The Obsessed Billionaire: Boxed Set (Complete Vols. 1-5, A Billionaire Romance Series)

by Camille Alexander

  I knew Perri’s father was angry; he was a proud man and the defiance of his daughter would have been a blow to both his love of her and the rule of his kingdom, not to mention the conservative practices of his patriarchal culture and religion.

  “You may kneel,” he commanded.

  Chapter 15

  I had never before in my entire life kneeled to any man or cause, but I respected this one and my cause needed to be pled. I respected that this was a sovereign state, his sovereign state, and Perri was worth any price.

  I knelt on the cold marble, keeping my body erect and upright. It was the position of all petitioners and anyone seeking his favor.

  His face softened seeing my gesture of respect, and I sensed the slightest hint of a smile at the corner of Rondenia’s beautiful mouth. She knew, I think, in that moment, how much Perri must mean to me if I were willing to go to these lengths.

  The silence extended until the king was ready to speak, as I was not permitted to initiate any conversation.

  Finally, he said, “What say you?”

  My mind raced, unprepared for stating my case first. Then I recalled the source of my desire to be here – Perri’s safety and the resolution of this conflict. It resolves me.

  “I am here to request permission to marry your daughter, Jannah.”

  Chapter 16

  Both the king’s and Rondenia’s faces registered their shock. They had not anticipated this.

  The king leaned forward, face flushing red. “You dare speak to me of games to win your life at the cost of my daughter?” His voice trembled with rage.

  I stayed very still, conveying my extreme respect, and said, “No, Sire. I have come to love her as I do you, and I could not imagine a day of happiness if her face did not shine upon me.”

  I steeled myself not to look at Rondenia, but I saw in my periphery that her right hand had come up to cover her heart. She had been moved.

  The king was quieted but not won.

  “You have taken her maidenhead.” His tone was biting; dangerous. He stated it as fact.

  I knew I could be beheaded in moments and it be within the law. He was this country’s absolute ruler. There existed no democracy or court system, here. My judgment would not be weighed and measured, decided by peers. If he flicked his wrist, I would never see Perri again.

  “I have not, Sire.” I said quietly, with life force.

  “Do not lie to me!” He bellowed, echoing in the large hall.

  “Sire, she has remained protected and pure. This can be confirmed.”

  I knew Perri would hate this language; in truth I hated it too, but this was not my land and its customs had not evolved as swiftly as in other parts of the world. Feminism here was gained in nano measurements, not in strides of any length.

  The king sat back. Stunned again, it seemed.

  “Sire, if I may?” Initiating communication that was not led by a question or directive was dangerous, so I kept my eyes downward to the floor as an added show of respect.

  The king half lifted his hand, allowing me to proceed.

  “Your daughter, who sought only to choose the path for her life, negotiated extremely tight protections for herself. She refused to place herself in a position of being a victim. She was a warrior of the greatest height; greater than the fiercest among your mighty armies. Your daughter would let no man take her, defame you, or bring shame upon your family’s name.” The king began to grumble at that but I continued quickly.

  “Your daughter taught all of us about the cloth from which she was cut. She showed everyone she met that her purity belonged only to her and she would not risk it at any cost, nor give it freely. She commanded her life and the path she set upon as if brokering a new kingdom. She held us all to our knees.”

  My words, while not revealing the grey areas Perri and I had created for ourselves, were all true and had been said more for Rondenia than King Hallella. She needed to know that the psychology of her daughter had remained intact; that she had authored her own journey. She needed to see too how much I respected that choice and self-control.

  “She is pure?”

  “She is pure.”

  “She was arranged.” His voice had a bitterness in it again.

  “She is the daughter of a king who will not be led to the future of anyone else’s making. She learned from him how to lead. She learned from his knee how to reject the position of ‘follow.’”

  “But that is not our custom.”

  “No, but it is a perfect reflection of you. Sire.”

  Rondenia laid her hand on the king’s forearm casually, but I knew there was an ocean of meaning in it.

  “You have cost me much.”

  “I am prepared to pay a great dowry.”

  “Why do you wish to marry a woman who acts like a king?”

  “Because she is the perfect reflection of you both. My dearest and most cherished friends.”

  The Sentinel

  An Obsessed Billionaire Romance Series

  (Book 5)

  By

  Camille Alexander

  Copyright © 2020

  Introduction

  In this fifth and final installment of the Obsessed Billionaire series, we have two lovers, Michael, our billionaire hero, who “purchased” Perri, an heiress who is third in line to her father’s crown. She tried to auction off her virginity to avoid an arranged marriage and a life she had no control over. When those plans were waylaid by her father’s goons, they went on the run.

  Perri became Abda Holloway, wife of Michael’s new identity: Tim Holloway.

  She experienced for the first time in her life what it meant to live in disguise, her natural beauty hidden and her creature comforts stripped away. Not an easy adjustment for one so young who had been surrounded by opulent wealth, maids, and servants all her life.

