by Nicole Casey
Never had I seen the child move so fast as she bolted toward her bedroom at the back of the condo and I reached for my phone to find tickets out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that night.
I was interrupted by my phone buzzing.
“Evan Collier,” I snapped without checking the display.
“Mr. Collier, this is the concierge. You have a visitor.”
I frowned. I hadn’t been expecting anyone and I wondered if it was Children’s Services doing a welfare check on Alex.
“Who is it?”
“Vyolet Viera.”
I stared at the phone in disbelief.
“Is this a joke?” I snapped but I recognized the number at the front desk.
“Uh…no sir,” Marv replied uncertainly. “Should I send her away?”
“No!” I choked. “No! Send her up.”
I dropped the phone, staring uncomprehendingly at the door with my heart pounding.
What was I going to say to her? What could I say that would make her hate me less?
As I tried to get my bearings, I heard the elevator ding and seconds later there was a tentative knock on the door.
I bounced from my spot on the sofa and threw open the door, my breath catching in my throat.
She looked more beautiful than I remembered, her soft blonde mane swirling around her face.
Her skin seemed to glow against the light rain which had fallen on her face.
“Hi,” she said. “Can I come in?”
I swallowed nervously and stepped back.
Slowly, she began to remove her gloves, droplets of water scattering against the marble entranceway.
“Nice place,” she commented, and I nodded, still not trusting my voice.
I could hardly believe she was standing before me on the very night I had decided to go to her.
We were connected beyond anything we could see, that much was clear, and her presence just confirmed that for me.
“You don’t look happy to see me,” she sighed, standing uncomfortably in the foyer but I shook my head.
“Just the opposite,” I croaked. “Your timing is…unbelievable.”
She cocked her head to the side and peered at me with bright blue eyes.
“Is Alex here?”
I nodded.
“She’s in her room getting ready…” Again I was confounded with the surrealism of what was happening.
“My mother ran you off,” she announced. “And she told me you were getting married.”
The words hit me like a brick and I realized just how much Amelia wanted to keep us apart.
“Your mother was wrong,” I whispered, reaching for her. I half expected her to resist but she seemed to melt against me and I felt her quiver slightly as if fighting off her sobs.
“If I had known,” she breathed. “I would have tried to contact you sooner.”
I embraced her tightly, stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head.
“It’s all right,” I told her gruffly. “Your mom is worried about your reputation.”
“My mom is stuck in the eighties,” she replied curtly. “My reputation is not going to suffer because I am in love with you.”
I wondered if she genuinely believed that or if she was trying to convince herself, but I knew it didn’t matter anymore.
I was not going to let her go again, no matter what Amelia and Oscar felt about us.
The past months had been horrific, each day worse than the last and Alex had suffered the most.
Whatever challenges we faced, we would overcome them together.
She drew back and looked at me.
“I’m pregnant,” Vyolet informed me and a feeling of elation flooded me.
“What?” I gasped, my jaw dropping in shock.
“I know you never wanted to get married or have kids – ”
“Woah!” I stopped her. “Who told you that?”
She gazed at me in mild surprise.
“Well you never did either, so I assumed…”
“Did it ever occur to you that I never found anyone who I wanted to do those things with?” I asked her. “Until now.”
Her eyes grew bright with tears and she pursed her lips together.
“Do you mean that?” she whispered. “Sincerely?”
“I have never meant anything more in my life.”
I kissed her lips and suddenly all the heaviness which had squeezed my heart seemed to evaporate.
“Vyolet!”
We parted as Alex hurled herself into our arms.
“Did you come to see us home?” my niece asked, hugging Vyolet with ferociousness she reserved exclusively for her beloved teacher.
“See you home?” Vyolet repeated. “Are you coming home?”
She looked at me as she asked the question and I nodded, my eyes shining with warmth.
“Yes,” Alex screeched. “Uncle Evan just told me.”
“For the holidays then?” Vyolet asked quietly but I shook my head.
“No,” I replied. “We’re coming home for good.”
The look on my girls’ faces was something I would hold onto for the rest of my life and for the first time since Jocelyn died, I knew I was doing the right thing for everyone.
We were going back to Minnesott Beach to take the house off the market and be a family like we should have done from the start.
I had never been so certain of anything as I pulled my two loves into another warm hold, kissing them both on top of their heads.
Not two loves, I reminded myself, my heart full of affection. Three. I am going to be a father. My life is finally complete.
- THE END -
The Billionaire’s Conquest
Mercury Billionaires Book 1
Book Description
I need to save Mercury Wild, but who would save my heart?
I'm Trevor Wild, Billionaire and Entrepreneur of Mercury Wild, a club that I inherited from my father.
Men admire me for the fortune that came with my name. Women flock to me for the man of their dreams, but along the way, I lose sight of who I am, and my business is at stake.
So desperate to save the club, I have to put pride behind me and seek out help, and help comes in the form of Jasmine Washington.
