by Mia Faith
“Because I saw the way you reacted when another woman said she was pregnant.”
He just shook his head. “I told you there was no way that baby was mine. I meant it. I know that you are carrying my child. I almost hoped it would happen, even from the beginning. I kept thinking if I ever had children, I would want it to be with someone like you. Now it has happened and I couldn’t be happier.”
She was sure that she was hearing what she wanted to or worse she was still sleeping and it was all just a dream. She pinched herself, grimacing from the pain.
“What in the world are you doing?”
“Just making sure this is real.”
He chuckled and pulled her to his lap. “It is definitely real. Can you imagine how I woke up this morning? I am surprised your boss let you write that. It is not ESPN style for sure.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t send it to him for approval. I just sent it through to be published and went to bed. I haven’t even talked to him today.”
“Well, you should. I bet you will get a promotion.”
Tinaya wasn’t so sure. “That or I am going to be fired.”
“Well since I am getting another contract, I think we will be alright.”
“We?”
“You don’t think I am going to let you go, do you?”
“I didn’t know what you were going to do.”
“I love you too Tinaya. That is all that matters. Whatever happens, all that matters is that we are together. Everything else is just noise.”
Sign up HERE to Join our Exclusive Readers List!
Billionaires Charm
By Em Covax
Chapter One – Dexter
As I sat around my spacious, luxurious, million dollar bachelor pad surrounded by the biggest and best things that money could buy – televisions, music systems, furniture, gaming machines, the works – I realised that I was bored. I knew that I should be happy with all that I’d achieved, but instead I just felt empty.
I’d worked damn hard to build up my empire, to get all that I wanted, but now that I had it, it wasn’t quite enough. Somehow, there was still something missing.
“Dex?” Kev – my oldest friend, and nearest confidant – asked me, taking in a long, lazy drag of his joint. “Why the fuck did you buy a nail salon?”
He was clearly amused by my latest business venture, which of course had a lot to do with the fact that he had no idea what he was talking about! He was happy to work for me, to be my muscle when I needed it, but it was me with the business acumen. If he hadn’t met me just before I was expelled from school, he would be working some dead end job in a fast food chain by now. He needed me, and he damn well knew it.
“Because, fuckwit.” I explained, flicking him in the forehead playfully. “No one would suspect a nail salon, ran by a lovely Asian American family, to be involved in money laundering now, would they?” Honestly, how did he not understand this stuff? It was so simple!
Okay, maybe a lot of my empire had been built up by unsavoury, criminal activities, but I’d still practically done it all by myself! I’d started off life as a small time drug dealer, going nowhere, and now I was one of the best known criminals in the city. I was so good at it that the authorities couldn’t pin a damn thing on me, however hard they tried. I was the best of the best, and renowned for it.
“Oh yeah.” Kev laughed, sounding just about as stupid as he was. “That makes sense.”
I grabbed hold of the bottle of Don Perignon that was sitting on my glass kitchen table and took a swig. I screwed up my face a little because I hated the stuff, but it was the most expensive champagne on the market, and of course it was all about appearances.
“So, what’s next boss?” Another guy asked me. I couldn’t remember his real name. He was one of my lackies, and I’d given him the nickname Shortround on his first day with me. Now, that was all I knew him as. It was all anyone called him anymore – so desperate were they all to please me.
I’d been giving this a lot of thought because we’d been having a lot of success recently, and I didn’t want the lucky streak to end. Whatever I chose next was going to have to be good. It would only take one slip up, one fail, for my reputation to get damaged. I hadn’t worked all those years to fall at one hurdle!
However long and hard I thought about it, I kept coming back to the same answer.
My most successful ‘above board’ company was a technology business that consistently brought in a lot of profit. However, my biggest competition – which up until recently hadn’t even touched us – was beginning to close the gap and I didn’t like that. I knew it couldn’t make a dent in my personal finances, but I wanted it gone all the same.
“I think I’m gunna take down Empire Technology.” I replied quickly, as if the idea had only just occurred to me. “I don’t like how successful they’re becoming.”
“What’s the plan?” He continued. “Who do you want on it?”
I pondered this for a second. Normally, I just sat back and got everything done for me – I’d paid my dues, this was my time to relax – but there was something about the boredom that had been infecting me that gave me another idea. One that filled me with an excitement that hadn’t been there for a very long time.
“No worries guys.” I grinned inanely around the room. “I’m gunna do this one myself.”
I could see the concern filling all of the guy’s expressions in turn. Clearly they thought I was in the process of losing it, but I didn’t care. Suddenly, there was a spark within me, an interest for life. I was excited to take on this task, and to get back into the thick of things, and this was the perfect job for that. The family that ran Empire Technology hadn’t lived here for long enough to know my face. They may have heard my name – Dexter Wilde – whispered on street corners, but that was easily changed.
This was it. This was what would bring me back to life once more!
