The Barrington Billionaires Collection 1

by Danielle Stewart

  “Dead,” Monroe forced out. “About three years now. I’ll admit it sent me off the deep end. My company went global. My success skyrocketed. But I knocked quite a few people off the ladder on my way up. The lessons of compassion Elliston taught me, they were gone. I was angry at the world.”

  “I have found you to be plenty compassionate,” Aria offered. “I told you all the things I observed when I met you, and I don’t think you were some gifted actor trying to fool me.”

  “Business is different. I was strolling down the street with you. Eating a meal. Had we been hammering out a deal you wouldn’t have found me so endearing. Trust me, people don’t. Those early days of undercover work for Joshua stuck with me. I have skills, and in order for them to work, I can’t let emotions into the equation.”

  “I understand that.” She sighed. “I tucked those pesky emotion things away a long time ago. I don’t think I’d have made it here this long if I hadn’t. But I can let them out long enough to say thank you for what you did tonight. I hope you don’t get in trouble for smashing that camera.”

  “No trouble,” he assured her, and this time he was the one giving her a tighter squeeze. He knew the only real trouble coming was from the way he felt with her lying curled against him. Sex was on his mind. That was a given. You couldn’t have a woman like Aria near and not have it affect you. But tonight as her breaths became slow and deliberate and her eyes fluttered with the approaching burden of sleep, he found it enough to hold her. That was new. That was trouble.

  Chapter 22

  It had been an eternity since Aria had off two days in a row and could sleep in. And those certainly didn’t include breakfast in bed or a long morning soak in the bath. Monroe was gone when she woke up, but the note he’d left on the nightstand was sweet enough to keep her from being concerned about his absence.

  Falling asleep in his arms last night had been shelter from the storm that was her life. Over the years she’d built walls around her emotions, around her mind, that kept her from crumbling under the weight of her circumstances. Monroe was the first person to become a true protector. She closed her eyes and allowed herself hope for the future. Who would Monroe fire first when he swooped in and wrote an enormous check to buy this place? She couldn’t wait to see the look on management’s faces when they realized their reign was over.

  A light wrap on the door sent her shooting upright in bed and covering herself with the sheets. “Hello?” she asked, completely unfamiliar with being on this side of the hotel room door.

  “Aria? It’s me, Loretta.” Her friend’s familiar voice trickled in through the door and warmed Aria’s heart. In a hurry she dressed and pulled the door open, yanking her friend inside.

  “Loretta, it’s so good to see you,” Aria cried, squeezing her friend tightly. “This has been a whirlwind.”

  “I’m hearing rumors. I come back from being sick and in the hospital bunk to find you’re gone. People are saying you met a man? A guest? You must be crazy. You’ll get in so much trouble.” Loretta was a kind-eyed, dark-skinned plump woman with a voice that rose and fell like an old forgotten symphony. Her gap-toothed smile and booming cackle of a laugh were what drew Aria to her in the first place. At work she was as quiet as a mouse and as obedient as a well-trained dog. It turned Aria’s stomach to see how small a woman like Loretta had to make herself in order to comply with the expectation of this place. Her personality had to be nearly extinguished for her to be a suitable employee. When Aria had welcomed her as a new bunk mate upon her arrival, Loretta blossomed freely into her truest self. And what a stunning bloom she was.

  “It’s not like that at all,” Aria assured her. “I did meet a man, but I’m not having some fling. I can’t tell you everything, but know that things here are going to get a lot better. We’re going to be all right. Maybe you can even go back to Jamaica.”

  “You know I can’t,” she sighed, her worried face turning quickly sad. “Even if I get enough money to get back home I don’t have anything waiting for me. No place to live. No job. I’d die in the street before I’d be able to get back on my feet.”

  “Just trust me,” Aria said brightly as she took Loretta’s hand and squeezed it. “Don’t I look well? Don’t I look happy?”

  “You do,” Loretta agreed, though she still sounded tentative. “But happy can be a trick. Be happy and be careful. You have to be both.”

  “I know that.” She giggled. “I’ve always known that. Things are happening here. You have to have faith.”

