Billionaire Bachelor: Justin
Diamond Bridal Agency
Melissa Stevens
Contents
Also by Melissa Stevens
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Sean
Also by Melissa Stevens
About the Author
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement (including infringement without monetary gain) is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, or other status is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2018 by Melissa Stevens
Editing: Elizabeth A. Lance
Cover: Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Designs
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever known, not known or hereafter invented, or stored in any storage or retrieval system, is forbidden and punishable by the fullest extent of the law without written permission of the author. Melissa Stevens [email protected]
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Also by Melissa Stevens
Kitsune Series:
Change
Fight
Hunt
Live
The Kitsune Collection
(with Change, Fight, Hunt and Live in one volume)
WMC Series:
Escape
Jade's Peace
Risking Alex
City of Sin:
Released by Desire
Redeemed by Desire
Revealed by Desire
The Dragon Chronicles
(with Released by Desire, Redeemed by Desire and Revealed by Desire)
Sean
Alex
Novels:
Robin’s Nest
Choosing Happiness
To everyone whose ever dreamed.
To everyone who has ever been told it’s impossible.
Almost everything IS possible, if you’re willing to work for it.
I’m still trying to find a hatching and become a Dragonrider.
I suspect Anne may have taken the last of those with her.
Chapter One
Dear Mr. Scarborough,
After careful consideration of your requests and needs, the Diamond Bridal Agency is pleased to inform you that a bride has been located who matches your unique requirements. All interactions have been kept private, as is our policy. All communications will cease after this missive and we request, for the security of our other clients, that you destroy this message after reading it.
Your satisfaction is guaranteed. To comply with your request for speed and privacy, your bride will arrive on the 8th day of July, via chartered jet to the private terminal at McCarran Airport. Please do not hesitate to contact me should there be any issue with your bride. Her name is Hannah Rockfort and she is aware of all stipulations in the contract.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Alveda Creed, Diamond Bridal Agency.
Justin read the letter a third time, committing the details to memory before picking up a silver lighter engraved with his name from the desktop. He didn’t smoke, but it had been a gift from a sponsor, back when he’d been a big name on the poker scene. With a practiced twist of his wrist, he flipped it open and lit it. He held the flame to the corner of the page, then watched, fascinated as flames licked up the paper until all that was left was the corner between his fingers. Not wanting to be burned, he dropped what remained into a sparkling glass ashtray kept for visitors and watched as the letter disappeared into smoke and ash. There. No one could find out how he’d come to be engaged to Ms. Rockfort. Not that he planned to be engaged for long.
Turning, Justin lifted the lid on the computer that sat on one side of his polished mahogany desk and opened an incognito tab, so his search would disappear when he was done. He typed her name in the search bar. Hannah Rockfort. The name sounded sophisticated and cultured enough to be real and somehow vaguely familiar. While he waited for the results he double checked the date. As he’d thought, today was July 6th. His bride would land in less than forty-eight hours. The search finished. The top results were news stories from a few months earlier. He opened a couple and skimmed them. It looked like Hannah had recently lost her parents, and fiancé, a James Wallace. Now he knew why her name had sounded familiar, he remembered seeing the story on the news. It had been a short piece, maybe thirty seconds then gone. Not enough for him to pay much attention. His chest ached remembering the loss of his own parents, several years before.
Justin frowned.
If she’d recently lost her fiancé, whose first name Justin wasn’t familiar with but the family name was well known, then why was she looking to get married so quickly? Diamond Bridal Agency was more than a little expensive, but from his research and their guarantee of satisfaction, he believed it was worth the exorbitant fee. He looked at the computer screen again. Was Hannah in this for the money? Or did she have something to hide?
His main requirement for the Diamond Bridal Agency was someone who could get him into the elite social structure of people like the Wallace family. The Wallace’s were very well known. The family had a couple senators, even a presidential candidate, though he hadn’t won. Justin had extended invitations to several of them, but had been snubbed. He needed an in. From the photos of the tall slender brunette that captions claimed was his bride to be, with members of the Wallace family, including her fiancé at the time, she would fit the bill and more. Hannah wasn’t the kind of woman he was normally attracted to, but there was something about her that called to him. It made him want to pull her close, tell her it would be okay and protect her against any more hurt.
Justin spent longer than he wanted to admit flipping through and finding photograph after photograph of Hannah that stretched back several years. They weren’t all flattering, and several appeared to have been taken without her knowledge, but damned if she didn’t look great in every shot. He skimmed through them once more then made himself close the browser, removing all evidence of the search, and closed the computer.
