Pawn of the Billionaire

C
opyright
© 2016 by Kristin Frasier and Abigail Moore

A
ll Rights Reserved
. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.

C
over by Satyr Designs

Edited by Heatwave Services

v 1.1

T
he Honourable James Sandiford
wants nothing to do with his heritage. He's forged his own path as CEO of a Software Giant of his own making. But when duty calls, he's forced to find a wife for his older brother, the Viscount Pineham.

T
oni Chapman has
a lot of rough. She works a drudge job to pay the bills, and studies hard in what little spare time she can cobble together. She's got work to do, and she doesn't have time to play games.

T
oni ticks
most of the right boxes for James, and he decides to shape her into his brother's future bride. There is a diamond under her unpolished exterior, and it will take all his skill and patience to coax it free. The only problem is that, as they draw closer together, it becomes clear that Toni is too good for James' brother.

T
oni is The One
. And James cannot let her go. Not now he's found her.

R
eader Note
: This is a full stand-alone novel with no cliffhangers and an HEA. It's also kindle-meltingly steamy, so whatever you do, don't read it in public!

I
stared
out at the gathering dusk. It wasn’t that late, but I was tired. I leaned back into the comfortable chair. It was the one chair in the place that didn’t look as if it fitted, didn’t match. It was too large, too dark, the leather ancient and polished through countless years of use. I didn’t know who had made it, he must’ve been dead a century or more, but I thanked him silently every time I threw myself into that chair.

It was a long time since I’d had to spend whole days crouching in front of a computer screen, but today had been difficult, a lot of problems and a team that seemed to be unable all of a sudden to make decisions. I’d have to do something about that. But tonight, I’d stay home. Tonight, I’d lounge in this chair. It seemed to have been designed just for me, easing out the kinks in my neck and shoulders and revitalizing me within moments. I’d never part with it.

David quietly put the tumbler of whiskey down on the table beside me, made sure it was within reach, and waited deferentially until I nodded at him to go. He’d been my butler for nearly five years now. I grinned to myself. I’d taken him from my father, just like I had the chair. Father had grumbled, but David had wanted to travel, and this way he stayed in the family. Eventually he’d go back to the Sandiford Estate. His family had served mine for generations.

Lawrence was sitting quietly at the desk in the corner of the library. My personal secretary knew how to blend into the background. I couldn’t imagine life without him. I looked over at him.

“I don’t know what I’ve got on tonight, Lawrence, but cancel whatever it might be. I’m going to stay in. Tell the kitchen I just want a light dinner, please, and then you’ll be able to go home.”

“Thank you, sir.”

I didn’t know where he lived. I suspected he didn’t actually have a place outside his apartment here. But that was okay. He was always here when I needed him.

The phone rang at that point, and I scowled. I didn’t want to be disturbed. Lawrence answered as he always did. I raised an eyebrow as his voice became even more deferential — if that was possible.

“Good evening, Lord Sandiford.” He raised his eyebrows at me, and I nodded wearily. Better to talk to my father now than have him ring me later on. I glanced at the clock. It was really early for him to be ringing me.

“Of course, Lord Sandiford, Mr. James will take your call now.” And he moved over, handed me the handset, and put a notepad and my fountain pen on the table beside my whiskey.

“Good evening, Father. How are you?” I could sense the grumbling discontent before he spoke, so I wasn’t surprised when he launched into a tirade.

“James, my boy. You must dread my calls. I always seem to want money these days.”

“Well, that’s true. But if you didn’t, I’d never hear from you.” I joked, trying to raise his spirits. Lately my father had seemed rather depressed, and I wondered what the difficulty was. Still, I could solve the money problems without hesitation, and no doubt I would have to throw money at the other problem too. That problem being my brother.

I crossed my legs, letting my left one swing idly as I listened.

“Look, James. The South Wing roof that you agreed should be replaced. Well, the Listed Buildings people have been over the place with the contractors. They think it’s time the whole roof was replaced, or the timbers won’t be preserved correctly.” His sigh was audibly frustrated. “It’s just one problem after another. Now they’ve brought me an estimate of three million.”

I sucked my breath in at that. Even me. That was one hell of a lot of money just for a roof. All right, I could pay it no problems, but I still wondered if we were being taken for a ride here.

“That’s a bloody lot of money, Father.” I chewed my lip. “They’re going to have to come up with a very detailed proposal for that lot.”

“I know.” Father was obviously frustrated. “But the Council chap was insistent that I’d have to get the work done.” He was silent for a minute. I knew what was coming next.

“Or they’ll put a compulsory purchase order on it. You know.”

I smiled. “Father, don’t worry about that. They absolutely don’t want to take it over. It’ll cost them a fortune. Anyway, I can pay. You tell them to ring me here tomorrow.” I stood up, beginning to pace around the room.

