Tommaso called Inca as she worked the late shift. “Darling, I might be a few minutes late picking you up.”
Inca tried to smile at the love in his voice. “I can drive myself, Tommaso. My car is right here.”
He hesitated. “You will come home, though?” It made her chest hurt.
“Of course, my love. Of course, I’m coming home to you.”
She thought about the call, frowning. Why had he seemed so strange? She shrugged and went to serve a customer.
Olly slumped back into his sister’s couch and raised a beer bottle to her. “Here’s to some time off.”
Luna sighed, shaking her head. “This is ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.”
Olly shrugged. “Honestly, sis, I’m past caring now. Tommaso Winter is an asshole who thinks Inca is his property.”
Luna made a noise. “Seriously, what is it with you people? She’s just a normal woman. Why do you all go gaga over her?”
Olly looked surprised at the venom in his sister’s voice. “Calm down … it’s not Inca’s fault.”
“Isn’t it? Don’t you think she loves that attention, Olly?”
“You know she’s not like that.”
Luna looked away from him, her face red with anger. “She didn’t used to be.”
Olly patted his sister’s shoulder. “Sis …”
“Don’t you think everyone’s life would be easier if she wasn’t around? Take her out of the equation and problem solved.”
“Don’t talk like that,” he reprimanded his sister. “Kevin Harnett nearly killed her. Do you think she deserved that?”
But Luna did not answer him.
At ten o’clock, Inca went to lock the front door of the Sakura. Before she could, Scarlett came racing in, startling Inca.
Inca pulled her in out of the rain. “What are you doing here this late?”
“I was with Knox and he got called out.”
“That explains the lack of coat. Look, why don’t I give you a ride home? I’ll just be a minute.”
Scarlett shook her wet hair. “Can I help?”
“I just have to finish in here and take the trash out.”
Scarlett headed to the kitchen. “I’ll do the trash; I’m already wet.”
Inca called after her. “Put my red mac on; it’s behind the door.”
Scarlett tugged the raincoat on—Inca was a lot smaller than she was and it didn’t reach around Scarlett’s large chest. She shrugged, grinning. “Better than nothing.”
Outside, ice and rain were falling in a torrent and the road was slick with a thick coat of ice. It was bitterly cold as Scarlett dashed outside to the garbage bins and threw in the sack of trash from the kitchen. The rain soaked through her light shirt and she tugged Inca’s coat further around her. The damp material stuck to her body as she went back to the door—only to find it had closed behind her and locked.
Goddammit! Scarlett wiggled the handle, but it was stuck tight. “Inca! Let me in!” She banged on the door. She heard a step behind her and spun around. She squinted through the rain—was there someone there?
There was a muffled bang and the first bullet smashed through the center of her belly. She gasped, shock and adrenaline flooding her system. All the air seemed pushed out of her lungs and she saw her blood spreading across the damp cotton of her shirt.
Oh God, no …
Her attacker shot her again, the bullet slamming into her chest, and Scarlett dropped to the ground, gasping for air and for life as her killer stood over and aimed the gun at her head. The pain was overwhelming, the hot lead burning a path through her soft flesh. She put out a hand, desperate now.
“Please, please … no … don’t … please …”
Then there was only darkness.
Inca, hearing Scarlett bang on the door, put down her broom and went to let her friend in. As she entered the kitchen, she stopped, her heart beating hard. Under the outside door, the rain water was flooding in at the bottom. With the water blood. Inca darted to the back door and pulled it open to see her friend prone on the floor.
Inca Sardee took in the murdered form of her best friend and all of her systems shut down. She saw her friend, saw she was dead, but she did not understand. She fell to her knees and began to scream …
If you liked this preview, you get the complete story here
Winter: A Bad Boy Billionaire MFM Romance
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713QQ4GH
Billionaire Games
A Billionaire Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Novel
What began as a game ended up changing lives…
Three men enter a bar, seeking out pawns for their sex game.
