The Billionaire Encounter Read online

  His eyes locked with mine. He slowly nodded.

  “Do you have a place to stay?”

  A sly smirk spread across his lips as he slowly nodded his head yes.

  “That’s good.”

  “What if I didn’t?”

  “Then I guess you’d be in trouble,” I replied. “What I don’t understand is why you are upset with Dante. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  “Dante put me in prison.” Alex became stoic.

  “How?”

  “It’s a long story. But he knows that if I find that piece of paper it’ll all be over for him. That’s why he’s keeping me out.” Alex stood from his chair and walked over to me. “Stand up.”

  “What for?”

  “Just stand up,” he ordered as he reached down, took hold of my arms and brought me to my feet.

  I didn’t move; I couldn’t. My heart was pounding like a jackhammer as I looked up at this strange, beautiful man. Before I could do or say anything he had his lips pressed against mine. I didn’t know what to do. At first my body went rigid but as he kissed me I felt all inhibitions slip away. I let his tongue find mine as I leaned into his broad chest.

  When he finally pulled back I swayed loosely, wondering how I was still standing, barely feeling my legs. I should have been on my back across one of these gaming tables. My eyes fluttered open to see Alex standing there, his cheeks red.

  “Why did you do that?” I asked.

  “Because I was just released from prison today.” He smirked. “And I wanted to savor the forbidden fruit before Dante got his hands on you.”

  “You say that as if I have no say in the matter.” I was nearly crying. What was wrong with me?

  “Are you telling me that you’ll reject him?”

  “I haven’t even started working there yet. Tomorrow is my first day.”

  With that Alex smiled. It was a beautiful, real smile that showed off dimples. For some reason I wondered how long it had been since he’d smiled like that. So freely and honestly. It was contagious and I smiled back, nervously bouncing on my pinched pinky toe.

  “Nova Lyons, I have to go.” His eyes still continued to penetrate into mine.

  “Will I see you again?”

  “If you are going to help me, then yes.” he opened the door. The sounds of talking and a television playing wafted in, bringing all the realities of the day into the room. I wanted to stay there with him. I wanted to feel his strong lips against mine. There was a story unfolding that I was only getting small shreds of and I wanted to know it all.

  “I never said I’d help you,” I replied defiantly. Where did those words come from?

  “Not with words.” He stepped aside for me to leave. Slowly I walked past him, inhaling the smell of burning leaves and apple cider that emitted from him. “I’ll be in touch.”

  “How? When?” Oh, could I have sounded any more desperate?

  “Tomorrow. But Nova, you need to remember one thing.” A shadow fell over his face as spoke. Sadness filled his eyes while he clenched his fists. “Dante is used to doing things his own way. Just saying no doesn’t work with a guy like him.”

  There was still something unbelievable about everything Alex had told me. I left the comic book store and headed back to my apartment. Once I stepped off the elevator, I kicked off my shoes and padded barefoot down the hallway to my front door.

  I was seconds away from slipping inside undetected when Richard opened his.

  “Hey, how did the interview go?”

  I didn’t reply and closed my door, snapping the deadbolt into place. Tomorrow was my first day at Ramsey Industrial Technologies.

  5

  Alex

  As much as I wanted to stay with Nova there was one woman I needed to see. She was who I thought of while I was in prison. I worried about her and tried to contact her but Dante stood in the way. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed me. My mother, who hadn’t written a single letter to me in jail, never made one phone call, she needed me. Whether she knew it or not.

  My car, a 1975 vintage Porsche, was waiting for me in the RIT garage where I’d left it. As I sped in the direction of Homer Glen, a northern suburb not far from Chicago, I tried to focus. I wasn’t going to be able to just walk into the home I’d grown up in. I had to make it clear that I wasn’t there to fight. It wouldn’t be like the day I was led away in handcuffs.

