by Ward,Alice
“Okay.” She picked up her glass of wine and walked just ahead of me to the living room.
I sat down and extended my arm to the back of the couch, nodding for her to take the seat next to me. “Come let me feel you up.”
She smirked and dropped down next to me. “This feels like high school all over again.”
“Oh yeah? I don’t ever remember me feeling you up while you were still fully dressed. We kept our love affair a secret, remember? Your brother would have killed me in my sleep had he known how badly I wanted to touch your sexy little body.” I leaned over and kissed the side of her face as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
“I wanted you to touch me.” She pulled her legs up and cuddled against me. “Remember that old game I made you play with me all the time? Do you trust me?”
I laughed. “Oh shit. I’d almost forgotten about that. You were a devious little thing. Had me hard every time I saw you because of some of the things you told me you wanted us to do when we grew up. Remember that?”
She laughed as her cheeks turned pink. “I do. I would read dirty magazines at home to get some new ideas to share with you late at night. I wanted you to see me as a woman, not a child. I figured if I knew the latest sexual lingo that you might notice me.”
I glanced down at her and shook my head. “You didn’t have to do anything to get my attention. You had it — fully. You were beautiful and wild. Fuck, you still are.”
“I’m not wild anymore. I want to be some days. I want to jump from a plane, ride a motorcycle at full speed, swim with the sharks.” She gave me a wide grin and my heart melted in my chest.
“Let’s write all that stuff down and after we wrap up the mess I’ve made with my life, we’ll start working through your bucket list. Sound good?” I kissed the tip of her nose.
“Yes. You have to add things to the list to. What do you want to do?”
I couldn’t help myself from being completely honest with her. “I want to make love to you until you can’t walk. I want to watch your belly grow with my babies. I want to carry you across the threshold of the house of your dreams.”
“Zek.” Her eyes filled with tears and she turned, snuggling in tighter to me. “Don’t give me hope just yet. You know it scares me.”
“I know it does, but it’s all I’ve got to cling to. My life has turned upside down completely. You coming back into it has been a blessing that I couldn’t have prayed hard enough for.” I touched her cheek and let out a long sigh. “It’s all worth it if I end up with you by my side. Do you think that’s a possibility?”
“I do. I don’t want anyone but you, but we need to see this thing through before we make a million plans. You know I’m still half-scarred over not seeing you for the last eighteen years. Your avoidance techniques worked well.” She tried to let out a laugh, but it fell flat.
I pulled from her and stood up. “I was an idiot. Forgive me.”
“I already have.” She sat up. “Where are you going?”
“To the restroom. You want more wine?” I walked toward the back of the house as she called after me.
“No. I’m already loopy and you know I like to mess around when I’m drunk.” Her voice was warm and filled with affirmation of her love for me. I had her, I just knew it.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it until after I’d used the restroom and washed my hands. I checked myself in the mirror as I toweled dried my hands and studied the scar. It was ugly as fuck, but it did make me look more rugged. I didn’t care what Alisa said.
I pulled up my phone as it buzzed again. It was a message from an unknown number.
Leaning against the cabinet, I let it play. My insides turned to stone as my worst fears became my reality.
“Mr. Kellington. This is Jackson Burnes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have concluded our findings and your trial is currently being set. We will be bringing fraud charges against you as the Chief Executive Officer of Kellington Investments. Please work on obtaining legal representation, and be on the lookout for our subpoena to appear in court. If you have any questions, please—”
I dropped the call and left the phone in the bathroom as I walked numbly back into the living room. Alisa wasn’t in there, but I could hear her moving around in the kitchen. Why couldn’t I have just a day to believe that things were going to be fine? A week? A month? Why? Was it too much to ask for?
“Zek?” She turned and walked toward me as concern filled her face. “What’s wrong?”
“I just got a message from the SEC. They’re pressing charges against me and the firm.” I let out a long sigh and tried to not dive into the dark hole of despair that opened up in front of me as she stepped back.
“Oh no. Shit.” She pressed her hands to her mouth as her sapphire eyes searched my face. “Well, I’ll be right beside you. We’ll beat this. You didn’t commit the rape, and you didn’t do the insider trading deal. I know you. You would never—”
“Alisa. I didn’t rape the girl.” I paused as my heart contracted painfully in my chest.
Don’t. It could change everything. Don’t.
“I know that. I just said that.” She stopped and took a step back. “Zek. Please tell me that you didn’t get involved with the trading scandal. That’s not like you at all.”
I could have told her all the reasons why I did it, but it didn’t matter. None of it did. Justice would have her way with me, and I would be behind bars. My time with Alisa would be over, and it would be for the best. She was a good woman and a great lawyer. She deserved the best, which used to be me, but it wasn’t anymore.
Her voice cracked as she touched my chest. “Tell me you didn’t do this. Your ethics couldn’t have changed that much over the years. I don’t believe that you’re capab—”
“I did it. I made an error in judgment. I fucking did it, okay?”
I ran my fingers through my hair as she spoke the words I knew were coming, and yet they hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Wow. This changes everything.”
