The Billionaire From Portland: A Sexy BWWM Billionaire Romance (United States Of Billionaires Book 10)

by Simply BWWM

  It was uncomfortably silent in the car until they neared her apartment, and Julian couldn’t take the tension any longer. He had been angered by the questions that the board members had hounded him with, questioning his lifestyle, his motives, his actions, and his inactions… nearly everything he did. He felt that he owed them no answer, and it showed in his attitude as he spoke with them.

  Then he went out to find Gabriella and had to hunt for her until Marcus mentioned having seen her and Antonio go out of the back door. He discovered her in his brother’s arms about to be kissed, and it was the last straw. He wasn’t going to take that kind of treatment from anyone.

  “You’re not very grateful!” he spat at her as he drove, his jaw clenched in frustration.

  She turned and stared at him. “What is it that I’m not grateful for?” She felt ire rising in her and didn’t try to hold it back at all.

  He glanced at her as he drove, narrowing his eyes. “Anything! You aren’t grateful for anything! Here I’ve been trying to help you, trying to make your career move ahead and give you the cover you want; I’ve been spending time with you and doing so many things for you, and you repay me by getting it on with my own brother! How dare you!” he shot at her angrily.

  Her eyes widened incredulously and she turned and stared at him. “You haven’t done anything about my career at all! All you’ve tried to do is to get me into bed and seduce me, even after I told you that we were going to be business only and nothing more! You have no respect at all for me!” she flung back at him, clenching her hands tightly and furrowing her brow at him.

  Julian was totally unaccustomed to anyone speaking to him that way, and he was short of words to say or any way to respond as he pulled to the curb on the street beside her building. He parked his car and turned to look at her.

  “You have got some serious audacity. Do you have any idea what almost any other woman would give to be in your position? Do you?” he raised his voice and glared hotly.

  She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice. “I don’t care what any other woman would give. I came to you to ask you for help in putting me on the cover of your magazine because I’ve worked my ass off for it and I’ve earned it, and all you want to do is try to make me sleep with you so before you give me the cover!”

  He grunted in anger and turned away from her, balling up his fists for a moment and then he closed his eyes and breathed in, making himself relax. She was infuriating and maddening all at once. He turned to look at her and shook his head slowly.

  “I’m not just in this with you to get you into my bed.” He knew he was lying, but she didn’t need to know it. “I’m trying to help you in your career. I know you have potential. I know you’d be good on the cover, and we are talking about that. I also happen to like you and I’m trying to build something good with you, but you keep backing off and now you’re teasing my brother! You agreed to be my date at that party tonight!” He tried to keep his voice and his temper in check.

  “I did no such thing! I never agreed to a date! I said I would come and that was it!” she shot back. She was infuriated that he continued to try to take so many liberties with her and she still hadn’t gotten anywhere with the magazine cover.

  He buried his face in his hands and groaned, letting go of as much of the frustration as he could. He drew in a deep breath and then turned to look at her.

  “Listen, I’m sorry we’re fighting. I didn’t want the night to end like this.” He leaned close to her and cupped his hand around her jaw. “Come here,” he insisted, moving his face toward hers.

  He was going to try to make her kiss him. She was livid. She yanked her face from his grasp and leaned back away from him. “Don’t you dare!” she almost growled at him. “I’m not yours to touch or kiss or lay your hands on. You keep your distance from me! I’m your employee, and we have a business relationship and that is all we have and don’t you forget it!” she fired furiously at him.

  He sighed and his shoulders slumped as he turned his head and looked out of the window at nothing. She unbuckled the safety belts and pushed the door open. A moment later she shut the door closed hard and he closed his eyes and sighed, wondering how he could have ever lost all the charm he had been so richly blessed with.

  Gabriella stomped into her apartment and locked the door behind her, promising herself that she would never get into any kind of situation like that with him again.

  Julian drove home in a foul mood, and by the time he reached the mansion, it was much worse than when he had left Gabriella at her home. He barged into Antonio’s quarters and yelled for him. Antonio appeared a minute later, his jacket off, his tie loose, and his shirt unbuttoned. He was brushing his teeth. He’d left the booming party on the main floor and retired to his quarters after seeing his brother drag Gabriella away. He couldn’t stomach being at the party any longer than that.

  “Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Julian fumed at him.

  “What in the hell are you talking about?” Antonio demanded, knowing full well what his brother was talking about.

  “Gabriella! I go in for a meeting and when I come back out, you’re about to lock lips with her on the balcony! If I’d come out a minute later, you two would have been making out! You think I can’t see what you are doing?” he hollered at his brother.

  “I know you’re after her, I know you want her! She’s mine! You can’t have her right now! If you want to wait around until after I’ve screwed her all that I want to, and you want some sloppy seconds, then go for it, but don’t you touch her until I’m done with her!” Julian fired like a shot from a cannon.

  Antonio thought he might vomit on the spot. The idea of his brother using Gabriella for his own pleasure and then dumping her when he was through with her was one of the worst things he’d ever felt, or ever known his brother to try to do.

