Confess To Be Mine
Page 1
© Copyright 2018 by Suzie Nelson - All rights reserved.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Confess To Be Mine
Ramsey Billionaire Brothers Series Book 2
By: Suzie Nelson
Table of Contents
Confess To Be Mine
Comply To Be Mine
HERE IS YOUR SPECIAL BONUS!!!
Pretend To Be Mine
Arouse Me
Devour Me
Underneath His Mask
Bluff Like A Billionaire
Indomitable
Billionaire For Christmas
Playing With Fire
Confess To Be Mine
Chapter 1
“I can’t believe it’s only four months until the wedding!” Danica stood in the center of a mirrored fitting room wearing a pure white wedding gown. “It feels like only yesterday since I first met Jordan and now I’m going to be Mrs. Ramsey. I can’t believe it!” Danica beamed with joy as Shelby Perez knelt below her pinning some of the material.
“Just stay still for a moment, Danica. I don’t want to stab you with the pins.” Shelby gathered some of the fine lace in her hand and picked up a pin that she had been holding in the corner of her mouth.
“Oh, sorry.” Danica looked down with her big pale blue eyes and smiled. She was so excited to finally be standing in her wedding gown after weeks of going over designs with Shelby. “You really have done an incredible job on my dress. It is exactly what we discussed…I just love it!”
Shelby stepped away and looked at the back of the dress as Danica remained standing on the pedestal. “I’m just grateful that you wanted me to design it – it’ a huge honor.” Shelby had been a struggling fashion designer trying to break into the industry when she had met Blake Ramsey, a music producer that didn’t like to reveal that he was also one of the billionaire Ramsey brothers. They had friends within the same circles and though Blake had always encouraged her, it wasn’t until he introduced her to Danica that things really started to take off.
Danica Cliffe was the top model within the fashion industry and because of her relationship with Blake’s older brother, Jordan, they had become a celebrity couple with lots of power and media attention. Anything Danica did, turned to gold and when she agreed to model at one of Shelby’s shows, the whole world suddenly took notice of Shelby’s designs and talent.
“Are you kidding? I could wear every piece of clothing from your collection. You have such a talent, I just knew you would do an amazing job at giving me the dress of my dreams and here it is!” Danica was struggling to stay still as Shelby continued to walk around and decide which bits needed to be taken in. She was more than happy to design Danica’s wedding dress not only because they became close friends but also because it would be in every magazine all over the world for weeks after the wedding and who wouldn’t want the six foot, golden-haired, sun-kissed supermodel to wear their design?
Danica had asked for something simple, just a plain white fishtail dress, but Shelby knew that she could do so much more. With delicate French lace, Shelby had made simple ruffled straps that arched over Danica’s shoulders and followed down into a ‘V’ at the bottom of her spine. Embroidered lace trimmed the open-backed gown which hugged her hips and then poured out behind her like the soft leaves of a tulip. It was the only wedding dress Shelby had ever designed and it was certainly her best creation yet.
“Thank you, it’s very kind of you to say that. I know that I wouldn’t be where I am without your help.” Shelby wasn’t just trying to be modest. She knew too well that the fashion industry revolved around connections and friends. As a child of Mexican immigrants, she knew that it would be hard to make her way but things had certainly become easier since meeting Blake and Danica.
“Now stop that!” Danica turned and pointed her finger at Shelby. “You are a gifted and talented artist. I helped you because I believe in your work. I don’t want to hear any of this insecure nonsense, okay?”
Shelby smiled as she remembered why she and Danica got on so well; they were both women of passion that knew their own minds. “Sí, señorita, but if I see you move one more time I’m going to cut straight through your dream dress,” Shelby smirked cheekily as the pair giggled.
“Blake certainly wouldn’t waste his time promoting you if he didn’t believe in your talent too.” Danica faced forward again but carried on her rant of encouragement. “He has a good eye for spotting fresh talent and Jordan would really love you to collaborate for the brand.”
Shelby started to unfasten the back of the dress as she thought about Blake Ramsey. He was only a few years older than her but he had become a successful music producer and record label owner within a very short period of time. Sure, he had his wealth and contacts to help him but Blake had ventured out into an unknown industry and made his business from scratch without his brothers. He didn’t have the same air of entitlement that every other over-confident rich man had and if anything, he had tried to hide the fact that he was privately wealthy.
After only a few meetings, Shelby and Blake had become close friends attending the same events and offering each other encouragement when they could. He had never tried to be anything more than just friends but Shelby knew she wanted more from him than friendship. He was tall, dark-eyed with chocolate brown hair and a charm about him that attracted everyone. They had had moments together where she could sense the physical chemistry between them but she had never wanted to act on it out of fear that she would destroy her most cherished friendship.
