Stingray Billionaire: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance)

by Alexa Davis

  "We're going to plan our own wedding?" she asked, dumbfounded by my outlandish plan. "What are you going to do when he discovers that we're two complete strangers who have duped him?"

  "Well, I didn't think that far ahead," I sheepishly admitted. I'd thought ahead all right, and a part of me wondered what could happen if we went ahead with it.

  "I did," she said. "And, I'm looking at a bad ending for this little fairy tale, Mr. Malin. A very bad ending."

  "It could also end up being really, really good," I smiled. "Are you afraid of that?"

  "What are you talking about?" she said. "Okay, look, here's how it looks on paper. Two complete strangers, one of whom has been hired to work for the other in an acting sales position, decide to plan their own wedding in order to bamboozle a potential investor into putting money into a brand-new business. Oh, and they do this soon after they first met! Oh, nothing could go wrong there! Nothing at all!"

  I looked at her and smiled as she stared back at me, waiting for a response.

  "You are completely out of your cotton-picking mind, Mr. Malin," she said.

  "I'll pay you an extra thousand dollars a week for planning and another thousand if you'll move into my place while we do the planning," I said, deciding to go for broke. I had very little to lose in this situation and everything to gain. Lexi had no idea the kind of timeline we were on in order to bring in our first million, and I knew that if Petrov backed us, we'd up our chances of making the money, and maybe even exceeding it, by the deadline Papa had set.

  "Are you insane?" she yelled as a woman hit the buzzer and Lexi let her into the store. As the woman approached, Lexi turned to me and quietly said, "Stoya."

  "Oh, Mr. Malin, your wife speaks Russian, does she? How charming!" the woman said. She was in her mid-fifties and had the elegant style of someone who was well cared for and looked after. "I'm Ivana Zakharov, and Sergei Petrov said you have the most beautiful selection of Russian jewelry in the city. I need something special for a party I'm attending this weekend. A statement piece, really."

  For the next hour, Lexi and I ran around the store picking out pieces for Mrs. Zakharov to try on. She bought four of them, and as Lexi was wrapping them up, she smiled and said, "You've got a good husband, Mrs. Malin."

  "Oh, he's not my husband – yet," Lexi smiled. "We're getting married in August, and we're planning a huge event! You'll have to come join us!"

  "Oh dear, that will be an event, now won't it?" she said excited to be included in the wedding plans. "I'm going to have to buy a new dress and I'll need new jewelry as well! Will you have new pieces in by then, Mr. Malin?"

  "Of course," I smiled. "We'll have all the best pieces to choose from – after my bride picks, of course."

  Mrs. Zakharov smiled as she signed the receipt and took the bag from Lexi before calling out, "I'm going to tell all of my friends to come here!"

  As I watched our newest customer leave, it dawned on me that Lexi had agreed to marry me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Lexi

  As Mrs. Zakharov left the store, I turned and looked at Max. He was staring at me with a strange look on his face.

  "What?" I asked. "Is there a problem here?"

  "Not at all," he said as a smiled spread across his handsome face. I wanted to run over to him, grab his face, and pull it down so I could kiss him. Instead, I began shifting the merchandise around in the display case making sure there were no holes after we'd sold Mrs. Zakharov her statement pieces. I heard Max move in behind me and quietly ask, "You agreed, right?"

  "If you are asking whether I agreed to participate in the planning of a sham marriage in order to ensure that you could make a deal with Sergei Petrov," I said haughtily. "Then the answer is yes, Mr. Malin. I did."

  Max looked at me, nodded, and then turned and walked toward the office. I called after him, "Hey, fiancé!"

  "Yes?"

  "May I have the afternoon off so I can pack and get moved into your place?" I grinned before adding, "By the way, where will I be living?"

  "I'll have the moving company pack up your things and bring them over," he deadpanned. "And, if you're nice to me, I'll tell you where they brought them once they're done."

