Bad Boy Billionaire: The Complete Series (A Bad Boy Alpha Billionaire Romance)

by Claire Adams

  “Yes, apparently the human trafficking division has had their eyes on Stephano for years. I think they are excited at the opportunity to catch him.”

  Jackson was so naive when it came to Stephano. Sure, I believed that Jackson had probably dealt with a lot of bad guys when he was in the military. But even those guys followed some basic rules of combat. Stephano didn’t follow any rules.

  “So, when is this person coming? Are they going to go with you to meet Stephano?”

  “Why so many questions?” Jackson asked.

  He seemed to be getting agitated with me, and I knew I needed to back off. I didn’t want him to think I was against his plan. I just wanted him to be safe. In the end, any plan that ended up getting Ana away from Stephano was a good plan and I was willing to look at everything. Unfortunately, I didn’t think Jackson was willing to consider any other plan than the one he was currently fixated on.

  “You know I’m just trying to help. What can I do?”

  Jackson thought about it for a moment and seemed to be pondering many different ideas as he tried to decide. I didn’t want to just be along for the ride. I knew Stephano well and I had a lot to offer the situation. I just wished that Jackson could see my worth and let me participate a little.

  “I don’t know if we should use you much anymore. You are compromised now. Stephano knows something is up. His guys were in the hotel room.”

  “Like I said, they just thought I was fucking you. They don’t know anything more than that. Don’t take me off the case. I really need this money.”

  I felt the panic set in at the thought of not being able to finish the case with Jackson. I had thrown away my livelihood with Stephano. I needed the money that Chase had promised me if I was going to start a new life. I needed to help save Ana and get my $250,000 there was no way in hell I was going to go back to stripping and I certainly couldn’t go back to Stephano.

  “It’s alright. I’ll tell Chase you finished the job,” Jackson said as he dismissed my worries.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I had just called Chase to bring him down to Miami. He was going to know for sure that I hadn’t done anything to help the case at all. In fact, my stupid actions had jeopardized the case. I felt sick to my stomach. I needed the money that had been promised to me. I had to figure out something so I could make good on the job.

  I sat quietly and ate my breakfast while I contemplated what I could possibly do. I couldn’t let Jackson do everything, then I wouldn’t get any of the money. It was about more than just helping Ana – it was about helping save my own life. I couldn’t live the life I had before, I wanted so much more now.

  “I’m going to go and meet with the CIA contact in a little bit. You will need to stay back at the motel. Do you understand?”

  I hated what he was saying. Yes, I understood that he didn’t want to risk the job by letting me be involved anymore. I got exactly what he was saying. But I had to finish the job. I needed the money and quite frankly, I thought that Jackson needed me in order to get the job done without getting himself killed.

  “Sure,” I said to appease him.

  I felt the life I had dreamed about slipping away from me. Jackson wasn’t going to let me be involved and Chase was going to be there soon and would see that I hadn’t done a damn thing to help save Ana. Sure, I had been strangled and they would feel bad about that, but I hadn’t felt like I had made a real contribution to the effort.

  “It’s alright, Roxanne. I’m coming back,” Jackson said as he reached across the table and grabbed my hand.

  My gut spun with his touch and I instantly wanted to be back in bed with him. But maybe that was why he didn’t want me to help with things anymore. Our relationship had been very physical in the last couple of days. I should have had better willpower, but it was so hard around him.

  “Is it because we made out? Is that why you don’t want me to help?”

  He started to laugh and I had no idea what was going on. What had I said that was so funny?

  “No, I liked that.”

  “Then what is it? Why don’t you want me to help?”

  He still chuckled a little as he held onto my hand and looked me in the eyes. His face seemed relaxed and calm. I really couldn’t read him, at all. Nothing seemed to get him worked up. The more chaos and danger around, the calmer Jackson seemed to be. I wished I could behave like that when craziness was going on around me.

  “There is no reason, Roxanne. I just think it would be better if I went without you.”

  “Well, that’s a reason, isn’t it?”

  I felt tears start to well up in my eyes. But there was no way I was letting Jackson see me cry again. I was tired of being the weak girl who couldn’t take care of herself around him. That wasn’t me. That had never been me. I knew how to take care of myself better than any girl my age. I didn’t need a man to do it for me.

  For the last five years, I had successfully avoided crying around any man. Now in the span of only a few days, I had broken down twice in front of Jackson. I didn’t know what was going on with my emotions, but I couldn’t risk it and tried damn hard to put my emotional wall back up and stop crying.

  “Come on, now. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Can I have the room key, please?” I said as I felt the tears welling up in my eyes.

  Jackson grabbed my hand and I felt the tears leaving my eyes. There was no way I could avoid it now.

  “Stay, we can talk about it.”

  “Key. Please.”

  He reached into his pocket and grabbed the room key. I took it from his hand and made my way back to the room as fast as I could. I hated how out of control I felt. It wasn’t me. It was some weak girl who I didn’t want to be. My whole life, I had avoided being that weak girl around men, but there I was crying over something stupid.

