The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (31 page)

"Really?" Suzy sounded relieved.

"No. Not really. It's Zachary of course, I
thought you would be thrilled."

"I am. No. Really I am." Her mind was racing.
He had flirted with her, held her, kissed her and then…

Melissa sighed. She knew her little sister
well.

"Don’t flim-flam me Suzy. Don't even try
because you know I can read your mind. What's the problem?"

"It's nothing. Really."

"Come on. Don't make me come over there and
shrink you in person."

The thought sent a shiver through the stunned
young woman.

How the hell do I say no to this one?
She was silent, motionless and as frantic as Harry trying to get
the last egg roll out of the takeout box his furry little head was
trapped inside.

"Well, it's nothing, but just, he's so…"

Melissa felt a sting of anger. She had done a
lot of convincing and arm twisting with her new lover to convince
Zach to make this happen. If it fell through she might not have
another chance of getting such a plumb job for her sister in the
Demovic corporation. They liked to hire the best people for the job
and according to Jason he had really had to work on his brother to
get him to take on Suzy without any prior work experience. Jason
was fed up hearing Zachary complain about his PAs and he had the
highest regard for Suzy, not to mention a huge soft spot for the
young woman who he considered to be a true hero. When Melissa had
suggested her for the job Jason had objected on the grounds that
Zachary, although a gentleman in many respects, was a total
perfectionist when it came to work and could be a very challenging
boss. It could turn out to be a nightmare for Suzy and she didn't
really need that while she was still recovering from surgery and
getting her life back on track.

Melissa had countered that he was
underestimating her kid sister. If Suzy could get through four
years on kidney dialysis with the same cheerful spirit she had when
she was a child, then this girl was a whole lot tougher than he
took her for and she was more than a match for his kid brother
Zachary who, let's be honest, had the emotional maturity of a
sixteen year old boy.

"I worked hard to get you this Suzy." Melissa
said quietly.

"I know, Melissa, and God I do appreciate it
but…"

Silence.

"But what? For Christ's sake Suzy, I don't
have time for this, come on, just tell me something for once
without me having to head-shrink it out of you."

"He's just such a total asshole Melissa."

It was the best lie she could think of. What
was the alternative? Tell her they had kissed within a half hour of
meeting each other? Melissa would go crazy and it would be ten
times worse.

"An asshole." Melissa repeated with barely
contained rage. She held the phone down to her thigh. She had spent
the last fourteen years being a mother to her little sister, the
last seven being a nurse and the last five had nearly seen her go
broke trying to pay for her medical bills and upkeep.

"Suzy." She said with quietly, brimming with
restrained anger. "God knows I don't ask you for much."

It was enough. Suzy felt the tears come
rushing to her eyes. She knew how much she owed her big sister.

"Okay, okay." Suzy said, choked sobs mixing
in with her words, "Melissa, you're the most important person in
the world to me. This job is great… it's a great opportunity just
like you say. You can count on me. I'll be ready. 8am tomorrow
morning."

Melissa breathed a sigh of relief. Despite
her anger she could still understand her sister's reticence and
fear of the unknown. It would be a huge step for her. She had led a
sheltered life, albeit one with a lot of pain, and now she was
ready to experience the real world.

"Good." She said. "I knew I could count on
you." She held back her own tears now. She would miss her girlish
little kid sister when she finally became an adult in her own
right. "His car will pick you up tomorrow. He might be there in
person but probably not. Just do whatever you're told. Okay?"

"Thank you Melissa." Suzy forced the words
out. "I'll never be able to repay you for this. This is huge."

"You're family cupcake. We're all we really
have in this world. It's not a favor and you don’t need to repay
me. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything, just say the word."

"Promise me you won't get involved with
him"

It was the last thing Suzy had expected to
hear.

"Involved with him? What do you mean
exactly?"

"You know what I mean. Romantically.
Sexually. Just leave him be. Okay?"