  “Faith.” Loretta laughed wildly. “I’ve spent two years trying to get you to have a little faith. I’ve never met a more cynical disbeliever in my life. Now you’re sitting around and preaching faith and hope to me?”

  “It’s a strange world, isn’t it?” Aria was grateful to see her friend and share this moment with her.

  “Are you falling for him?” Loretta asked, suddenly serious. “You have that starry look in your eye. I’ve had it before myself. I know you, and a woman like you is not easily impressed. He must be something.”

  “He is.” Aria sighed, falling heavily onto the bed. “I can’t believe I’m letting myself get swept up in this. But I’m due, right? I mean, I deserve it as much as the next girl.”

  “Even more,” Loretta said with a sweet smile. “I have to get to work now.” She coughed a raspy deep hack that instantly worried Aria. She’d taken three days off of work, which was almost unheard of, though it was obviously without pay.

  When Aria looked beyond her lens of happiness and excitement, she could see how drawn Loretta still looked. Her eyes, though bright and kind as always, were rimmed with dark circles. Her hand trembled as she reached for the door.

  “Are you sure you’re all right? What did the doctor say was wrong?” Aria asked, urgency bubbling up inside her. “Can you get another day to rest?”

  “Another day?” Loretta laughed humorlessly and her eyes were shrouded in sadness. “You know damn well it’s a miracle I got the three already. Losing that money is going to kill me. The doctor said I’m fine now. Just a bug.”

  “I’ll cover you for the extra money,” Aria offered, but before she’d even gotten the words out Loretta was declining.

  “You aren’t doing any better than I am. You’ll be short a few days’ pay too, but at least you’re making the most of it.”

  The electronic lock on the door clicked, and Loretta let the handle go and jumped back suddenly.

  When Monroe stepped in, Aria watched Loretta’s shoulders slump and her head drop down apologetically.

  “Oh,” Monroe said, looking startled. “Hello, I didn’t expect anyone else up here.”

  Loretta looked ready to jump off the balcony if Monroe didn’t move aside from the door to let her by. “I was just leaving, sir,” she said, stifling another cough. “I’m sorry to disturb you.”

  “You haven’t,” Monroe said, his eyes shooting over to Aria for help. “Any friend of Aria’s is welcome here. Don’t leave on my account. Would you like a drink?”

  Loretta looked at him appraisingly, her lips in a rigid line. “No thank you,” she edged out. “I have to clock in. My shift is starting soon.” Like a mouse fleeing the paws of a feisty cat, Loretta darted out of the room. Aria heard her cough as she hustled down the hallway.

  “I didn’t mean to scare her off,” Monroe apologized as he tucked his phone into his pocket and put his computer down on the table by the door.

  “She had to get to work,” Aria explained, knowing his presence had rattled Loretta. “She’s not been feeling well, and I’m worried about her. The doctor at the hospital cabin cleared her to come back, but she doesn’t look or sound up for it.”

  “If she needs more time, she should rest,” Monroe agreed. “I got the flu in Paris one year, and I didn’t take the time to kick it. Ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. Now the French certainly know how to nurse you back to health, but it was wildly inconvenient. She shouldn’t press her luck.”


  “We don’t get paid sick time. She’ll starve if she doesn’t work. And once the doctor says to go back, you have to go back.” Aria glanced out the sliding door, wondering if she’d see Loretta passing by her down below. “Loretta has been a very good friend to me. She’s such a positive person no matter what happens. And her laugh, there’s nothing like it.”

  “I’d like to hear that some time,” Monroe said, stepping behind Aria and sliding his arms around her waist. He pulled her in tight so she could feel his solid build against her back. A pang of selfishness flooded her. She’d have another indulgent day of pleasure and excess while Loretta would be trying to muster the energy to get through a twelve hour shift in the kitchen. Aria knew the steam from the industrial dishwasher zapped your energy. She knew the slippery floor meant you had to move tentatively. The racks of dishes were heavy. Her day would be a slow torture.

  “You look sad,” Monroe observed, brushing her hair from her shoulder and kissing her neck gently. “How can I cheer you up?”