“Blake has been very good to me. I never thought that I could have such a close friendship with a man but he is just so easy to get on with.” Shelby tossed her long raven hair away from her face as she helped Danica step out of the half-finished gown. She wasn’t as tall as Danica, just average height with a more curvaceous figure that was the perfect hourglass.
Danica reached for her blouse and jeans which she quickly slipped on as she pried for more information about Blake. “Yeah, it’s so nice to see how you two get on so well. The way you talk and giggle together would make anyone think that you were a couple.” Danica purposefully let her statement hang in the air to see if Shelby would have a reaction.
Without saying anything, Shelby picked up the wedding dress in her arm and walked over to hang it up. She knew exactly what Danica was hinting at as she had often thought the same thing but she didn’t know if she could reveal all her true desires to Danica. The pair had become good friends over the past few months but Shelby was concerned that Danica would tell Jordan and Jordan would inevitably tell his brother.
“I mean, you guys do spend a lot of time together. Has it never crossed your mind that there could be something more?” Danica knew that she was pushing the boundaries of their friendship but she couldn’t help herself as she was eager to see both Blake and Shelby happy together. Danica, Jordan, Blake, and Shelby had spent many nights together having meals as friends and it was obvious to anyone that saw them that there was a clear attraction between Blake and Shelby but, for some reason, neither one had ever taken any action. Having seen weeks of their shy flirting, Danica
wanted to push Shelby to get some sort of answer out of her.
“Oh, it’s crossed my mind.” It was clear that Danica wasn’t going to stop until she got an answer from Shelby, so Shelby gave in and just hoped that she could trust Danica to be discreet. “Blake is probably one of the most desirable bachelors in New York now that you’ve taken Jordan off the market.” Shelby looked at Danica cheekily as the pair stood to gaze at the delicate wedding dress. “He’s kind, generous, talented and extremely handsome. Believe me, I’m not blind. But he’s also my closest friend. He’s helped me with my career and we share the same value system, I know we make sense on paper but I don’t want to ruin our friendship by having a failed romance.”
Danica put her hand on Shelby’s shoulder. “But you don’t know that it would be failed. It could work out amazingly, like me and Jordan.” Danica looked at Shelby with optimistic eyes and the idea of another pompous Ramsey wedding immediately popped up in her head.
Shelby could see the hope within Danica and she didn’t want to disappoint her but she couldn’t let herself wish for the same thing. Life hadn’t been easy for Shelby, she had been raised in America but she had never been fully accepted by society and everything she had, she had to work extremely hard for. Nothing had been given to her on a plate and although deep down she wanted to believe in fairytales and that she could end up with prince charming, life had taught her not to dream too big. “I don’t think girls like me end up with handsome white billionaires. Blake should be with someone that understands his world that has a trust fund and a family house in the Hamptons. Not a Spanish speaking designer that gets mistaken for his cleaning lady.”
Danica’s heart sank when she heard the loss in Shelby’s voice. It was true that upper-class New York society could be judgmental and racism was still evident even if one hoped it wasn’t, but she didn’t believe that Blake would overlook Shelby for any of those reasons. “But Blake isn’t like that and he wouldn’t want you to feel that way. From what Jordan’s told me, Blake has done everything possible to get away from the privileged billionaire lifestyle and make it as a self-made man. You might feel like you don’t belong but I’m 100% confident that Blake doesn’t feel the same.”
Shelby appreciated Danica’s vote of confidence but it wasn’t enough when she had a whole lifetime of evidence to show that ethnically diverse women finish last. Danica was the epitome of everything society wanted women to be - white, slim, blonde and with gorgeous blue eyes but at least her heart was in the right place.
“I’m sure that Blake honestly thinks that he doesn’t see any racial or economic lines when he is with me, but they are there none the less. Anyway, I don’t even know if he feels the same. We are talking like he’s just waiting for me to ask him out like at school, when we have no idea whether he likes me or not. He probably just sees me as a friend and that is fine.” Shelby knew that the conversation was getting pretty deep for a dress fitting and she wanted to brush off all discussion of her and Blake.
“How could he not be interested in you? You are drop dead gorgeous. I would kill to have curves like you!” Danica picked up her handbag from the chair as she admired Shelby’s tiny waist in her animal print playsuit.
“Oh, hunny, you don’t need to kill, you just need to eat!” They burst into laughter and Shelby thought about how ironic it was that society’s pinup girl wanted to look more like an immigrant.
“Well, I would put good money on the fact that Blake likes you more than just a friend. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you two got married after me and Jordan.” Danica winked as they headed to the door.
