Close Love (The Billionaires Club Book 2)

by Adams, Zoe

  “Well, hello, everyone.” Del took a few wide steps. “We weren’t expecting physical company.”

  Del smirked to himself. Silence followed him to the bar. “But no matter the circumstance of our quaint get together, it’s best to be courteous. I’ve always thought a nice glass of wine accompanies meetings quite well.”

  He uncorked a few bottles of wine and let them breathe. He didn’t breathe much because he kept on talking.

  “I know everyone in this room, except one man.” Del inspected the shimmery wine glasses. “But he’s here with the Steeles. That puts him under the umbrella of family, and under the cloak of friendship.”

  He poured out some glasses of red wine and carried the first two. He handed the first to Lady. And just because he was closest, Royce got the second glass.

  Del walked back to the bar and handed Lady’s parents their glasses. The wine allotment had been equal with a proper pour for each.

  “Here’s to everyone getting their fair share.” Del held up his own big glass with the little dip in wine.

  The salute didn’t have any clinking crystal or verbal good wishes. He looked over the glass long enough to make sure everyone drank. Then he took his sip.

  He partook in the communal event with great severity. Del said the salute with many different meanings. He didn’t want to worry about everything all of the time.

  Instead he singled out his senses to just the wine. It calmed him. The reds tasted thick and left a lingering sweetness in his mouth. Del tried to pick out the wine’s floral bouquet. The thought of old and new things being equal at the same moment began to confound him.

  Royce spoke first and tried to soothe over his newcomer stance.

  “This is a nice wine. This is a nice place. Thank you for being so courteous.” Royce looked back and forth between Del and Lady.

  He wasn’t sure where the appreciation belonged. He sat outnumbered by family and its newest set of lovers.

  Del could easily place the gratitude for him. “It’s very polite to thank your muse.”

  Royce took a sharp inhale of breath, but kept his cool. He was in a class of his own. Del could see silent agreement in Royce, but there wouldn’t be any apology.

  “All of your understanding is greatly appreciated. First and foremost, I came to address you, Lady. I understand your heart was broken. Your baby is fashion. All those sparkling ideas and uniqueness were stolen and trampled upon. Trust me, I know. I went to yours, and then the following five events. I watched it all play out. Your theme was innocent, springy, and romantic. Your sets told an individual story and invoked a likeness or familiarity. You were telling a story. The story of one person’s progression through a day or a life.”

  He pointed his empty glass at her for emphasis. Royce received the refill of liquor in his glass and on his tongue. He was a dark man. His eyes seemed hidden but they flashed deep brown every once in a while. He had a type of understanding that could explain or condemn anything.

  “Now you, Lady. You are a good artist. And I should know.”

  Lady pointed her chin and glared at him.” Yeah. I know. The whole town knows. The whole community knows. Everyone knows I know how to get dressed, or dress others. That’s the great thing about young artists, they aren’t washed up or brain fried by now. ”

  Del didn’t want her to talk anymore. He steered the conversation into a more favorable wind.

  “Mr. Royce, you must be in charge of things. Some sort of things.” Del nodded and snapped his fingers. “Money, it must be money. It always is about monetary gains. Tell me how it’s okay to invade private property. Do the richest of the rich already need more money?”

  Royce didn’t answer. He turned to the couple on the couch. “Well, you can say one thing about the situation. Your daughter has found herself an intelligent man. I’m not really surprised at the situation. I found my lovely wife in the country as well. She’s a buffalo rancher. Imagine a woman taming wild beasts?”

  Royce lost his dreamy look and adjusted himself to the present. But for that brief moment he’d had the humanistic quality Del needed him to have.

  The stranger pointed at Del. “I hear you’re a farmer. I’ve found a real respect for people who care for land.”

  Del shrugged. “Land is easy. It’s steadfast and unchanging. It doesn’t betray me. I do my job, and it does its job.”

