The Millionaire's Temptation (Seduced by Love)

by Sonya Weiss

  Giving the drive back would make Burt furious and that made the knots in her stomach tighten, but she and Liam would be long gone by the time he figured out they’d skipped town.

  “I would love to date someone like him.” Mia sighed, unaware of Holly’s internal dilemma. “He’s having a lavish catered party on his yacht off the coast of South Carolina in a couple of weeks. I hear Prestigious Catering is handling the gig.”

  Because she knew the owner, Mia had helped Holly get the job with the catering company that only did business with millionaires or celebrities.

  “Only the crème de la crème of society will be there. I could only imagine getting up close and personal with a man like that.” Mia let out a dreamy sigh.

  Cold hard reality hit Holly. Despite swearing she’d never do another job, she didn’t have a choice. Not if she wanted to protect her brother. Only this time, instead of breaking in to steal for her uncle, she was going to have to break in and put something back. And it looked like fate was giving her a stroke of good luck.

  She hadn’t paid that much attention when her boss had mentioned an upcoming event. Once she’d heard it was out of state, Holly had tuned her out, but now she had to get that gig. It was the only opening she was likely to get.

  “Are you okay?”

  The concern in Mia’s voice snapped Holly out of her thoughts, and she decided to do something she hadn’t done since she was a child. Ask for help. “No, actually, I’m not. Uncle Burt was here.”

  Mia’s eyes widened. “He lost all his hair and a lot of weight, but I thought I recognized him. I always thought it was so unfair that he got away with how he treated you and Liam.”

  Life hadn’t been fair, but Holly didn’t dwell on it. Living in the past took too much focus and energy and she needed to concentrate on the present. Starting with making sure Burt didn’t get near her brother. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the job unless she knew he was safe.

  “He coerced Liam into doing a job.” Holly touched the screen, her index finger landing on Jake’s image. “Stealing from him. My brother took a drive from a safe in his building.”

  Mia gasped. “No!” She shuddered. “Word is that Jake Lawson is ruthless to anyone who crosses him. I’d rather dangle bait in front of a shark than tangle with him.”

  “Too late. I already tangled.”

  Looking around to make sure no one was in earshot, Mia said, “You slept with Jake Lawson?”

  “I didn’t know who he was, or trust me, I would have run the other way.” Holly did her best to boot the mental images of Jake zipping through her brain. Ripped abdomen. Muscles strong enough to hold her up against—

  “Holly!” Mia let out a low laugh. “Girl, you should see the blush on your face.”

  Pressing a hand to her flushed cheeks, Holly said, “I have to undo what Burt did. If I can get the catering gig and get on the yacht, I can put the drive in his safe on board. If he has it back, maybe then he won’t come after my brother.”

  “How can I help?” Mia offered.

  Holly bit her thumbnail. The only person she’d ever trusted to keep Liam safe was herself. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she said, “I need to make sure Liam is safe while I do this job, but I don’t know how. I can’t take him with me. He gets sensory overload sometimes in crowds.”

  “Hang on.” Mia typed quickly on the keyboard. “There. I put Liam on restricted visitation and put in a red alert for unauthorized visitors on the campus. Security will check everyone who tries to get on the grounds. Your uncle won’t be able to get to him.”

  “But when he’s at his job…”

  Mia shook her head. “I’ll alert the store and have my brothers take turns staying with him while he works. It’s not the first time one of them has filled in to help out a resident. Nothing gets past my brothers.”

  Relief flowed through Holly. Burt would be upset about losing the drive. At least now she knew Liam would have some protection until they could run. “Thank you, Mia.”

  “What are friends for?” Concern crossed the other woman’s face. “If you need anything, even if it’s simply to talk, don’t forget I’m always here for you.” She hesitated for a second. “If your uncle had to face up to what he’s done, you wouldn’t have to keep moving around.”

  “I tried that, remember?”

  “I know, but I wish there was something more I could do.”

  “You letting Liam have a room here for a fraction of the price is more than enough.”