  “Don’t you talk about her that way!” Antonio raised his voice and lifted his hand, pointing his finger at his brother. “You have no business treating her the way that you do! She deserves better!” he shouted.

  Julian shook his head. “She’s no better than any other woman who has thrown herself at me, and all she wants from me is that damn cover anyway! She’s trying to use me, just like all the other women I have ever known… they all want something for themselves and it’s never about me!

  She’s using me, so I’m using her right back. Fair is fair!” He turned to leave and shot one last look at Antonio over his shoulder. “You just leave her the hell alone until I’m through with her, and then you can have her all you want. Are we clear on that?” he demanded.

  Antonio began to walk swiftly toward Julian, his face flushed with fury. “Get the hell out of my quarters!” he fired at Julian. “Out!” Julian stepped out of the door just before his brother reached it, clamping his hand on it and slamming it shut.

  A gusty sigh escaped him as he turned back toward the bathroom where he had been readying himself for bed. He glared hotly at his reflection in the mirror, furious that his own brother could be so cold hearted and cruel to anyone, but especially to a woman like Gabriella.

  She began to fill his thoughts again, and his tension eased as his body calmed, and the sweetness of the dance they had shared came back to him. He had loved every moment of it; the way she smelled, the way she moved, the way she felt in his arms, her eyes as they gazed into his.

  He was beginning to wonder what it was about her that affected him so much. His head was rarely ever turned by any woman, and yet with this one he couldn’t look away. She had begun to take over every one of his thoughts, and it was all he could do to focus on anything else that required his attention.

  Even in his dreams, he thought, as he laid down in his bed and his head sunk low into his pillow, even in his dreams thoughts of her had saturated every part of him. There was no escaping her, and he knew deep down that he didn’t want to escape her at all.

  Chapter5

  Gabriella awoke with dreams of Ant
onio fading from her mind and she smiled before she even opened her eyes, thinking of his lips on hers; something that didn’t get a chance to happen, though she had wanted it to.

  She went about her morning getting ready for work and thoughts of him would come to her intermittently, warming her and making her smile. She picked up her phone and called Lila, and Lila answered right away.

  “Lila!” she said with a little laugh and a bit of a helpless cry. “I need to talk!”

  Lila gave her a sympathetic sigh. “Sure honey, what’s bugging you?”

  Gabriella smiled and traced her finger over the rim of her coffee cup. “It’s Antonio!” she began. “I went to a party at the Medici’s and I was hoping I’d see him there and I did. He took me out on the patio behind the house and we danced and then he almost kissed me, but Julian walked out and got mad and took me home.”

  She sighed and smiled wistfully. “I can’t stop thinking about Antonio.”

  “He likes you, too?” Lila asked curiously.

  “Yeah, I think he does. You should see the way he looks at me. I mean, we hardly know anything about each other at all, but there’s this intense chemistry… it’s so hot, Lila… I’ve never felt anything like it before. There’s just this fiery magnetic attraction… it’s so strange and so… amazing.” She giggled a little and felt like a girl with a high school crush.

  Lila laughed a moment and Gabriella could imagine her shaking her head. “You better be careful, honey. You and Antonio might like each other, but you’re dealing with Julian right now and you don’t want to make him jealous.

  Not when you’re trying so hard to get the cover of that magazine. You make him jealous of his brother and you’ll never get it. Men are territorial and possessive most of the time. Don’t take chances like that if the cover is what you want most, and I’m sure that it is.”

  Gabriella knew that Lila was right. She frowned sadly. “I guess I’ll hold off on Antonio then. Nothing’s really happening with him anyway, it’s just a lot of sparks and electricity… and heat.” She pouted slightly, her lower lip pushed out a little. “I just wish I could have the cover and the brother. Then my life would be perfect.”

  “We can’t have perfection in our lives.” Lila sighed. “Otherwise what would we long for and how would we ever learn to appreciate what we have?”

  “It’s true,” Gabriella agreed. “We’d never know how precious the things we have are if we didn’t know what it was like to not have them.” She pushed herself up from the sofa she was sitting on and walked into the kitchen to put her empty coffee cup in the sink. “Well, I better let you go. I need to get to work. Love you, Lila.”

  Lila said goodbye and Gabriella dressed and headed to the studios.

  She had just finished up her shooting for the day and was walking out of her dressing room when she heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Julian standing by the door to the hallway Gabriella was headed down.

  “There she is…” he said with a sultry voice, eyeing her with no hint of discretion.

  She felt irritation rising up in her and she stopped herself from rolling her eyes. “Julian, what are you doing here?” she asked with a light tone.

  He pushed himself from the wall with his shoulder, his eyes steady on her. “I came to pick you up. I wanted to talk with you about the cover of the April issue… I’ve been thinking about how much you want it, and how hard you’ve worked for it, and there are some things to discuss, but I’m headed out and I thought you could come with me so we can talk.”

  She frowned. “I can’t just take off with you like that. How do you know I don’t already have plans?”

  He chuckled and walked toward her, lifting his hand to her shoulder and running his finger down her bare arm. She jerked her arm away from him and his gaze turned serious.