Three women are chosen, who happen to be sisters and the bar owner’s daughters.
Ethan, Phoenix, and Griffin think they have it made with the sexy women they’ve chosen to play their little game with.
Only they have no idea Kel, Cait, and Jess know what they’re up to and plan on playing games weith them.
Passions flare, seduction is key, and sexual prowess is a must when playing to win.
Let the games begin…
Even though rain was falling in sheets, the press still stood outside the Boston funeral home where the heiress to Captain Jack’s Seafood Company, thirty-year-old, Julia Loveless, was resting peacefully for the first time in her short life.
One tryst too many found the beautiful young woman the victim of a hit and run. No one was sure who did the evil deed, but many speculated the wife of Judge Sanborn, a man Julia had been seen about town with, might have had a hand in it.
The private car Griffin Houser had been picked up from the airport in, coasted into the area where a canvas tent had been erected to see the mourners stay dry as they made their way into the large funeral home.
Griffin was a thirty-year-old billionaire from old money. His family’s cattle company in Montana had gone in a new direction that sent them from merely millionaires into the billionaire category.
Montana Matrix was a prize-winning bull sperm operation. Griffin was supposed to be a salesman for his family’s fertile business. He seldom sold a thing, preferring to wine and dine women who didn’t have a thing to do with the cattle industry.
Griffin didn’t have anything to worry about. His wealth was secure even if he never sold a single vial of the liquid that had catapulted his family into a new tax bracket.
Julia had been one of his clients. Tall, legs for days, with hair that changed color with each passing month, Julia was an heiress he liked to have fun with on occasion when visiting the East Coast. Her passing was sad news, but he knew the day would come when her promiscuity would catch up to her. Her early demise was inevitable in his eyes.
Griffin made his way into the packed parlor where her body resided, center stage, spotlight included. A platinum coffin, a spray of red roses covering the bottom portion, held her in cushioned comfort. Her hair was a shade of blonde that matched well with her surroundings. He could see she was wearing a red dress. Even in death, still the naughty vixen.
When a grin flowed over his face, he shook his head to stop thinking such inappropriate thoughts on such a grim occasion. He took a seat next to a tall man with long black hair that was pulled back into a queue. A Native American, Griffin was sure.
Though the music was quietly playing a sad song meant to pull the tears out of those who had congregated, Griffin tried to ignore the song and extended his right hand to the man he sat next to. “Hello, Griffin Houser, Montana Matrix.”
The man shook his hand. “Phoenix Nelson, Texas oil. How’re you doing today?”
“Sad, I suppose is the right thing to say to that,” Griffin said then chuckled a bit. His action had people shushing him and giving him terrible looks. “Sorry. Inappropriate.”
When he was met with a grin from the man sitting on the other side of Phoenix, he was not only surprised but glad to see another human in the room who wasn’t so distraught. When he held his hand out, Griffin took it. “
Ethan Southern,” came the man’s words which were heavily laced with a Scottish accent.
“Griffin…”
“Yeah, I heard ya,” Ethen interrupted as his attention turned to Phoenix. “How’d you know Julia?”
Phoenix cleared his throat as he looked down and a grin had found him too. “In the biblical sense,” came his answer.
“Aye, me too,” Ethan said then looked at Griffin.
Griffin nodded and looked down as a man in the front, wearing black, asked them to pray. A long prayer that had nothing to do with Julia was said by the preacher then the rest of the funeral proceeded.
The three men fidgeted a bit as the service went on and on. Many people got up and told stories about the woman they knew as quite the she-wolf. The only thing was, none of the stories they told was anything any of those men knew about the woman who lay in the coffin.
Tales of how generous she was had the three men smiling with their secret thoughts. Griffin could attest to that. Julia had been generous alright. He didn’t know if she was generous with her money but with her body, oh yes, she was incredibly generous with that!