  The phone rang and Mia answered. Mouthing a silent good-bye to her friend, Holly went back to see her brother. Though it probably wouldn’t do any good, she warned him to stay away from their uncle if he was approached. All Burt had to do was give Liam a sob story and her brother’s gentle nature would lead him to want to help and end up right back into trouble again.

  Speaking of trouble, she wished she’d paid attention to her initial hesitation about Jake and hadn’t slept with him. Not that she regretted the actual act; she hated that he was someone with the power to throw her life back into the chaos she’d tried so hard to leave behind.

  …

  Jake stretched and opened his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this satisfied. His muscles were so relaxed they almost felt fluid. All because of the sexy woman beside him. He splayed out a hand, then jerked upright, the fog of sleep vanishing. The space next to him was empty. Sliding from beneath the sheet, he checked the bathroom even though he knew she was already gone. A sharp stab of disappointment sliced through him. He’d never been the one left alone the morning after taking a woman to bed. Usually, he couldn’t get rid of them fast enough. Being on the receiving end was a new and unpleasant experience that left him feeling out of sorts.

  Talking with Holly had been easy, and the sex… His lips curved into a smile but just as quickly faded.

  Raking a hand down his face, Jake sat on the edge of the bed and wondered what the hell he’d done. To not even get a last name wasn’t like him, but he hadn’t been himself last night. Holly had been right when she’d said he had a bone-deep kind of loneliness. He always carried it, but it got worse around the holidays.

  He’d been forcing the jolly while playing Santa, trying to cover the pain of the day being his brother’s birthday, and he’d only wanted to silence the memories. Meeting Holly had snapped him out of the past, easing some of the ice pick pain constantly stabbing his heart. He’d thought he had all the time in the world to get to know her better.

  His morning-after plan had been to take her to breakfast, ask for her phone number, and spend more time with her in the future. He could have sworn she was as into him as he was her. Maybe she’d left a note with her number.

  He rose and searched the bedside table, then checked the bar. Nothing. That was that, he guessed.

  With a sigh, Jake called his assistant to arrange to have a fresh set of clothes brought over, then went to shower. He wished the water could erase Holly from his mind as easily as it erased her perfume from his body. Her face flashed in his mind’s eye, and he groaned.

  He wanted her all over again.

  He finished his shower and slung the towel around his hips, then wiped the fog from the mirror. Written in gothic calligraphy, the black swirled tattoo of the Latin phrase “broken soul” glistened under droplets of water on his chest. Jake patted it dry. Like his friends Mason and Cole, who’d served time with him in that god-awful juvenile correctional facility as teenagers, he had a large three-headed dragon tattooed across the width of his back. For him, that tattoo represented strength and courage as well as the fire to fight back against the injustice he’d had heaped on him.

  But the broken soul on his chest was in reference to his brother’s death. As if he needed a reminder of the beating that took his brother’s life and haunted him to this day. He could still see the sneer on the guard’s face, still see him pressing down on his brother’s throat—

  A knock sounded, and Jake shut down the
memory, relieved someone had interrupted.

  He opened the door, expecting to see his long time assistant, Violet Olsen. Instead, Cole stepped into the room and tossed him a bag. “Ran into Violet in the lobby. Told her I’d bring this up.”

  Jake put the bag onto the bed and reached for his watch. He strapped it on.

  “Tried to call you last night. Repeatedly.”

  “I was busy.”

  Cole stared pointedly at the tangled mess of bed sheets. “I can see that. Who is she?”

  Jake hated to admit it, but said, “I don’t know anything about her other than her first name and that she played an elf.”

  “If that’s your thing.” Cole laughed.

  Jake punched his friend on the arm. “She was an elf for the Christmas party.”

  “You don’t know who she is?” Cole rubbed his arm. “You could catch something that’s gonna itch not being careful like that.”