"Leave him be? Who do you think I am? I
haven't been near a guy in years, I'd say he's pretty safe with me
around."

"I know that Suzy, of course. I didn't mean
it that way, but if he comes on to you in anyway whatsoever--"

"You've gone too far this time Melissa," Suzy
screamed, "stop it now or I'm going to hang up."

Melissa held her breath. Suzy waited.

"Why is this upsetting you so much?" Melissa
asked softly, switching instinctively into therapist mode.

"God damn it Melissa, for the last time, just
stop shrinking me already. He's a billionaire, he's the hottest
single guy in the whole country, he's got models and movie stars
following him around begging him for sex, so why in the hell would
he be interested in me? "

Melissa quietly freaked out. Her sister's
reaction was way too much. Something was definitely wrong but she
bit her tongue. Direct confrontation wasn't going to get her
anywhere.

"I'm sorry Suzy. Me and my big ex-therapist's
mouth. Look, please don't get me wrong, Zach can be a very sweet
guy, you don't know the half of how generous he can be, but please,
please, if it anything should happen, and of course it won't,
please promise me that you won't get involved with him. He's a
great guy but in that way he's nothing at all like Jason. Trust me,
he's got issues and he just wouldn't be right for you."

Suzy had to restrain herself. The only thing
that stopped her from throwing the phone across the room was
knowing that her sister always meant well no matter how
infuriatingly controlling she could be.

"I wouldn't worry about it Melissa," She
sighed deeply. "I'm pretty sure I'm not his type anyway."

"I wouldn't be so certain about that cupcake,
but look, for his sake and for yours, just keep it strictly
professional, okay?"

Suzy took a deep, deep breath.

"For the last time, don't worry. He's really,
really,
so
not my type anyway."

"Sure. Of course he's not. You want someone
younger than him, someone sweeter--"

"Don't tell me what I want. I already said I
won’t go near him. What else do you want to hear?"

"Just one more thing."

Suzy took another long, deep breath. She
wanted this conversation to end.

"What?" She hissed.

"Promise me you'll tell me if he comes onto
you."

"If you're so damn worried about us getting
together, as if that were even remotely possible, why did you go to
so much trouble to get me this job?"

It was a good question. Melissa stared over
at the sleeping beast of masculinity that just a half hour earlier
had nearly annihilated her with the intensity of his love making.
She could still feel the exhilarating residue in the core of her
being and in every satiated cell of her body. No matter how many
times they made love the levels of ecstasy never seemed to
diminish.

Why didn't she want her sister to get
together with the next best thing to that? If she really didn't
want it then why was she putting her directly into its path? And
then there was his secret, that stupid damned secret he insisted on
keeping and that he had bound Jason and her on pain of death and
worse to never reveal to anyone…

She would have to think about all that later,
for now she just needed her little sister on board with the plan as
it stood.

"This is a huge opportunity for you Suzy and
also he really needs someone that he can trust to work that closely
with him. He knows me, he's met you and he knows he can trust you.
Being PA to a billionaire involves handling a lot of sensitive
information and he's had some bad luck with people in that role in
the past."

This was making some kind of sense but still
didn't explain why he hadn't mentioned anything about it while they
were together.

"Suzy, this job will set you up for life,"
Melissa continued, "but if you get involved with him I can only see
things getting messy and turning out wrong for everyone. The man
has never had a stable relationship with a woman in his entire
life. He has no female friends and not many male one's either. I
think I might be the closest thing to a female friend he has and
I've barely known him a year, so trust me, he's not what you want
to start out on."

"Start out on?"

"Well, yes, you know. You were barely in the
game before you had to drop out. It's been a long time."

"The game?"

"The dating game. The relationship game.
There's going to be loads of hot guys you'll be meeting from now
on. The corporation is full of them and you'll be meeting clients
and traveling all over the world. You don't need Zach, not in that
way. Just promise me you'll tell me if anything happens and we can
deal with it together. Okay?"