  I thought I saw a small smile cross his lips as my peals of laughter rang out through the store. By the time I had regained my composure, a group of women were ringing the front bell and I let them all in. The afternoon passed quickly as I sold piece after piece of the collections we had on display, and by the time closing time rolled around, we'd sold out of most of the more expensive pieces.

  "How much did we sell today?" Max asked as he emerged from the back room with another tray of replacement pieces for the displays. Around lunchtime, he had exited the store and come back whistling, and I'd been dying to ask him where he'd gone, but I didn't dare with all the women in the store gathered around, looking at things.

  "If my math is correct, we sold one-hundred-forty-thousand three-hundred and sixty-six dollars worth of merchandise," I said as casually as I could. That sum was more money that I'd seen in my entire life and more than my brain could imagine right now. "That's a lot of money, Max."

  "That's nothing Mrs. Malin-to-be," he replied as he replenished the collections along the wall. "We're going to pull in money hand over fist as soon as Petrov infuses a little cash for me to pay the suppliers and carriers."

  "It seems like we did pull it in hand over fist today," I said staring at the receipts and wondering who had so much money that they could spend tens of thousands on one trip to a jewelry store. "Where are all these people from?"

  "Moscow, St. Petersburg ," he tossed off as he carefully placed a pendant on a stand and then arranged the chain so that it hung gracefully down behind it. "All over, really, but you need to understand that Russians and Ukrainians, the rich ones, love sparkly shiny things. The women especially love bright colors and flashy jewelry. We're going to be selling a lot of it and I'm going to put in an order to triple our stock tonight. We should have full back stock by the beginning of next week."

  "So, we're really going to do this, are we?" I asked quietly. I still wasn't sure that Max had meant it when he'd said he'd pay me twice what I was already making to play along with this farce.

  "We are, if you're still willing," he said, turning to face me. As I gazed across the room at him, I noticed something sad in his eyes.

  "Are you okay with it, Max?" I asked. "If you're not, we don't have to do it."

  "Lexi, we need to do this. I need to do this," he said slowly, then shook his head as if to clear it. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure. Are you?"

  "I'm sure," I said. "I need the money, but more than that, I want to help you do whatever it is you need to do to make this business succeed. I'm in."

  "Alright, well, go take care of whatever you need to take care of, and I'll get someone to come move your things this evening," he said as he turned back to the display cases. Then he turned back around, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a key ring with three keys attached to it. He tossed it to me saying, "Here, these are the keys to my – our place. 65 W Goethe Street."

  "Hey! You live right around the corner from me!" I laughed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "I didn't want you to think I was some kind of weirdo," he said with a smile.

  "Too late, Mr. Malin; it's already been confirmed," I laughed. He laughed loudly as I ran back to the office, grabbed my bag, and headed out to meet Viv at the Royal Cafe on Michigan Avenue. She was not going to believe what was about to happen.

  #

  "You're what?" Viv screeched so loudly that everyone in the diner turned and looked in our direction.

  "I'm getting married," I repeated.

  "Wally, what the hell is going on over at that store?" she asked breathlessly. "And more importantly, can I get a piece of the action? Does Mr. Money Bags have a brother?"

  "Viv, settle down," I warned. "You're getting ridiculous. But come to think of it, I have no idea whether he has
a brother or not. There's a lot I don't yet know about my betrothed."

  "Wait, you guys aren't getting married for real for real, are you?" she asked as she flashed a concerned look that made burst into laughter again.

  "Viv, please! What do you think this is? It's a publicity stunt designed to save this guy's business," I reminded her. "And, it's the easiest three thousand dollars a week I'll ever make!"

  "Holy crap! He's tripling your pay just to get you to go along with this scheme?" she said with admiration and awe. "I am definitely going to have to find out if he has a brother!"

  We sat at the café talking until the after work crowd came in and started ordering dinner. Viv offered to come back to the apartment and help me pack, but I told her all I was going to take were a few suitcases of clothes, enough personal items to make it look like I actually lived in Max's place, and Anna. She hugged me and told me to keep her posted and to send lots of pictures of my new digs.

