The Hot Billionaires Box Set

by Nella Tyler

  Once I was sure nobody was watching me, I ripped one of the rectangular boxes into my hand and rushed toward the cash register. Subtly, I slid the test across the counter and waited for the cashier to scan it and place it in a white plastic bag. I glanced down at my watch and realized that I was already late by over five minutes. Hopefully nobody noticed when I returned. It was company policy that we had to be back at our offices on the exact minute our lunch breaks were over, but it was a rule that was more than frequently broken. Eh, I shrugged.

  “Your total comes to $8.39,” the friendly, young woman across the counter said with a warm smile. Somehow, she put my mind slightly at ease. As if I needed to be reminded there’s nothing inherently wrong with buying a pregnancy test. But she didn’t know the circumstances. She didn’t know that I was concerned because I had been sleeping with my boss whom I didn’t have a relationship with. We didn’t even talk anymore.

  I slid my card and placed the card back into my clutch as the order processed.

  “Do you want the receipt with you or in the bag?”

  “Can you just throw it away?” I questioned as I grabbed the small bag and stuffed it into my purse on the way out the store. I needed to get back to work and didn’t want to make light conversation with a stranger while I was questioning if there was a human growing inside me.

  I hustled down the street, dreading going back into work. The last person I wanted to see was Caleb, but since he had been ignoring me for the better part of a week, I figured that wouldn’t be too difficult.

  If I were pregnant, there was only possible father—Caleb—unless of course God decided to play a trick on me like he did a little over two thousand years ago. So yeah, if there were a bun in my oven, it was certainly Caleb’s, but I questioned if he’d even believe me. He’d probably deny it just so he wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences of his actions. There was no use worrying though, because I didn’t have any real indication I was pregnant.

  But the mind always worries, even when it shouldn’t.

  My phone began to ring from inside my purse, breaking up the conversation I was having inside my own head. I think that’s the definition of crazy, but I didn’t have time to debate that issue further.

  The caller ID read, Ina.

  What the hell does she want? I thought to myself before raising the phone to my ear. “Hello,” I said, my voice shaking and out of breath from the hustling pace I was walking.

  “You need to get back here right away,” she said, her tone filled with adrenaline and fear. “The shit is hitting the fan.”

  “What the hell is going on?” I quickened my pace, if that was even possible and basically began racing down the street.

  “It looks like Caleb is being investigated for tax evasion by the IRS. All of accounting has been called into a meeting, you included, so you need to get your ass back here.”

  “I’m on my way,” I said, panting hard between words.

  From her end of the phone, I could hear someone yelling before she spoke again, “I have to go, but you really need to hurry.”

  Click.

  I threw my phone back into my purse as I arrived at the front of the office building. A part of me wasn’t even sure I wanted to go in that damn building. Seriously, I’ve never seen something go to hell so quick. I left for thirty damn minutes and shit hit the fan.

  I tried to calm my breathing and braced myself for whatever lied ahead as I pulled the front door open and raced towards the elevators. But when the elevator door opened, I didn’t get inside. Instead, I took a light step back and decided to race towards the bathroom instead.

  Whatever shit was going on upstairs could wait. My curiosity about the possibility that I was pregnant could not. I rushed into the nearest bathroom and thankfully found it empty, but still kneeled down to check under each stall to make sure there was actually nobody there.

  When I was sure, I went into the stall the furthest away from the door and took a seat. I took a deep breath before ripping open the package and shoving the cardboard into the white plastic bag before shoving the bag into the small trashcan.

  After peeing on the stick, I placed the test on the back of the toilet and waited with bated breath. At times, I thought about just throwing the test into the trash and worrying about it another day, but after all the courage I had summoned, I wasn’t about to give up. Even if the people upstairs were wondering where the hell I was.

  Finally, after waiting five minutes, I closed my eyes and grabbed the stick. My heart sank into my feet with anticipation and nerves, and when I finally opened my eyes, I just about fainted.

  One fucking positive sign.

  I shook my head furiously and tossed the stick into the trash before falling to my knees and vomiting into the toilet. This absolutely could not be happening. I vomited again, this time harder, until the point where I was retching and fighting to breathe. The last thing I wanted was to remember how this happened, but my mind went there anyway.

  I knew I should have fought him more. I knew I shouldn’t have given into my fantasies and my lust for him. But he was so damn charming and I was a fucking idiot. I knew I had to eventually have a conversation with Caleb, but I didn’t have the slightest idea when I’d be able to work up the nerve. Being a single mother was the last damn thing I had planned for my life.

  Chapter 19

  Caleb

  On most days, I was able to keep my cool. Most of my employees viewed me as something slightly more than their boss. They viewed me as someone who was approachable and friendly. They viewed me as someone who cared about them, and most days, I did. After all, I had built this company from the ground up and the majority of the people in that room had been there for a while.

  I was standing there in front of the entire junior and senior accounting staff and they all glared at me like I was a monster. Fred, Tara, and Lance stood in the back corner behind all their lower-level employees, almost like they were afraid to get to close to me, otherwise they’d be caught up in the explosion.

