I sat in my office, going over the last of my emails from this long yet productive day at our London headquarters. My meetings with our associates and one new investor were finally over. The only shitty part of this day was that Alex and I couldn’t come to an agreement and sign with a new business we flew out here to acquire. We could’ve offered them a million fucking dollars as a promise to his company’s future success, and he still wouldn’t have taken the deal.
We still had another week and more time, we would get the deal. I wouldn’t sit here all night and worry over today’s events. I learned a long time ago that I was running this business that I’d inherited from my father; this machine wasn’t running me. That’s what I always told myself anyway.
I weaved my pen through my fingers, reading the last of the man’s prerequisites on his term sheet for Mitchell and Associates. This guy was a stubborn ass. I had to get together with Alex so we could find a way to close this deal. Our London employees had families too. They had to eat. All of that rested on my shoulders with every transaction we did.
A highlight of this particular trip to London was that my brother was here to bring more insight to our new program on behalf of Saint John’s Hospital. Thank God he was not only a world-renowned heart surgeon, but Jacob was also a man who could charm a room full of snakes if need be. Jake was a genius with his words, and sometimes I wished he would have taken on the family business with me after Dad died. Then again, this was me at the end of a long-ass day, thinking selfishly. The world needed more heart surgeons like my brother and probably fewer corporate dicks like myself.
Jake had successfully pleased every investor in the room with his presentation to start up an online university, performing live surgeries and instructing students while doing so. With this first part of our plan moving forward, Jake was on track to have a new, innovative way to bring medical students and interns from the UK into his surgical room, looking over his shoulders while his brains and hands went to work on his patients for heart transplants. The Heart Institute was finally getting past the permits phase with the city, and once that was operational, Jake would be able to bring in more interns to work under the finest doctors who were ready to come to us.
“Mr. Mitchell?” my assistant called over the intercom.
“Yes, Becky?” I answered, pressing the button on my desk phone.
“I’m leaving for the day. Before I go, I just wanted to let you know that Adam is a bit concerned about today’s staff meeting.”
“Excuse me?” I said, picking up the receiver. “What did he have to say?”
“Well, you walked out of the room with a frown on your face during the acquisition questioning for Middle Group.”
I rubbed my forehead and sighed. “I’ll make sure to have another staff meeting with the acquisitions team tomorrow before I take off to work remotely. Have a good evening, and I’ll see you on the next visit.”
“Thanks, Mr. Mitchell. I look forward to it. Cheers.”
Shit. Every expression that crossed my face was analyzed, even as I did mundane things like walk to my office. If I smiled, then someone took offense to that and found a way to link that expression to me having to fire someone. If I frown, everyone thinks things are going to hell, and they’re going to be out of a job the next day. I’d dealt with plenty of that shit and had to quell rumors before they burned the place down.
This didn’t just happen at our London headquarters; it occurred in the Los Angeles one as well. It was all part of the lovely job of being a CEO.
I picked up my cell and dialed out to the company’s president, and my best friend, Alex.
“Hey,” Alex answered, already at our usual dining joint. “Is your sorry ass still at the office?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “Adam in acquisitions is concerned over a goddamn look I had on my face when I left the meeting this afternoon. I was taking off for the estate so I could work from there. I thought it would be nice to have some sort of reprieve after three days of living in this hotel and office. It looks like we’re in early tomorrow for a six o’clock meeting.”
“Good God, man,” Alex responded. “Jake is taking off, and his flight is in an hour. I’ll let him know. You want me to send out the message to the team about the meeting?”
“I’ll handle it. My laptop is open.”
“All right. Are you showing up tonight, or are we closing out the tab early?”
“I’ll swing by for a bite and a drink. I’m sure the ladies are already entertaining enough for you.”
“Right.” Alex laughed. “Handle your shit, and we’ll see you in a few.”
After sending out a quick meeting invite to the team to correct any insecurities over my expression in the meeting today, I shut the laptop. I was not going to leave for the estate with anyone in our London office feeling uneasy, so hopefully, the meeting would do the trick. I put the laptop in my briefcase, and a dark shadow appeared at the entrance of my door.
I glanced up. “Jules?” I questioned the knockout brunette I usually hooked up with when I came to London. “What the hell?” I smiled, and before I could walk over to her, she rushed to me. My face was in her hands, and her lip gloss was choking me as she impulsively kissed me.
