Billionaire Badboy (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

HUNTINGTON HERALD

Blackmailed by a Billionaire

As editor of the Huntington Herald, it is with great
privilege that I publish this next article. Ashley Leigh, an up and coming
journalist whom we had the pleasure of employing over the course of two
summers, is about to start her book tour. She sent me a copy to read, and I
have to say: it is incredible.

As many of you may recall, Ashley spent her summers
tailing our local billionaire bad boy, the young Theodore Vincent Stoneguard
IV. Her column was full of excitement, intrigue, and just a glimpse into a life
most of us can’t begin to understand.

It was all fun and games until the unthinkable happened:
Teddy’s father, Theodore Vincent Stoneguard III, blackmailed her. She was
forced to leave the island, give up her job with the Herald, and constantly
watch her back.

Ashley Leigh’s book, Blackmailed by a Billionaire, hits
shelves tomorrow. I promise you this: you won’t be able to put it down. I know
I couldn’t!

And, just to give you a taste of what you should expect
to find hidden in those sultry pages, here’s an excerpt from:

Blackmailed by a Billionaire

By Ashley Leigh

It all started with a picture.

Well, actually, it all started with a boy. Doesn’t it
always?

But it was the picture that gave him the leverage. Not the
boy… the boy’s father. For the past two years, I have been held under the thumb
of a billionaire.

Had I been privy to company secrets, or happened to overhear
a classified conversation, this whole scenario would make sense. I could at
least understand why I was chosen, why I was followed.

But that does not a good book make. The whole motivation
behind blackmailing me was for this man to show his son who had the power. And
then, when his son was no longer a part of the metaphorical picture, as was his
plan the entire time, the blackmail turned to sport.

I bet you are now wondering about this photograph. While not
a career-killer, had I stepped out of line it could have been released in such
a way that would gain very unwanted press. To nip that in the bud this instant,
I have decided to release the picture myself. I do not want to shock you. The
picture you will see is of me engaging in sexual intercourse on the beach. I
was twenty-four years old, and it was consensual. Still, there was an illicit
picture of me in the hands of someone I do not trust. Had my career taken me
into the public eye, I had no desire to be the person who offended or lost the
confidence of my supporters.

For that reason, I have decided to make it known up front
who I am.

If you turn to the center insert of this book, you can see
the picture for yourself. (Sorry readers, the picture is not included in the
excerpt)

Okay, now that that is out of the way, I am free to tell you
my story. This is the part that starts with the boy...

Ashley Leigh’s book tour starts in New York City, and then
travels to Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San
Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Miami, Atlanta, Washington D.C.,
and ends in Philadelphia.

For specific dates, times, and locations, visit her
website.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Teddy

The flashes came back. The darkness, the void, was over.

“What the hell is this?” This time it was I slamming
something down in front of my father at the breakfast table.

“You saw that, did you?”

He fleetingly took in the book cover, but went back just as
fleetingly to the file he was reading.

“Is it true?”

“Is what true, Theodore?” He sighed as he looked up at me
above the rim of his glasses.

“This book.”

“I didn’t read it.”

“You should.”

“And just why would I read that trash?”

“Would you care for me to list off some of her accusations?”
I began to dramatically flip through the book.

“Teddy, stop.”

“How can I stop?”

“Listen, there’s a good chance this will turn into a court
case, and I don’t want to ask you to have to lie under oath, so it’s better for
me not to answer any of your questions.”

“You think I would testify against her?”

“For your father?”

“That doesn’t strengthen your case, Dad.” I emphasized the
word ‘Dad’ in hopes that I would stir him.

“Anything I might have done, I did for you.” He was just
speaking out of habit now, not even looking up from his file.

I turned briskly to walk away, but as I reached the other
end of the table, he stopped me.

“Where you going, son?”

“Boston.”

“Why?”

“A book tour.”

It was a fairly quick four-hour drive, half because I was
nervous to see her, and half because I was teeming regarding the book. I worked
myself up into a frenzy. Repercussions on my family’s company aside, there were
things in this book that she had never told me. I bared my soul to her and she
didn’t even have the common decency to tell me that my father had been
blackmailing her for two years.

I drove past the bookstore where the signing was currently
being held, and pulled into the nearest parking garage. When I pushed my way
into the bookstore, I noticed the line. Then I noticed how far back the line
continued. Everyone was there to see her. Her book had caused quite a stir, and
all those people were there to meet the author.

A calm energy swept over me. I was proud of her. Even though
it had been two years since I had seen her in person (I’m not going to lie- I
visited her website just to look at her picture almost every day), I wanted to
see her succeed. Her happiness was the key to my happiness.

So I took out my book from my messenger bag, found my way to
the end of the line, and waiting over an hour and a half to reach the front of
the line.