  “I’d like to take you somewhere,” she said, her voice starting small and then growing. “It’s silly, and I know you’ll mock me for it, but I’d like to take you anyway. Have you finished your work?”

  “For now,” he answered, his lips still pressed to her neck, his hot breath warming her skin. “I have to meet with James later. I know Libby wants to see you again. You made quite the impression on her. I thought dinner sounded good. Would we be back by then?”

  “Yes,” Aria assured him. “I’m second guessing myself already. It was a dumb idea.”

  “I love dumb ideas,” Monroe teased, spinning her around and kissing her gently. “I’m burned out on all this work stuff. Let’s do something mindless, reckless, and foolish.”

  “This feels like a dream. None of this feels real.” She sighed, pressing her cheek to his chest and breathing in his scent, praying this wasn’t a fantasy she was about to wake from. He planted a firm pinch on her ass, and she yelped at the squeeze.

  “That’s what you do, right?” he teased, a big jolly laugh rising from his stomach. “Someone says, this is like a dream and you pinch them.”

  “I’m certainly awake,” she replied, rubbing the aching spot. “Just wait and see what marks I put on you later.”

  Chapter 23

  Monroe wasn’t used to being led around. He was the kind of man who still liked to drive himself to every destination no matter how much everyone insisted he should use a car service. Somehow Aria had convinced him to take a bus ride where they sat shoulder to shoulder with strangers. The things this woman could get him to do were limitless. Frighteningly so.

  “We’re almost there,” she promised, squeezing his bicep and looking at him affectionately. “It’s a bumpy ride, but this a part of the island very few guests get to see.”

  Monroe fought the urge to mutter he clearly saw why. He’d been to desolate corners of the earth. This wasn’t the worst location he’d seen, but it was in the top ten. “You said we’d have an adventure. It looks like we’re in the right place for one.”

  “There,” she said through a wide grin. “That’s where we’re going.”

  Monroe had to crane his neck past the other passengers to see what Aria was pointing at. There was a purple neon sign in the shape of a hand that was flashing on and off. The darkened windows were painted with white letters reading: Psychic.

  “Are you pointing to that place?” Monroe asked, hardly holding back his look of unease.

  “I knew you’d think it was stupid,” Aria said, completely deflated. “It’s just something I do.”

  “Do you believe in this stuff?” he asked, trying to snuff out the cynicism. “I mean, obviously you’ve been there so you must. I took you for more of a skeptic.”

  “It’s not like that,” Aria shrugged. “You’ll see. You just have to experience it to understand.”

  The bus screeched to a stop, and the whooshing sound of opening doors filled his ears. Monroe stood and couldn’t believe this was where he was headed. A palm reader.

  Aria tugged his arm as they crossed the street toward the small shack with crooked shutters and a sagging screen door. They moved quickly to dodge the lawless drivers speeding by.

  “Gwen,” Aria said as she knocked gently on the door, “are you here?”

  “I am,” a shaky voice bellowed back. “Come in, dear. Bring your friend.”

  “See,” Aria said with wide eyes, “she knew I had a friend with me. I mean it could be that little security camera, but it could also be her powers.”

  “I guess we’ll never know,” Monroe teased in a spooky voice. “What exactly are we trying to accomplish here?”

  “Is that how things are for you?” Aria challenged. “Everything has to be part of a goal? A mission?”

  “Yes,” Monroe answered flatly, knowing how rigid it made him sound. But it was the truth. If Monroe was doing something one could expect it was the equivalent of a chess piece being moved on a board. It was always with strategy in mind. Always with a purpose.

  “Oh, isn’t he handsome?” a hunchbacked woman in a tattered sweater said as she drank him in. “And his aura is so vibrant. You must see this, don’t you?”

  “I do,” Aria said, moving with ease into the house and taking a seat at a small round table. The room was dimly lit with colored lightbulbs. And every surface was draped in sheer fabric. Looking at the wobbly table, Monroe wasn’t sure one of the chairs would hold his weight. Gingerly he settled himself down and waited to see if it was followed by a crack. Luckily it held.