  Jake was always careful. He’d never once skipped protection, but one of the many condoms they’d used had broken, nearly giving him a damn heart attack. Holly had reassured him she couldn’t get pregnant, though. She’d had some kind of complication when she was younger and was unable to have children.

  Jake dressed in the suit he’d instructed Violet to bring, then sat to put his shoes on. “You look a little green around the gills this morning. You sick?”

  “I wish.”

  At the somber tone, Jake’s head snapped up. “This have anything to do with why you tried to call me?” He transferred his wallet to his back pocket and double-checked the room to make sure he hadn’t left anything.

  “’Fraid so. The thumb drive you were supposed to keep safe is missing from the office. Did you move it?”

  A sick feeling hit Jake in the pit of the stomach. He walked beside Cole as they left the room and headed to the elevator.

  “The one with the new security software on it?” Jake asked, trying to wrap his mind around the problems they’d face if that was what Cole meant.

  “Yeah. It went missing sometime last night. You know anything about it? You were the last one to have it. Are you sure you didn’t move it?”

  “Positive. I haven’t touched it.” Despite both Mason and Cole telling him he should slow down and not work as much, he’d felt driven by the hounds of the past nipping at his heels. Wealth and power equaled control, and he was willing to do anything to keep from feeling like that helpless teenage boy watching his brother’s life drain away right before his eyes.

  He hoped he hadn’t moved the drive and in his workaholic exhaustion accidentally lost it. If it fell into the hands of their competitors, it would cost them millions of dollars. Losing that drive could rock their company. Destroy what he and his friends had worked their asses off to build.

  He clenched his jaw. He couldn’t fail his company like he’d failed Adam. Taking out his cell, he called in to the building security and ordered a review of the security tapes as well as an office-by-office search for the missing drive.

  “Do you think someone stole it?” Cole asked, his face somber as they raced outside to his car.

  Jake hoped like hell not. There was big money riding on the software. His stomach burned as if he’d developed a sudden ulcer.

  “Search my house and my apartment as well,” he said. There was too much riding on that drive. His hope was that he’d misplaced it, because the alternative was too bleak to dwell on.

  Chapter Three

  Stealing was easy. Putting something back without getting caught, now that was the hard part. She’d been trained in the art of stealing right after her seventh birthday.

  You don’t bring me what I want, your brother doesn’t eat, and I won’t buy his asthma medicine. Go ahead, try to tell someone. I’ll make sure you never see him again.

  Holly took a second to draw in a deep breath, hoping it would calm her racing heart as well as dispel the memories of the life she’d been running from since she was eighteen years old. She needed to concentrate on the job she was here to do, right the wrong her brother had been fooled into doing, and then get back to Liam and get the hell out of Chicago.

  Slipping a hand into the pocket of the black uniform slacks, she touched the thumb drive to make sure it was still tucked between the train tickets. One for her, one for Liam. With the past hot on their trail, they’d be using the tickets as soon as she went home and convinced Liam leaving was for the best.

  A quick breeze blew the salt-scented air across the yacht, and Holly shivered. She’d wanted to wear the black sweater also provided by the company, but she’d learned the hard way if someone chased her and lunged, it was easy to grab the end of a sweater and trap her. She’d barely managed to escape that time.

  A woman whose body was squeezed into a sparkling red dress to the point it looked painful paused in front of her and tossed a used napkin on the tray beside the sushi rolls Holly had been circulating among the well-to-do crowd. She waved a hand dismissively, nearly hitting Holly with her over-perfumed wrist. Holly kept her smile anchored in place even though she pictured the woman wearing the sushi rolls as a hat.

  Heading to the kitchen with the now inedible rolls, she wanted nothing more than to take off the heels killing her feet, remove the austere brown wig covering her red hair and prosthetics on her face, and pitch the black librarian glasses overboard. She’d padded her figure to add twenty pounds and the stuffed material made her itch. The disguise was necessary to keep Jake from recognizing her. So far, it had worked. He’d walked right by her and hadn’t even glanced at her.