The End of Part 2
To Be Continued in Part 3…
THE BILLIONAIRE PRISONER
ALICE WARD & JESSICA BLAKE
PART 3
BOOK DESCRIPTION
This is Part 3 of “The Billionaire Prisoner” – a five part Hot Alpha Billionaire Romance Series by Alice Ward and Jessica Blake.
One case down. One case to go. And the woman of his dreams is back in his life.
Zek Kellington’s world should be looking brighter. He should be breathing easier. Feeling more hopeful. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
With the weight of the SEC investigation still pressing down on him, his future looks beyond bleak. While Alisa prepares for the worst and fights for the man who’s always held her heart, all he can do is sit back and watch her try to fix the unfixable. And grieve for everything he’s going to miss.
This book is intended for a mature audience, 18+ only.
CHAPTER 1
e
Zek
Winning the rape case against Melissa Mills should have left me on a high that kept on giving, but I wasn’t that lucky. Not even for a day. The Securities and Exchange Commission had wrapped up their investigations on the insider trading scandal I’d so ignorantly played a part in, and deemed me guilty. My ass was going to trial.
I didn’t need money, or more stock, or anything, yet I’d made one of the dumbest decisions of my life going after the thing I needed least. In reality, I needed a woman to stand beside me and love me no matter who I was. That one need drove every other part of my life. And I’d had it, for about five minutes. Then, with one phone call and one moment of truth, I was escorting the woman who could give me everything I needed out of the door.
I’d been pacing ever since.
The sun came through the kitchen window, and yet I hadn’t stopped moving all night. There had to be a way to beat the odds. Surely I wasn’t the only man in history to make a vi
tal mistake and find some form of mercy to cover it. With the lies that were spewed all over the news about me committing the rape, there should have been an uptick in my Karma, but no. Alisa was upset over me not telling her that I had in fact participated in the trading scandal.
The need to get in her face and bleed out my emotions was almost overwhelming, but I’d carefully and calmly walked her out. She hadn’t asked if I was guilty. Not once. It was simply because she didn’t want to know.
“How does someone love you and then pull that warmth back because of a mistake?” I ran my hands through my hair and let out a painful sigh as I talked myself through the emotional turmoil raging through me. “Maybe she didn’t love me after all. Maybe I made that shit up. It’s only been a handful of days that she’s been back in my life. Love isn’t what she was feeling. Remembrance? Infatuation? Loneliness?”
Anger bubbled up inside of me, but it didn’t belong to the thoughts of her reactions. It was all for my own horrible decisions. I dropped down in the chair closest to me in the kitchen and closed my eyes. The dull ache in the back of my head wasn’t going to go anywhere until I could force myself to sleep. It wasn’t happening anytime soon. I had a week or more to get my shit together and try to figure out how I could talk the SEC into giving me the least time behind bars possible.
I didn’t care about the company or my need for success. I cared about Alisa. Everything would fall back into place after the debris cleared and my time was served. I was confident in my ability to remake myself, to rebuild my legacy. But love?
“Fucking love,” I growled and got up, pulling my shirt over my head and walking to the bedroom. I had to get out of the house before I went mad.
She hadn’t said much when she left the night before. Just another promise that we would get through everything, but the disappointment in her eyes spoke volumes. Why had she come back into my life anyway? To remind me of what I could have had?
“Bullshit.” I dressed quickly, brushed my hair and checked my haggard reflection in the mirror. I looked about as good as I felt.
It was a good thing the office was shut down. I didn’t want to run into anyone other than Jeffery, who I owed a confession to. He was a good man, and the last thing I needed on my conscious was knowing that he found out the truth about my dealings from a broadcast and not me. He’d given far too much of himself to my firm to let that happen.
I locked up and got in my Lexus, rolling down the windows and leaving the radio off. I needed time with my thoughts, and yet having to relive every shitty moment that had brought me to this point was almost agonizing. I punished myself by doing it, but I couldn’t stop. I wanted so damn bad to be the man Alisa needed me to be. If I’d only run into her a week before Dane came to visit, then maybe…
“Maybe what?” I pulled into the parking garage and swallowed the hot lump of regret in my throat. Jeffery’s car was sitting in its usual spot and intense despair rolled through me. I could go to jail and pay my time, hell, I deserved it, but what about Jeff? What about my brother, Mark? Alisa? All of my employees?
Closing my eyes, I let my head drop back against the seat and pressed my palms to my eyes as they prickled with the sting of salty tears. Letting myself down was one thing, but all these people? These people who matter so fucking much to me?
A sob lodged in my throat, and I swallowed it back down. I hadn’t let myself cry since realizing my father wasn’t coming back as a boy. It was one of the worst days of my life, but this was chalking up to be a strong contender.
Breathing slowly, I finally got a hold of myself and pulled my emotions back. I could lament later in the shower where no one could hear me, and I didn’t have to reign myself in. After wiping my eyes, I got out of the car and walked toward the office building I’d worked so hard to build. Some part of me wanted to lament over losing the fortune and fame I’d created for myself over the years, but it was pointless. Without someone to share everything I’d worked toward with, it was just stuff that collected dust.