When the last speaker spoke about how she gave to charities all the time, the service ended, and it was time to file past the coffin and the lifeless body. Griffin stood in line, followed by Phoenix, then Ethan. One by one, the people looked down at Julia as they waited for their turn to lay eyes on her one last time.
The three stopped and took their turns at the same time. “Life like, huh?” Griffin asked the other two men.
“Her hair was red when I was with her,” Ethan muttered.
“It was pink when I saw her,” Phoenix recalled. “And she’d worn purple contacts. She was something else.”
Griffin ran his hand over her cheek, lightly. “Bye, Julia. Thanks for the education. You will be missed.”
“That she will,” Ethan agreed.
Phoenix nodded then the sound of a man clearing his throat had them shuffling along. A man in a cheap blue suit was near the door where everyone was exiting, he held out a box of tissues to the three. Each took one. “I don’t need this for anything more than to remind me of her,” Griffin said.
“I have a napkin from a bar we’d meet at,” Phoenix said as they walked outside.
They all looked up at the brilliant blue, cloudless sky. “It stopped rainin’ can you imagine that?” Ethan asked in wonder.
“She doesn’t want anyone to feel blue. She never did,” Griffin said. “And on that note, how about the three of us go get some lunch. We can talk about her and what she meant to each one of us.”
“Count me in,” Phoenix agreed quickly. “I don’t know another soul here anyway. The company would be much appreciated.”
“Me too,” Ethan chimed in. “I could use a stiff drink.”
Griffin led them to his waiting private car, and they all piled inside. “How about seafood?” When Griffin got two nods he called out to the driver, “Neptune Oyster, please driver.”
The men all were feeling exceptionally comfortable with one another. A certain comradery was felt between them all as they chatted lightly about this thing and another.
Ethan Southern was also a billionaire, the heir to Redhead Scotch, the thirty-two-year-old did little else than party his life away. Phoenix Nelson had stumbled into his fortune. He was the illegitimate son of a candy billionaire who left him a few hundred acres in a tiny place called Karnes County in Texas. He struck it rich when oil was found on it, not once but twenty-seven times. It seemed the men were all billionaires and Julia had been the one to come on to them all.
As they got into the restaurant and were seated, the three laughed as they ordered the same drink, a Rob Roy. It had been the first step in how Julia had introduced herself to each of the men. She’d send one over and a bit later she’d have them coming to her table where she always sat alone.
Griffin mimicked the way she wiggled her finger to get him to come to her. The others laughed as they too had been wrangled in by a mere drink, a corny pick-up line, and the wiggle of a single finger in their direction.
“How do you think the woman was able to pick out three men with massive amounts of money?” Phoenix asked as he sipped on his cocktail.
“She was a witch,” Ethan said with a hearty laugh. “I believe that with all my heart. She could turn a man inside out and make him beg for more. But somehow left him without a tear shed between either. She had to be a witch. There’s no other plausible explanation.”
The three clinked their glasses together. “A toast to the enigmatic female who knew how to reel a man in and set him free all without ever harming his fragile ego or feelings,” Griffin said.
“Here, here,” the other two added.
A kinship had been found amongst the three men who shared the knowledge a young woman had given them. It was possible to have unimaginable sex in the matter of knowing each other for only a few hours, without having to hand your entire soul over to another human being. It could be done with no one being hurt.
With the realization that all three came to at the same time, an idea was born between them. A terribly fantastic idea!
“Are you two gentlemen busy tomorrow?” Ethan asked them, then popped a fried mushroom into his mouth after dipping it in Ranch sauce. His auburn waves hung to his shoulders and danced around them as he nodded and moaned with how good the food tasted.
“I’m never busy,” Phoenix replied. Then picked up a shoot of fried asparagus, plunging it into the creamy white depths of the dip.
“Me neither,” Griffin added. “Why do you ask, Ethan?”