  He, an alpha billionaire accustomed to directing every facet of his life, learned what it’s like to love a woman without taking or controlling her, as she decides what her timetable will be and what must be done to win her completely.

  When progress is made with her father, the king, but it breaks down again just before reaching a final resolution, is there any chance at all they can sew it back together?

  In the previous four books of this series you have seen the intimacy of love and watched as our hero and heroine faced adversity – both within and without.

  In this book all of the storylines come together and what once seemed impossible to overcome is now resolved in ways you could have never imagined.

  But they must go through final trials to get there.

  Join us in the last leg of their adventure, surrounded by threats of war, foreign lands and experiences, and unexpected consequences to choices made at the start of our story.

  In all ways The Sentinel delivers.

  Love and lust swirl to become something higher.

  Resistance to change becomes the way through.

  Leaving what’s comfortable brings more than what was once thought possible.

  A family and a country are healed when one small truth is revealed.

  Yet, the path . . . is not a straight one.

  Chapter 1

  “Why do you wish to marry a woman who acts like a king?”

  “Because she is the perfect reflection of you both. My dearest and most cherished friends.”

  The words echoed in the giant room as I knelt there, in a pose that mocked the once powerful life I lived, now reduced to a supplicant begging permission to move forward with the woman I love.

  Shock registered on their faces. I knew that this was a surprise, and that in many cases I would be deemed unworthy, but in truth they were my friends. They knew how much I must love her to bring myself to death's door like this for her.

  I felt Rondenia’s heart sing. I knew that she, above all others, believed me. The King was a brilliant man and an astute gauge of people. I knew too he sensed the truth of what I was saying.

  My knees bur
ned on the cold marble, but I did not care. She was worth every minute. She was worth every threat. The woman I had come to love above every other was worth every single thing that could ever be asked or required of me. This was nothing. A small gesture in comparison to how deeply I felt for her. A way for me to convince them of my sincerity.

  My life was held in the balance of their silence.

  So, I waited.

  Finally, the King stood. Without looking at me further he lifted the Queen's hand and she stood with him. A moment later they were gone.

  Without dismissing me.

  My mind scrambled. I did not know if they were speaking in private, discussing the fate of my request, or dismissing me and sending guards to take me to the place where I would surely leave this life.

  For two long hours I continue to wait. I understood that if the King does not dismiss you, you are not dismissed. He had left me here for some unknown reason. Maybe to test my faith? Maybe to challenge my resolve in asking for what I wanted? Perhaps he forgot?

  No, he would not have forgotten the man who had taken his virginal daughter and sequestered her away out of his sight and control for so long.

  I was being put to test.

  Each long minute that followed became a chasm between my past life and what lied ahead. Sweat beaded across my brow and the back of my neck, but protocol demanded stoic resolve. I must remain still, in the supplicants’ petition pose. It was the only way to convey the intensity of my respect.

  Another hour or two or three … I had lost count long ago. I simply stayed.

  My shoulders ached, my hands felt numb, the pain in my knees had stretched the capacity of my leg muscles and they fatigued and went numb as well. My entire body was on fire. I wanted to reach forward and place my palms on the cool marble. I wished with all of the riches I owned that I could have a sip of cool water.

  But Perri was worth any price. This was nothing. I made my mind go to the places of our memories for reprieve.

  Watching her dance provocatively on the Brokerage stage, cutting her eyes, knowing what her nudity beneath the sheer gown provoked from me and others in the audience. Later, after I had purchased her, kneeling at my feet without the fur coat, her nudity then a feast for my eyes.

  Later, on my ship, removing the coat, knowing my whiskey was in her belly, watching her beauty reflected in the window in front of us, my mouth touching her for the first time on her shoulder.

  The way she felt in the bathtub when we hid from the danger of her father's men, as she straddled my lightly clothed rock-hard cock in the bathtub. There she had rained her orgasmic fluid down to blend with my ejaculate in the thin fabrics that separated us in that place.

  The volatile way she swept ceramic items off the table when I refused to surrender the hotel room she preferred. Her childlike rage at not getting what she wanted that fueled my first expression of control over her body when I lifted her up, hauled her to her room, and tossed her on the bed before kissing her as she was powerless to stop her arms from entwining around me for the first time.

  The ridiculous way she looked in her catacombs costume, but, even then, I knew I loved her, beauty or no.

  The way we played in the park with sparklers, in the dark, under the flowering trees of Singapore, enchanted by the magic of being alone, without guards, without rules, without protocols, without hesitation or reservation … and about the way we felt for each other. The unspoken love that had welled up so high it finally manifested in my speaking those three little words to her.

  Yes, she was mine, she always had been, so this … this was nothing. A small price to pay for the possibility of a life with her.

