Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part Three (BWWM Romance Serial) (3 page)

“I don’t remember. Maybe she put it in the closet.”

“Huh. I didn’t think so.” She shrugged. “Maybe you’re
right.”

Marina pulled on the heavy closet door and it swung outward,
revealing the large interior space. She stood in the doorway, staring inside.

“Uh, Jada, you want to come here for a sec?” she asked.

“What?”

“Come here.”

Jada walked over and peered inside, and if she’d been
holding anything in her hands, she would have dropped it.

There, behind the ironing board, holding a dress in her
thin, pale arms, her eyes as wide as sand dollars, the spattering of brown
freckles on her nose and cheeks standing out in stark contrast to her snow
white skin, stood Elly.

And it was painfully apparent that she’d heard everything
the two sisters had said.

JADA WAS LIVID. “SEE, MARINA? What did I tell you? We
couldn’t even keep the secret for sixty seconds. In fact, it was no sooner out
of our mouths, than it was done for. Unbelievable. I’m telling Ian.”

Marina grabbed onto her arm. “No! Don’t do that. It’s not so
bad.” She sent a plaintive look toward Elly. “Elly will keep our secret, won’t
you, Elly? Because we’re friends? See? She’s nodding.”

“She is not!” Jada said. “That was a twitch of fear. You’re
scaring her.”

Jada crept up to Elly, her arms opened wide, the way one
approaches a frightened animal. “It’s okay, Elly. I’m sorry. We didn’t know you
were in here. It’s all o-o-o-okay.”

“It’s not okay,” Marina said. “It won’t be okay until you
say you’ll keep our secret, Elly.”

“Hush,” Jada hissed. “Now Elly, put down the iron. That’s
right, let go. Everything is fine.”

The young woman smoothed a shaky hand down the soft fabric
of the dress, as if the texture soothed her. Finally, she spoke. “I’m-I’m so
sorry, Miss. I d-didn’t mean to overhear. I didn’t know what to do, how to make
you stop. And you said you were going to have sex with M-Mr. Ian and Miss
Marina lied and I couldn’t come out then. So it went on and on and I hoped
you’d never find me. But you did. And ... I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jada said, taking her arm and gently leading
her out of the closet. “Come have a seat and you’ll feel better. Marina, get
her a glass of water.”

“Oh, I can get it, Miss,” Elly said.

“No, you come sit down on this chair right here. There you
go. Good girl,” Jada said.

Elly sat stiffly on the edge of the wingback chair, her
hands clutching her knees.

“Poor thing,” Jada said, sitting across from her. “You
didn’t do anything wrong.”

“To be a good servant, Miss, I’m supposed to be invisible.”

“That’s ridiculous. You’re a person like anyone else. Far
from invisible.”

“But that’s the rule, Miss,” Elly said.

Jada was glad to see some pink returning to her pale cheeks.
“If you say so.”

Marina rushed over with a tumbler of sparkling water. Elly
took a small sip and gave a pathetically weak smile that only made Jada feel
sorrier for her.

“Gawd, Elly. You aren’t in trouble or anything,” Marina
said, hands on curvy hips.

“I’m supposed to be invisible.”

“So you keep saying. Well, tell you what. We won’t report
you for being visible today if you keep quiet about everything you heard in
that closet,” Marina said.

Jada gave her a hard look. “Be quiet, Marina. This is no
time for bargains.”

Over the next few minutes, Jada held off her sister to give
Elly a chance to recover. She felt badly that the girl had been put in such a
difficult position. She was so sincere and likable, it was impossible not to
feel for her.

When Elly finished her water, she made to stand up, but
Marina stopped her.

“Don’t get up yet, Elly,” Marina said. “There’s no hurry. We
should figure out what our next step is. For instance, what, exactly did you
hear us say?”

“Um, everything? How you told CGTV about the marriage
license and how you think someone is out to get Miss Sasha, and how you want to
lie to Mr. Ian—”

“About that lying part,” Marina interrupted. “It’s not so
much lying as withholding information until the time is right to share it. Big
difference. You can see that difference, can’t you?”

Elly thought it over. “Yeah, I guess so. One’s lying and the
other is called a conspiracy of silence.”

Jada laughed. “Oh, that’s a good one. She’s onto you,
Marina. Give the girl some credit.”

