Billionaires in New York Boxed Set: Billionaires in the City Books 1-3

by Laura Burton

  “Challenge accepted.”

  Emily squealed as he wrestled her back onto the bed.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The Truth Comes Out

  Emily walked her fingers up David’s chest as she lay propped up on an elbow.

  “What did you think of me when we first met?”

  She watched David heave a big sigh and wipe the sweat from his brow.

  “I thought”—he sat up and Emily cozied up to his chest with his arm wrapped around her—“that you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.”

  Emily snuggled closer into David. They basked in the glow of their love, finally the world was right. They were together, nothing could tear them apart. She planted kisses in a line up his chest. She wanted to kiss him, every part, for all her days. Falling in love had never been so sweet. So tender. She thought she might smile until her dying day.

  “I thought you were the tallest man I’d ever seen,” she quipped back.

  David hummed. “We should go downstairs and get some breakfast.”

  “Oh, someone has been working up an appetite,” Emily said coyly. David nodded, his face was still red.

  “I’m starving.”

  Emily rolled over and huffed as she looked up at the impossibly high ceiling. “I wish we could stay in here forever.”

  “It would get pretty boring,” David said.

  Emily rolled onto her side and looked him, offended. “Oh really?”

  David’s face turned a deeper shade of red. “Erm, I’d die of starvation?”

  Emily rolled her eyes at her new husband. “Let’s get food sent up to the room.” She didn’t want to see anyone else, especially not Edward. Was his face bruised and what story did he tell the rest of the family?

  “This isn’t a hotel, you know,” David said with a laugh. She tilted her head at him.

  “Yeah, but I’m sure your staff wouldn’t mind bringing food to the room.”

  David sighed and got up out of bed. “We should go. We missed the whole party,” he said as he got dressed.

  “You didn’t seem to care last night.” Emily fluttered her lashes at him as she flashed her pearly whites. David bent over and rested his palms on the bed. Emily crawled up to him and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

  “Hmmm,” he murmured as he kissed her back. “As much as I would love to spend the day in bed with you, darling, we need to make an appearance. I want to check in on my grandmother.” David’s words dulled Emily’s excitement; she had forgotten why they were there. His grandmother was dying. She nodded and dragged herself out of bed.

  “Okay, I’ll take a quick shower.”

  Emily held David’s hand as she followed him down the grand staircase to the side door that opened out to the dining room.

  “Good morning, everyone,” David said brightly. Emily smiled sheepishly, clutching David’s hand as she looked around the room, which had become eerily quiet. Charles sat at the head of the mahogany table, Edward and Catherine were on either side of him, and several couples joined them, all no longer enjoying their cooked breakfast. The air was surprisingly frosty, and Emily noted that all scowling faces were directed at her.

  “What’s wrong?” David asked, apparently sensing the odd vibes in the room. Charles sighed heavily and lifted a remote control. A large screen TV came to life on the wall across from them and Emily’s mouth fell open as she stared at a picture of herself on the screen.

  “Emily Stewart’s fake marriage to billionaire heir David Marks is now claimed to be the biggest scandal of 2019.”

  The news reporters were discussing the headline. “Why do you think Emily Stewart was so happy to participate in a fake marriage?”

  “Well, Linda, our source tells us that she was looking to expand her business to Los Angeles.”

  “Did your source have any information on how the fake marriage came about?”

  “Yes, Jon. It’s reported that David Marks, the younger son, would not inherit part of the family fortune unless he found a wife.”

  A chair scraped across the floor and Emily looked to see Edward at his feet, a dark green bruise covered his right cheek.

  “I knew it,” he growled. Catherine covered her mouth with her hands and stared at them both with wide eyes.

  Charles switched the TV off. Emily wanted the ground to open and swallow her whole. The truth was out.

  “You believe everything you hear on the news?” David began with a shrug in an attempt to sound nonchalant. “Come on, it’s just sensationalist gossip.”

  “So, you’re not opening up a matchmaking business in LA?” Edward asked Emily, his eyes burned through her soul and she swallowed nervously. Judgment day had arrived.

  “Yes,” she said in a quiet voice. Edward raised a hand and scoffed with exasperation.

  “And how exactly did you meet David?”

  Emily clung to David’s hand as if her life depended on it. She glanced at him anxiously.

  “He came into my office.” She shifted her weight and avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. David squeezed her hand.

  “None of it matters. We love each other, and we’ve made a commitment.”

  “Love.” Edward snorted and paced the room. Several of the guests made their excuses and took the opportunity to escape the awkward conversation.

  “We’ll leave you to it. I want to see how Iris is doing.” An elderly woman patted David’s arm as she followed her husband out of the room. After a few tense minutes, only Charles and Edward remained at the table. Catherine made excuses about needing to warm up for an upcoming recital for Grandmother Marks.

  “I thought I could smell a rat,” Edward sneered. David lunged forward but Emily pulled on his hand to stop him from strangling his brother. Charles got to his feet and the brothers looked at him.

  “Enough. You two need to keep a low profile while we clear up this mess.” Charles rubbed his jawline and appeared to be deep in thought. His reaction confused Emily. Was he not furious like Edward? Based on what they’d seen on TV, he should be angry.