  "I'll invite you over and we'll find out if he does have a brother," I suggested.

  "Oooh, excellent idea!" she cried as she hopped into a taxi and headed back to her place in the West Loop. I decided that it was a nice enough evening to walk. I quickly covered the ground between the diner and my apartment and found a moving crew waiting on the front steps.

  "Mr. Malin hired us to come move your things, ma'am," one of the men said as I opened the front door and led the crew into the lobby.

  "Well, I don't have that much stuff, so you guys are in for a major disappointment," I said. "Oh, and I have a kitten, so do not let her get tucked into one of the boxes by accident!"

  "No, ma'am, we don't pack animals, it's not part of the contract," he said as the elevator doors opened and we walked toward my apartment.

  #

  I was under the impression that I would just be moving enough things in to keep up appearances, but Max had told the movers to pack up everything and bring what I wanted over to his place and store the rest of the things. Max had worked out a deal with my landlord and I'd been released from the lease agreement. I didn't ask how and I didn't ask what would happen once this charade was over. Instead, for once in my life, I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

  I walked over to Max's apartment with Anna in my arms and a bag of her things over my shoulder. I opened the door and immediately felt intimidated by the opulent surroundings in the lobby. My building had been nice, but this was the kind of building in which incredibly rich people settled down and raised families. I asked the doorman which floor Mr. Malin's condo was on and he led me to the elevator, took my keys from my hand, and slipped the smallest one into a keyhole on the panel labeled Penthouse. He stepped back and nodded as the elevator doors silently slid closed.

  "We're definitely moving up, Anna," I said to the small kitten. She had been silent the whole walk over and remained so as the elevator climbed to the top of the building. "Don't be afraid, little one, it's all going to be okay. I promise." Anna let loose with a tiny chirp as the doors to the elevator opened and we stepped out into the most expensive-looking living room I'd ever seen. Everything was white or off-white and all the furniture was square and modern. The windows in the living room stretched floor to ceiling and allowed for a nearly unobstructed view of the entire south side of the city. It was breathtaking, to say the least.

  I looked down at Anna and said, "What do you think, little one?" She butted her head against my chin and purred, but made no attempt to get down. "Yeah, me, too." I said as I walked further into the living room toward an open door at the end of a long hallway. I peeked inside and found Max puttering around an island in a kitchen that was larger than the whole apartment I'd just left.

  "Lexi, I'm so glad you made it," he smiled as he handed me a glass of red wine and offered me a seat at the counter. "Who's your guest and what can I serve her?"

  "This is Anna Karenina," I said. "Anna, Max. Max, Anna. She's going to need her dinner, but I've got it in the bag."

  "Well, I've prepared a welcome meal for the humans, so you're welcome to sit at the counter and watch me finish it up or you can wander around and take a look a the place," he offered.

  "I think I'll just hang out with you and wait for the official tour," I told him. "I'm kind of afraid that if I wander off in this place, I'll get lost and not be able to find my way back."

  "I understand," he nodded. "I felt the same way the first few nights I lived here. I wandered out into the hall looking for a bathroom, wound up in the gym, and didn't know how to get back to my room."

  "Why did you buy such a huge place?" I asked. "I mean, it seems like an awful lot of space for someone living alone."

  "Yeah, well, it's an investment," he said. "I needed to put some money in property and this was the only place I actually liked. The rest were so stuffy and over done. They reminded me of my grandmother's apartment, and while I love visiting her, I do not want to live in her place."

  "I totally understand," I nodded. "I grew up in a house that was warm and wonderful, but I never ever want to own shag carpeting or plaid furniture." Max burst out laughing and Anna chirped at him loudly until he stopped and patted her on the head. Satisfied that she'd been paid her due, she patted my face in an attempt to get me to put her down.