Chapter Two – Lori
I hated the company’s morning meetings. In fact, I despised them. I wasn’t a morning person at all, and being forced to sit with a bunch of stiff suits while they discussed numbers that didn’t even make such sense to me, was not my idea of fun.
I’d asked my father – the owner of the company – if I could sit the meetings out a million times, but his answer was always the same. “You’re the head of Public Relations, you have to be there.”
I hated to admit it out loud, but I’d obviously only been given the job because of who my dad was. I didn’t really understand what my role was – only that it was totally boring, and involved signing a lot of things off. I certainly looked the professional part – I was never without a stark pencil skirt, blouse, stilettos and my hair tied back in a complicated chignon – and I was good at acting like I knew what was going on, but I didn’t totally get what I was doing.
It didn’t help that all the people below me completely resented me. Otherwise, I could have asked them for help!
“...and now we have some exciting news.” My father announced to the room which was filled with all of the heads of department. I secretly rolled my eyes. His idea of exciting, and mine was very different. “We have a new marketing consultant coming in to help boost our sales even further...”
After that, I tuned him out for a while. I didn’t want to know. All I wanted was for it to be 5pm already, so that I could go home to my cat and open a bottle of wine – an existence that might sound boring for a twenty two year old, but I was happy with it. I wasn’t one for partying and acting crazy; I was more of an introvert who loved to be indoors.
Suddenly, I was distracted from my thoughts by the board room door opening, and a stranger walking in. I instantly sat up straighter in my seat as I took note of the man entering the room. At first glance, it was clear that he was undeniably sexy, which certainly brightened up my boring morning! He had dark hair, piercing green eyes and dimples that revealed themselves as he smiled. He was tall – much taller than my five foot four frame – and he was very muscular. He obviousl
y took good care of himself. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining being wrapped up in those strong arms, which wasn’t like me at all! I was so shy, that it normally took me months to work up the courage to even fantasise about a man, yet here I was, doing it at first glance...
“Right everyone.” My father stood up and shook the new guy’s hand. “This is Dexter... sorry, what did you say your surname was?”
“Smith.” The man answered quickly, revealing his smooth, silky voice that melted me inside. “Dexter Smith.”
“Dexter is the marketing consultant I was telling you about. Lori, he’s going to be working very closely with you, do you remember me telling you?” I felt myself blushing brightly as everyone turned to look at me. I couldn’t remember that conversation at all! Maybe if he’d told me that I was going to be working beside an Adonis, I would have damn well listened.
“I... er...” I stammered, growing increasingly embarrassed. Talk about first impressions!
“Well, let’s leave it there for today. Lori, you can show Dexter around the office, okay?”
After everyone had left, I stopped acting like I was looking for something in my bag, and bravely stepped forwards.
“I’m Lori.” I murmured too quietly as I shook his hand. As soon as our skin touched, bolts of desire ran right through me, but I forced my face to remain stoic. I could not let this man know that I was attracted to him. That would be the kiss of death for me; I’d be too terrified to speak to him again!
As I showed him around the building, another sensation began to creep in. I wasn’t sure why I was feeling this new way, only that I couldn’t shake it off.
Suspicion.
I was very protective of my dad and his business. He’d managed to build it up from nothing after my mother had died of cancer – channelling his grief into something positive – and I hated the idea that someone would try to take that from him. There was just something about the way that Dexter questioned me about absolutely everything that had me wary.
Why was he so interested in things? Things that had absolutely nothing to do with marketing? It was weird.
Suddenly, I was glad that he was going to have to work alongside me. If I could curb my embarrassment, then I would be able to keep a strict eye on him. Make sure that there was no funny business...
Chapter Three – Dexter
Lori Smalley. I thought to myself, running my eyes all over her body, drinking in her appearance.
She was certainly a benefit that I hadn’t been expecting when I’d taken on this job. She was gorgeous in an understated way – dark, long hair, pulled back to show off her amazing cheek bones, curves in all the right places, legs that wouldn’t quit... But the best part about her was that she didn’t know how hot she was. I found vain girls that were acutely aware of their beauty completely boring. This was something new, something I wanted.
The second I spotted her in that meeting room, I imagined throwing her over that big table, and fucking her until she screamed, which had been completely inappropriate in a room full of old men.
But also a whole lot of fun...
Unfortunately, she seemed completely immune to my charms, which wasn’t something that I was used to at all!
That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though. It made it interesting. I was going to have to work even harder to get her into bed. Sure, taking down Empire Technology didn’t necessarily need me to screw this woman, but I was going to have to destroy her in the process – after all, she was the boss’s daughter – and that seemed as good a way to do that as any.
Now that I’d asked her all that I could get away with on the first day, I decided to try and crack her icy veneer a little bit. After all, I was going to have to pass the time somehow. I certainly didn’t know enough about marketing to pull off that role! I’d only said that on a whim, I hadn’t exactly planned for what would happen next.
If I could get the flirting right, I wouldn’t need to do any work anyway. That was what I was hoping for.