“Whom should I make this out to?”

She seemed a bit overwhelmed, her face buried close to the
hardcover I had just handed her, and her hand gripping tight around her pen. It
was that same five-finger grip that used to drive me absolutely nuts, but in
that moment it put a smile on my face. She told me in her letter that she was a
different person. But she wasn’t. She was still my Ashley. She still held a pen
like a five-year old.

“Teddy.” I softly whispered. I feared what would happen if
anyone around recognized me.

“Ted—” Her hand began to shake halfway through the writing
of my name. She let the pen fall from her grip, and she tilted her chin up
toward me. “Teddy.”

“Hey Ash.” My smile was genuine. God, I missed her.

“What are you… what are you doing here?”

“I came to get my book signed.” I took a deep breath and
awkwardly pointed to the book.

It was difficult. I wouldn’t tell you otherwise. I stared at
her and felt pain and love mixed together. And what was even harder was the
look of shock she was giving me. It was not at all the face of a woman who had
“gotten over” me almost a year earlier. There was something I had brought out
in her, and I watched as she discovered it again.

“Oh, is this a friend, Ashley?” A short, dark-haired woman
in her early sixties came to Ashley’s side.

“Um, yes. Just an old friend. I thought I would surprise
her.” I extended my hand to shake the older woman’s.

“Well I’m Edna, Miss Leigh’s publicist. She still has quite
a line here, but I’m sure if you come back…”

“No.” Ashley stood. “You should go.”

What? That was not at all what I had expected her to say. That
wasn’t the tone I understood from the look in her eyes. She wanted me there. She
wanted to talk to me. Why was she pushing me away?

“Ashley, is this man bothering you?”

“I didn’t mean to…”

“He’s not. I just think he should leave.”

“Ashley, don’t do this.”

But the time to beg was over. As I opened my mouth to speak
another plea, someone in the crowd behind me began to whisper.

“Is that…?”

“It couldn’t be.”

“Would he really show his face here?”

Then the whispering compounded.

“It’s Teddy!”

“I know it! That’s Teddy Stoneguard.”

“The father?”

“No, the son!”

“That’s the guy in the picture.”

Edna leaned in close to me. “Oh my God. It is you. Ashley,
why didn’t you tell me he was coming?”

“I didn’t know.” She clenched her teeth.

“Well isn’t this just a dream come true! I’ll grab the
camera guys.”

“No!”

“No!” We both shouted, almost in unison.

“No pictures, Edna.”

“Oh don’t be silly dear. This is my job.”

I whispered at Ashley as the commotion grew. “I really can’t
do this now.”

“That’s why I told you to get out of here.”

People’s phones were in the air. Pictures were taken, video
was being filmed, and tweets and hashtags were exploding through social media.

My presence did seem like a good thing for Ashley’s
business.

It was terrible for mine.

“Go home, Teddy.” Ashley yelled as the line became a crowd
and everyone pushed to the front.

“No. I want to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Too bad.”

“Just get the hell out of here!” She screamed. Not only did
I hear her command, but everyone in the now spastic line heard it too. The room
became silent, each individual person now staring at the table where Ashley had
previously been quietly sitting.

“Okay. Okay.” I threw my hands in the air to surrender. “I’m
leaving.”

I quickly turned on my heels and found the nearest exit.

But just because I was leaving the bookstore, didn’t mean I
was leaving Boston.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Teddy

I was sitting in the corner of room 306, in one of those
oversized lounge chairs that hotels use to make the room feel classier. I was
alone, waiting for Ashley to return from her signing.

I’d love to tell you that, like some superhero vigilante, I
had a sidekick that was seemingly able to hack into any computer or phone and
gather information. That information could then be used for any “mission” I
would embark on, and in this case, the mission was to find Ashley’s room and
break into it. But, I promised you I wouldn’t lie, so the superhero fantasy
will have to end there.

Damn.

The truth is, Ashley’s publicist was holding her itinerary,
and during the commotion, set it on the table. By sneaking a quick peek, I knew
both what hotel Ashley would be visiting, and exactly in which room she would
be staying.

When I got to the hotel, I used my normal charm to create an
elaborate story about how I was setting up a surprise for my girlfriend. I
added in all the romantic twists - flowers, champagne, chocolate covered
strawberries, putting the entire bill for the four-night stay on my credit
card- hoping to bend the blonde concierge to my will. It took a little more
convincing and a little more flattery, but soon enough, I was sitting in the
corner of room 306, in one of those oversized lounge chairs that hotels use to
make the room feel classier.