  “I like your place,” Monroe said, clearing his throat nervously. “It’s very unique.”

  “He is such a good liar too,” she said warmly, seeming to pretend he was not in the room. “What is it you’re here for today?”

  Aria tapped her hands thoughtfully on the table as she seemed to consider the question. “Crystals,” she announced. “Yes, let’s say crystals.”

  “Crystals?” Monroe asked, as Gwen reached into a drawer and pulled out a cloth bag. It was beaded on the bottom and closed with a purple velvet tie.

  “Yes, that’s the right choice, dear.” Gwen poured some stones across the table. They skittered and slid until they all came to stop. “Oh, and look at this. Malachite,” Gwen said, tapping a stone that landed closest to Monroe.

  “It’s beautiful,” Monroe commented, drawn in by the vivid swirling green color.

  “The stones you need land closest to you. They tell you what you must acquire. What you are lacking.”

  “Very interesting,” Aria said, nodding her approval. “Malachite is said to help you discern what is the truth. It’s considered a protective stone.”

  “But that’s what I have you for,” Monroe laughed, but Gwen and Aria remained serious. “What does that stone mean?” he asked, anxious to direct the attention off himself.

  “Charoite,” Gwen explained nervously as she tapped the stone closest to Aria. “A stunning purple. Rare. It is to cleanse. To move on from. To purify. It is for those who are lonely or marginalized. It is thought to be the stone you step on to get away from something bad.”

  “I bet that gets a lot of use around here,” Monroe chuckled, but again it was only met with seriousness. “Do we roll the dice again if we don’t like what we got?”

  “Skeptics are my favorite,” Gwen said, raising her shaking hand to touch Monroe’s cheek. “I don’t like when people make it easy for me.”

  “I’m not meaning to be rude,” Monroe said quickly. “I don’t usually come to places like this.”

  Gwen looked at him for a few extra beats and smiled. “Would you like me to tell you more?”

  “Sure,” Monroe said, comforted by the joy his response seemed to give Aria. If nothing else, it was making her happy, and he’d already established that meant something to him.

  Gwen snatched his hand from the table and flipped it so his palm was up. She firmly flattened his fingers and then examined it closely. “You are a ma
n of two worlds. You try to offer loyalty to both, but it’s impossible. That must be very difficult.”

  “Life is difficult,” Monroe said. “But we all find a way through.”

  “Yes,” Gwen agreed. “I have a warning for you.”

  “Is my lifeline short or something? Eat more Kale?” Both women finally laughed, but Gwen fell serious again so Aria nervously did as well.

  “The man who stands in the doorway will inevitably be hurt when the door slams shut. You must either walk through the door or back away. You’ve been given two books filled with instructions. You’ve read them both. You think you know where each set of instructions will take you in life. I’ll say you are probably right. The problem is you keep trying to follow both books. It’s soon time to choose.”

  The room fell silent as Gwen closed his fingers and continued to hold his hand in hers.

  “Thank you,” Monroe finally said, feeling like the awkwardness might make his head explode. Business had brought him to all different kinds of meetings and events. Some were painfully uncomfortable, but this topped them all.

  “We should go,” Aria said, pushing her wobbling chair backward and rounding the table to hug Gwen. “Did you want me to change the water jug out?”

  “Oh yes, please,” Gwen clapped with excitement. “It’s been empty since yesterday.”

  “Let me,” Monroe insisted, moving to the corner of the room and yanking the rubber top of the large water jug. He flipped it over and rested it on the stand, the water glug-glugging as it filled the empty space. “Did you need anything else?”

  “I wouldn’t want to put you out,” Gwen said, waving him off. “You’re likely a busy man.”

  “Living in two worlds is exhausting,” Monroe teased. “But if you need something else, I think I can manage.”

  “There is a stone,” Gwen started, gesturing for him to follow her toward the couch in the corner. “It fell, and I can’t lift the couch to get it.”

  Monroe grabbed hold of the old green threadbare couch and lifted it easily. Aria bent down and retrieved the many things that had rolled under it.