Miss Prim and the Billionaire

by Lucy Gordon

  ‘You’re mad,’ she said, laughing.

  ‘Sure I’m mad. That’s what’s most fun. Now, here’s what we’ll do…’

  Her return was a sensation. Voluptuous Cassie belonged to the past. This was another age, Toby told her. Lean and boyish was ‘in’. Now she was in demand again.

  One evening a few weeks later, there was a knock at her door and she opened to find—

  ‘Freya!’

  When they were both settled over tea and cakes, Freya said, ‘I hear you’re making a modelling comeback.’

  ‘Not really. Just a few shoots. I simply wanted to be sure I could do it.’

  ‘Cassie still lives, huh?’

  ‘Yes, she does. That was a nice surprise, and Mrs Henshaw thinks the money’s nice, so we’ll see. What about you?’

  ‘I’ve come back to London to get a nursing job. Amos was just getting too much for me. You’ll never guess what his latest wheeze is.’

  ‘Jackson? Leonid? Travis?’

  ‘Still Marcel. Honestly, that man doesn’t understand the word “no”. He’s only put a load of money into my bank account, without even asking me. He knows Marcel needs money and he thought that would sway him.’

  ‘Why is he still in need of money? I thought that was all sorted.’

  ‘So did Amos. He was going to squeeze it out of that man—remember him?’

  ‘I remember,’ Cassie said quietly.

  ‘But Marcel made him back off.’

  ‘Marcel did?’ Cassie asked quickly.

  ‘Yes, I gather there were some very tough discussions and Marcel prevailed. So then they needed money from somewhere else, and he’s raised it by selling shares in La Couronne.’

  ‘But that place is his pride and joy!’

  ‘Yes, but his mind was made up. He raised the cash and he’s bought the London hotel but he’s not out of the woods yet. So Amos thought making me rich would make Marcel go down on one knee.’

  ‘And you don’t think it will?’ Cassie asked, pouring tea with great concentration.

  ‘I’ve warned him if he does I’ll thump him. Besides, he’s still pining for you.’

  A pause while her heart lurched, then a shaky laugh. ‘That’s nonsense.’

  ‘No, it’s not. I called in on him in Paris on my way here and we had a talk. He told me how your engagement ended. Not that there was really an engagement, was there? What an idiot he was to do it that way! I told him what I thought of him. But you two are right for each other and I won’t see it come to nothing just because he’s made a stupid mistake.’

  Cassie shook her head helplessly. ‘It’s too late for that.’

  ‘You mean you don’t love him any more?’

  ‘Of course I love him. I always will, but—’

  ‘Do you want to talk?’ Freya asked.

  ‘Yes, I need to. When I first returned to London I was sad at losing Marcel, but I could bear it because I was so proud of him for leaving me. He did it to protect me. I’m still proud of him but—’

  ‘But there’s a lot of life still to get through,’ Freya said shrewdly.

  ‘I want him back, but I can’t try to tempt him back. That’s not the way.’

  ‘Right, because if he could be tempted you wouldn’t still be proud of him,’ Freya said.

  ‘Right. You’re so clever. I really wish you were my sister.’

  ‘If we play our cards right, I soon will be. Tempting is out. Compulsion is in. You’ve got to grab him by the scruff of the neck and not give him any choice. Now, listen carefully. This is what we’re going to do…’

  A few weeks later Vera glanced up as her employer hurried in. His face was tense and troubled, as always these days. But she thought that might be about to change.

  ‘You have a visitor,’ she said. ‘Someone has just bought some shares in this place and says they need to see you urgently.’ She nodded in the direction of her office door. ‘In there.’

  Frowning, he went in and stopped on the threshold.

  ‘Hello,’ said Cassie.

  He drew a long breath, fighting for the control that he would need at this moment more than any other. ‘What…Vera said…shareholder…’

  ‘That’s right. I’ve bought shares in La Couronne and I thought I should tell you soon.’

  ‘But…it must have cost you a fortune. How did you—?’

  ‘Raise the cash? From Freya. She’s made me a big loan, which I shall pay off from the money I’ll make from the hotel.’

  ‘But surely she can’t have loaned you enough to—’

  ‘No, I have another source of income. That time we visited Jake, he sneakily returned my ring to me, the one he gave me just before we married. I found it in my bag afterwards, and now I’ve sold it, and I’ve invested the money in you.

  ‘It’s only for a short while. I don’t want to keep anything of his permanently. His ring sold for nearly half a million. As soon as I can afford it I’ll give an equal amount to charity. By then, Jake will have served his purpose.’

  ‘Bringing you back to me,’ he murmured.

  ‘Exactly. Jake separated us, and now Jake has helped us find each other again.’

  ‘He’d hate that,’ Marcel said with relish.

  ‘Yes, that’s the thought I enjoy most. My other source of income is this.’

  She opened a magazine, displaying Cassie, centrefold. She was stretched out, in a tiny bikini, looking directly into the camera with eyes that were almost as seductive as her barely clothed body.

  ‘Take a good look,’ she purred.

  ‘I don’t need to. I have my own copy. I’m amazed. I thought Mrs Henshaw had taken over.’

  ‘So do the people I deal with, until they learn their mistake. It’s Cassie who poses but Mrs Henshaw who draws up Cassie’s contracts. They’re the best of friends now.’

  ‘I’m glad to know that,’ he said carefully. ‘It could make life…a lot easier.’

  ‘It certainly does. Cassie’s going to have to flaunt herself for quite a while yet, to help pay off Mrs Henshaw’s debts, so the two of them decided to live together in harmony. Take one, you get the other.’ She slipped her arms about his neck. ‘I hope that’s all right with you.’

  It was hard to speak, but he managed to say, ‘You once told me to get out of your life, and stay out.’

  ‘That was then, this is now.’

  He was suddenly tense. ‘Cassie, my love, don’t do this unless you mean it with all your heart. I couldn’t endure to lose you again. I must be sure—to know that you’re sure. I was torn from you once, and the last time I left you because it was the right thing to do. I thought it would help me keep your love, even if we could only love from a distance.’

  ‘Yes, I understood that. I thought you were wonderful, even though losing you again broke my heart.’

  ‘But—you said it yourself. That was then, this is now.’ He met her eyes and spoke softly. ‘Another parting would kill me.’

  ‘There will be no other parting,’ she vowed. ‘I’m as sure as you want me to be, but sure in a way you don’t know about yet. Things have changed. It’s probably your influence. I’m not afraid of your controlling side because I’ve got one too. You brought it out in me and now it’s out it’s out for good.

  ‘You need to know this. I’m in charge. From now on we’re going to do things my way.’ She laid her lips softly against his. ‘Understand?’

  ‘Understand.’

  She could feel temptation trembling through him, making him draw back after a moment.

  ‘You know that we’ll fight,’ he said.

  ‘Of course we will. We’ll have terrible fights, call each other all sorts of names, dig up our memories and use them to hurt each other. Sometimes we’ll even hate each other. But we’ll do it equally.’

  ‘Oh, really? Well, let me tell you, conquering Cassie is a pleasure, but conquering Mrs Henshaw—that’s something I’m really looking forward to.’

  She smiled, nodding towards the door
of the little bedroom.

  ‘Better get started then. I don’t know what you’re waiting for.’

  He lifted her high and headed for the door.

  ‘Who’s waiting?’ he said.

  *

  ISBN: 9781459220744

  Copyright © 2012 by Lucy Gordon

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