I sat there for over an hour, scrolling through social
media- seeing what top ten lists I had made just by showing my face at Ashley’s
book signing, watching videos of dogs being rescued, trying to stop tearing up
from watching videos of dogs being rescued, flipping through Ashley’s pictures,
stalking any guy who was tagged in any of Ashley’s pictures, and taking quizzes
regarding which city I should live in, what my spirit animal would be, and of
course, which superhero’s life most resembles mine.

Then the door opened.

I played it cool, allowing her to fully close the door
behind her before I creepily flipped on the table lamp, revealing my presence.

“Hello Ashley.”

“What the…” She screamed, jumping back. “Shit, Teddy, you
scared me half to death.”

“Not my intention.”

“You’re acting like a serial killer in… any movie that has a
serial killer. Of course it was your intention.”

“Okay, you caught me. Kind of funny though, am I right?” I
was pleased with myself.

“No.” She took two steps closer to me. “Not funny. I’m not
even going to ask who you had to sleep with--”

“I didn’t sleep with her.” I cut in.

“Oh good. Then I don’t care how you got in here, but I told
you to leave. This is an invasion of my privacy, and I’m not happy.”

“Hey.” I stood up to meet her. “I didn’t mean anything by
it. I was serious when I said I wanted to talk to you, but you blew me off.”

“You bombarded me.”

“I waited in line for an hour and a half to get a book
signed by you.”

She shook her head and moved back to the door, placing her
hand on the handle. “Please, just leave.”

“No.”

“Teddy, I’m asking you to respect my wishes.”

“And I’m asking you to tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Nothing. I just don’t want to see you.”

“Don’t lie to me, Ashley.”

Somehow, in the midst of our argument heating up, we managed
to find ourselves inches from one another. Her scent was intoxicating, and
though I tried- or at least I tried to try- I couldn’t stay away from her.

My hands moved to her waist, and I lifted her off the ground
and threw her onto the bed.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing you don’t want me to.” I growled as I crawled on
top of her, pushing her shoulders into the mattress.

She turned her head to the side, refusing to look at me.

“I told you I was in love.”

It stung, but I didn’t let her see that. “That’s great. I
told you I was in love too.”

She brought her eyes back to mine. “Teddy…”

“I’m just asking you to talk to me.”

“While you have me pinned?”

“You left me no other option.” I deviously laughed. “Plus, I
really like you in this position.” I gave her a wink.

She finally broke into a smile. “Teddy, get off.”

She squeezed her lips together and pushed her hips up,
bucking me off of her. I didn’t resist, but swung around onto my back, finding
a place next to her on the bed. Just like the night on the beach, I let my hand
fall next to hers, barely touching, but enough to send that familiar surge
through my body.

“So you read the book?”

“I did.” I gave her the clipped answer while I searched for
the real way to ask her about the book’s content.

“I should have asked you about including that picture. I
know we were pretty intent about keeping our relationship in the dark. But, I
couldn’t… I had to do something. I’m so sorry.”

“Ashley,” I arched my fingers back, wrapping them slightly
between hers, “If you think for one second that I’m upset about the picture,
you’re crazy. You know how I feel about you. I could never be ashamed of you or
the time we spent together.” I took a breath. “Plus, I was in prime work out
mode. I look pretty awesome in that picture.”

She broke into her quintessential half otter laugh, slapping
her other hand onto my chest. “Shut up.”

“Make me.” I knew she wouldn’t, but I couldn’t help but
wish.

“Teddy, why are you here? I just accused your father of some
pretty awful things. This could turn into something ugly between your family
and me. Not only that, but the ramifications of you coming to see me could be
disastrous.”

“I don’t care.”

“About what?”

“Anything except what you didn’t tell me.”

“What do you mean?”

We both turned over on our sides, me on my left, and she on
her right, facing each other.

“I confided in you about some really personal things.”

“And I didn’t include any of that.”

“I know, I know.” I closed my eyes, finding my thoughts. “But
you didn’t tell me any of this was going on. And with my own father? Ash, I had
a right to know.”

She pushed a strand of hair out of my face. “You were not
ready to deal with him. How could I throw more wood on the fire and confuse you
even more?”

“We were together. Couples are supposed to talk about things
like this.”

“We were together for two months. Two months, Teddy. And at
the first sign of something serious happening between us, you went and brought
home the first waitress you saw.”

I couldn’t argue with her. She was right. I was scared, and
I ran.

“Is it still happening?”

“He always has someone, um, checking up on me, taking
pictures.”

“But he’s not visiting anymore?”

“Just ask your question, Teddy. Get it over with.”

She could read me too well.

“Why didn’t you just sleep with him? He would’ve made it all
go away.”

She bit her lip. “You know I would never do that.”