Her skin is smooth as silk. Her eyes are piercing green that would burn holes into my soul.
But it’s her steadfast attitude, her honest business sense, and her genuine heart, that pull me in.
Yet, it doesn’t hurt that she has a rockin’ body that makes me want to beg for her every chance I get, and learning that she’s a virgin only intensifies those desires.
Will I be able to have both my club and Jasmine, or will going after her cause everything to crumble around me?
1
Jasmine
The sound of Aerosmith played in the background as I walked into the club. I looked around to see if Sydney was there yet. We had been best friends since Elementary school. It was Mrs. Harper’s third-grade class when Sydney asked if she could sit next to me. I didn’t know anyone then; I was the new student in a big place and Sydney was there. She always remained there and we vowed to be best friends for life.
I waved to her from across the bar, then hurried over to her. We hugged and made small talk, how’ve you been, what’s new, how are you enjoying the humid weather, things like that, until others started to join us. I hadn’t seen Sydney in nearly three months.
She had taken a trip to New York to visit her grandmother, who didn’t have long to live. Unfortunately, her grandmother didn’t make it much past the timeline the doctor provided, and now Sydney was back home.
She immediately reached out to her friends and asked them to go out to the bar and that brought them there this night.
“You look good, Syd,” I said, taking a drink of the beer that the waitress had brought me.
She smiled. “Thank you! I’m doing well, actually.”
I was relieved to hear that. I didn’t know how she was h
andling the passing of her grandmother, but she did seem to be doing better than expected.
“Have your parents come back from New York, yet?” Tracey, another friend posed the question.
Sydney shook her head.
“When grandma passed, they decided to stay back there and help to facilitate the sale of her property. But I didn’t want to stay behind. I needed to get back into work and it just was easier to make the escape back to Montana. How are you guys doing?” she asked.
Everyone eagerly chatted away about what they’d been up to, but I stayed mostly quietly. I didn’t have much to add. How could you when your job consisted of filing papers and phone calls and your life in itself was mostly struggling with not fighting with your boyfriend? Things were tough and the last thing Sydney needed was my problems piled on top of everything she had going on.
The waitress came back to the table and I ordered another beer, while everyone went on about their glorious lives. I just listened intently, drank my beer, and tried not to be jealous…too much. Sydney kept saying things like, that’s amazing, good for you, I’m so proud of you, sounds great, and I just indulged in my self-pity.
Yeah, jealousy was certainly prevalent.
After everyone else had gone about getting another drink, Sydney spoke up. “So, I do have some news and thought now would be as good of a time as any to let you in on it.”
I sipped on my beer, then swallowed it down and tried to be enthusiastic to hear about what she needed to say.
“What is it, Syd?” I asked.
That was when I noticed it. I’m not sure if I was the only one, but my eyes were directed to her left hand. She was playing with a ring that was on her finger. I don’t know if she was playing with that throughout the course of the night, but it was clear that she was extremely nervous.
My mouth hung open as the realization hit me. I didn’t want to blurt it out, but I was anxious to hear her spread the news. She then held up her left hand and sighed. “I’m getting married!”
A round of squeals came around the table, as she showed off her engagement ring. I couldn’t believe the news. The last I’d known, she wasn’t even dating anyone. “Who?” I suddenly asked.
She looked at me and there was a smile in her eyes. “You don’t know him. I met him in New York.” She paused, before continuing. “He’s a lawyer.”
I wondered if that meant she was leaving. She had made this big mention of getting back to her job and to her hometown, but if she was just going to turn around and leave again, I wondered what the point was. I was being a bit selfish, I’d admit that, but I didn’t want to see her go again. Luckily, I didn’t need to ask the question, because Mary had it on her mind.
“So, you’re moving to New York?” Mary asked.
Sydney looked at each of us, before shaking her head. “I’m not. Michael is getting a job in Maine. He stayed back home to finish up a couple different cases, but he’s moving here right before the wedding.” She glanced at me and it was like we had that inner connection where she would know exactly what I was thinking before I had a chance to say it. She smiled and nodded and I gave her a slight smile response back.
I wasn’t surprised to hear she was marrying a lawyer. After all, Sydney came from wealth and prestige, with her mother being a doctor and her father a chemist. It was like Sydney had gold in her blood. Great things came to her and I was always supportive of that, but it made sense that she would ultimately meet and marry a lawyer to continue her road to wealth.
We all congratulated her and I got up and walked around to where she was sitting. “Congratulations, Syd!” We hugged. “I’m so happy for you!”
When she pulled away, there were tears in her eyes. She had to wipe them away and I saw her hand shaking. “You’ll really like him,” she said.
I smiled. “All that matters is that you’re in love and if you are, then that’s good enough for me.” We hugged again and she nodded, I felt her shaking slightly. I knew that this was love for her, because Sydney wasn’t one to settle down easily. She’d never had a long-term boyfriend, let alone a man I could see that she would want to marry. I was truly happy for her and couldn’t wait to meet the man that stole my friend’s heart.
