Heart of the Billionaire Page 12

  A brilliant idea struck me, and I stepped quickly out of my dress and stood naked before him. “C’mon, James. I’m not wearing a stitch of clothing, and I’m ready for you.”

  Again, he just lay there, like a cold, dead fish.

  “Okay, fine. Stay asleep then,” I said in a huff, realizing that all I could do was wait for him to snap out of it.

  Fortunately, Granny’s cocktail wore off soon, and just a few seconds after I climbed back into my dress and settled beside him on the bed, there was a slight hitch in his breathing. His hands flexed tentatively on the sheets beneath us, and a second later, his eyes fluttered open for good. He looked around for a moment, dazed and disoriented, before his roving eyes came to rest on me. “Della?”

  I winced apologetically and gestured to a tray someone had left on the bedside table. “Tea time, love,” I said in my best British accent, which wasn’t very good at all. “Darjeeling or Earl Grey?”

  “What did she do to me?” He was out of bed in a flash, but he swayed dizzily. “Granny!” he yelled with a vengeance.

  A deafening silence echoed back. Had I been the wagering sort, I would have bet the old woman was off in the gun shed, polishing her rifles in case of a merman invasion.

  “She said dinner’s at seven,” I ventured tentatively.

  James whirled around in a rage, but his gaze and his tone softened when he laid eyes on me again. The anger melted off his face, and he opened his arms, looking appalled and ashamed all at once. “Oh, honey, it’s your first international abduction! I’m so sorry. How are you holding up?”

  Holding up in this tropical paradise, with the man of my dreams, a man who was just stopped from making one of the biggest mistakes of his life? If this is an abduction, consider me a fan of kidnapping!

  I stepped into his embrace with a martyred expression but couldn’t fully hide my smile as I gazed around the magnificent room. “Holding up? I’m not sure people just hold up in a mansion like this, James. I guess I’m doing okay. At least I’ve been conscious all this time.”

  “Good.” He kissed the top of my hair, completely missing my sarcasm as the last of the drugs cleared quickly from his head. “I’ll fix this, Della. I swear I will. We’ll be out of this hell-hole and back to London before you know it.”

  My smile faded a little as I glanced longingly around. The house was just a short way inland, but I could still see the sparkling turquoise water from the window. A salty breeze mixed with that ever-present aroma of flowers and whispered through the gauzy curtains like a dream. “London? Sure. Great,” I said, sounding quite unimpressed with the idea.

  I almost added, “I hear it’s raining there,” but the look on James’s face made me reconsider. The man was incensed, and it wasn’t often that he found himself outmaneuvered, let alone in his own living room, betrayed by his own best friend and accosted by his grandmother.

  Without another word to me, James stormed out of the room and down the hall like the god of thunder himself, albeit still swaying slightly from his sedated sleep. “Nick! Where the hell are you? Nick!” he boomed.

  I scampered after him, watching as he kicked open door after door, searching for his friend. His hair flew out behind him like a dark cloud, adding a touch of frenzy to his face as scores of the frightened wait-staff scurried away.

  “You better be awake, America! It’ll be no fun killing you if I can’t hear you scream!”

  Finally, he found them behind the last door. Abby was still calmly reading her magazine. She had resumed drinking her mimosa, now that she was safely on the ground, and Nick was still passed out cold on the bed beside her, sleeping like the dead.

  “Hey there!” She looked up brightly and bookmarked her page with a dog-ear fold. “You’re awake.”

  James’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “For your sake, Abigail, I hope you played no part in this.”

  She pushed to her feet, scrunched her face up in a frown, and tilted her head in mock confusion. “Wait. Correct me if I’m wrong, James, but didn’t you just get beat by a woman, a very old, wrinkled one with a cane? I think you’re slipping.”

  I wouldn’t have poked that fire with a ten-foot pole, and I thought Abby absolutely fucking nuts to tease him, but then again, she’d known him a lot longer than I had. Plus, in the Land of the Rich and Reckless, it seemed kidnappings and threats and deception were par for the course.