“I like to read thrillers,” Elly said, brightening.

“Fine,” Marina snapped. “Look, Elly. You, me and Jada, we’re
not like these rich people. We are working peeps and should stick together.
We’re the ninety-nine percenters, right? We can’t be throwing each other under
the wheels of our overlords’ Rolls Royces. Right? So we keep each other’s
secrets.”

“I don’t know. Maybe ... I don’t think Mr. Ian has a Rolls
Royce, though,” Elly said.

“Marina did make a good argument, Elly,” Jada said. “Not
that you should feel any pressure. It’s clear we can’t keep a secret, anyway,
so what’s the point in trying?”

“Come on, we can do this. The three of us, together. Solving
the mystery,” Marina said.

Elly’s gaze ping-ponged between the sisters. “I don’t really
care about solving the mystery, no offense, Miss Jada.”

“None taken. Leave her alone, Marina.”

“Come on Elly. Just for a day. Keep our secret for a single
day,” Marina said, her tone walking the line between pleading and whining.
“Trust me. Jada will spill everything to Ian tomorrow because she’s like that.
You can do this, Elly. You can. Be a loyal ninety-nine percenter.”

Elly took a deep breath then released it slowly. Her bobbed
brown hair swayed when she nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll try. If he asks me
what I know, though, I’m telling him.”

“Of course. But he won’t ask anything because he has no
reason to, right?” Marina asked.

“I guess.” Elly smoothed down her rumpled apron and stood
up. “I should get down to the kitchen and help Mrs. Best with dinner. I’ll
finish up your dress before I leave, though, Miss Marina.”

Marina was all ingratiating kindness. “Oh, don’t you worry
about that dress. I can take care of that no problem. Off you go then, to help
Mrs. Best. Not saying anything to anyone about what you heard in here today,
right?”

“Don’t push it,” Jada warned.

Elly scampered to the bedroom door. “I’ll try my best not to
let you down, Miss Marina.”

After the door closed behind Elly, Marina blew out a loud
breath. “Whew! That was a close one.”

“This will never work.”

“It will. She’ll keep our secret better than you will, I
bet.”

Jada shrugged. “If you say so. But I predict this will go
badly. And I’m pretty sure I’m an idiot for going along with it.”

“It’ll be fine. I’m going to see if I can find that
masseuse. I need some pampering and relaxation right away. This has been
seriously stressful.” Marina headed to the door.

“Aren’t you taking your dress?”

“I’ll come back for it later.”

“One last thing before you go.”

Marina turned at the door. “What?”

“We haven’t asked an important question. How, exactly, did
my name get dragged into all of this?”

“Maybe Syl can tell us that.”

“I hope so.”

“Me too,” Marina said. “Because I’m betting the answer to
that question will be the key to solving this whole affair.”

Jada wasn’t so sure.

IAN COULDN’T REMEMBER THE LAST time he had so many guests
staying at the lake cabin. He knew the staff was thrilled with the opportunity
to do what they did so well.

As he sat in the smaller formal dining room and surveyed his
guests, everyone chatting and eating with obvious pleasure, he couldn’t keep
from lingering on Jada. She’d worn her hair down tonight for the first time. It
cascaded around her face and over her shoulders in dark, shiny ringlets. He
longed to tug on those springy curls and watch them bounce back into place, to
tangle his fingers in the thick locks.

When she walked into the room, her hair like an angel’s
halo, wearing a simple white dress that hugged her curves and showed off her
slim arms and shapely legs, Ian forgot to breathe. Jada’s beauty had literally
stolen his breath. He’d never believed such a thing was possible, but now it
had happened to him.

What did it mean?

If ever there was a man who believed he knew himself, Ian
was that man. He had utter confidence in his ability to handle any situation.
He had innate faith that even if he got nervous, or if he wasn’t one hundred
percent certain of success, he’d pull out a victory anyway, regardless of the
odds.

It was this confidence which assured him the win. Most
people couldn’t fight Ian’s kind of inner strength, having too many self doubts
which made them falter in the face of certainty. Ian’s sheer force of will and
drive sent even his most formidable opponents scrambling in retreat.

But the situation with Jada was different. He’d never had
feelings like these before. All he could think about was getting this woman
alone and doing all sorts of naughty things to her demurely sexy person. Was he
obsessed?