  My hands were being waved around like a madman with the letter from the IRS in my hand as I continued to blow my gasket.

  “How the fuck did I not know about this?” I screamed, and directed my gaze at Fred in particular. “Was anyone planning on telling me this was happening?”

  I’m sure someone in the room was thinking that I myself should have known about this, and maybe that’s true, but the simple fact is that I directed duties to others and somehow I was left in the dark.

  “Awesome,” I yelled, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “What the hell are you people good for anyways?” Fred and Tara passed each other a look that just screamed they had something to say, but they were too chicken shit to say a word. “You and I are obviously going to have to have a talk, Freddy boy.”

  Fred gestured towards himself while his eyes searched the room, as if he was asking why me.

  Just then, the boardroom door crept open and in popped Lindsay’s head well ahead of her body. She crept in and by the look in her eyes, I could tell that she knew she was in trouble.

  “Nice to see you, Lindsay,” I scolded her and crossed both arms over each other. “You’re only about fifteen minutes late.”

  “I…” she stuttered. “I’m sorry.”

  “Not yet, you’re not.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “The next time you’re late, you’re going to be out of a job.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing,” I scowled. “Take a seat and try to play catch up.”

  “Okay,” she said with a slight nod. She was on the verge of tears and to be honest, I immediately felt a little guilty about the way I was treating her in front of all of her colleagues. “I’m sorry,” she said softly as she took a seat in an empty chair close to the front of the room. A chair nobody else had the nerve to fill.

  She reached for a notepad from her purse and placed it into her lap before focusing intently on me.

  “Now, to play catch up,” I said
lowly and took a measured step back. “I’m being investigated for tax evasion because I have an incompetent staff. It would appear that either the tax accountants don’t have a clue what they’re doing or they intentionally kept this information from me, and both are rather shitty situations. There’s going to be some changes around here.”

  Lindsay swallowed a nervous lump in her throat, while Tara shuffled between Lance and Fred in the back of the room.

  “We’re going to go over everything,” Fred interjected, trying to calm me down, but that wasn’t enough to quell the rage boiling in my blood. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Well, Fred, it would have been nice if we didn’t have to dig into anything. If we didn’t have to go over anything. But that would mean the job was done right, and we obviously can’t have that.”

  “Okay,” Fred said with a relenting nod.

  “Okay, I’m going to get out of here before I explode.” I caressed one palm against my forehead and pushed my way to the back of the room, ripped the door open, and turned to everyone one last time. “Figure this shit out, and figure it out quick. Figure out what the fuck happened and fix it. If there’s a formal indictment, you’re all fired.”

  And then I slammed the door shut behind me for maximum effect. Slammed the door so hard that the glass almost shattered. When I exited the room, there was a small crowd gathered around me, who all disbanded when I tossed them one serious glare.

  I stomped my way to my office, once again storming past Laura as I slammed the office door behind me. I needed to be alone for a good while, otherwise I might have exploded on the wrong person. I already took my anger out on Lindsay, who isn’t even a member of the tax team. But that was an entirely different issue on its own. After avoiding her for so long, and actually wanting to talk to her the entire time, I just reached my limit. The fucking limit was reached.

  I took a seat in my chair behind my desk and just stared out the tall floor-to-ceiling windows. It was the only way I could think to calm myself. Too fucking soon though, my phone was ringing and I hesitated to pick it up at first.

  “Hello,” I grumbled into the phone.

  “Hi,” Sarah said shyly from the other end of the phone. It was so unlike her to be shy, so I reckoned she could sense the anger in my tone. “Is this a bad time.”

  “Not at all,” I lied. We were still within the window for her to cancel the contract with my father, and the last thing I needed was to deal with my father’s bullshit if the deal somehow fell through. “What’s up?”

  “I don’t know,” she cooed, and I got the distinctive image in my mind that she was twirling her fingers through her hair. Fucking shoot me, I thought. Just go ahead and fucking finish me off, world. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about you too.” Another lie, but I had to play the game. “So, what’s up?”

  “I’m not saying you have to do anything…”

  “You’re right,” I scoffed, and then immediately worked to correct my tone. “I mean, you know nobody tells Caleb Markham what to do.”

  “So I thought I’d offer you something I’m sure you can’t refuse,” she said and then paused, as if she was waiting for me to interject, but I didn’t. I had no interest in doing anything but the bare minimum in this conversation. “I’d love if you call me sometime soon and arrange a visit. There’s this place downtown that I’m just dying to show you.”

  “That sounds amazing,” I forced myself to sound as elated as possible. “I’d really love that.”

  “Really?” She let out a wail of excitement that just about deafened me. My patience with this girl was quickly running out and I thought about pretending to lose service. “I look forward to your call.”

  “I can’t wait to plan this trip, but I’m really busy right now so I’m going to have to let you go.”

  “Okay, babe.”

  “Right… babe.” I hung up the phone and then turned the ringer to silent. That was the last phone call I planned on taking for a long while.