  James’s eyebrows lifted dangerously, but before he could respond, there was sudden movement on the bed between them. Nick lifted a hand to his face and let out a soft groan. His blue eyes fluttered open, then shut again as he tried to shake off the drugs and force himself awake. “What the... What happened?” he stuttered, squinting in adorable confusion as he struggled to lift his head. “I don’t...” Just a second later, those eyes landed on James. “Shit,” he said, knowing he was in a whole pile of it.

  “Shit is what you are, you two-faced son-of-a-bitch!” James cried, with all the fury of a redneck in a bar fight. He leapt on top of Nick, gripped fistfuls of his collar, and slammed his head against the mattress.

  Abby promptly dived between the two, but that was only to carefully extract her mimosa before retreating back to her armchair and reopening her magazine, content to let them fight it out on their own.

  Of course it wasn’t much of a fight. I knew James wouldn’t ever actually hurt his friend.

  Also, despite being well aware of the danger about to befall him, Nick wasn’t exactly able to move. “Wait!” he cried as James picked up a pillow. “I didn’t... I didn’t know she was gonna drug you, man! I figured you guys would talk, and then you’d come to the island and talk it out and—”

  “You’ve always been a shitty liar. You knew exactly what she was planning!”

  “Wrong! I’m an astounding liar,” Nick argued, doing his best to fight back, considering that half of his body was still paralyzed from Granny’s secret recipe. “This is ridiculously unfair, you know. I can’t move my hands!”

  “Okay, that’s enough,” I said and bravely placed myself between them. I eased James back with gentle, coaxing hands. “Honey, given that Nick was drugged the same way you were, maybe it’s safe to say he didn’t know what your grandmother had planned.”

  “Exactly,” Nick said, sitting up and stretching out his arms.

  James pulled out his cell phone and angrily pushed a few buttons, then slipped it back in his pocket and sighed. “No reception. What a shocker.”

  Abby smiled. “Great. I get Nick all to my self.”

  My heart leapt tentatively in my chest, but before I could ease the tension by making some sort of impromptu silver-linings speech, he was off again, practically jogging down the hall like the hounds of hell were behind him. The three of us stared at the doorway for a moment before hurrying after him, racing down the winding staircase and out into the open air.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Nick asked in alarm as James hopped into the nearest golf cart and revved it to life. “Dude, it’s an island. There’s nowhere to go, unless you plan on taking a long-ass swim.”

  James flashed a quirky grin and offered me his hand. “That’s precisely why we need a plane.”

  Less than a minute later, all four of us were racing along the same path we’d taken to get to the house. At first, Nick and Abby tried to persuade James to stay, but when he pointedly reminded them that they, too, were at the mercy of his grandmother, they eagerly joined the mission.

  We streaked over the dusty path and rounded the corner to get back to the water, stressing the poor engine to its limits. Unfortunately, as soon as we reached the shore, the plane that carried us there flew over our heads, soaring into the wild blue yonder as we stared up helplessly from the dock.

  “Fuck!” James shouted, leaping from the cart and waving his hands desperately from the ground. “Come on!”

  The rest of us were slower to exit the golf cart, but we didn’t share in his rage. Instead, our eyes locked on someone just be
hind him, someone who was watching us with a smile on her face and a cane in her hand.

  “If you’re finished shouting at my pilot, there are some caterers who could use a good scolding as well. The shrimp isn’t fresh!”

  James whirled around just in time for his grandmother to reward him with a self-satisfied smirk.

  “Dinner’s at seven, dear. Don’t be late.”

  The two of them locked eyes for a moment before he turned on his heel and stalked off. “I’ll be on the beach somewhere, building a raft.”

  Chapter 16

  AS PROMISED, THE EVENING meal began promptly at seven. The table was set, the gourmet food was plated, and every seat was dutifully filled, but it was very clear that not everyone was happy to be there.

  “Nothing for me, thanks, Walter.” James cupped a hand over his empty glass and pushed it deliberately away from him. “We never really know what we’re drinking around here.”