“That is some very wishful thinking, Miss Cliffe. Let’s just focus on getting you down the aisle in your perfect dress first, then we can look for my husband.” The pair hugged each other and Danica waved as she headed out into the car park. Shelby stood by the exit and watched as Danica pulled away in her silver Mercedes unaware that her questioning had touched a nerve with Shelby.
Chapter 2
“Hey man, it’s good to see you.” Blake patted Jordan on the shoulder in an affectionate way and stepped into the lobby of Jordan’s penthouse apartment.
“Blake, what an unexpected pleasure. What are you doing on my side of town?” Jordan was happy to see his younger brother as it was a welcome distraction from his normal tiresome days of business meetings. They headed over to the open-plan living room where there were several gray couches and plush poufs.
“Oh, I had a meeting with this new artist just a few blocks away so thought I would drop in and see how the wedding plans are coming along. No Danica today?” Blake’s eyes scanned around the room but he couldn’t see any sign of his brother’s fiancé.
“She’s at her dress fitting with Shelby actually. I’m sure they are in wedding heaven over there talking about the big day. Can I get you a drink?” Jordan started to pour for himself a glass of sparkling water from the mini-bar in the corner of the room.
“No thanks, I’m just stopping by.” Blake was always comfortable around Jordan, he never felt like he needed to put on a pretense or talk money. From a young age, the pair had been inseparable and as adults, nothing had really changed except the directions their careers had taken them in. “I was wondering if you had patched things up with Edward yet?”
Jordan lifted an eyebrow as he was surprised that Blake would mention their older brother Edward. It had been several months since Jordan had spoken to his financial investor brother. They had fallen out when Edward had intervened in Jordan’s business affairs. Edward had taken it upon himself to release a press statement that blamed Danica for a deal that had gone bad with Jordan and then he had made a few lewd comments about her which resulted in him receiving a broken nose from Jordan. After that, neither of them had tried to contact each other and they were both happy in their mutual silence which left Blake stuck in the middle.
“Come on, Blake, you know what he did. Why would you think that I would suddenly start talking to him again?” Jordan had resigned to the position that he wasn’t going to forgive Edward until he came and apologized to Danica, face to face.
“He came to a show that I was at and he was asking me about the wedding. He didn’t know the date or where it was being held, or anything. I just thought you might want to sort things out before you walk down the aisle?” Blake didn’t care that much about being stuck between the two arguing brothers as he didn’t have much love for Edward either. Throughout growing up, Edward had been pushy, always trying to force his will on the brothers in order that they could monopolize the New York finance world without any concern for their actual wishes. He had mocked Blake when he announced that he was going to start his own record label and even tried to sabotage Jordan’s fashion label by buying shares in a rival company but it still didn’t sit well with Blake that Edward wouldn’t be at Jordan’s wedding.
“He doesn’t know anything because I don’t want him there.” Jordan took a gulp of his water and then looked at Blake like his reasons were obvious. “Why on earth would I want him there when all he’s going to do is to bitch about Danica and make jokes about having a good prenup?”
Blake looked up at the chandelier that sparkled in the daylight and he knew he couldn’t deny Jordan’s reasoning. “Yeah, that does sound like Edward but it just feels wrong that your own brother isn’t going to be there. I mean, if mom and dad were alive they’d want us all to be together. To celebrate together.”
Jordan sighed and made his way over to sofas. “I know but mom and dad aren’t here and they haven’t seen what Edward has become. If he comes and apologizes to Danica for everything he did, then he is more than welcome at the wedding. But until that happens, he’s not coming anywhere near her.”
Blake couldn’t fault his brother for the way that he wanted to protect Danica from any hurtful words that Edward would say and it did seem fair that Edward should apologize. “Fair enough, just promise me you won’t break my nose if we ever fall out!” The pai
r laughed as Jordan took the seat next to his brother.
“Now enough of me, tell me what’s going on in your life? Have you got some new artists?”
The pair talked for a while about the new talent that Blake had found for his record label and how the music industry was changing. They were completely at ease in each other’s company and anyone would be forgiven for thinking that they were twins. They were both average height, slim but with an athletic figure, and with dark short hair. They shared the same brown eyes with flecks of amber which they got from their mother but Blake had a softer jawline than Jordan. Blake usually wore a simple T-shirt and jeans as he didn’t like to conform to Jordan’s more professional business attire but neither brother tried to force their own ideology on each other.
“And how about the love life? It’s been a while since I have seen you out on a date or talking about a lady friend – is there no one special?” Just like Danica, Jordan had been watching his brother with Shelby and wondering why they hadn’t taken their friendship to the next level.
Blake shrugged his shoulders and tried to keep it cool under questioning. “Nop, I’m not seeing anyone at the moment. I haven’t been fortunate enough to meet the woman of my dreams yet.”