I took the elevator to the top floor and glanced down, wondering why the hell I’d decided to wear a suit. It was pointless to try and look the part of a well-to-do man. I wasn’t one. I was a thief, a liar, a swindler. I was the guy I’d always hated my whole life.
“One decision. One fucking bad choice.” I got off the elevator and unlocked the door to the darkened office. Nostalgia rolled over me. How badly I wanted to see Celia glance up from her desk and smile at me as the office buzzed with people, but it wasn’t going to happen. We were closed down until the investigation and new trial were over. I would survive the trial. I had no delusions there.
Alisa was an incredible attorney, and I’d been careful to use the proper accounts in transferring funds to Dane, but I’d messed up here and there. The biggest mistake I made was to not report the sale to the SEC after the IPO. Having been caught up in everything, it was a mistake they were sure to use to hold me to the flame. It almost made my guilt crystal clear. Omission of information was almost as bad as twisted truths.
“Zek?” Jeffery’s voice rose up from down the hall.
“Yeah. It’s me.” I walked into his office and stopped by the door. “You have time to talk?”
“You bet. Anything for you.” The tall, lanky guy who’d been my right hand stood and gave me a warm smile. “Things are better at home. Just in case you were wondering.”
“I’m always wondering how you are.” I walked out of his office and moved down to mine. “I keep thinking that wife of yours is going to stab you in your sleep. She’s a little…” I glanced over my shoulder and smiled as he chuckled.
“Yep. No need to go there. I’m well aware. I sleep with one eye open. What can I say?” He followed me into the office and sat down in the chair across from my desk as I pulled off my coat.
“I haven’t slept too well in quite some time, but it is what it is.” I dropped down in my seat and crossed my hands over my stomach as he watched me closely. Did he already know about the SEC? Had they contacted him as part of the investigation? Surely they had. Why hadn’t he mentioned it?
“I’m thrilled to hear that the case with Miss Mills went so well.” He ran his hand through his hair. “That was some crazy shit. It’s like that old saying, ‘when it rains, it pours’ right? Jeez man. It’s just been nonstop with you lately.”
“Yeah, well, it’s just getting worse too. I’m glad the truth came out about Melissa. Piss poor judgment on my part, but I was lonely and she was in my face.” I shrugged. “It’s over now, thank God.”
“What’s getting worse? Did the SEC investigation get wrapped up or is something else going on?” He shifted a little in his seat.
Paranoia rose up the center of my chest and threatened to choke me out, but I pushed it back down. After Celia turned on me, my ability to trust anyone was quickly diminishing, even if I was officially the bad guy.
“Yeah. They’re pressing charges against me and the firm. You need to pull out now so that you’re not dragged through the mud with everything. The trial will be quick from what I understand.” I pursed my lips, trying to decide if I should come clean with the man sitting across from me. I’d trusted him with everything related to my business for the last fifteen years. Why would this be any different?
“Shit, Zek.” He moved to the edge of his chair. “That’s horrible news.”
“I know. I’m just going to take it day by day, and work with them to see if I can’t come up with a way to lessen the impact of what might be coming.” I shrugged, trying to appear casual and unconcerned. There was no way I was letting anyone see just how internally fucked up I was. It was hard to breathe when I thought about spending any of my time behind bars, but that was for me to struggle through alone.
“What can I do?” His earnest care urged me to be honest with him, but I couldn’t.
“Nothing. Just draft up the partnership dissolution papers based on our original agreement. There is a clause regarding insolvency and death. Utiliz
e some of that verbiage, and let’s split the value of the firm so that your half is protected. Mine won’t be.”
“What? No. That’s bullshit. I’m not leaving you high and dry. It’s not happening.” He pressed his hands to his knees and leaned forward, staring at me with the same look he had every time he wasn’t willing to budge.
“Draft the agreement, Jeffery. Please. That’s what you can do for me.” I picked up my phone and glanced down as the news feeds with the Jessup trading scandal popped up. The SEC had made their statement to the press and it looked like I was only one of the guys Dane hit up and then served up to the authorities.
Little bastard. He better hope I don’t see him in a dark alley somewhere.
“Did you do it?” Jeffery stood up and pushed a hand through his hair. “I mean, it doesn’t matter if you did. I know you, and if you did do it, you just made a mistake. I’ve spent my career here with you because of the man you are. This one thing doesn’t change that.”
I forced back the wave of emotion that hit me moments before in the car. I nodded and stood, extending my hand. “I’m sorry for all of this. Honestly, I am. I would take it all back in a heartbeat if I could.”
He grasped my hand tightly and nodded. “Well, you can’t, but it’s okay. People mess up. All of us. We’ll fix it. Just keep me involved in helping you do anything you need me to do. I’m not splitting the partnership. If you go down, I’ll be beside you. We’ll rebuild when everything is settled. Got it?”
I nodded, unable to speak.
He turned and walked out of my office, closing my door as I bent over and pressed my hands to my face as tight as I could. I didn’t deserve his loyalty, and yet he wasn’t willing to retract it. There was no strength left in me to push him to do as I said and protect himself. Weakness reared its ugly head, and I let him go, let him cling to me even though I knew I was dropping down into a dark hole that wouldn’t grant me freedom for a while.