Suzy hesitated. Something was wrong about all
of this, terribly wrong.

"Please Suzy… cupcake… please, just promise
you'll do that for me…"

Suzy stared down at her trembling bosom and
bit her lip.

"Melissa, I… I just don't know…."

"Okay, I've got to admit this is pretty impressive."
Suzy was whispering into her cell-phone as she sat back into the
plush comfort of Zachary's limo. "I mean, a limo to get to work?
Who ever heard of that?"

She was on the phone to her friend Bella, the
one person apart from her sister who had been unfailingly by her
side through thick and thin over the last four years. She had come
into their lives out of almost nowhere but proven to be a better
friend to her than people she had known her whole life. She had
called her to try and settle her nerves but also to share the kind
of awesome experience with her as well.

"But he's a total dick Suzy, right? Isn’t
that what you said?"

"I said oddball, not dick."

"But he's just as hot in real life as he
looks on TV, isn't
that
right?"

Suzy smiled and then sucked her cheeks in to
hide it. Her driver was hidden behind a thick sheet of tinted glass
but still everything about her conversation felt illicit and
exposed.

"So tell me again," Bella continued, "why
exactly is it that are you taking this job if he's so weird? Surely
it's not because you're planning to jump all over your new boss
like a kangaroo on a trampoline?"

"I'm not planning on jumping all over anyone,
you slut." Suzy hissed back.

"I don't mean jumping on him sexually, you
whore," Bella countered, "obviously I mean jumping all over the
first great opportunity that has come along since you got your new
kidney."

Suzy thought for a moment.

"Maybe jumping all over my boss sexually
is
the first great opportunity since my new kidney."

Bella's jaw dropped.

" You absolute whore-slut, Suzy Price. You so
totally are going to do it with him!"

"Well if I'm a 'whore-slut' Bella Wilson,
then you are nothing more than a jealous whore-slut."

There was silence for two seconds and then
the women descended into uncontrollable giggles. It was a relief
for Suzy to let off some crazy, silly steam with her best friend.
She could feel her nerves about meeting Zach again already
beginning to subside. It was so great to have a buddy who didn't
take things too seriously and who shared her irreverent sense of
humor. Too many people didn't get it and Melissa certainly couldn't
deal with that kind of language. Suzy loved her to death but she
was still her big sister the shrink; always trying to fix her,
always looking to improve her behavior in some way. Bella on the
other hand, could always see the humor in things and never failed
to cheer her up no matter how low down she felt.

"Thanks for listening to me Bella, I don’t
know what I'd do without you."

"Anytime Suzy and listen, remember, you can
call me anytime. In fact, I want a full report on everything that
Mr. Demovic asks you to do today; no omissions, no details left
out. I expect full disclosure of every dirty, smutty thing that
comes out of his mouth or from yours."

Suzy gulped silently. The truth was that
after last night anything could happen. She kept telling herself
that it had all been quite normal but whatever way she sliced it
those were his lips that had pressed against hers and then when he
had given her the Heimlich maneuver, that was his…

She stopped the thought there.

Whoa…
She fanned her face with her
hands. She hadn't come clean about the kiss or the 'maneuver' to
either her sister or to Bella. This was a first; concealing
important details from the two people closest to her in the
world.

What was it that she was so afraid of?

"Suzy? Did you hear me? I said
full
disclosure. Everything that smutty billionaire has to say to you,
or you to him, I want in a full report."

"I heard you Bella. Look I gotta go, I think
we’re almost there. I'll call you later. Bye."

She ended the call abruptly. Rudeness was
better than more lying.

In only another ten minutes she was outside
the Demovic corporate offices, but it was enough for her to revert
from being relaxed and cheerful to anxious, shaking and almost
physically sick. The pressure was getting to her. After all, she
had never had a real job before and certainly never with a hot guy
who had been physically wrapped around her not twenty-four hours
ago.