Not much excited him these days but it was hard not to get caught up in their excitement, hard not to see their joy, hard to ignore their smiling faces and shiny eyes and the wonder on their faces as they played with the display toys and looked with wide eyed wonder at the shiny new boxes that were displayed so enticingly on the shelves.

It made him feel better about himself and made Christmas more bearable to know that he was spreading a little happiness. Or rather, his foundation was. The huge toy store had been closed to the public for the evening while the Tobias Stone Foundation invited children from the city’s adoption centers to visit the store and select a toy of their choice.

But he was also aware that he’d had to miss an important meeting that had suddenly come up. Luckily Matthias was standing in for him but he would need to return to the office soon. His multi-million dollar hedge fund didn’t stop running just because Christmas was coming.

His eyes darted around the place, and he glanced at his watch again, getting anxious and needing to leave. Contemplating his escape he looked towards the exit and saw a child peering through the glass doors.

“I’m going,” he told Candace, his hard-as-nails assistant.

“Not yet, Tobias. It’s barely been an hour. Smile.” She flashed him her false one. “At least make it look as if you’re having a good time.”

“I
am
having a good time but I’m in the middle of important negotiations, in case you’d forgotten.”

Hosting an evening for children from many of the city’s adoption centers was something that made him feel decent about himself for a change but he had a business to run.

“People need to see your face, Tobias. It’s good publicity for you to be seen mixing with all sorts of people—especially these poor kids at a time like Christmas. It adds credibility to your philanthropy.”

He didn’t mind giving his wealth away. If anything, he thrived on it and there was no way that he was going to get through his millions in his lifetime. He didn’t spend too extravagantly. Even though he enjoyed the finer things in life he worked damn hard and preferred to remain low-key, as much as was possible for a man with his wealth and history. While giving away his wealth made him happy, making money did too.

“If we could just have a few shots of you with the children, Sir,” said the photographer herding a group of children together and leading them towards him.

“What a brilliant idea,” agreed Candace and took his arm. “How about near the tree?” She led him over to a beautifully decorated Christmas tree lit up with warm, golden colored lights.

“Smile, everyone,” the photographer ordered.

“Is this necessary?” Tobias asked, giving the man a tight-lipped smile.

“Smile,” said Candace smiling through her gritted teeth. He obliged as a group of young children, barely reaching his waist, gathered around him as though he was Santa Claus.

“You are so kind, Mr. Stone,” gushed one of the women from the adoption centers as she gave him a dazzling smile. “This is so very generous of you, taking the time to give these children a Christmas present.” He nodded his head at her, barely hiding his look of unease. While he liked giving his wealth away, being thanked for it made him uncomfortable.

“Would you mind if we had a photograph taken together?” She stepped up alongside him. “Vanessa?” she called out to her colleague, another matronly woman who looked as though she’d be more at home baking pies. “Hurry up! We can put this in our newsletter,” she explained to him. “People might be more interested to read it if they see your picture.” She smiled sweetly.

Tobias returned a fast smile, conscious of time slipping away. It would be the morning of the next day in Hong Kong and he was anxious to sit in on the negotiations. “Thank you, ladies, but I must…” he broke away from the group, determined to leave before Candace asked him to do something else. She was like a fiery Doberman, silky, fast, super alert and she made sure he was seen in the right places with the right people at the right time.

“You’re still making the most eligible bachelor lists,” she told him. But he had no interest in these things. He preferred to pay for sex, seeing it as nothing more than a transaction which required payment. There was no emotional attachment that way.

“I’m leaving,” he growled; he’d been here an hour already but as he turned around and headed towards the exit, he saw the same child still peering in. “Has nobody let him in?” he muttered and strode up to the large glass doors of the huge toy store. “It’s a win-win deal, Tobias,” Candace had told him, “You buy those poor kids a toy, and come out looking like a saint.” Tobias grimaced at the thought. He wasn’t a saint. Not by a long shot.

But that wasn’t the reason he’d gone along with her idea of giving Christmas gifts to children less fortunate. He’d done it because for the longest time he’d hated Christmas and had avoided the festivities. Christmas was about being with loved ones and Tobias was alone.

It could have all been so different.

This had been the second year they had run this event, and this year he’d even been looking forward to it. But he was now anxious to return to the office even though it was past eight o’clock. Apart from work, Tobias didn’t have much else to occupy him. His millions couldn’t buy him peace, love or happiness, though whiskey and Naomi made the world tolerable.

He walked up to the door and seeing that child peering through the glass wide-eyed with wonder, reminded him of himself, of how he’d been at that age. He’d been dirt poor once and remembered the time when he used to stare at other kids who had the things he never had.

“Where are you going?” Candace tottered up on her heels behind him.

“I’m letting him in.”

“But we’re closed to the public this—”

“Where the fuck is his mother?” Tobias snarled. The security guard nodded at him, as Tobias flung the door wide open and peered at the child who stared back at him with fear in his eyes.

Immediately his hardness melted. “Do you want to come inside?”