  But as hard as I tried to focus, all I could think of was Nova. When I slipped my arms around her waist to prevent her from leaving, I’d felt the softness of her body. Not only had I been away from women for five years, but there had been no physical contact of any kind with the exception of a hand shake or a beating in self defense. Sometimes one led to the other.

  To feel that softness, the curve of her waist, the fullness of her breast pressing against me made every animal instinct rise up from deep inside me. There was a second when I almost took her.

  I hadn’t expected her to kiss me back the way she did. I was sure she’d tear away from me with a slap and a gasp and barge her way out the door. But she hadn’t. She’d disarmed me, leaving me as with pure animal lust that wanted nothing more than to satisfy the urge that rose inside. I would have made love to her right there had I been a weaker man.

  Just the thought of her lips was distracting me as I drove. I couldn’t bear it. I had to focus because a couple blocks further and I would be at my mother’s home.

  Dante had probably already called security. I was sure there would be an army of squad cars, red and blue lights rolling. Doors open with officers in bullet proof vests and shotguns aimed in my direction waiting for me. But as it turned out there was none of that.

  Slowly, I drove up the long cobblestone driveway to the front of the house. My mother had loved that movie with Scarlett O’Hara and the southern plantation. She had my father make sure their home had big, white pillars and tall windows that stretched from floor to ceiling.

  Not much had changed with the exception of a few more sculptures in the yard and different flowers in the beds. The trees had gotten bigger and for some reason I felt as if I’d gotten smaller. Shame settled over me. Had I been smarter, like my father always taught me, I would have outsmarted Dante and none of this would have ever happened. But I let my emotions run rough-shot and it’d cost me everything. At least everything that was important, like the relationship with my mother.

  I parked the car and waited for the sound of guard dogs being released. There was nothing but the chirping of birds as they flitted and dipped in the birdbath at the right side of the yard.

  Before I could knock, the door opened. It was a man I’d never seen before.

  “Mr. Ramsey?” he asked without smiling.

  “I’m Alex Ramsey. Who are you?”

  “I’m Donald Kaye, Mr. Ross’s personal secretary. I was told you’d be arriving today. Please come in.” Already I didn’t like this. Donald Kaye looked like a bookie in a suit. His hair was thinning and his fingers were stubby. The look in his eye was that of a cat waiting outside a crack for the mouse to stick its head out.

  “I need to speak to my mother,” I said, feeling the hair rise on the back of my neck as I stepped inside the house. “Where is she?”

  “Miss Florence isn’t having visitors.”

  “I’m not a visitor. I’m her son and…”

  “Doctor’s orders are that she is not to be disturbed. In such a frail condition it might…”

  “Mother!” I yelled and pushed past Donald heading toward the stairs. “Mother!”

  “Mr. Ramsey, I didn’t want to do this but I will call the police.”

  “Mother!” I screamed, my body buzzing with fear for her safety. I stomped to the master bedroom and threw open the doors only to find the room empty. Donald was strolling up behind me with his hands in his pockets.

  Without thinking I lunged for him, grabbing him around the throat and slamming him into the wall.

  “Where is she?” I squeezed his ne
ck so hard it was no wonder he couldn’t speak. I rapped the back of his head against the wall anyway and repeated my question. His eyes shifted to a guest room behind me. The door was closed. With one more crack against the wall I turned Donald loose and dashed to the door.

  Donald fell to the floor gasping. When I stepped into the room I smelled the sweet lavender that my mother had always worn. The room was nice but void of all the little extras she kept in the master bedroom. The scented candles and the puffs for powder. Elegant antique atomizers of all shapes and colors. Family portraits and her statue of the Blessed Virgin. There was none of that here, just a room where she’d been tucked away.

  When I finally got my bearings I saw her. Florence Ramsey, the woman who raised me to love art and music, and taught me to tell the truth and be kind to people less fortunate sat in a wheelchair facing the window, slumped over asleep.