  The tall man tilted his head and lifted one eyebrow. “Yes, even nature is somewhat predictable. But you two. I’m sure neither one of you expected the shock you received today. There’s something you should know about—The Billionaires Club. This is a group of very talented individuals, like yourself, who until now only figuratively dressed the world. We want you to come on board. The Billionaires Club watches everyone else. We break laws of privacy and spy to make sure proper entities or people become successful. There are other things we do as well. But I’m in a hurry.”

  Del felt an anger rise up from within him. He stifled it down when he smoothed the buttons on his shirt.

  The stranger continued without waiting for any upsetting answers. “Your house is bugged. All beginners go through what we call the staging process. We watch, listen, and read you. Decisions are made for your success well before the red carpet process begins. But we watch all of it. How you behave at social events. What type of people you gravitate toward. We even watch if you are photogenic and if cameras like you.”

  Del almost dropped his drink. The shock he felt rushing toward his face was upsetting. People had been judging him this whole time? Whatever happened to freedom? Whatever happened to justice? He had a hundred questions and a million insults bubbling to the surface.

  “But you,” the stranger said as he pointed to Lady Steele, “you are one in a million. You were the best muse anyone could have hoped for. We have great themes for our parties this year. There are—”

  Del interrupted with an emotional explosion. “You have great themes for your parties this year? Are you serious? I knew there was a reason Lady ran away from you all, but now I understand completely.”

  Del looked around at the other attendees. He refilled his glass of wine and considered the group deserving more wine, or Lady, or hospitality. He banged the bottle of wine down on the bar. “There. I think you’ve all gotten enough at Lady’s expense. Maybe you don’t need any more wine after all.”

  Del remained standing at the bar like he was guarding something. Then a big thought came to him. What was he supposed to be guarding? How could he not beat himself up for all of this happening to Lady?

  He sat down beside Lady in disbelief. He felt like a failure. He should’ve made himself a stronger drink before sitting down. He didn’t feel like moving. He wondered what his capabilities would be in a future blanketed in doubt.

  Mr. and Mrs. Steele looked at each other worriedly. Del wanted to crawl under Lady’s blanket and cry with her. The stranger stood up and walked to the bar.

  “Lady, we have been observing you for months now. The way I see it, you have two choices. The first choice is to toil away in that little country craft room. It would be an honorable endeavor, but nothing would change. I could remove the cameras right now, but someone else would replace them at first chance.”

  Royce poured himself a stronger drink.

  “The other choice is to join us. We’ll give you the right connections at the top echelons of society. You will make friends and have opinions. You’ll be a consultant and everything meaningful will trickle down from you to the people who need muses. Since you don’t need a muse, that means your opinion is even more sought after. But the ideas of hidden cameras would disappear. My members would rather pick your brain over a glass of wine or a fine dinner.”

  The dark man stood behind the bar, quite pleased with himself. “Come on, who wants some rum?”

  “You sound just like a pirate,” Del said dryly.

  The name calling didn’t faze the guest. “Well, maybe I am a pirate. But you need to understand the prob
lems with just letting any old person become powerful.”

  Del looked at Lady. “I don’t see any problems with Lady. Did you invent some problems or deal breakers when you stole her privacy?”

  The stranger laughed and it came up loudly from his belly. “Ha. No. No one ever invents problems, they make problems. Then, hopefully, someone is there to solve the problems.”

  Lady’s voice piped up for the first time. “The real problem is when someone doesn’t know or care if they are a problem.”

  The floor belonged to Lady. She had to come up with the ultimate decision. Either be a yearly sacrifice doing something she loved, or else be something she was unsure of.

  She looked at her parents questioningly. “You knew about this?”

  Lucy Steele diverted her eyes.

  Mr. Steele answered for their deeds. “Yes, we knew all about this. While you graciously let us come into your home for wine, someone was placing cameras and sneaking through windows.”

  Del closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge between them. How was he going to get over this?

