by Nadia Lee
“What the hell do you eat? You’re so fat!” Tessa whines.
“Can’t walk,” Kristen moans. Her words are slurred, and my heart lodges in my throat. Something is very wrong with her.
“You have to!” Tessa’s voice is shrill.
“You shouldn’t have made me drink that mimosa!” Kristen makes a gagging noise.
“It wasn’t that much. I didn’t want you passed out, just a little loopy.”
“You did it wrong,” Kristen says.
The tension in my gut eases slightly. She isn’t hurt, just drugged.
“If you don’t start moving, I’m going to shoot you,” Tessa says.
“If you do, I won’t be able to crawl. You’ll have to carry me for real.”
Tessa lets out a frustrated scream.
A gun. I have no idea precisely what kind of condition Kristen’s in. I’m guessing Tessa’s close to Kristen, if she’s semi-dragging her.
Tessa’s unhinged, determined to live in a fantasy world where people do as she wants. I have to play this right if I want to get Kristen out unharmed.
“Tessa!” I call out, jogging out from behind the tree. “Babe, what are you doing out here?”
“Antoine, help me,” she says, waving a revolver.
I recognize that gun. It was her dad’s. Guess the old man left it to his kids after he passed away. If he’d known how insane they were, he might not have.
“With what?” I come up to the women and do my best not to stare at Kristen, who’s on her hands and knees, panting softly. I might lose it if I start taking inventory of her injuries, and I can’t afford to be anything but calm.
“Her! This fat cow!”
Tessa isn’t that much smaller than Kristen. “What are you doing out here with her?”
“She wouldn’t come to the yacht. I had no choice.”
I have no idea what she means, but whatever. I can play along. “Is it about the wedding?”
“Yes. You’re going to marry me, right?” Tessa stares at me, eyes wide. “You owe me. You owe me!”
I want to lunge and grab the gun, but the way she’s waving it in Kristen’s direction makes me hesitate. “I wanted to marry you, but I thought I made you unhappy, babe.”
“But being poor is worse. You don’t know what it’s like. Banks won’t extend credit anymore. My Maserati is more than five years old, Antoine. It’s awful.”
Jesus.
“It’s so unfair! Daddy lost everything before he died, and he never told me. I would’ve done something about it if I’d known.”
It’s a good thing he never told her. Mr. Maxim was a good man. He didn’t need to know his kids were deranged, entitled brats who seriously believe kidnapping people is how you get what you want in life.
Tessa starts waving the gun again. “I don’t want to hurt anybody who doesn’t hurt me, Antoine, but this girl? She needs to feel it. She got in my way. Didn’t get the hint. Why does she think she can have what I want? She’s nothing. She should go into that hole.”
Gun lowered, she gestures at a hole she must’ve dug earlier, before coming to the grove. Not big and not that well dug, but it’s obviously supposed to be a grave.
This is my chance.
I lunge forward, grabbing for the revolver. She gasps, stepping back. My hand closes around it with enough force to break her fingers. I don’t give a shit.
I wrest it from her and she loses her balance, her arms windmilling.
On her hands and knees, Kristen extends a leg and kicks Tessa in the hip, hard, her foot connecting with surprising force. The accompanying kiai yell would have made Bruce Lee proud.
Tessa falls into the hole. Then promptly explodes into expletives.
I run to Kristen and cradle her as she plops onto her side. “Are you all right?”
“No. My head is spinning again. And I feel like throwing up.” Her skin is damp with sweat.
“Hospital,” I say, my voice hoarse. Now that it’s all over, my belly feels jittery. Jesus. I’ve never felt this bad before. “I’m sorry.”
“Why? I knew you’d come for me.” She closes her eyes.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Kristen
The hospital keeps me overnight for observation after running tons of tests. They want to make sure whatever Tessa fed me isn’t going to cause any ongoing problems.
Antoine makes sure I’m okay, then takes me home the next day. But other than that, he doesn’t talk or hug me or anything. It’s like the whole Tessa incident put some kind of “don’t touch Kristen” mental block on him.
Dominic and Liza come over, and they do hug me, one after the other. Liza brings my favorite cheese and tomato pizza from Éternité. It’s a restaurant owned by her cousin, and she got the food specially for me. I devour it.
Dominic does a man-hug with Antoine. “Thanks, brother.”
Antoine shakes his head. “If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t have been there.”
“I don’t know. Crazies have a way of finding you, whether you want them to or not.”
After Dominic and Liza leave, Antoine cleans up. He still won’t quite meet my gaze. And that’s as messed up as it can get because I know he checks me out all the time when he thinks I’m not watching.
“Antoine, can we talk?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
“What’s going to happen to Eddie and Tessa?”
“They’re both off to jail, ideally forever, but realistically speaking, they’ll get out after a few years.”
“I see.”
“I’m sorry. You got in the crossfire because of my poor judgment.”
“What poor judgment?”
“I didn’t realize how unhinged they were.”
This guy. “How old were you when you last knew them?”
“Sixteen.”
“I did a lot of stupid stuff when I was sixteen. I’m surprised I’m not dead.”