  As I got to the room, I rushed in and shut the door behind me. Finally, I gave into the tears that had been filling my eyes. I needed to figure something out. I couldn’t lose this job. I couldn’t lose the opportunity to change my life.

  I grabbed the landline in the room and dialed one of my old friends from the club.

  “Michaela, it’s Roxanne, I need your help.”

  I knew I had been lucky to get her to answer the phone and I held my breath to see if she would stay on the line with me or hang up. Michaela had gotten out of the business after almost being killed by a John. I hadn’t been a good friend after that incident and wished I had. I was afraid of Stephano and I didn’t want to reach out to Michaela, but now it had been several years and I felt safe talking to her.

  “What do you want, Roxanne? Is this a safe phone?”

  “Yes, I’m at a motel. I’m trying to help a girl that Stephano is trying to sell. Is there any way into his house without him seeing me?”

  “Roxanne, I know you’re not stupid enough to think that you can outsmart Stephano. Just let the girl go. If she was dumb enough to get trapped in his web, then she deserves to get sold off. You know that’s not a bad life. Those guys overseas treat their girls really good.”

  “Any doors he leaves unlocked? Time of day that is best to get in there? Come on, Michaela, help me out a little.”

  There was a long pause while she decided whether I was worthy enough of her help. She had dated Stephano after her assault and he had treated her well, but she just never felt well enough to dance again.

  “He goes to the club on Fridays and Saturdays. There are guards still at his house and they will have no problem killing you, but you might be able to sweet talk one of them. Don’t call me again.”

  Michaela hung up the phone without another word.

  I could tell Jackson about the information I had just received and maybe it would help him. But deep down, I knew I needed to try and rescue Ana myself. None of those guards were going to let a guy like Jackson onto the property. But I knew most of them, they might be willing to say that Ana escaped if I was sweet enough to them. It was worth a chance. I couldn’t risk
Jackson and Chase thinking that I hadn’t done enough to earn the money I had been promised.

  Only about a minute after I hung up the phone, Jackson was at the door. He knocked first and then came in. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t locked the door. I needed to do better in protecting myself. It could have been Stephano’s goons again, instead of Jackson.

  “I’ll call my brother Nathan and see if he can come and help. He does private security for celebrities and diplomats. He’s got the muscle that I might need if I’m stuck dealing with Stephano. He’s also got access to some firepower. Would that make you feel better about the plan?”

  “I don’t like any of this, Jackson. I like you. I don’t want you to get killed.”

  He came and sat next to me on the bed and let his hand rest on mine. He thought this was all about me and wanting to get the money. But it wasn’t just about that, it was also about Stephano being willing to kill anyone he didn’t like. My heart hurt with the idea that Jackson could get killed by going to deal with Stephano and trying to buy Ana. It wasn’t a good plan.

  “I like you, too. I’m not going to get killed, but I can’t risk having you out there with me. I watched you get strangled. It’s too dangerous. Can you please not fight me on this?”

  I took in a deep breath and thought about my own plans for saving Ana. I was going to have to agree to stay in the room so that Jackson would just leave me alone. I felt much more confident with me going into Stephano’s home than I did with Jackson trying to deal with him. I had five years of a relationship with Stephano, he wouldn’t suspect that I would now try to go against him.

  “I need to tell you something.”

  “What?” Jackson said as he looked concerned about what it was I had to say.

  “I did something. Please don’t be mad at me.”

  “What did you do, Roxanne?” He stood up and looked out the window. “You didn’t tell Stephano where we are, did you?”

  “What? No! Why would I do that? No!” I yelled.

  I couldn’t believe what he had said. The first thing that had come to his mind when I said I did something was that I had called Stephano. Why on earth would I call Stephano?

  Then it dawned on me. Jackson didn’t trust me. Maybe that was the real reason he didn’t want me involved. He didn’t think I was there to truly help him. He had doubts about my intentions.

  It made me sick to think that I had almost slept with him – a man who thought I would risk Ana’s life and my own all to stay in the good graces of Stephano. Did he really think I was still on Stephano’s side? My mouth dropped open at the idea.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” Jackson said.

  But then there was a knock at the door. It startled both of us and for a second, I wondered if it was really Chase at the door or someone else. Maybe Stephano had followed us. Maybe it was one of his goons coming to try and hurt us.

  I watched Jackson as he looked out the window and then back at me.

  “Chase? You called Chase?” Jackson said as he opened the door more annoyed than ever at me. “She called you?”

  Chase waved at me and gave me a little half grin before he answered Jackson. “She was worried you were going to get yourself killed with Stephano.”

  “I’m a professional, Chase. You are paying me to help you with this job. You are not a professional. If anyone is more likely to get themselves killed here, it would be you.”

  Jackson was really annoyed and I made a point to avoid eye contact with him and stayed on the bed. I saw a look in Chase’s eyes as he looked around the honeymoon suite we were in and realized there was only one big bed and a romantic bathtub in the corner.

  “We need to talk alone. Come out here,” Chase said as he grabbed Jackson and they shut the door behind them.

  “Are you kidding me, Chase? You seriously came all the way down here to babysit me? I can handle the job.”

  “Are you fucking her?”