“Because I too am never busy and I have an idea. But it would require an overnighter.” Ethan drank the last of his Rob Roy and motioned to the waiter for a refill.
“What kind of idea?” Phoenix asked with curiosity.
“You know how Julia lured us all in, having her way with us so easily,” Ethan said with a grin as he recalled some of those times he and she had.
Griffin nodded as his lips pulled into a sly grin. “I do.”
“And you do recall hearing about how she gave to various charities?” Ethan asked as he took the drink the waiter had brought to him.
“I do,” Phoenix said. “Can I have a beer? The cocktail isn’t hitting the spot for me.” The waiter gave him a nod and pointed to Griffin’s nearly full glass.
“Anything else for you, sir?” he asked Griffin.
“Bring me a beer too. I never did like this drink,” Griffin confessed. “I ordered it just to remember someone.”
“Beer me too,” Ethan added. “I don’t really know why I ordered another one of these. They’re much too sweet for me.”
As the waiter walked away, Phoenix asked, “So, what about the charities? Do you think we should donate to some of them?”
“I do,” Ethan said. “But I think we should make it interesting. I believe we three should make a bet. One that will remind us of Julia.”
“Like what?” Griffin asked as he watched a tall blonde woman walk behind Ethan and give him a double take.
“Like, find a small bar and see who can get laid first,” Ethan said with a huge smile. “You know, using the tactics Julia used on us. The whole thing, the cheesy drink, the wiggle of one finger, the terrible lines. We all fell for them.”
“I suppose the two that don’t win have to make the charitable donations,” Griffin said. “In what amount? That needs to be decided.”
“Can you two do a million each if you lose?” Phoenix asked.
When the others nodded, the three reached out to the middle of the table, placing their hands on top of the others. “So, it’s on,” Ethan said. “The first one to score wins and the other two make million dollar donations to the charities the winner chooses.”
“Agreed,” Griffin and Phoenix said in unison.
A pact was formed between the three men. An agreement that would mean some poor women might well become unsuspecting pawns in their little game. Griffin added
a bit more detail to their bet, “To make sure things are fair, I think one of us should choose for the other. Like I can pick who Ethan can go for, Phoenix can find me a woman, and Ethan can find one for Phoenix. We can make sure the women look like the type that’ll give us a good fight. It’s no fun if we all pick tramps.”
Nods had the other men agreeing to the terms, and Phoenix felt like he should add something to the arrangement as he said, “And if no one scores tonight, we keep playing the same women until one of us does score. You know, no trading out. I think that makes it more interesting, don’t you?”
Ethan raised one thick brow as he contemplated what Phoenix had come up with. “That might mean we have to spend some time in the same place. Let’s choose a place wisely.” He pulled out his cell and searched the names of places near Boston. When a particular word caught his attention, he said, “Middlesex County sounds fun.”
“It sure does,” Phoenix agreed.
“There’s a town called Ashby, in that county,” Ethan added.
Griffin pulled his cell out of his jacket pocket and searched for places to stay while Phoenix took his phone out to find bars in the town. Ethan had chosen the town, so all three were active participants.
“There’s a quaint bed and breakfast that only has three bedrooms,” Griffin said. “It looks nice and homey. A great place to spend a night or two.” He turned the phone around to show the other two the pictures of the two-story home with white siding and yellow trim. Colorful flower gardens filled each side of a wide staircase that led up to a porch that looked as if it wrapped around one end of the large home.
“I like the looks of those rockers on the porch,” Phoenix said. “I think it looks cozy.”
“I’ll book it for a couple of nights,” Griffin said then tapped away to set it up. “For the next couple of nights, O’Toole’s Bed and Breakfast will be our home away from home.”
“Why not make an Irish time of it?” Phoenix asked as he showed the others a picture of a pub he’d found. “Flannigan’s Pub and Grill sounds like an excellent place to catch women. There’ll be some food to keep us from getting wasted while we’re trolling for babes.”
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