“Yeah?” A corner of his lips lifts for a second. “Well. I gotta go.”
“Stop.” He does, and I glare at him. “Why are you leaving?”
“It’s better this way. Besides, I’m upsetting you.”
“You’re upsetting me because you’re trying to pull away! You’re like, ‘I’m sorry.’ Great! If you’re that sorry about what happened, stay, make it up to me and keep me safe!”
He opens his mouth.
I raise a hand. “Do you know how many times you’ve rescued me?”
He stares, but doesn’t answer.
“Four.” I hold out four fingers to make the point, in case he isn’t getting it. “You pushed me out of the way of that car on that rainy day. You kicked my creeptastic ex from Milan in the ass until he quit bugging me. There was the naked dude in my apartment—”
“You had that under contr—”
“I’m not done. Don’t interrupt.”
He clamps his mouth shut.
“And now Tessa.” His face is darker than a stormy night. Well, I don’t care. I cross my arms. I’m going to say everything I need to say. “What does that tell you?”
He looks at me like I just told him there’s a landmine underneath his foot.
Argh! “The lesson you should’ve gotten is that every time you’re away from me, I get hurt, so you should stick close! Like a magnet!”
“Oh.” Something in his expression eases. “Was that the lesson?”
“Of course! How can you not know, Antoine? I thought you were smart.”
“I am, but I thought maybe you were going to change your mind. After all, Tessa hurt you because of me.”
“So what? If one of my stalkers hurts you, are you going to leave me?”
He scowls. “Hell no.”
“Then trust that I feel the same way about you.”
A smile slowly curls his lips up. The sight warms my heart. He hasn’t smiled since the incident at the grove.
He comes closer, cups my face in his warm, large hands and rests his forehead against mine. “I love you, Kristen.�
�
“I love you too,” I whisper.
He holds my hand. I feel something hard and slim placed into my palm. I look down and see keys. My gaze jumps back to his.
“Move in with me.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Kristen
The next three months are pure bliss. I do move in with Antoine, and Dominic helps carry my heavy stuff. I’m honored. I didn’t think my rich brother would labor that way. Not that we grew up with money. But he certainly doesn’t have to do that anymore.
“Why wouldn’t I?” he says when I mention it. “You’re my baby sister, and you’re happy to move in with my best friend. Of course I’m going to help.”
“You know you’re the best brother, right?”
He laughs. “Better be. I’m the only one you have.”
Antoine is seriously the perfect boyfriend. Every moment with him is like a movie. Well, not like a movie. We have some disagreements from time to time, but on most important things—like our values and dreams—we are perfectly aligned.
The only bad thing is his mother. Chantelle hasn’t given up on Antoine inheriting his grandfather’s trust, even though Nicolas is already married to a woman named Sandra.
“Are you sure you don’t want to elope and have a baby? Nicolas’s wife isn’t pregnant yet,” she says for the twelfth time on another one of her forced visits. “And your papy is still upset with him for what happened at the grove, even though Nicolas swears up and down he had no idea Eddie and Tessa were so crazy. So even if you and Sandra deliver babies around the same time, Papy will make you the sole heir.”
Maybe Antoine and I should move to Cape Town or something.
“I’m sure,” Antoine says firmly.
She turns to me.
I raise my hands. “I’m not in this.”
“Nonsense. You’re his girlfriend.”
“And I’m not marrying him for the money, Chantelle. The only valid reason to marry is for love, and that’s exactly how it’s going to be between me and Antoine. Nothing Jonas can dangle in front of our noses will change that.”
“The trust would give you the seed money you need to start your jewelry company,” Chantelle says.
Guess she heard about that. I decided not to accept Lola’s offer, especially when I learned that the offer came because Lola heard about Liza’s plans to snub her clothing line. Liza is a renowned fashionista, and she has lots of influential friends. No wonder Lola used the words “mutually advantageous” to describe her offer.
“I can raise my own capital, thanks.” I wrap an arm around Antoine. “And if I have to, I can always ask Antoine for money.”
“He has none.”
“Actually, I have over two million.” He smiles.
“You do?” Chantelle says.
“I told you, I have my own money. I’ve been saving and investing.”
“But… A billion is better than a couple of million!”
Palm. Meet face.
“What can I do with a billion I can’t do with two million? And don’t say buy a private jet. I don’t fly enough to need one.”
Chantelle huffs. “What am I going to tell your papy?”
“The truth,” he says.
“He won’t like it!”
He shrugs. “Tough.”
After she’s gone—finally!—I give Antoine a bemused smile, sitting cross-legged on our couch. “She isn’t going to give up, is she?”
“Nope.”
“I don’t get it. Even if you get the trust, it isn’t her money.”
“She just doesn’t want to ‘lose’ to Tante Nicole. It’s ridiculous.” Antoine pulls me closer. “But what about you? It’s a lot of money we’re walking away from.”
“I fell in love with you on that rainy day you saved my life because you are something wonderful, not because of your bank account.”
He kisses me. “I fell in love with you that day too.”
“So when you told me I’d never be hot, sexy and desirable to you because a basset hound with a bad Botox job would be preferable…”
“I was lying through my teeth.”
