh in her mind and she didn’t want Bruce to be taken advantage of again.

“Bruce, are you sure?” Jennifer said. “I mean no disrespect Mrs. De Lissieu but Bruce and I have been through a quite exhausting experience recently. I certainly don’t want this to happen again.”

Victoria smiled, leaned forward and joined her manicured hands on her desk. She was wearing golden bracelets and an expensive watch.

“Please, call me Vicky,” she said again. “And just for your information, this is Ms. De Lissieu, not Mrs. I’m not ready to give up my freedom yet.” She smiled and laughed with elegance, followed by Bruce who smiled politely. Jennifer wasn’t in the mood to joke: she needed to know whether Bruce’s investment was safe or not.

“Bruce told me about what happened with Mr. Sakamura,” Victoria continued. “This is basically the reason why we’re meeting today and I’m deeply sorry. However, we’re a reputable investment bank and we specialize in managing assets for people just like Mr. Wilson. We have a long list of satisfied clients who can testify and we have never failed to meet our goals.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Jennifer said boldly.

“Jen, please,” Bruce said, slightly shaking his head. He clearly didn’t approve her comment.

“I don’t want you to risk losing again,” Jennifer said. She wasn’t going to apologize for doing her due diligence.

Victoria raised a hand in the air and pursed her lips. “That’s totally fine,” she said. “I’m used to dealing with skeptical clients and I completely understand your concerns.” She paused and produced a manila folder from a drawer that she handed to Bruce.

“This is the résumé and the track record of our best trader, Mr. Fancelli,” Victoria said. “I’m going to give him your account. This is the safest thing I can do. Trust me, he’s a superstar. We’ve paid a lot to get him but he’s worth every penny we’ve invested in him.”

Jennifer glanced at the document and saw columns after columns of numbers, most of them highlighted in green - green for profits. Bruce shuffled all the different pages and nodded with an expression of satisfaction on his face.

“I feel safe to have him as my trader,” he said. “He has an excellent track record and the past is a good indicator of future performances. This is our man.”

“Can we meet him?” Jennifer said, still cautious.

“Absolutely,” Victoria said. She picked up her telephone, dialed a number and asked the trader to join her in her office.

Less than a minute later, a tall, Italian-looking man entered the room with a swagger that Jennifer had never seen before. If Victoria was confident, this man was ten times more confident than her. Jennifer quickly glanced at him: his nose was the most striking feature of his face, along with beautiful lips. But his nose was incredible. It was perfect, almost too good to be real.

Mr. Fancelli was younger than Bruce but his navy blue suit was at least as expensive - if not more. He greeted them with a vigorous hand shake and stood next to Victoria, hands in his pockets with a perfect white smile. Jennifer looked at them with a certain admiration: how come these people looked so beautiful and so successful?

“How is it going so far?” Vicky asked the trader.

“Plus twenty-one percent overall,” he replied casually. “I can’t stay too long. I have a few positions opened.”

“No problem,” she said. “I want you to meet Bruce Wilson and Jennifer Stuart. Mr. Wilson has been involved in a bad partnership and needs to recover quickly.”

“I heard about it,” Fancelli said. “Sakamura, right?”

“Right,” Bruce said.

Bruce and Mr. Fancelli introduced themselves and exchanged their name cards. They spent a few minutes chatting and getting acquainted when a loud roar from outside the office made Jennifer jump in her chair. The traders were shouting outside.

“Looks like I have to go. Money’s calling,” Fancelli said, grinning. He shook Bruce and Jennifer’s hands before leaving. “It was a pleasure meeting you. We should hang out sometime.”

“Definitely,” Bruce said.

The trader ran out of the office and Victoria looked at him with a certain satisfaction on her face. She was proud of him, Jennifer could tell.

“He’s on a trade for a client,” Victoria explained. “He’s up eight millions of dollars for the day.”

“Seems like it can go very fast,” Bruce said, looking for confirmation.

“To be honest, this client has a bigger account than yours so we can’t promise you the same results. But I just wanted to give you an idea of what you can expect with Mr. Fancelli,” Victoria said.

Bruce turned to face Jennifer. “Honey, what do you think? Do you feel more comfortable?”