“They must come up with a full set of proposals, including crediting the cost of any salvage like lead and the peg tiles.” I thought for a moment. “Tell them I’m financing it and they must send me all their documentation directly. I’ll have a team go over it here. I bet if they think I’ll bring a US team over, the quotation will come down a lot.” I had a brainwave. “And I’ll ring the Masons. They’ve had a lot of roofing work done recently. I can find out what it cost them. But, of course lead is expensive and so are handmade tiles now.”

“I suppose you’re right my boy.” Father sounded tired. “But you shouldn’t have to be dealing with it. You’re the younger son, after all. Edward should be taking the responsibility. He’s the heir, he’s going to inherit the Estate.” I could hear that he was pacing around, too.

I could picture him in his library. The dark, book-lined walls, the faded carpets, the old leather chairs. The large windows looking out over the gardens of his Hampshire home. His breathing rasped in my ear. I wondered how his health was. Perhaps I should fly over to England and see him more often.

“I tell you, your brother’s getting into all sorts of trouble. He’ll meet a bad end, I shouldn’t wonder.” His sigh reached me across the line. “I wish you were the eldest son. I’ve wished that for a long time.”

I laughed. “Please don’t put that on me, Father. I tell you, I really don’t want to inherit. I’ve made my life the way I like it. Why would I want to be the Earl?” I glanced out of the window, seeing Lawrence reflected. Still at his desk, he would be waiting to see if anything transpired of this conversation that I’d need him to do.

“So, what is Edward getting up to now?”

“I don’t know.” Father grumbled. “He was gone for nearly a week this time. Came back stoned out of his mind. One of these days he’s going to get arrested for something we won’t be able to keep quiet. Or worse.” He sounded sadder than ever.

“I’m just glad your mother didn’t live to see it. It would have broken her heart.”

I was silent. My mother was just a memory to me now, I’d been so young when she died. But I remembered how beautiful she was, her stately, elegant figure and the way she ruled the Estate with an iron grip. No one got away with anything when she was alive, not even my father. I smiled.

“Maybe Edward would have been different if she’d lived. It was hard losing her when we were so young.”

Father laughed. I was glad to hear it.

“Yes, maybe you’re right. She certainly kept me in hand, didn’t she?”

I grinned at the phone. “You’re right. Even I could see that. And I was only ten.”

His chuckle was tinged with sad memories. “But I loved her so much. I didn’t think I would, you know. My own mother found her for me. She knew just what I needed. I certainly wanted to choose my own wife, but it just wasn’t done. But it all worked out so well.” He stopped.

“I tell you what, my boy, why don’t you find a suitable girl for Edward? One who can keep him in line, make him turn over a new leaf. And someone who could run the Estate as well. Your mother was so good at that.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Father, life’s different now. And anyway, why on Earth would any girl want that job? Just look at Edward.”

“Oh, go on. He’s Viscount Pineham. He’s going to be the Earl when I’m gone, inherit the Estate. I’m sure he’d be all right once he’d been taken in hand. Any girl would want that job.”

“That’s what you think. The only sort of girl who’d want that would be completely unsuitable.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure you could find someone with some good breeding in the background, train them up.” My father’s voice was pleading now. “I think it’ll be a really good idea.”

“Well.” I thought. “It’s not going to be easy. I mean, finding her. Once I’ve found her, I just have to find a good finishing school. I suppose they’re still around. Switzerland, they all were, weren’t they?”

“Oh, yes.” Father sounded enthusiastic. “Your mother went to one. She said it was very freeing for most of them. I suppose they’d been very much under their family’s control until then.”

“I bet.” I tried to picture my mother as an eighteen year old, but failed dismally.

“All right, Father. I’ll commission a genealogy firm to do the research and see if we can come up with anyone who’d fit the bill and might be persuadable.” I flung myself back in my chair. “And don’t forget, get the contractors to contact me with their quotes for the roof.”

When I hung up, I turned and looked at Lawrence. He was utterly professional and discreet, but I could see that even he was trying not to smile.

I grinned. “What have we let ourselves in for?”

He relaxed and let his smile show. “An interesting diversion for you, sir.” He came towards my chair with his notebook. “There are several genealogy firms in the UK who would be able to find someone for you. I think they’ll be better placed to at least begin the research. I suppose they’ll want to start with the female lines several generations back, and see where they lead.”

He’d obviously started online while I was still having the conversation with my father.

“Yes. Good idea. I wonder if …” I frowned. “Maybe ask them to start with titles that have gone extinct. If there’s no one holding the title now, the girl may be more inclined to think she’s as much right as anyone to get one, even if it’s not the same as she might have inherited if girls counted then.”

“Yes, sir.” Lawrence glanced at the clock. “It’s still very early in London. Your father must have been worried to have been up at this time.” He moved back to his desk. “Anyway, I’ll contact them first thing in the morning. Would you want me to research finishing schools then too?”

I nodded. “Yes. Thanks, Lawrence. You get off now. I’ll go down for dinner in a moment.”