  “Oh right, I get it.” Edward slammed a fist on the table. “This is perfect for you.” He pointed an accusing finger at his father. “I should have known you would have had something to do with this.”

  “He had nothing to do with it, actually.” Emily squared up to Edward and set her jaw, staring him down. Edward turned to her and laughed, shaking his head.

  “You might believe that,” he began, wagging a finger now at Emily, then at David. “But you’re wrong. There are too many coincidences.”

  Emily looked at Charles who was staring at David intently. Then she looked back at David who was chewing his lip. It was as if they were having a silent conversation.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “None of it matters,” David began. Emily put her hands on her hips.

  “What are you talking about?” she repeated firmly. She knew they shouldn’t have left their bedroom, something was about to happen that would ruin everything, she could feel it.

  Charles sighed and motioned for them to take a seat. “Edward, calm down. There’s nothing anyone can do about it now.”

  Edward pressed the palms of his hands against the brick fireplace and bowed his head low for a moment.

  “I’ll tell Grandmother. This is wrong. She’s a fraud.” He turned and gave Emily a steely glare. Emily frowned back. She was not a fraud. Had she not told David the truth?

  “It doesn’t matter, Edward. They’re married….” Charles glanced at David for a moment. “You did make it official, I gather? I didn’t tell you to pretend to marry her.”

  Emily’s ears began to ring.

  “I’m sorry,” she blurted out and took her hand away from David’s grasp. He looked down at her, biting his lip so hard she was sure it would draw blood. “What does that mean… You didn’t tell David to pretend to marry me?”

  Edward turned around to face them and broke into a fit of dark laughter. “Oh perfe
ct. Just perfect.” He slammed his fist on the table. “This is complete fraud. I’ll get my lawyers on this. You won’t see a penny of the inheritance.”

  “You think I’m going to stand by and let you sell the family business, and use our good name to fund your childish ambitions?” David puffed out his chest, looking at Edward furiously.

  “I am the only person in this family who can make hard business decisions.” Edward’s voice rose a pitch and his cheeks flushed. The bruise turned a shade of purple. “You lost half of everything in your name,” he accused Charles, then turned to David. “And you’re an architect. What do you know about running a business?”

  The men broke into a heated debate, yet Emily’s brain was spinning with a debate of her own. Just what did Charles mean when he said that he didn’t tell David to pretend? Was there something more David had been hiding? He’d confessed from the beginning that he needed a wife to earn his inheritance. Was the “I need to find a wife in thirty days” just a ruse?

  “Charles, did you target me to be David’s wife?” Emily asked. Charles shot a look at Edward. If looks could kill, Edward would have been on the floor. He forced a smile at Emily.

  David turned to her and grabbed her hand.

  “I never lied to you. I meant everything I said last night,” he said fervently. Emily turned back to look at Charles.

  “One day, you’ll be a parent,” Charles began calmly. Edward shrugged and covered his face with his hands; a vein bulged out of his neck. “Only then, will you understand.”

  Emily placed her hands on her hips again and backed away from David. “What did you do?” she asked Charles in a deathly whisper.

  “What I had to… just like you,” Charles shot back. Emily shook her head and stared wide-eyed at David. The color had drained from his face, and while he glanced back in her direction, he was unable to look her in the eye.

  “You knew I was looking for investors didn’t you? It was the perfect opportunity.”

  David shook his head. “It’s not like that, Emily. What does it matter how we met? I love you.”

  Charles clapped his hand on David’s shoulder. “You make each other happy, everyone can see that. Besides, you are not entirely innocent in this, are you, Emily? Did you not pursue David for your own financial agenda? Let’s put the past behind us, shall we?”

  Emily opened her mouth, but no sound came out. So, David and his father specifically chose her to be his wife. He’d never come in to find a “real” wife; it had been set up all along. I guess we’re both as bad as each other, she thought.

  Was David right? Did it matter? She loved him now—didn’t she?

  A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and Emily gawped to see two men walk into the room—the investors from dinner.

  “What are––”

  Charles looked sheepish for the first time.

  “Ah, yes. You have met before. Emily, this is Adam and Tyler.”

  “I thought––” Emily couldn’t finish her sentence. What did she think? To see the two men in such an unexpected setting had her taken aback. Nothing was making any sense. The mysterious investors were friends with Charles? Is that how he knew about Emily?

  “Adam and Tyler are my personal security.”

  The words shot through Emily’s chest like a bullet. “I’m sorry, I’m confused. Then who is investing in my business? Matthew said––”

  “Matthew is an old friend,” Charles said calmly. A snort at the table alerted Emily that Edward was still there. He lowered his hands and shook his head. A crazed smile on his face.

  “Oh it’s all coming out now, the tangled web of lies you’ve woven.” He got to his feet, looking pleased with himself. Like the detective at the end of a murder mystery novel, ready to deliver his theory with absolute accuracy.

  “Haven’t you worked it out yet?” he said to Emily. Grinning ear to ear, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He pointed at his father.