She took my hand and walked me over to my leather sofa, which was positioned under the windows to give a sweeping view of London at night.
“Jesus.” I chuckled. “Slow the hell down.”
“It’s been too long,” she said, playfully pushing me to sit on the couch so she could straddle me.
Oddly, I wasn’t in the mood for her or this for some reason. She loosened my tie, and I spotted a diamond ring on her finger. I pulled her hands down from where they fidgeted with my shirt.
“What’s this?” I asked, holding up the evidence that she was obviously a married woman, unlike the last time I saw her a few months ago.
“Right now,” she arched her eyebrow over her hazel eyes, “it’s nothing.”
“The hell it isn’t,” I said. “When did you settle down, and who’s the lucky man?”
“It could’ve been you, you know?” she said as she gripped my shoulders and began massaging herself against my dick that was now hardening since it had a mind separate from my own. “But someone can’t commit.”
“Someone,” I tried to control myself, “has a business to run. I couldn’t have made you happy if I tried.”
She licked her lips, slowly getting herself off on my hard cock. “You’ll always make me happy, just like this,” she said, biting her lip.
I gripped her hips, stopping her from making my dick take over my reason. “Hold on,” I said, her eyes meeting mine in some daring and rebellious way. “You got married. You get what that means, right?”
“Yes,” she said, rocking her hips against my lack of self-control. “It means you won’t fuck me. If it helps, I didn’t marry for love; it was definitely for his wealth. So, it’s not a real marriage.”
“The fuck it isn’t,” I said. I laughed in response, losing all sexual desire in that moment. “Glad to know the daughter of one of my wealthiest investors went out and married for fucking money.”
“You expect me to marry a coal miner? I have a lifestyle that I need to maintain. Don’t get self-righteous on me. Men and women have been doing it for centuries, so I’m not apologizing for anything.” Her breath was ragged, eyes glossy, and lips on mine again. “Fuck, I’m going to come, Ji…”
“Jesus Christ.” I stood up, leaving Jules on the couch and seeing a wet spot on my crotch. “Is this a goddamn joke?” I looked at her, disgusted with myself for letting her ride me like she did. “Things are over between me and you. You’ve lost your mind. Marrying for money and now getting yourself off on me like that? Fuck.”
I was in a wretched mood after this day. Would it have been nice to go back with Jules to her hotel room and fuck it all out of my system? Yes, that’s why we had this particular relationship. We both fucked for our own selfish needs. But this? No. I felt like a sick, dirty bastard now.
“I miss you, Jimmy,” she whined with a sultry smile, showing me that she wasn’t wearing any panties beneath her skirt. “I have a room at our favorite hotel. I left your name at the front desk. Go out with the guys, and I’ll be waiting for you if you somehow get out of this shitty mood you’re in.”
“Shitty mood?” I said with disbelief. “You’re the one who got married. I’m not fucking a married woman. Period. You ended our hotel nights together, so enjoy your room alone, and congratulations on the nuptials.”
She rose and kissed me on my cheek. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Very well.” Anything to get her the fuck out of my office. The very last thing I needed—especially after my brother’s docuseries had thrown the media into our private lives—was this woman, who married for money, in my life. I didn’t need her husband…shit, who did she marry? If it was someone who came from money and power, chances were, I knew him. He was probably one of our investors. Jesus, I had to get her and myself the hell out of this dangerous situation.
Once Julia’s driver took her away, I had my driver take me to Delia’s. Thanks to Jules—um, Julia, now—I had to change into one of the spare suits I kept in the office. The suit was reserved for incidents like accidentally spilling soup down the front of my shirt, or having coffee spilled on me, or when a stark-raving mad married woman climaxed on my lap…things like that.
Once that debacle was behind me, I was at Delia’s and walking to our usual table in the corner where the guys were. I sat at the table, grateful the waiter was already bringing my usual drink—the bourbon I desperately needed to help put the events of tonight behind me.
“Still pissed that you have to hold the impromptu meeting tomorrow?” Alex chuckled, running his hand over his smoothed-back, dark blond hair.
“When are you going to cut that mop off your head?” I asked, noting the new style he was sporting.
“Yeah, you’re still in a pissy mood.” He took a sip of his scotch.