  I kicked my feet up on the desk and tried to enjoy the silence, but my mind was racing with a thousand different emotions.

  I was angry with the idiots in the tax department.

  I had no idea what the fuck I felt for Lindsay, or what was going on there.

  I was annoyed that my father forced this crazy woman into my path. This girl, who I only met twice and had mediocre sex with was now acting like a crazy bitch, acting like we’re already an item. We weren’t.

  I quickly realized that silence wasn’t the answer. It wasn’t going to do much, if anything, to calm my mind, so I rose to my feet and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from a stand on the opposite side of the room. With my free hand, I grabbed a whiskey glass and sat it down on my desk before gliding back down into the chair.

  I poured myself a drink while I started to think about Lindsay, and how I really should eventually apologize to her for yelling at her the way I did in front of the entire team. She had played no part in whatever was going down, I was sure of that. The only person I should have screamed at was Fred and his band of idiots.

  There was just something about Lindsay that drew me in. Once my first drink was poured, I raised the glass to my lips and relished the sweet burn against my throat.

  Chapter 20

  Lindsay (Tues)

  The last thing I needed to be dealing with was total chaos in the work place. My head was spinning and my heart was racing. It was all seriously too much. I had just found out I was pregnant with a man who had shown nothing more than passing sexual interest in me. To top that off, said man—my boss—was being a complete ass because someone somewhere screwed up, which had absolutely nothing to do with me.

  My head was in a tailspin and I found it nearly impossible to focus on the chaotic conversations that were all around me. For that matter, it seemed, that everyone was in a mental tailspin. Everyone’s voices faded into each other.

  That is, until Tara ascended to the front of the room to take Caleb’s place only minutes after he had stormed out, leaving all of us to our own devices to clean up, what I presumed, was his mess.

  Tara was the kind of girl who liked to take charge, or at least pretend to take charge. It’s well documented by now that I despised the woman, but she certainly had ambition and that was admirable; one positive trait in a one hell of a mess of a woman.

  “Okay, here’s what I’m going to propose,” she began, addressing the rest of the staff from the rest of the room, “I think we should take the day to clear our heads. This is a lot of information to process, and nothing good is going to come today. Tomorrow, we’ll gather back here and go over a game plan. Bring your ideas tomorrow, and we’ll figure out the best way to proceed.”

  I leaned back in my chair in contemplation. There was definitely something amiss, though I couldn’t quite pinpoint what. It began, however, with the way Tara carried herself and spoke, almost in nonchalant manner. If I were in her shoes, or any of the senior accountant’s shoes, I’d be pissed my pants. Hell, I was pissing my pants. Not quite literally but I was definitely concerned about the company’s future should something happen to Caleb because of this.

  But maybe my concern was also coming from elsewhere… the fucking fetus? That definitely could have been it. I took a deep sigh as Tara, and the rest of my coworkers began filtering out of the room. And then once I was alone, even for the shortest of moments, I tried to calm myself before exiting the boardroom and showing my face. I had to swallow all my concerns and worries, because it was going to be a long day of work and there was no way I was going to get any work done with such a scrambled mind.

  And then finally, I stood up and walked out the door. I was heavy on my feet, feeling as close to exhaustion as anyone could be only a few hours into the long day. The spinning in my head seemed to make its way through the rest of my body, so I darted to my desk before I could collapse in the hallway for everyone to see.

&n
bsp; Once I took a seat, I cleared my throat and let out a long exhale. From the pit of my stomach, I could feel something stirring. I could have easily have thrown my nerves up all over the desk, and briefly contemplated the idea that maybe that’s just what I wanted to do. It would have been the perfect excuse to leave work early, and that sounded like a beyond great idea.

  But I also knew I couldn’t let whatever was going on affect my work, not when I had worked so hard to get where I was. There was nothing that was going to stand in my way to pursuing my dreams. My throat tensed again as I fought the vomit off. My forehead became slick and clammy from a nervous veneer of sweat. I began to wave my hand in my face like a makeshift fan, and the gentle breeze helped at first, but soon the relief began to fade.

  “You look like hell,” Lance said from above me in his usual asshole-tone.

  I glared at him with evil brewing in my eyes, my hand balled into a fist underneath the desk. I moved to speak but decided it was better to simply bite my tongue and offer him a forced smile.

  “Right,” he said with a nod and passed me a pamphlet of papers. “This is the timetable with specific timelines of when everything needs to be finished for the new project.”

  “That was fast,” I said, slightly taken aback by how fast the process seemed to be moving. I began to question my sanity and wondered just how much time had passed since we were all gathered in the boardroom. It must have been much longer than I thought. I glanced down at the packet and realized my mistake. He wasn’t talking about the audit; he was talking about the new marketing project. And then my eyes bulged when I saw the projected final presentation date. “No,” I shook my head at him, “this isn’t going to work for me.”

  “Excuse me?” he questioned with a cocked brow. “The dates are non-negotiable.”

  “They have to be.” I glanced down at the pamphlet again and then back up to him. “This final presentation date is scheduled for when my vacation is scheduled.”