  Lady had chosen Del and so far it had been great. Now things were different. His peaceful life had turned into a reality show for the rich and famous. He lost his breath at the thought. Lady had chosen him, or had she? Now he could question everything.

  The ball was in Lady’s court. They were in a relationship. She could choose her future and directly affect his. At first, things had been easy to moderate. Now, things were harder than a stump in the ground. Del had always known being in Lady’s life would be difficult. But no matter how his mind pushed and pulled at these options, there was no give.

  For once in Del’s life he was quiet. He looked everywhere in the room twice. Everything but Lady came across his peripheral. She had been waiting for him the whole time. Oh, the eternities he had waited for a woman like her.

  Lady touched his knee. “Del, I think we need time to discuss this. Somewhere more private.”

  “No, Lady, we have no privacy. I can’t think of a better place to hash things out than here. Can you? I mean, we should have reliable witnesses of our relations.”

  He turned to Mrs. Steele. “Don’t you think so? You were so convincing to be shocked about Lady’s hidden ring.”

  Del put his index finger up for emphasis. “You see, Lady and I are in love. But we are also on a schedule. For me, summer is the busy time. That is, of course, contingent on me being a farmer and not a diplomat of slow meetings.”

  Del took a large drink and continued, “We are on a schedule and things have to get done in the right order. Right? We can give each other rings and other heartfelt sentiments. We joke and tease, all things you’re aware of. But this was Lady’s big day. Her showcase of fashion was the best set I’ve seen. I’ll say it even if no one else wants to. She set the stage for herself, and many others. So fresh, how everyone does their own interpretations of Lady’s work.”

  Del had to take another drink to cool his burning throat.

  Royce interrupted with an authoritative baritone. “No one else did it all by themselves. The sewing, cutting, drawing, and making of clothes. And that’s just the clothes. How about the actual event? No one else could choreograph the timing and execute the sets any better or more descriptively. Trust me when I say Lady deserves every bit of credit where credit is due.”

  The dark stranger had grown tired of the conversation. He gave Lady his full attention.

  “If you decide to join the Billionaires Club, you will be a consultant working directly under me.”

  Lady shook her head. “You would make me more tired than I already am. Besides, I’ve never even heard of the Billionaires Club.”

  “Ha.” The man did a deep laugh. “You are very lucky to have attracted us. Most people work years for this offer. But the cabinet needs refreshing. And as for rest, most of the time you will be on cruises with me and my wife. We will be entertaining the crème de la crème, my sweet. And speaking of which, my wife awaits in the car. Please come to dinner with us.” He held out his gloved hand.

  “Why is your wife in the car?” Lady asked non-committedly.

  “She doesn’t like heights, and your home is certainly not near the ground. It really is an amazing view, but I don’t like to keep Susanna waiting.”

  Del stood up. “So if we come with you, there would be no hidden cameras anymore? Lady would become the instructor instead of the muse, right?”

  “Exactly,” Royce and both Steele parents said in unison.

  “Okay.” Del turned his attention on Lady. He put his big hands on her face and cupped her softly. “Sweetie, I think this is what you should do.”

  “What about you?” Lady huffed into a tissue.

  “This is what’s best for both of us. You think I’m going to live in a farmhouse all alone and let you have fantasies about me?” Del finally got a smile from his girl. “I’m coming with you.”

  The mood in the room lightened significantly.

  Royce stuck out his hand. “Good choice! Welcome to The Billionaires Club.”

  The End

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank my editor, publisher, friends, and family.

  About the Author

  Zoe Adams is from the Midwest and born the fifth of eight children. At a young age, she found a deep respect and love for books. Reading broadened her vocabulary and taught how to solve problems with words.

  Her mother gave a love for books, paper, pens, and any other creative mediums. Her father instilled work ethic for making, repairing, or polishing things until they shine. The siblings brought competition and she learned how to tell a story with few words.

  Currently, Zoe resides in Hawaii. Some days, she is at the beach or kayaking with her husband. Other days, Zoe is perfectly content with a computer, desk, and chair.

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