  “Are you still whining about that?” Granny cackled, already on her fourth sherry. “It was hours ago, Jamie. You’re fine.”

  “Don’t call me that,” he snapped reflexively. “As for the poison, there was no reason for you to do that. Why can’t you just talk to me like a normal person?”

  “It wasn’t poison, love, just a...sleep aid.”

  “Why must you do that? Why go straight to the drugs?”

  Granny lowered her glass and threw a wry smile over the rim. “The last time I talked to you and let you pack, you left an SOS with our coordinates in shaving cream on the bathroom mirror. Ferdie found it and came for you within twelve hours.”

  James stabbed sullenly at a spear of asparagus, obviously upset that the same tactic couldn’t be employed again. “That man is a saint. Clearly, I can’t say that about everyone I know...or am related to,” he said, scowling at Granny and then Nick.

  “What about you, Nicholas?” Granny asked, turning deliberately away from her grandson. “You seem to be recovering nicely.”

  Nick flashed her a tight smile, but recovery seemed to be the last thing on his mind. The very second we walked down the stairs for dinner, the man was relentlessly assaulted by her pack of corgis. They usually stayed right at Granny’s feet, but something about Nick caught their attention, and even as we dined, a wicked battle of footsie raged on with one of them under the table. “Yeah, it’s... I’m fine,” he fibbed.

  There was a muffled snarl, followed by a painful gasp as his leg jerked under the table.

  “Hey, I thought the dogs were back on the mainland with Joseph and the kids. Did you, uh...just bring them out here for the week?” he dared to ask.

  Another snarl answered that question, and the silverware rattled as Nick jumped back in his chair.

  Granny glanced up casually from her drink, then snapped her fingers for another sherry. “I had Jonathon fly them out. They’re such a comfort to me in my advancing years, and I seem to remember that you developed a certain fondness for them the last time you were here.”

  Nick crossed his legs as the dog circled around again. “Actually, I think it was tetanus I developed,” he muttered, not loud enough for her to hear.

  “So, Granny,” Abigail intervened, hastening to change the subject as she gestured around the room and donned her sweetest smile, “I love the renovations you’ve—”

  “A week?!”

  All eyes flew to the front of the table.

  James suddenly slammed his fork down, effectively smashing that spear of asparagus. “You plan to keep us here for a whole fucking week, old woman?”

  Granny straightened slowly, matching him glare for glare. “That is a mere estimation, James. The truth of the matter is that you will not leave this island until you come to your senses and agree to take over your father’s company.”

  He opened his mouth to argue, but he couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

  She was quick to add, “With Della by your side, I fully approve.”

  He stared fiercely across the table. “I say this with love, Granny, but it’s really none of your business. I’m a grown man, and this is my life! I get to decide. I get to prioritize, to protect what I choose to protect, and if that means giving up the company to keep what I have with Della safe from the corporate firestorm, that’s my call!”

  It was a powerful speech, delivered with a perfect blend of passion, frustration, and restraint, but not a stitch of that meant shit to Granny. She simply nodded patiently as he spoke the words, and then the table fell silent for a full minute as she stared down at her lap and turned over her napkin. I tensed automatically when I saw a thoughtful frown on her face, but when she finally raised her head, that had morphed into a gentle smile. “And as your grandmother, who loves you very much,” she said, “it’s my job to stop you. I, too, get to protect what I choose to protect, and that is you, even if I must protect you from yourself.”

  There was nothing left to say. She couldn’t deny that James honestly believed he was doing the right thing, and he couldn’t deny that she was following her heart. He remained in his chair even as she stood from hers and circled around to kiss him on the forehead.

  “So how long do you really plan to hold me prisoner in this little fortress of yours?” he demanded, but there was no fight left in his voice, no frustration or indignant rage. There was only a calm sort of acceptance as he gazed up at her from his seat.

  She returned his gaze with an affectionate smile. “As long as it takes, my love.” She patted his cheek and nodded to bid us all goodnight before she swept out of the dining room. “As long as it takes!” she repeated as she waddled down the hall.