  Her cheeks flamed as she thought of the last time she’d seen him. He’d nibbled on the side of her neck and whispered in her ear that he would make her scream his name.

  She deposited the tray on the counter. She’d had a one-night stand with a millionaire—scratch that—soon to be billionaire, according to one article. The man she’d assumed was an ordinary guy was rich enough to buy whatever he wanted. Working for a living, hoping the month ended before the money did had probably never been part of his life.

  Wealthy men and troublemakers were the kinds of men who were on her list of never-touch, never get involved with. She’d learned a lot about each type of man from her uncle’s weekly lessons, especially the troublemakers. He’d been a guard at the juvenile correctional facility in Texas, and used to tell her stories about the crimes committed by the teens he interacted with. The way he’d smirked, Holly knew it was his way of telling her that even though he forced her to steal, he could have her locked up, too.

  “It’s been a long night and that plane ride in didn’t do my nerves any good,” the older woman who’d introduced herself as Agnes said.

  “Tell me about it,” Holly agreed. Along with Agnes and the other employees of Prestigious Hosting, Holly had flown to South Carolina in the company’s charter plane and it hadn’t been a smooth flight.

  “You look about done in,” Agnes said. She moved from counter to counter, deftly handling the dessert presentation, and smiled kindly at Holly as she worked.

  “I am.” She’d been up late last night planning the reverse theft, going over the contingencies, making a plan B and C if plan A tanked.

  “We passed a couple of South Carolina’s better known sea islands, and we’re coming around Mr. Jake’s private island, so we’ll be headed back to the marina now. You’ll be able to get your rest before you know it.”

  Headed back? She’d miscalculated the time it would take to skirt the other islands. Such a rookie mistake. Trying not to let herself panic, Holly said, “I think I’ll stretch my legs.”

  Agnes waved her off, and Holly left, pausing to observe the guests gathering on the dance floor. Afterward, there would be fireworks. In light of the music and the noise, no one would focus on her. Like the rest of the staff, she didn’t exist. Holly eased her way through the group of men and women dressed in elegant clothing. She’d be willing to bet some of the dresses cost three times more than her entire year’s salary at t
he catering company—if she were to stay that long. Waiting until she was sure no one was nearby, Holly slipped into the master stateroom. The luxuriousness gave her a momentary pause.

  What would it be like to fit into this world? To belong instead of always running, always scraping by?

  Holly straightened her shoulders. This wasn’t a happily-ever-after movie, and she wasn’t a Disney princess waiting for her true love or to be saved. She could save herself. This was real life, her life, and she wasn’t one to cry over spilled milk. Or a crappy childhood where she’d been given the knowledge she’d have to use to get into the safe. From what she’d glimpsed on the main deck, Jake had his hands full with a massive cleavage-showing blonde covered in diamonds, and little else, so Holly should have plenty of time to put the stolen item back and get out.

  Searching the room, she located the safe behind books on a bookshelf. Stretching her fingers, she quickly went to work cracking the safe. Her best time was close to five minutes but that had been from years of practice, which she hadn’t had since she’d left Burt. Standing as close as she could, she listened intently and used the sensitivity of her touch as she spun the dial. She’d cracked her first safe at ten. She’d been forced to study how they operated until she’d learned how to get into one quickly and quietly.

  In record time, she triumphantly swung the door open. Digging into her pocket, she pulled out the thumb drive, not surprised to find her hands shaking. Safe-breaking brought back too many memories of being afraid.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Turning quickly, Holly came face-to-face with the man she’d hoped to avoid for the rest of her life. Dark hair, five o’clock shadow, piercing eyes. Handsomer now than when she’d first met him, if that were possible. Or maybe it was because of all the photos she’d seen of him during her hours of using the library’s computer to study him and the layout of his yacht. Millionaire Businesses Magazine had carried her favorite photo in an article predicting he would soon be the next youngest billionaire. He worked hard and played harder, according to the article. What the magazine hadn’t covered was the mesmerizing pull that occurred from being in the same room with him.