  “My meddling father and brother hatched a plan to steal my inheritance. Heaven forbid Father has to lose even more control. So, he found you. A high-profile business woman… who just so happens to be from England as well. And is on the lookout for an investment.”

  Edward squared his shoulders and stood by the fireplace, his hands clasped together and confident. “Father sends David in to see you. Fancy that, Emily? You need money to build your business, and in walks a billionaire who is on the lookout for a wife.”

  Emily frowned.

  “Rich bachelors walk into my office every day,” she said. “I didn’t target David.”

  “You didn’t?” Charles asked, Emily looked at him wildly. “You mean to tell me that Matthew didn’t conveniently tell you to find a husband?”

  Emily gawped at him and looked at David who was staring at his father and the bodyguards. He was a deer in the headlights again. She looked around at all of the men in the room and suddenly felt very small. Realization dawned on her and sank to the pit of her stomach.

  “There’s no deal, is there? The investors… Matthew. It was all a ploy to get me to end up with David?” She looked at David who still couldn’t look at her.

  “Were you ever going to tell me?” she asked. David lowered his eyes to the floor, his eyes glistening with tears. Look at me. Why won’t you look at me? Emily paced the room now.

  “I feel sick.” She stopped walking. “And I want to leave.” Her words brought David back to life. He nodded and turned on the spot to open the door.

  “Right, let’s go.”

  “But we’re not finished, this isn’t over,” Edward called out. David ignored him as he held Emily’s arm and they both walked out of the room.

  Emily and David quietly packed their things and left the house without speaking to anyone––other than a quick goodbye to Grandmother Marks, who was sleeping. The plane ride was uneventful, and Emily sat, reeling from the conversation. There was no deal. The investors were fake. What’s more, David was in on it the whole time. That’s what hurt the most. How could he keep such a big secret from her? What else might he be hiding? How could she know how he felt about her?

  “Take me to my apartment,” she demanded of David as they exited the plane and got into the back of the limousine.

  “Emily, please talk to me.”

  David took her hand, but she pulled away. “I can’t,” she said in a broken voice.

  “You need to know, I had no idea about the investors.”

  “You’ve never seen your dad’s bodyguards before then? Shouldn’t you have recognized them?”

  “No, I’ve never seen them. I mean, I didn’t like them and I did think it was weird my father was outside the restaurant when we were there. But I didn’t––”

  “What?” Emily cut in. “He was there… when we were having our meeting?” Emily laughed derisively. “Perfect. So he sat outside laughing his head off, while I was making a fool of myself in front of his puppets.”

  “It’s not like that, Emily. Really. I love you.”

  “You keep saying that. And every time you say it, it sounds less convincing.” Emily folded her arms as her cheeks burned with rage and humiliation. All the time she had been wracked with guilt over what she did, when in truth, she played perfectly into the hand of David’s father.

  They pulled up outside Emily’s apartment, and she didn’t even wait for Henry open the door. She pushed it open and grabbed her bag from the trunk.

  “Emily, wait. Please. We need to talk about this.” David followed her to the door.

  “Stay away from me.”

  “But please, Emily. We can work this out.”

  “I can’t even look at you.” Tears were flooding her vision now as she fumbled with her keys. David tried to hold her, but she shrugged him off.

  “Don’t touch me,” she snapped. David stood back.

  “Emily, please don’t shut me out.”

  The door to the apartment building swung open and Emily threw her bag inside. She turned and j
ust before she closed the door she paused, staring at David’s crestfallen face. She pulled the platinum ring off her finger and thrust it into David’s hand.

  “You were never going to tell me the truth, were you?” The question was more like a statement, but she searched his face. David pressed his lips together keeping silent; she could see the internal conflict in his eyes.

  No. He wasn’t.

  A sob escaped Emily’s mouth as she closed the door, and she resolved to never look at that handsome face again.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Hurting

  David pummeled the punching bag until every ounce of his energy was spent. The gym stank of stale sweat. David’s whole face and neck dripped with perspiration. He huffed as he wiped his forehead with the back of his arm.

  “Mr. Marks, sorry to disturb you.”

  David threw his fist into the bag one last time and exhaled.

  “What is it, Robert?” He picked up his flask and gulped down the ice water. Robert stood a few feet away and kept a distance between them. David had been in a foul mood since he returned. All of the staff were keeping a wide berth.

  “Your father is on the phone––”

  “I don’t want to speak to him.”

  “––he’s says it’s time.”

  The words sank like heavy rocks in the bottom of his stomach. He pulled his gloves off and sighed. “Right,” he said. “Tell him I’m on my way.”

  The sunshine made everything glow yellow in the garden, and the birds chirped softly in the aviary. There was a gentle breeze in the air and a strange sense of peace. David took a deep breath, as he caught sight of the people standing around the bed. The large glass doors had been rolled back, and as he entered the summer house, he could still hear the tide of the ocean.

  Charles stood next to the head of the bed, with his hands resting on the white bony hand of his mother. Edward and Catherine stood at the foot of the bed and watched silently as David stooped down to kiss his grandmother on the forehead.

  “Where is your wife, David?” her voice was weak and fragile. Every labored breath seemed to drain her energy.