  Chapter 17

  “I’M REALLY SORRY, DELLA. I promise I’ll find some way to get us out of here.”

  I sat on the bed, watching James pace the floor, one of his regular habits when he was upset. For the last ten minutes, he’d been apologizing and scheming, with equal vigor.

  “The woman’s always been bat-shit crazy, but I can’t believe she’s gone this far, especially not with a vacant chair already on the board.”

  I nodded silently, as it had become my custom to let him rant and rave. My eyes drifted wistfully to the glorious tropical paradise outside. Even from where I sat on the bed, I could hear the birds singing, smell the flowery salt breeze, and see the crystalline water crashing against the shore, and I didn’t feel like a prisoner at all.

  “I know this guy who lives on Antigua. If I can just get a message to him, maybe he can send a plane and some crucifixes we can use to repel my grandmother. How does that sound?”

  I looked up with a start, suddenly aware that he’d asked me a question. “Hmm?”

  He paused mid-step, looking over at me for the first time. “I said I might know a way we can get off this island. Are you okay with that?”

  “Uh, yeah, of course. It’s just...” My half-hearted enthusiasm died on the tip of my tongue as I gazed out once more toward the water. “Do you think... James, couldn’t we stay just long enough to go snorkeling? We could have a mai-tai and take a stroll on the beach. It’s so beautiful here. I’ve never been to a place like this before. And maybe you could calm down and have a civilized conversation with your granny, and really think about what she has to say. She shouldn’t have drugged you, but you’re here now. And I think the two of you have much to discuss and—

  “So you want to stay?” he cut in, and all the plotting and scheming instantly washed away.

  Even though he didn’t state it like a question, I backtracked at the speed of light and blurted, “No, not at all! Back to London, I say. Full speed ahead. I don’t care if we have to ride out of here in a cargo container—”

  “Della, talk to me.” James perched beside me on the bed, gazing intently at me with those beautiful, dark eyes. “You want to stay, don’t you?”

  My shoulders wilted as I looked down at my hands. “I’ve just... This is a new experience for me, like something out of a dream. I mean, I’ve seen pictures of paradise, but I’ve never...” I
trailed off as my eyes drifted longingly to the window before dropping with embarrassment to my lap. “I’ve never even swam in the ocean.”

  James’s mouth fell open in absolute shock, as if he was unable to fathom such a thing.

  “What?” I countered defensively. “Not all of us can run off to Grandma’s Fantasy Island in the summers. I lived in Kentucky, then New York, and now London, not exactly beachy tourist towns.” Another wave of embarrassment colored the tops of my cheeks, and I dropped my eyes to the bedspread once more. “We didn’t have money for those kinds of trips when I was younger, so I just figure that as long as we’re here, maybe I can do some of those things I’ve always wanted to try. We don’t have to stay long, but while we’re looking for a way to leave, I’d like to have some fun.”

  James’s face softened tenderly as he stood from the bed and offered me his hand. “Come on.”

  IT WAS DARK BY THE time we got to the beach, dark, fragrant, and magical.

  Despite the way we were unexpectedly transported from the chilly streets of London, Granny’s closets were fully stocked, so it was easy enough for us to dress the part. He looked great in his tan slacks and white button-down, with the few top buttons undone. I opted for a simple beach dress, floral and breezy, the kind that allowed warm bits of sand to dance across my bare legs with every step.

  We strolled leisurely across the white beach, watching the palm trees sway in the breeze as we gazed up at the stars. The world was quieter there, as most of the islanders had already turned in for the evening, and those who were still awake were no doubt cavorting in the boathouse, getting drunk off music and women and rum.

  The moon shined brightly on the churning waves. My feet sank, and I loved the feeling of sand in between my toes. And then when the ocean first touched my feet... Wow!

  “I love the smell of the salty ocean,” I said.

  He wrapped an arm around me. “Me too.”

  “It’s so beautiful here,” I murmured when we came to a stop far away from the twinkling lights of the compound, gazing out at the open sea. “I can’t imagine why she would ever want to leave.”