It didn’t matter how attractive he found her, at least not right now. His bride was going to be here in two days and there were things he needed to get done first.
Reaching over, he hit the button on the desk phone to ring his assistant.
“Yes, Mr. Scarborough?” Garret’s voice came across the speaker.
“I need to see you, bring your tablet.” Justin frowned as he considered everything that needed to be done.
“Just a moment, sir.”
A click told him Garrett had hung up and would be in momentarily. Justin spun his chair until he faced the glass wall that overlooked the city.
He loved this view. It reminded him of how hard he’d worked and how far he’d come from that dusty little town in New Mexico. From being just another kid from the wrong side of the tracks. A faint squeak alerted him to the office door opening. He’d thought about h
aving it oiled, but opted against it. He liked the warning when someone came in. He caught the faint scent of coffee and knew that Garrett had brought a fresh cup in with him. Justin rolled his shoulders and twisted his neck, but didn’t turn away from the glass just yet.
“I brought you a fresh coffee, sir. What else do you need?”
Justin sighed and turned away from the city stretching out thirty floors below. “I need a party planned. A big one.”
“All right.” Garrett scribbled a couple of notes on the iPad he carried. “When?”
“Next week if possible, no later than the week after.”
“Occasion? Theme?”
“No theme, the occasion is a surprise, but I want everything upscale. Not flashy and Hollywood, or sequins and Vegas. I want gold, pearls, and London style.” He narrowed his eyes and focused on Garrett for a moment. “Do you understand what I mean?”
“I think so, sir. Who are we inviting?”
“Everyone from the Vanderbilts to the Rockefellers. Don’t forget Hurst to Kennedy. I don’t care if they’re east coast, west coast or anywhere in between, if they’re considered American society, invite them. Does that give you a better idea of what I have in mind?”
“It does.” Garrett tapped several times on the tablet in his hand. “What about entertainment? Do you have any preferences?”
“No, whatever is appropriate. I’ll leave that up to you.”
“Food?”
“Again, upscale, but the details are up to you.”
“Do you want a sit-down dinner or just waiters with hors d’oeurves?”
“Start later, maybe around seven so most will have eaten and serve finger foods. That will help keep the budget down a bit.” He might have billions, but he hadn’t acquired it by spending as much as he earned. It only made sense to conserve where he could.
“And where?”
“The ballroom here. There’s no need to spend money renting a place when we have one we can use free.”
Garrett nodded, hitting the screen several more times.
“The ballroom is booked for a conference all next week, but it’s open on the sixteenth.” He looked up at Justin.
“The sixteenth it is then. Make sure you add it to my calendar as well.”
“Yes, sir. Anything else?”
“That’s all for now. Thank you, Garrett.” Justin went to the leather sofa on the wall across from his desk and sat, dropping his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. He’d been yearning to be accepted by the people that mattered for a long time. Now it was in his grasp. But that wasn’t all. He kept seeing Hannah’s sweet face, her innocent eyes, and wondering why she would sign on to be a mail order bride. What would push a girl that far?
Chapter Two
Hannah sat in the plush interior of the small jet with her hands folded in her lap while her heart thundered in her ears. She learned long ago to keep her feelings off her face and out of her body language. A lady doesn’t get too excited. A lady doesn’t wear her emotions on her sleeve. A lady never slouches. Those were just a few of the countless admonishments she’d heard all her life. It seemed no matter what she’d done, it had never been right. At least according to her tutor. Her mother had been less restrictive, but only just. Every time Ms. Porter had reprimanded Hannah, whether for failing to pay attention to her lessons, or simply not sitting with the proper posture, Hannah’s mother would remind her she needed to do her best and make a good match. A few times her mother had said something along the lines of secure her future, but the words had meant nothing to Hannah at the time.
Now, they meant so much more.
The engine sound changed and Hannah’s heart leapt into her stomach. The pilot announced they would be landing soon and the ball of fear receded, but only some. The plane started a steep decent and Hannah looked outside, desperate for a distraction. A line of large buildings she knew was called The Strip stretched out below her and somehow looked smaller than she’d imagined. Maybe it was more impressive at night, when it was all lit up, but she didn’t know when she might find out. She didn’t even know where her groom lived, only that someone would meet her at the airport.
As the plane banked and tilted at an angle she was certain was way too steep, Hannah turned away from the window, closed her eyes and did her best to forget about where she was. She didn’t know much about her new husband, only that he wanted a wife with a good name and connections. That and his name, Justin Scarborough, had been all she’d been told.