I pulled my bourbon to my lips after ordering swordfish and steamed vegetables, suddenly starved by the aroma of food filling the room.
“Remember Julia?” I asked, eying him and Collin, my brother’s closest friend. Truth be told, all four of us had been close since college.
“Julia Dunlap?” Collin asked.
“Yeah,” I said, nodding toward the waitress in gratitude for my freshly poured water. “She stopped by tonight.”
“Then why the hell are you so irritated?” Alex chuckled. “Did Jules break the cardinal rule of you not fucking chicks in your office?”
“Fuck off,” I snapped. “No. She got married recently, and then she tried to break the cardinal rule.” I half smiled at how stupid I sounded with my mandate that I would never have sex in my office. To do so seemed tacky on all levels, though, in my personal opinion.
“Married?” Collin practically choked on his gin.
“Um-hm.” I took another sip, letting the warmth of the bourbon calm my nerves after sliding down the back of my throat. “She tried to act as though nothing had changed.”
“Probably because you’re the best fuck she ever had.”
“Funny, Alex.” I sighed. “She actually admitted that she married for money, of all the damn things.”
“So, he cries into his bourbon because he can’t fuck a married woman,” Collin remarked sarcastically.
“Despite what the media blasted about my brother and me, one thing is certain. We never fucked married women.”
“It’s almost like a curse.” Collin snickered. “A billionaire home wrecker? That shit would definitely swing the media back your way again.”
“No shit,” I answered while glancing around the room.
Holy Hell, I thought when my eyes caught the bright blue eyes of the girl with pitch-black hair who was on my flight from Los Angeles. Avery had a nutcase of an ex on her hands, but after she loosened up on the plane, I fell under some crazy hypnotism she worked with those eyes and the stunning sharp features of her face. I would be lying if I said she didn’t stick with me, and I wish I’d taken her up on her offer to have sex on the plane. She was only teasing, but I’d fantasized about it more times than I wanted to admit since I’d been in London.
Now, here she sat—by herself—in one of the most lavish restaurants around, and one that was not easy to get access to. Especially for the type of woman she led me to believe she was. A single mom, getting away from her shitty life with a paid vacation by her foster sister.
“Jimmy.” Alex snapped his fingers at me as I stared at the woman. “Are you checking her out too?”
I looked back at the table as my plate was being placed in front of me. “Okay, I guess tonight is a game of memory for the three of us, and I’m the one asking the questions.”
“Don’t tell me you know who she is,” Collin said.
“Remember me mentioning that, on the flight out here, I ran interference for a chick with some douche, ex-fiancé?”
“I remember that it was fucking stupid, and the main reason we take the private jet. Go on,” Alex said.
“That’s her,” I said, glancing over and seeing her saddened expression as the other place setting and glasses were picked up by the waiter. “Somebody stood her up?” I reached for my plate.
Alex grabbed my arm before I stood. “Hey,” he said as I rose anyway. “Stop it with the charity cases.”
“Yeah,” Collin said from across the table. “Lillian—does that fucking charity case psycho-bitch ring a bell?”
I smiled. “She’s not like that.” I glanced over at her as she studied her menu. “Nothing like that. I highly doubt she’s some crazy, gold-digging freak.”
“The courts will decide that, Jimbo.” Collin smirked, using the one name I despised.
“Calm down,” I said. “I’m not going to let her eat alone in a place like this. I’m taking my food over there. I’ve had dinner with you two for the last three nights, so I think you’ll live.”
Both men looked at each other, and I knew exactly what they were thinking, but they didn’t have the whole story. I’d sat with the woman and heard all about the shitty hand of life she’d been dealt. She was solid. If anything, she was a breath of fresh air. It was nice to talk about something other than women and work, or what got us labeled this ridiculous billionaires’ club name—only entertaining wealthy women to protect our asses and assets. These two jokers I was currently leaving behind were the two who got that rumor going—though it was my ex, Lillian, who kicked the can of gasoline on that raging fire of bullshit.
Avery seemed like she’d been stood up, either by her sister or some complete idiot who would be dumb enough to turn down the most beautiful woman I’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. Seriously. Her black hair set off her striking blue eyes, and I swear the woman looked like the one of the pixies that my sister-in-law had painted for her art gallery. I couldn’t take my eyes off her on the plane, and I couldn’t take them off her now.