  “Mother?” I was immediately at her side. Tears filled my eyes and the vision of her blurred. Her jewelry was gone. Her nails weren’t done. Her hair was still thick and silver but I couldn’t tell when the last time anyone had brushed it for her. “Mother, it’s me. It’s Lexy. Can you hear me?”

  “She doesn’t even know you’re here.” Donald coughed, still on the floor in the hallway. “So you see, all you did was open up a can of grief for yourself. She’s got dementia.”

  I slipped my hand into my mother’s and squeezed it hard.

  “Mommy,” I whispered. “I’ll get you out of here.” Just then I felt her squeeze my hand tightly. My heart cracked open in my chest as I sobbed at her side. She held on tightly for what felt like forever. But then she lost her strength and slipped into that haze I had found her in.

  When I stood up I felt ashamed of myself. Here I was tall, strong, and healthy, and still I wasn’t able to protect my mother. I’d lost my temper and practically handed my father’s legacy over to that monster who would keep my mother alone and locked away like an animal. As I looked around the room I saw the counter in the bathroom was littered with pill bottles.

  “Don’t go in there!” Donald shouted.

  “She doesn’t have dementia,” I muttered. “They’re drugging her.” With renewed rage I walked up to mother, kissed her on the top of her head and rubbed her cheek. “I’ll be back, mother.”

  Then I turned my eyes on Donald who was just getting to his feet. I ran after him, tackled him in the hallway and after introducing my fist to his face, I demanded to know the name of the doctor seeing my mother. He coughed it up like I’d performed the Heimlich Maneuver on him. But just when I thought my luck was turning, Donald pulled an ace from his sleeve. An ace in the shape of a .38 Special.

  “I think it’s time you go.”

  “If anything happens to my mother, I can assure you that you’ll never be dead enough,” I growled.

  He snickered and motioned for me to get out.

  I left the property and headed back to my apartment downtown. My mind swam as I wondered how long Dante had kept Mother in this state. Surely Joan knew she hadn’t been in the office for several months if not longer. Yet, she’d said nothing to me.

  Had Dante gotten to the whole company? Was it packed with his people?

  There was only one person who could find out for me. Nova. I had to talk to her right away.

  6

  Nova

  “Are you sure this office is okay?” Dante asked me after I filled out all my necessary paperwork and was introduced around the department. “It’s right next to mine but you and I will be working together a lot. You’re going to get very tired of seeing my face.”

  It was torture. For as much as I wanted to believe what Alex had said about Dante, I couldn’t help but be drawn to him. Dante Ross was as a charmer.

  “This office is more than adequate.” I blinked as I took in the space. Of course, it wasn’t as big as his office but it had one whole wall of windows, a leather love seat, an oak wrap-around desk with one of those ergonomically correct chairs to help support your back.

  “I’d say it’s pretty nice, too.” He smiled down at me. “The love seat also folds out to a bed.”

  “What?”

  “Forgive me. We haven’t even discussed the most important thing.” He walked over to the door that joined both our offices. “Where to have lunch.”

  I blushed as I looked at my desk. There was a laptop ready for me to start learning their procedures. This afternoon around two o’clock I was supposed to have some tech guy come in and show me the ropes on the company system. It was already eleven.

  “Do you like seafood?” Dante asked.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Then I know just the place. I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes.”

  “Okay,” I responded. The entire morning was a blur. Especially since I kept waiting for there to be some red alert broadcast over the speakers that Alex had come back, storming the castle walls and screaming like a harpy. But, so far, nothing.

  Maybe he was pulling some sort of flim-flam on me. Maybe he had mastered the art of manipulation in prison and was attempting to use me to… to… to what? I took a seat at my desk and let out a deep breath. I had to admit that my new office was amazing.

  Upon further reflection, I decided there wasn’t anything I could do for Alex. I was brand new here. I didn’t even know the code to the ladies’ room door memorized yet.

  Why did he have to kiss me? That was the question. It wasn’t just an ordinary kiss, either. It was lustful. I’d never been kissed like that before. And as much as I found Dante attractive, he was a married man. It didn’t matter how well he kissed.