This wasn’t Ian Buckley, the man whose iron fist ruled over
one of the largest economic empires on the planet. He’d turned into this other
Ian Buckley, a greedy horn-dog who couldn’t keep his dirty thoughts and hands
off the sweet girl next door.

Jada laughed at something Sullivan said, and Ian experienced
a flash of irritation at his old friend. Who was Sullivan to make her laugh?

Oh, great. This wasn’t good. Now Ian was turning into a
jealous asshole, too. He was disgusted with himself.

Nonetheless, when dinner was finally over and everyone
retreated to the game room for after-dinner drinks and games of billiards and
cards, Ian spent his time daydreaming of what he’d do with Jada when he finally
got her alone. He wasn’t just a greedy horn-dog, but an unrepentant one, too.

When the party broke up, Ian caught Jada’s eye and she
lingered near him.

Ian kept his voice low so he wouldn’t be overheard. “Meet me
in twenty minutes in the pool room. I thought we might enjoy a dip in the
jacuzzi.”

Jada smiled. “I definitely would enjoy that.”

“Good. Do you have a swimsuit?”

“Yep. Your assistant thought of everything.”

“Damn. She’s too efficient by half. This jacuzzi is suit
optional, just so you know.”

Jada laughed lightly, a flirtatious sound.

“Don’t let anyone see you go,” Ian warned.

He himself headed straight to his dressing room, changed
into swim trunks and a robe and was back downstairs in under five minutes. He
mixed a few drinks, lowered the lighting and found some soft, sexy music to set
the mood.

Jada arrived on time, swathed in a thick white bathrobe, her
hair pulled back into a ponytail.

He met her with a smile and after a quick check down the
hall to make sure no one had followed her, closed the double doors.

“Did anyone see you?” he asked.

“Marina wanted to hang out, but I told her I was turning in
early. Other than that, nope. I think we’re safe.”

He led her to the bar, handed her the cocktail he’d mixed.
She took only a few sips. Ian could tell she was nervous.

“It’s beautiful in here at night,” Jada said, looking up at
the stars twinkling beyond the big glass skylights. “And kind of dark.”

He grinned. It was true. The room was mostly illuminated by
the lights under the water in the pool and jacuzzi, and the thin glowing bands
that highlighted the lines of the bar. “All the better to seduce you, little
wife.”

“Well, it’s working.”

He moved in closer, reached for the ties of her robe. “Shall
we get in the jacuzzi?”

She nodded, and swallowed hard.

Her eyes were so big and trusting, Ian felt proud to have
inspired such feelings. He pulled the tie and opened her robe.

Now it was his turn to swallow hard. She wore a very tiny,
very snug pink string bikini. All the fabric combined in the suit would have
fit in the palms of one of his hands. Ian silently blessed his assistant Cathy
for her superb fashion sense.

He slipped the robe off Jada’s shoulders and tossed it on a
barstool. He shucked off his own and tossed it after hers. Jada checked him out
quickly before turning away.

He nabbed their drinks, gestured to the jacuzzi in the
corner of the room, and let her lead the way. Damn. That was one fine rear
view, too. She was perfect, he thought, rounded in all the right places,
sashaying slow and sexy.

When they settled in the jacuzzi, Ian kept the jets on low
so they could talk easily.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Ian said, “but would you let your
hair down again? It’s beautiful.”

“It’ll get wet.”

“Only on the ends.”

“Being a man, you have no idea what you’re asking. But I
can’t seem to say no to you.” She smiled, reached back and undid the clasp. Her
hair tumbled down in all its glory. Ian slid over closer while she pushed her
unruly mane into place.

He touched one of her curls and tugged on it. They should
talk some, he supposed. But all he wanted was to pull her onto his lap and strip
off those tiny scraps of fabric that stood between himself and heaven. He
wanted to—

Jada sprung forward, wrapped her arms around his neck and
surprised him as she kissed him with a force that said she was ready for more.
Hot damn. The girl next door had needs of her own.

Ian required no further invitation. He met her demands with
his own, driving his tongue past her soft, plump lips, into her hot mouth. They
held each other close, their hands roving over one another’s bodies. Ian
tangled his fingers in her soft curls, turning her head to suit him best,
inhaling her flowery scent as he took what he wanted from her sweet mouth.