“You could’ve had the life you wanted without constantly
having to look over your shoulder. You could’ve spent the last two years
looking into your father’s case instead of trying to devise a way to come clean
to the world about a silly picture just to keep you from having to leave the
country.”

“If, and I mean if, I would ever consider sleeping with him
just to hide information, I would’ve been tied to him forever. Any time he
wanted something from me, he would hold that over my head. He’d have proof his
tactics worked, and I wouldn’t be able to turn him down. What kind of a life
would that be?”

“I just wish you would’ve told me.”

“So you could’ve thrown another punch at him? We all saw how
that turned out.”

“I could’ve been there for you, helped you.”

“And at times, I wished I had told you too… just to have
someone to talk to that knows him, knows how he believes he can treat people
who don’t think the same way he does. But I didn’t want to pull you into it. It’s
my fight.”

“I thought he had dropped it. I thought you leaving had put
an end to it. I didn’t know he knew about the book.”

“I think he thought if he held our scandalous picture over
my head, I’d eventually cave and drop the deal.”

“He obviously doesn’t know you.”

“Not one bit. The funny thing is that the book started out
as nothing more than that summer of blackmail and interviews with other girls
whom he had forced himself upon. Him having me tailed and his routine visits to
my apartment with promises of freedom just made the book that much more
powerful. He did it to himself.”

“And now he has nothing left.”

“That’s the hope.”

“You beat him, Ashley. Something I never thought I’d be able
to do. And you went and did it. Promise me something?”

“What?”

“Don’t give up on your dream just because you’re scared. You
defeated the most powerful man I know. You have no reason to be scared.”

I went to sit up, but she stopped me. She scooted her body
closer to mine and softened her eyes as she placed her lips on my cheek, then
lower on my cheek, then on the edge of my smile lines, and finally on my lips. I
opened my mouth in response, welcoming her breath, her tongue, after too long. I
was slow, wanting to enjoy, to enwrap myself in every second of her taste. I
pulled her in closer, surrounding her body with my arms. My body responded to
her reciprocation, and I pushed my hips closer to her so she would know. My
hand slipped to her side and ran up her back, tingling at the warmth of her
skin. My fingers found her bra clasp, and snapped it open so her full back was
exposed. She moaned quietly as I dug my fingers into her skin.

“Teddy…”

“Ashley…” I moaned right back.

“No, wait. Stop.”

“Not happening.” I whispered as I skimmed my palm up her
bare leg and under her skirt.

“Teddy.” She pushed away from me, off the bed, and onto her
feet. “I need you to leave.”

“What?” I was as hard as a rock and there was no possible
way I was leaving there in that state. I stood in front of her.

“I told you I was over you.”

Angry, I reached under her skirt and found her wanting with
my fingers. “This kind of disproves that, Ash.”

She threw her head back as I continued the push and pull of
my finger inside of her.

“Tell me you don’t like this, and I’ll stop.” I teased.

“I… I…” Her chest rose and fell with my rhythm.

“You can’t do it. Then tell me you still want me.”

“No.” She groaned, her eyes widening as I pushed deeper.

“Tell me you still want me.” I was right in her face,
spitting my anger at her.

“Fuck, Teddy!” She screamed, pushing me away from her. “Of
course I still want you. You’re all I ever fucking think about. And I hate you
for it. You consume me.”

I didn’t expect that much truth.

“I thought you were dating someone.”

“I am dating someone. And I am in love. I wasn’t lying. But
whatever the fuck this is… I can’t get rid of it. I can’t hide from you.”

“And that’s why you told me to leave?” It was all beginning
to make sense. I didn’t know whether I wanted to slap her or hug her. Why did
she always have that same effect on me?

“I can’t get over you if you keep coming back into my life. I’ve
tried. That’s why I said what I said in that letter.” Her hands covered her
face as the tears began streaming from her eyes. She slid down the wall,
finding her way to the ground. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Nothing is wrong with you.”

“This is wrong.”

“Don’t get over me.”

“I have to.”

“No you don’t. Come away with me. We’ll get out of here. We’ll
leave and never come back. Just you and me, Ash. We’ll be so happy.”

I didn’t know what was coming out of my mouth, but I meant
every word.

“The world doesn’t work like that, Teddy. You can’t just run
away from it. It keeps turning.”

“Fine. Then we’ll stay. I don’t care. But I need you by my
side.”

“And I need you to get out of here.”

“You don’t mean that.” I lifted her to her feet. “This is
something. This was always something. You’re too smart to let us mess this up
again.”

She took a deep breath, pursed her lips, and looked up at me
with her puffy, bloodshot eyes. “You need to hate me.”

“I could never… well, I could never again.”

“No, no jokes. You need to hate me. My book could possibly
ruin you. You understand that, right?”