2
Trevor
The smell of bourbon penetrated through me as I lifted the glass to my lips and drank. I heaved a sigh and let the cool liquid slide down my throat.
It’d been a crazy busy day and I was glad to get out of the bar I owned, into a place that wouldn’t recognize me for my name or knowledge of the bar scene. Sometimes it was just good to get away. I took another drink and closed my eyes. Sometimes I wondered how I got to where I was.
I was twenty-eight and an owner of the bar and restaurant, Mercury Wild. It’d been sort of an inheritance passed down to me since my father’s passing five years earlier. Men admired me for the fortune that came with my name. Women flocked to me for the man of their dreams, or at least they liked the fact that I was wealthy, but along the way I lost sight of who I was.
I never saw that in my father, so I wondered again how I got to where I was. I took another drink, then ordered up another one. I was only two when my grandfather passed away, so I also questioned if maybe we were cut from the same cloth. Was I more like him?
“This seat taken?” I looked up into the eyes of a tall blonde woman. She had waves of curls that cascaded over her shoulders and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. In every man’s fantasy, she would be the ideal catch. I just smiled and shook my head.
“Have a seat!” I then took another drink and looked away, literally ignoring the woman and probably offending her with my cavalier attitude.
She did make small talk, but I didn’t even acknowledge her talking and I was sure I had offended her, because about fifteen minutes later she was getting down from the bar stool. She mumbled something about having a nice life and then she was gone.
The truth was the blonde-haired woman was the typical woman that I would gravitate towards and that was exactly why I didn’t indulge in any thoughts of communication with her. I was tired of going the typical route. I needed to change things up or I was bound to go crazy.
After a couple more drinks, finishing off my bourbon, I left behind the glass and turned around to leave. I spotted Dylan coming closer to me. Dylan was one of my good friends and not one I could easily ignore. I put on a smile and waved to him, just as he got closer.
“Hey, buddy, thought that was you over here. Wanna come to my table and hang?” he asked.
“Just heading out,” I responded.
“Oh!” Dylan said, looking disappointed. “I have two of the hottest babes that are going to be sitting at my table and I thought you could help me entertain them.” He winked at me. “If you know what I mean.”
I laughed and looked away from him. “Yeah, I know what you mean, but I have a busy day tomorrow and I just had my two drinks, so really should be going. I’m sure you can handle them though.” I chuckled as I patted him on the shoulder.
Dylan laughed. “Yeah…maybe.” He then gave me a curious look. “What are you doing here anyway?” Dylan asked. “Isn’t Mercury Wild enough bar for you?” he asked, giving me a teasing grin.
I snickered and shrugged. “Guess sometimes I need to get away from the office and really think things through. But hey…you best be getting back to your table. Don’t want the women to send out the cops looking for you.”
Dylan looked away from me and glanced back towards where he came from. “Gotta keep them guessing, right?” Again he winked at me and then backed up. “Suit yourself if you don’t want in on it. They are a couple of real babes.”
“I’m sure they are,” I said. “But you have fun!” I grabbed my keys out of my pocket and watched him as he headed back towards his table. I shook my head, not the least bit surprised by Dylan’s attitude for the women. Dylan was someone that would never shy away from getting what he wanted. It came with the territory of his job. He was a real estate b
roker and one of the finest in the county.
I turned away from the direction he walked away in and headed towards the front door of the club. I was so driven on getting out of there that I hadn’t noticed a woman stand up from her table and I bumped right into her, nearly knocking her to the ground.
“Oh…I’m sorry!” I said.
She turned around and our eyes met. For me, it was an instant physical attraction. She had piercing green eyes that seemed to look right into my soul. Yet, the thing about her that seemed different than the rest, was that she wasn’t this obvious beauty. It looked more like she didn’t try. She had only light makeup on and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but she just had this look that was captivating.
“It’s alright,” she mumbled. “Excuse me!” She then turned back around and raced towards the front door, as if she was in a hurry to get somewhere. I watched her for a moment, then noticed that the table she came from had their eyes on me. I smiled, then looked away and headed back out of the bar. I looked around, but the woman was gone.
Feeling like I had just had a glimpse of someone I wanted to get to know, yet didn’t feel I’d ever see again, I headed to my black Aston Martin. I got in the driver’s seat and just sat there for a moment, a smile playing on my lips. Somehow, someway, I wanted to believe if our paths crossed once…then they could cross again. Even if it was only a dream that might never be realized.
3
Jasmine
My car couldn’t go fast enough as I had to be mindful of any cops around and avoiding getting hit by traffic. The text message kept playing through my mind. If you want to see what your boyfriend is up to, then I suggest you come to his place right now. He won’t be alone and you won’t want to miss this. It came from an anonymous phone number and I sat there for three minutes pondering if I should pay attention to it. But, I would kick myself if I didn’t.