  Chapter 2

  Without any sense of daylight filtering into the room I did not know if night had descended yet. My bladder was full and needed relief. If I continued to kneel here much longer the blood that had been cut off to my feet would begin to permanently affect nerve endings. The strain of my lower back from holding this position would mean possible weeks of recovery time, unable to stand up completely from the extended protraction of muscles.

  Just then I heard doors open at the far end of the hall, behind the thrones. I was uncertain if it was a hallucination or it was real. At least not until the King and Queen returned, mounted the dais, and sat down in front of me again.

  Sweat had soaked me from my forehead in rivulets down my face and temples. My collar on every side was completely doused. It poured down the center of my back and saturated my shirt there, and under the sides beneath each arm. It also soaked through my trousers at each hip bone and the front and backsides, a little less so, but then it picked up between my thighs again.

  The perspiration in the cool hall had lowered my body temperature enough that I was shivering.

  I did not meet the eyes of the King or Queen. They had left me for an entire day in this position, testing to see if I would stay, and I had not yet been invited or earned their permission to look upward. I accepted this ridicule and torture willingly. I was nothing until they deigned otherwise.

  Rondenia spoke first.

  “You have brought us great hardship. News of our unacknowledged daughter was brought to the attention of our people. They have been up in arms believing us to have betrayed them; deemed us in many ways unworthy to be their liege.

  “We are facing civil unrest at a level we have not seen in two generations. Already, two of our men have been killed by yours, and many more are under threat from the people.

  “In addition, our unsullied daughter has been without a chaperone, in the company of a man, for many weeks. No matter how provable her purity is, she is still tainted. No longer eligible for any marriage we might wish to make for her.

  “If we consent to your marriage to our daughter it does not resolve the issues you have created for our people.

  “How do you propose to resolve that?”

  Chapter 3

  They were speaking to me. Dangling the possibility of marrying the woman I loved, with the hidden threat but if I did not solve the uprisings in their country then I would not be granted my heart’s wish.

  I wanted with all my heart to solve these issues for them. I recognized in what they said that they did not take responsibility for this situation and I was not, literately or figuratively, in a position to point that out to them.

  If they had not kept their daughter hidden for all these years and denied the knowledge of her birth to the people, they would not be facing the consequences of this construct.

  My mind raced, looking for the solution.

  I heard the door open behind me and a team of people swept into the room. They stopped 20 or so feet behind me and waited. But I felt the intensity of their heartbeats and attention begging for an audience with the King, no matter what he was in the midst of.

  “Speak.”

  “Sire, there have been attacks at two mosques. Usurpers have moved on and are heading here, toward the Palace.”

  The King held his hand up indicating the report should stop. He had heard enough.

  With my eyes still downcast, waiting for permission to speak, the King turned back to me.

  “Michael.”

  I looked up.

  “Sire?”

  “You brought us here. Now, solve it.”

  Queen Rondenia placed her hand on her husband's arm and rested her eyes on his. He nodded at her.

  “You may rise. Please go with our officers and do not dare return with your request until the country is at peace. There is no possibility of granting anything you want until that is done.”

  Chapter 4

  “Where is he, Taylor? It has been too long! He should have been back by now or at least been in touch with us!”

  I paced, unable to be still while the man of my heart petitioned my unforgiving parents to save my life. I had no idea that he petitioned for more.

  “Unfortunately, there have been some developments.” His voice was tense and restrained.

  Panic rose
like bile in my throat.

  I glanced at him and realized that he was holding back much more than he shared. How bad could it be?

  “Tell me. Do not protect me.”

  Taylor nodded at once, reached in his pocket, and pulled out his phone. He unlocked it and pulled up news reports before turning the phone around so I could see them.

  Waves of alarm, then panic, then steely resolve flashed through me. His life was clearly in danger more so now than ever before. I have to do something!

  “Take me to him. Now!”

  “No Miss Perri, Michael made me swear to protect you. I cannot protect you on their soil, much less in their company. I will be powerless to protect you from their armies and mercenaries.”

  “Taylor.”

  “Yes?”

  “I did not ask.”

  Taylor stood and rolled his shoulders as his eyes closed and his fingers came up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Then he rubbed his hands across his entire face struggling between two opposing demands. He sighed and then looked at me.

  “As you wish.”

  Chapter 5

  “I want regular updates. Do not hold anything back.”

  I offered his man my bags and followed them out. Taylor did not acknowledge my demand, but I knew that he would honor it.

  The flight would be long; a grueling 20 hours before we landed. It would be difficult to be still that long knowing how much danger Michael was in. But I have to save him.

  As soon as I was buckled into my seat on the jet Taylor placed one hand to his earpiece and nodded to it before acknowledging whatever message he had just received.

  He turned to me and I could see whatever news had been received was not good.

  “Perri what I am about to say is just an early report; it has not yet been confirmed. You asked for updates as they occurred, which prevents me from ensuring their accuracy.