The child’s body language perfectly illustrated his dilemma. One foot was poised as if he was ready to enter but his solemn face indicated no immediate desire.

“Don’t just stand there,” Tobias said. “If you want to come in. Come in.” He looked around for signs of the boy’s parents and saw a woman with her back to the child, talking on her cellphone. She turned around just at that moment, her gaze landing on the child, then at him as she rushed towards them. She stopped at the door, just behind the child.

The child stared at his mother but said nothing.

“Jacob, we can’t—”

“Can I have a look? Just a look, please Mommy?” Tobias watched the exchange; the woman appeared to waver and then stared at Tobias. “Are you open?”

“Yes.” He pulled the door wide open and moved away.

“Pleeeease, Mommy? Just a look?”

The woman appeared to consider it. And the longer she took, the more the child’s anticipation grew. It annoyed the heck out of Tobias. “Why don’t you let him in and put the kid out of his misery?” He gave her the once over, taking in her scuffed shoes and the huge tear in her tights.

“He’s not miserable.” The woman retorted.

“He doesn’t look too happy to me.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Ten minutes, Jacob. No more.” The boy smiled so brightly that it brought a smile to Tobias’s tight expression. He remembered that look, and wished he still could feel that level of excitement about anything. Even winning new deals and reaching the next milestone in his business had lost its sparkle. Nothing mattered much, anymore. Christmas, with its gaudy commercialism, packaged and dressed up in dazzling bright baubles and sparkling lights, had lost its allure for him years ago because now it reminded him of the life he could have had. He would still have been insanely successfully, disgustingly rich, but he’d have had someone to share his wealth with.

Now he carried too many memories of the wrong kind.

He watched as the woman—the boy’s mother, he presumed—stepped aside warily and looked around the store. Candace sidled up to him. “We’re
not
open to the public, Tobias,” she seethed. “You can’t just let any strays in. This is specifically for kids from adoption centers.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied, noting that the boy wore a coat that was obviously one size too small for him.

The boy’s mother walked up to them. “Is something going on in the store?” she asked.

“We’re not open to the public,” Candace replied.

“You’re not? I’m sorry.”

Tobias walked over to the boy who was happily sitting on the floor playing with an Iron man figure and a fighter jet.

“You like Iron Man?” Tobias asked, crouching down.

“Who doesn’t?” replied the boy, with the fighter jet in one hand and the figurine in the other.

“Did you write your letter to Santa?”

The boy nodded, his eyes sparkling.

“What did you ask for?”

“Coloring books.”

“Coloring books?”

“Did you know that tonight is a very special night. You can pick anything you want from here and it will appear under your tree on Christmas Day.”

“You’re not Santa.”

“No. I’m not, and I’m sure you’ll get your coloring books from him. But, see all of these children here?” The boy looked around and nodded. “They’re all going to pick a toy and they get to open it on Christmas Day. You can too.”

The boy looked at the floor, as if he didn’t trust him. Just then Tobias’s cell phone rang and he answered it, standing up slowly.

“It’s not going too well.” Matthias told him. “Are you coming back to the office? There are a few things we need to discuss.”

“I’ll be back. Give me twenty,” replied Tobias and watched as the woman rushed over to her son and told him they had to go. He hung up and walked back to Candace. “Why did you do that?” He growled at Candace. “How much trouble is one extra child going to be?”

“If you let one in, you won’t be able to stop the rest. But Tobias was too busy staring at the child. He saw the boy’s face drop, saw him leave the toys he’d been playing with and get up slowly.

“You’re too uptight,” he hissed and walked over to the mother and son. “You should let the poor kid stay.”

“He’s not a poor kid,” the boy’s mother returned. The child was silent.

“Looks to me like he wants to stay.”

“But the woman said—”

“I don’t care what she said.”

“Tobias, let me handle this.” He felt a tightness in his chest as Candace turned to the woman. She put on what he now knew to be her best and most false, over the top persona and explained. “Tonight is a charity event hosted by the Tobias Stone Foundation for a few of the city’s adoption centers. This store is closed to the public for a few hours. Why don’t you come back tomorrow? You can shop all you want then.”

“I saw you on TV,” the boy said, shyly.

“I don’t think you did, honey.” The boy’s mother gave Tobias an apologetic look.

“I did, Mom. He
was
on TV.” For the first time Tobias tried to hold back a smile. The woman slipped her hand through the boys. “Come on,” she said, obviously not believing a word. “Let’s go.”

“I did, Mom.” The boy turned to him. “You were on TV, weren’t you?”

But the woman appeared to be in a hurry. “I’m sure you did, honey. Come on. We need to get back.” He watched as they walked away and then the woman bent down and pulled something out of her bag then handed it to the boy. When the boy put it to his mouth Tobias realized it was an inhaler.

He glared at his assistant. “That wasn’t necessary, was it?”

Chapter 2

She walked past the glistening shop windows of the blue canopied Tiffany store, her annoyance spreading, almost as fast as the hole in her tights.

BOOK: The Gift: Book 1 (The Billionaire's Love Story)

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