  “Wait a second, Nova,” I muttered. “Get a hold of yourself. No one is kissing anyone. This is your job. Don’t screw it up.”

  “Screw what up?” came a female voice from my door.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I was just talking to myself.” I blushed. “I’m Nova Lyons.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard you’re the new Coordinator in D&D.”

  I stared at the woman waiting for her to introduce herself. She was about ten years older than me putting her in the thirties somewhere. She was wearing a tight pair of slacks and a low-cut blouse that played peek-a-boo with a lace camisole underneath. She was pretty but I got the feeling she wasn’t interested in being friends.

  “That’s right. Dante hired me yesterday.” The words just sort of tumbled out of my mouth. I felt like the new girl at school being grilled by one of the popular girls. This was ridiculous. “What is your name?”

  “Sarah Towny. Well, you should know that Dante has the tendency to change his mind quickly. I’ve known him for a while.” Sarah looked around my office. “We’ll have to do lunch some time and I’ll tell you all about it.”

  Just then Dante reappeared in the door that separated our offices.

  “Nova? Are you ready… Sarah? I see you’ve met Nova. I hope you aren’t scaring her with stories about working late and coming in on the weekends.”

  Sarah batted her eyes and smiled widely.

  “Not yet,” she joked.

  “That reminds me, I’ll need you stop by my office before five. We actually do have a few scheduling issues I need to go over.”

  “Not a problem,” Sarah replied then turned to me and patted me on the shoulder as if we’d suddenly become best buddies. “Welcome, Nova. I’ll be seeing you around.”

  Just as quickly as she arrived, Sarah left. I got the distinct feeling that she was running back to some coven of secretaries to report what she found out so far. Office politics were not new to me. They came with every job I’d ever had from my first gig at McDonald’s when I was sixteen to now.

  “She might be a little jealous,” Dante whispered.

  “What? Why?”

  “She put in for your job but didn’t get it,” he said sadly. “She just didn’t have the experience you have. Besides, it’s important to keep the flow of fresh faces and ideas coming into this place. I don’t mind promoting from within as long as the recip
ient is deserving. I can’t just do it because we are friends, know what I mean?”

  “Of course.” I nodded. It made perfect sense to me.

  At lunch I was surprised to find that it was just Dante and I seated at a cozy table for two. Usually, the new person gets taken out to lunch with a couple of coworkers so they can find out more about you. I might have been green but I wasn’t still a seed.

  “I love the raw oysters at this place,” Dante said after ordering a martini for himself and a Coke for me. “But I think I’m in the mood for salmon this afternoon. Have you ever been salmon fishing?”

  “No,” I replied as I sipped my drink. The more Dante talked the more I was convinced that Alex had been lying. This guy might have been a bit eccentric, maybe a little weird but he was a gentleman. He told me about fishing off the coast of Maine, about skiing in Aspen, and about how he wanted to spend a summer at the Crater of Diamonds in Arkansas.

  “I know I probably wouldn’t find anything but wouldn’t it be fun! I’d really rough it, too. Sleeping in a tent with a campfire and sleeping bag under the stars at night,” Dante mused.

  “Would Mrs. Ramsey like to do that too?”

  Dante cleared his throat. “Mrs. Ramsey hasn’t been well for awhile. She wouldn’t be able to make the trip even if she wanted to.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said, feeling like I’d really stepped in it. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “It’s okay. Most everyone in the office knows. It’s only fair you do too.” He stared at his martini glass. “I fell in love with her the minute I saw her. She was married then to Hugo Ramsey. I had so much respect for that man. He taught me everything I know.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. He was a good friend. It broke my heart when he died. A heart attack. He didn’t take care of himself. Then there were all the problems with his son.” My heart began to race when Dante talked about Alex. I listened. “It was probably a blessing Hugo didn’t see what happened. But it broke Florence’s heart. We’d only been married a couple of years and he was sentenced…”