Hannah flinched as the wheels touched the ground with a slight jerk. There. She was on the ground again, drawing her first comfortable breath since she’d taken off more than three hours earlier. She’d never cared much for flying and liked it even less since the crash that had taken the lives of her parents and James. It had taken more than she’d thought she’d had in her to board the tiny aircraft that morning. Now that she was on solid ground again, she didn’t want to fly again for a very long time, if ever.
Now that she could think again, she picked up the envelope she’d been handed by Ms. Creed the last time she’d seen the woman from the agency, two days before and held on to it. Hannah had read the contents twice. It seemed to be little more than a standard prenuptial agreement. There were stipulations granting her settlements, the value depending on how long the marriage lasted, provided she was not unfaithful. If it lasted under two years, no matter who ended it, she got nothing. The only exception was if Scarborough abused her.
The possibility hadn’t even occurred to her, but it had put her a bit at ease. She had no objections to the contract. She was just waiting to sign it in front of his witness.
She set the envelope aside again. Whatever, it didn’t matter. She didn’t plan on the marriage ending. She wasn’t looking for love, or happiness, just security. The only way to be sure of that was to make the marriage last. She had been trained to be a hostess, to manage a household, and take care of all the small things involved. In the last six months she’d learned exactly how useless that was. She’d also learned how far she as willing to go not to have to wonder where her next meal was coming from. With all her society connections she couldn’t make a living with the skills she had. There had only been one option left. To find someone to take care of her. Someone who valued what she could bring to the deal.
The plane taxied, making several turns before slowing to a stop. Hannah remained where she was long after the lone flight attendant went to the door and opened the hatch, fussing around in the back of the tiny aircraft for several minutes before leaving. Hannah stayed. She couldn’t make herself stand. Nor walk down the gang plank to her destiny. A few moments later the pilot opened the cabin door and emerged. Hannah recognized him because she’d met him briefly before they’d taken off. She remembered thinking he was shorter than she thought he would be.
“Are you all right, Miss Rockfort?” he asked.
“Fine.” She gave him a half-hearted smile. “I just need a moment.”
“A Mr. Scarborough wants to board and speak with you, is that all right?”
Hanna looked up at the uniformed man. She’d thought he knew why she was here, but from the way he spoke he didn’t seem know that she was here to marry Scarborough.
“Yes, it’s fine.” Her stomach flipped, and her heart thundered in her ears. She would finally get a look at the man she’d promised to marry. What if he was twice her age, or even three times? At this point it didn’t matter. She was committed. She would marry him. She just needed a moment.
The pilot disappeared back into the cockpit, making Hannah frown. Why didn’t he leave like the stewardess? Maybe he would be leaving again once she and her things were off the plane.
“Ms. Rockfort?”
A deep voice she didn’t recognize made her look up and keep looking up until her neck ached. Realizing this was likely her groom, she stood. He didn’t seem quite so tall from this angle. Judging from her own 5’6” well, 5’9” in her heels, then the man in front of
her was over six feet, but not by much. And far closer to her own twenty-four years than she’d dared to hope. She guessed he was about thirty, no more than thirty-five. He wore slacks and a blazer over a white button-down shirt. Smooth skin peeked out from an open collar making her want to run her lips across it and see if it was as smooth as it looked. Where the hell had that thought come from?
“Yes. You’re Mr. Scarborough?”
“I am, but call me Justin. If things go well, we’ll be married all too soon. The formality seems a bit,” he paused, “unnecessary, don’t you agree?” His friendly smile made the knot in her stomach loosen and her nervousness ease.
She smiled back. “I can do that. I’m Hannah.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Hannah. Why don’t we have a seat?” He motioned to the seat she’d just vacated and the one beside it.
“Sure.” Hannah snatched the envelope she’d dropped there a few minutes earlier and held it in her lap as she resumed her seat.
The man she was contracted to marry took the seat beside her and her stomach flipped again. The faint musky scent of him stirred something deep inside her that nothing had ever touched before. She’d been attracted to men before, of course, but never before had the simple, clean scent of them pulled to her.
“The agency said you understand the terms, but I wanted to be sure for myself.” He watched her with what she thought was interest.
She recited to him, from memory the terms she’d signed for the agency. That she was here to marry him, his satisfaction was guaranteed, ending with, “I’m here of my own free will, I’ve not been coerced, and I’m willing to sign this as well.” She lifted the envelope in her lap. “I was just waiting to see if you wanted a witness.”
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