  “It doesn’t matter if you had plans or not. Isn’t the cover the most important thing to you right now? If you have plans, change them, but we’re running out of time right now, so let’s go.” He reached for her elbow and cupped his hand around it, walking her down the hallway at his side, taking her out of the building, and putting her into his car.

  She was beyond annoyed with him that he was taking her schedule completely for granted and being so presumptive about her, and she was even more annoyed that he wasn’t wrong; the cover was the most important thing to her and he knew it.

  He knew she was willing to do almost anything to get it; anything except sleeping with him, and he was going to push her as far as he could until one of them gave in. She was burning with frustration when he climbed into the car beside her and sped off down the road.

  He noticed her irritation with him and he enjoyed it just a little, loving the knowledge that he had power and control over her because of what she wanted. Julian flew down the road, his Lamborghini hugging the asphalt as the engine roared.

  It was another form of power that he loved. He thought for a few minutes that he might try to talk with Gabriella, but she was glaring out of her passenger side window again, like she was the night he drove her home from the party, and he wasn’t in the mood to hear her complain.

  He didn’t even really want to hear her talking, he just wanted his hands to finally be everywhere that his eyes had already been on her. Stealing a glance at her long legs, he imagined running his hands up them and spreading them, and he grew hard for her.

  Julian finally pulled the car into a spot at the boat docks and climbed out. He helped Gabriella out of the car and she turned to look at him with a frown on her face. “What are we doing here? I thought we were going to talk about the cover.” She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her gaze at him.

  “I have a social engagement that I have to attend. I want you with me. We’ll talk about the cover in a bit,” he said shortly, taking her by the elbow once more and guiding her to a huge yacht that was covered with people.

  It was a smaller version of the party that he’d had at his own house; everyone drinking, dancing, laughing, talking, and carrying on. The only difference for Gabriella was that Antonio wasn’t at the party on the boat, and she was going to be stuck with Julian until he decided to take her home.

  He led her onto the boat and introduced her to a few people before pushing a drink into her hand and downing a drink himself in mere minutes. He talked to everyone but her, pulling her along with him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and her waist as he went, and every time she pushed his arm away from her, and he’d leave it down for a few minutes, but then it was back around her again, holding her firm against him until she pushed him away again.

  He downed a few more drinks before it got dark outside and Gabriella had finally had enough. She took him by the arm and dragged him to a quiet corner in the dining room of the yacht. She turned him to look at her and scowled at him.

  “Julian! I’ve spent this whole night with you under the premise that you were going to talk with me about the cover of the magazine, and you haven’t said a word! All you’ve done is party, talk with people, and drink! Take me home! I had other things to do tonight! You’re wasting my time and I’m not going to let you do it anymore!” She was furious with him, though she was trying to keep it quiet, and keep her temper in check.

  His eyes glazed over and locked on her, and in a flash his hands were on her shoulders, and his body was pressed up against hers, holding her to the wall they were standing beside. He leaned in close and nestled his nose and mouth against her neck, breathing heavily and moving his lips over her skin as his hands touched the skin on her thighs, his fingers sliding upward toward the hem of her short dress.

  “You want to talk?” he asked in a hoarse whisper. “We can talk, Gabriella… let’s talk about what we want.” He closed his lips on her neck and she felt him press his hardened groin against her as his fingers tightened on her flesh. She planted her hands on his shoulders and gave him a hard shove, pushing him away. He looked at her and laughed, shaking his head.

  “You are
such a tough little girl. So hard to convince… so…” he stepped toward her and slipped his finger beneath her chin, lifting it as he stared into her eyes. “So… tempting. You know, the more you push me away, the more it makes me want you.

  Why don’t you just give in to me? We could both be happy, Gabriella… I’ll give you the cover of the magazine, and you could give me…” his eyes slid over her body slowly and he bit his lower lip and shook his head, “…you could give me what I want.”

  She glared hotly at him. “That is not how we are going to do this. Do you understand me? I keep telling you; business. That’s all we’re going to have between us!”

  He shook his head and laughed at her. “But we could have so much more… between us…” he grinned.

  Gabriella pushed past him and turned to look over her shoulder at him. “I’m leaving. You can pay for the cab ride home for me.”

  He sighed and his grin faded some. “Fine! I’ll take you. Let’s go,” he said sharply, tipping his glass back and finishing his drink. He tossed the glass away from him and hauled her off of the boat behind him, taking her by the hand and leading her to the car.

  “Are you sure you should be driving?” she asked suspiciously, “You’ve had a lot to drink.” She wasn’t sure how much he’d had, and he seemed to be walking just fine, but she wasn’t sure if he should be behind the wheel of a car.

  He opened her door and snapped at her sarcastically. “I’m fine. I’m not getting laid right now like I should be, but I’m fine. Just get in.”

  She groaned in frustration and turned her head to look out of the window again. She wanted less and less to do with him, but she knew that getting the cover of the magazine wasn’t going to happen now unless he said it would. Kathy would never give it to her without Julian’s consent, and Julian wasn’t going to let it happen unless he got what he wanted. She felt as if she had painted herself into a corner and there was no real way out.