  I stood up and kept my ear to the curtain near the window as I listened to their entire conversation.

  “No! Why would you say that?” Jackson protested.

  “Well, you’re in a romantic room with a king-size bed and hot tub in the corner. She’s acting all worried about you and when I left, the two of you before you seemed to hate each other. But now she’s calling me worried that you’ll get hurt.”

  Jackson was quiet for a minute and I could tell he was trying to decide just how much information he should admit to his brother.

  “We’ve made out. That’s it. No sex. It really doesn’t matter, anyways. I’m a grown up and so is she – we can do whatever the hell we want to.”

  “Jackson! Come on. I trusted you to get this job done. I’ve got Jordan at the hotel crying because she thinks her friend is being raped and tortured. I’ve got you here trying to get laid with our best inside informant. I don’t like this.”

  “Listen here, Chase. I’m your older brother, let’s not forget that. I know what I’m doing. I know how to do this job. Now, if you want to do it yourself, you are more than welcome to. But I’ve got a friend from the CIA trafficking division coming down to help today and I was just about to call Nate in on the deal, as well.”

  “You were going to call Nate?” Chase said as he calmed down.

  “Yes, now do you want to come in and talk about this some more or should we stay out here and just throw some punches to get this over with?”

  I ran back to the bed and sat down as I waited for the guys to come back in. They seemed like typical brothers, yelling at each other one minute and then best friends the next.

  “Did you boys make up?” I teased as they made their way back into the room.

  Both Chase and Jackson were a couple of the best-looking men I had ever met. Of course, I was much fonder of Jackson than Chase, but they were both delicious hunks. I was secretly really excited to meet their other brother Nate. I could only hope that he was equally as delicious.

  PART 3

  Chapter 13

  JACKSON

  Something was up with Roxanne and I couldn’t put my finger on it. She seemed like she was hiding something from me. I felt like PJ might have been right about her, at least, a little bit. I didn’t think she was working for Stephano, but there certainly was something that she was trying to hide from me.

  I was willing to wait and see what happened, but only because Roxanne wouldn’t be involved in the case.

  “I’ll call Nate and get him on his way. You check in with your CIA contact. Let’s see if we can get a better plan together than just trying to buy Ana. Maybe we could all decide on something together,” Chase said as he went to the corner of the room and dialed Nate’s number.

  “So, Nate is my brother. He’s really good. I trust him. I also have a friend named PJ that I’m texting right now. We will wait to move forward until we can all discuss the plan. Does that make you feel better?” I asked Roxanne.

  “You don’t need to be condescending to me.”

  I honestly didn’t mean to sound condescending. I was genuinely trying to keep her in the loop. But again, something was up with Roxanne and I couldn’t figure out what it was.

  “Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a jerk.”

  “Okay.”

  She allowed my apologies much faster than most women I had known in my past. Typically, my experience with women showed that they liked to stay mad for a very long time before they accepted an apology.

  “Is there anything I can do?” she asked.

  “You can keep Jordan company. I’m sure she is really upset and doesn’t like being alone,” Chase said as he interrupted us.

  I could tell Chase was trying to keep things professional and didn’t want me getting close to Roxanne. I understood where he was coming from and took both a literal and figurative step back away from Roxanne.

  “Where is she? Should we move hotels?” I asked.

  “Sure. I got us a room on the other end of town at the Holiday Inn. We
can get a couple more rooms there. I think it will be safe. It’s not like Stephano can search every single hotel in the city.”

  We all gathered our things and made our way over to the new hotel. I sent a text message to PJ with the new address and that I would send the room number as soon as we settled in.

  “PJ will be here soon. We can get settled into the hotel and meet up later this afternoon,” I said.

  When we got to the hotel, Chase got Roxanne her own room next to him and Jordan. My room was just a few doors down, but it was clear that Chase was trying to keep us apart. It was funny how things had changed in only a couple of days. Roxanne hadn’t been someone I was tempted by when I had first met her.

  Sure, the idea of having sex with her crossed my mind. Who wouldn’t think about that after a naked woman sat on their lap in a dance club? But I had been prepared to keep things professional between us.

  Things had changed, though. I was going to be watchful of anything suspicious with Roxanne, but I felt closer to her than I had ever imagined. Something was going on with her, but I didn’t think it was because she was working for Stephano. I thought it was because she had feelings for me and was angry that I didn’t want her to help with the project. She also seemed really worried about the money that had been promised her and I would make sure that Chase paid her. Roxanne had done a good job at the club and it wasn’t her fault that Stephano had been angry with her and tried to have her killed.

  “Get yourself settled and then we can all get together in a little bit to discuss things in my room,” Chase said as he helped Roxanne into her room.

  I stood off to the side and tried to keep my distance. At least, I would keep my distance while Chase was around. But I had plans to visit with Roxanne later that evening and maybe even finished what we had started. I couldn’t help but imagine her naked body underneath me. I knew Chase would kill me for giving in to my desires, but I couldn’t help it.

  About an hour after settling in, I texted PJ with Chase’s room number and said we would all be there at six o’clock. Nate had been up in Atlanta at his cabin and was already at the hotel.