“So, Lori.” I purred her name, leaning in towards her, allowing her to inhale my musky scent. “What do you do for fun?”
“In the office?” She snapped back quickly. “This isn’t a place for fun; it’s a place to work.”
Her tone made it obvious. She was suspicious of me. Hmmm... things were about to get more complicated that I’d planned for. I couldn’t believe that she was already onto me.
“No.” I smiled widely. “I meant in real life. You do have a life outside of this place, right?”
Something about the way her face reacted made me think actually she didn’t. I was shocked – how did someone so cute not get asked out on dates every single day? How was she not partying every single night? What the hell did she do with her time?
“Oh! Well, then maybe I should... corrupt you.”
Just as I knew it would, a fierce redness overtook her cheeks. She looked angry and embarrassed all at once, and it took all that I had not to burst into laughter.
“Stop it.” She hissed. “You’re here for a reason – my dad thinks you can actually help his company – so why don’t you actually do something? I haven’t seen you do anything productive yet.”
“I’m just observing...” I grinned, hoping that I could pull it off. If she started asking some in depth questions, then my true identity was going to come to life far too quickly, and I did not want that. I hadn’t managed to achieve anything yet.
“Yeah, observing. Got it.” Then she stormed from the room, and I sat back enjoying watching her leave. Her ass shook in a very sexy way when she was angry, and that was just another thing that had me picturing doing some very naughty things to her.
A part of me began to worry that maybe I should have gotten someone else to do this job, that maybe I’d been out of the game too long, but then I thought about another man pawing around Lori, and I knew it could have only been me...
Chapter Four – Lori
“Urgh!” I yelled to myself when I was finally out of the room. What a dick! I couldn’t believe how damn annoying he was. How the hell was I going to work with him for weeks on end? I’d kill him by the end of it if he carried on in that manner.
I sucked in a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. I couldn’t allow him to wind me up, that was what he wanted. I needed to remain cool and in control. I needed to demonstrate that I was the one in charge – even if I clearly wasn’t.
“Okay.” I whispered to myself. “Just... ignore the prick. He won’t be here forever.”
“Pardon?” A male voice interrupted, making me jump out of my skin.
“Oh God.” I span around to see one of the guys from the mail room talking to me. He was one of the cute, younger looking ones that occasionally tried to flirt with me – even when I tried to actively discourage it. “Oh um, I’m...” I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t believe that I’d just been caught talking to myself! How embarrassing. “I, um... no, nothing.”
“Okay.” He smiled kindly at me. I walked out of the room, but unfortunately he didn’t get the hint and he followed me. “How are you, Lori? How have you been?”
“Yeah, okay thanks.” I wanted to be polite, but I didn’t want to get stuck talking to him. I couldn’t even remember his name. A deep conversation was definitely out of the question.
“Good, good.” I thought he would leave as I wandered into my office – especially with Dexter sitting there – but he still continued to follow me. “Um, I had something I wanted to ask you.” He coughed awkwardly, starting to shift on his feet. “Would you... like to go for drinks or something?”
I glanced over to Dexter, suddenly spotting an opportunity to force him to cut out the inappropriate comments. I might not have wanted to go out on this date, but if it would help me with him, then I would.
“Yes, that would be lovely...”
“Hey fella, what’s your name?” Dexter suddenly stood up, and towered over him. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to intimidate him, or if he thought he
was being friendly. Either way, he was clearly having the former affect.
“I... I’m Robbie.” He shook his hand, clearly feeling awkward around him.
“Dexter, nice to meet you.”
They stood there for a beat too long, making me feel all weird inside.
“Okay, so tonight?” I jumped over the top of them. The quicker I could get the date over, the better. I had no intention of taking any further than one or two drinks, so if I could get that done right away, then even better.
“Yes.” Robbie looked past Dexter. “I’ll meet you at Turner’s Bar at eight?”
I nodded, and watched him quickly shuffle away. He was a nice enough guy, but he seemed shy too. Two introverted people could make for the most awkward date ever. I was starting to wonder what I’d signed myself up for.
“Not even picking you up.” Dexter shook his head mockingly. “What a terrible date!”
“It’s none of your business.” I replied fiercely. “Just keep out of it.”
“I’m just saying, if I were taking you out, I would be picking you up in a limo.”
Images of what it would be like to be taken out by the gorgeous, but frustrating man, filled my mind and I felt the heat rise through my body once more.
I should not be thinking about Dexter, when someone else was taking me out. That was just rude. And thinking about getting up to all sorts in the back of that limo was just plain unnecessary.
However sexy the thoughts might be...
“Yeah, well you aren’t.” I snapped. “And not every girl is obsessed with limos and other fancy things. Sometimes people want actual decency with the people they date.”
“Is that so?” He drawled, sounding completely amused by my outburst. “If that’s the case, I’ve never met anyone like that.”
I wanted to scream in his face, I wanted to punch that smile right off his lips, but I forced my eyes downwards instead. I needed to keep in control and looking at him wasn’t helping me do that.