“You know what that means.” I give him a wicked grin.
He gets a wary look. “What?”
“You gotta make it up to me by proving that I’m hot, sexy and infinitely desirable.”
He returns my smile, his eyes sparkling with love. “Wouldn’t dream of doing anything less.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Antoine
“I’m home!” I announce as I come through the door.
Kristen smiles from the sofa, where she’s been working on her laptop. I plop down next to her, and she gives me a kiss. “How was your day?”
“Too long. I swear, eight hours can feel like a week.”
She giggles, then suddenly sobers. “Hey, you got a letter from a law firm. Nolan Symes Butcher? Know what that’s about?” She points at an envelope sitting on the coffee table.
I roll my eyes. “That’ll be Papy’s lawyer—Don Nolan.”
“What do you think it is?”
“Who knows? He and I’ve never had any personal interaction.”
“Wanna open it?” she says.
Not really, but she’s looking at me and I know she’s dying of curiosity.
I take the envelope, rip it open and yank out a stiff sheet of paper. Since Kristen’s staring at me expectantly, I start reading out loud:
Dear Mr. Antoine Boucher,
According to Mr. Jonas Boucher’s instructions, the one point two billion dollar trust is now under your name. Mr. Boucher said you will want to know why. In his words, it’s because you are “the only one in the family who doesn’t throw away his dignity and self-respect for something as transient as money. Dignity and self-respect matter.” You are apparently the most difficult man to convince to take Mr. Boucher’s money, so he is gifting it to you.
He wishes you and your fiancée luck. (He says he knows you’re going to marry Kristen King, so there is no point in denial. And he expects a wedding invitation posthaste.)
Congratulations, Mr. Antoine Boucher.
Sincerely yours,
Don Nolan
Senior Partner
Nolan Symes Butcher
“Wow,” Kristen says after a while. “So he’s decided we’re engaged and he’s getting invited to our ‘posthaste’ wedding?”
“Sounds that way.” I scowl.
She giggles, rubbing a finger between my eyebrows, which are pinched. “I think we’re the first couple to be engaged by proxy.”
“No, we are not.” I’m planning a grand proposal, and Papy isn’t taking the moment away from me and Kristen with a lousy ass letter. “You’ll get the proposal you deserve.”
“With a ring, champagne and flowers?”
“At the very least.”
She wraps her arms around my neck. “You know what I really want?”
“What?”
Her eyes shine brightly as she looks at me. “You.”
“I’m a given.”
I pick up my sexy, hot and infinitely desirable girlfriend and start walking toward the bedroom. Time to show her.
——
Thanks for reading Hot Sexy Desire! If you enjoyed it, I’d appreciate a short review on Google Play so that others can discover and enjoy Antoine and Kristen’s love story, too!
Never miss another release, bonus epilogues, and sales from me! Join my VIP List at nadialee.net/vip today.
If you want read more about Dominic, Elizabeth/Liza and Tolyan, grab The Billionaire’s Claim: Obsession today!
Titles by Nadia Lee
If you want to receive notices about my latest books, please join my VIP List at www.nadialee.net/vip!
——
The Billionaire’s Claim Duet
Book 1: Obsession
Book 2: Redemption
——
Sweet Darlings Inc. Series
Book 1: That Man Next Door
Book 2:
That Sexy Stranger
Book 3: That Wild Player
——
Billionaires’ Brides of Convenience Series
Book 1: A Hollywood Deal
Book 2: A Hollywood Bride
Book 3: An Improper Deal
Book 4: An Improper Bride
Book 5: An Improper Ever After
Book 6: An Unlikely Deal
Book 7: An Unlikely Bride
Book 8: A Final Deal
——
The Pryce Family Series
Book 1: The Billionaire’s Counterfeit Girlfriend
Book 2: The Billionaire’s Holiday Obsession
Book 3: The Billionaire’s Secret Wife
Book 4: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Fiancée
Book 5: The Billionaire’s Forbidden Desire
Book 6: The Billionaire’s Holiday Bride
——
Seduced by the Billionaire Series
Book 1: Taken by Her Unforgiving Billionaire Boss
Book 2: Pursued by Her Billionaire Hook-Up
Book 3: Pregnant with Her Billionaire Ex’s Baby
Book 3.5: Romanced by Her Illicit Millionaire Crush
Book 4: Wanted by Her Scandalous Billionaire
Book 5: Loving Her Best Friend’s Billionaire Brother
——
If you want to receive notices about my latest books, please join my VIP List at www.nadialee.net/vip!
About Nadia Lee
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nadia Lee writes sexy, emotional contemporary romance. Born with a love for excellent food, travel and adventure, she has lived in four different countries, kissed stingrays, been bitten by a shark, ridden an elephant and petted tigers.
Currently, she shares a condo overlooking a small river and sakura trees in Japan with her husband and son. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading books by her favorite authors or planning another trip.
To learn more about Nadia and her projects, please visit www.nadialee.net. To receive news about Nadia’s upcoming releases, sales and promotions, giveaways, exclusive epilogues, bonus scenes and more, join her VIP List at www.nadialee.net/vip!