  "It's okay, she can wander wherever she likes," Max said as he smiled at the tiny, gray puff on the floor. "But she might want to stick close to the kitchen if she's hungry!" Anna chirped and rubbed against Max's leg as he finished putting the final touches on plates of spaghetti Bolognese and set one down in front of me. I looked around for the bathroom and he pointed toward the back of the kitchen.

  "There's one over there in the corner off of the dining area," he said. "I'll put the plates on the table and feed the wee one if you tell me where her food is."

  "In this bag," I said as I pulled the pack off of my shoulders and set it on the counter. "I'm sure you'll figure out which dishes belong to the princess."

  By the time I emerged from the bathroom, he had set the table and moved the wine and Anna was eating her dinner out of her bowl, which had been placed on top of a special placemat right next to my chair at the table. I smiled at Max and reached down to pat Anna. She didn't even look up at me.

  We spent the next hour settling in and getting to know each other in a way that would allow us to live in the same space. As we talked, I realized that Max was even more handsome out of his suits and away from work. He had a wicked sense of humor and an easy laugh, and by the time dinner was over, we were telling childhood stories like old friends. It was comfortable, but I felt the tingle of his presence as we washed and dried the dinner dishes. He was tall and broad, and I could smell a trace of his cologne still lingering on his sweatshirt. Our fingers touched as he passed me the silverware and I felt a shock of electricity slice through my body, leaving in its wake a yearning for his touch.

  I looked up at him, but he hadn't seemed to notice the powerful current that had run between us, so I asked, "Is it time for the tour yet?"

  "It is," he agreed as his eyes lit up making him look like a little kid on Christmas morning. "Come see the place!"

  "Anna, are you coming with us?" I called. Anna chirped and returned to her dinner. "Okay, but don't blame me if you get lost in here!"

  With that, I turned and followed Max back down the hallway into the enormous living room, where he began the tour of my new home.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Max

  I led Lexi through my home, pointing out all of the features in each room and patiently showing her how to operate the lights and the thermostat so she could always be comfortable. I took her through the gym, where I'd installed all the latest fitness machines and weights. There was even an infinity pool tucked in one corner of the room waiting for someone to flip the switch and get in to swim. Lexi's eyes got wider with every new thing I showed her, and I took great pleasure in opening up my home to this beautiful woman.

  She'd changed out of her work clothes and was wearing a ligh
t summer sundress in a shade of peach that brought out her sun-kissed skin tone. She'd pulled her hair back into a loose braid that for the thousandth time since I'd met her, made me want to reach around and undo it so I could run my fingers through her auburn tresses. I distracted myself by mentioning the benefits of tanning on the outdoor deck as I opened the door off of the gym and showed her the garden I'd started on the roof. It was a magnificent place to sit and sunbathe, read, or just enjoy dinner and a drink. I'd done that often, but it always felt rather lonely unless Natalia was with me, and even then, there was a solitude that penetrated the space between us.

  Showing Lexi these things felt like I was throwing open the door to something new and fresh. She oohed and ahhed over every new feature and stopped to admire my herb garden as she took in the view.

  "This is incredible, Max," she said as she looked out over the city, marveling at the way the lights were blinking on all over town as the sun set just beyond the outer edges of the city limits. "What a glorious place to live."

  "I'm pretty happy here," I agreed. "But it's nice to have a guest to share it with, if I'm honest."

  As Lexi turned and smiled at me, my heart jumped. She was so incredibly beautiful. Everything about her was light and free. Lexi Wallace was everything that I was not, and as I thought about this, I felt sad. I wondered how I could drag such a beautiful woman into such a terrible situation with my father. For a moment, I felt a deep sense of guilt and I came close to blurting out the truth, but then I looked west over the city and remembered what I was striving to leave and I pressed my lips together and continued showing her the place.

  We walked back inside down a long hallway lined with modern paintings and prints. Lexi commented on several of them until I pushed open the door to what was to be her room. She stood in the doorway with her mouth open, staring at the room. I told her I'd have the movers unpack the things she decided to bring with her and that my housekeeper would arrange everything so that it looked like a home, rather than a hotel room where she would just pass the time.