A Double Dose of Billionaire: Part Two (4 page)

I took in a deep breath. Their sweet scent surrounded this room. I had gotten used to it, even started to love it. I didn’t want to let go of them. Not yet.

I lied down on the bed and crossed my legs. Thoughts ran through my mind. At first, I was distracting myself from thinking about the twins, redirecting my mind to different things, like what to make for breakfast tomorrow and the reports I needed for work. But the more I tried to stop thinking about them, the more they popped up.

The notion of having to leave them eventually sent a pang of pain to my heart.

Mad at myself for being so desperate, I rolled around onto my stomach and covered my head with the pillow. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I muttered. I was about to cry because of them. I refused to cry.

Just as my inner turmoil reached its peak, I heard the sound of the door clicking open. I threw the pillow away and whipped my head around. They were back.

“Your mother already left?” I asked. “That was pretty quick.”

They looked downtrodden, unlike their usual playful selves. Something was up.

“Are the two of you okay?”

Ryan sighed. “Just a little pissed off.”

“Your mom seemed to miss the both of you a lot.”

“Sometimes she should learn how to stop butting into our affairs.”

“Do you want to talk—?”

Without letting me finish my sentence, Riley pressed his lips on mine. His tongue forced its way in, and I allowed his entrance without any hesitation. When he broke the kiss to speak, he said, “No, just shut up, and let us make love to you.”

Love? Riley must have used the wrong word. He must have meant deep, passionate fucking, or something of that sort.

Our clothes fell on the floor before I had time to react. They took me more intensely than ever—there were no spankings, no smart remarks, no role-plays or rules, only unadulterated emotions of need and lust.

After that morning of hot and heavy sex, nothing much had changed. They were back to their teasing selves after leaving me bewildered, yet satisfied. We went down to eat breakfast after that. The breakfast had already turned cold, the bacon oily and stiff. They ate it anyway with smiling faces, probably to not hurt my feelings.

They didn’t have to pretend. I knew the food tasted God-awful compared to the norm.

They reminded me they needed to pack and leave for Paris. As their personal assistant, it was my job to help them out—or so they said. I didn’t think my job status applied during out-of-work hours.

We spent the next two days acting like our intense night of passionate sex hadn’t happened. All that screwing around made me ache all over. I considered bringing it up, but Ryan and Riley were so caught up with work, we didn’t have time to discuss it. The Paris trip took a lot from their schedule. The meetings and paperwork doubled so we could keep on track.

When they left, they offered to take me along.

“You could just hop onto the plane right now, you know?” Ryan said. “Won’t you miss us?”

I would, but having the house to myself sounded great, too. “You know I can’t.”

Riley kissed my cheek and hovered his lips over my ear. We were at a private landing—only the bodyguards and drivers served as an audience. “Think about it. Sex right next to the Eiffel Tower.”

My hands travelled to my face to cover how it had turned pink. “Somebody has to make sure the staff doesn’t slack off at work. And who’s going to answer your emails and sort out the paperwork on your behalf? I’d love to, guys, but you know I can’t.”

They both released a huffy sigh.

“We’ll let Helena do it,” Riley said.

“Helena? She slacks so much, it’s worrying. I caught her on Facebook playing silly games when she had a report for me due in two hours the other day. I told her off, but she still handed it in late. You both should really be more thorough with your interviews.”

Ryan snorted. “Since when did you become the boss of the company?”

“I’m not. But I care for you guys, so I care for your company.” Did I really just admit that out loud? I pushed it to the back of my mind, and the twins didn’t seem to notice it much. “Focus on your conference in Paris. I’ll make sure everything here is okay.”

“You’re starting to sound like a really naggy wife," Riley said.

“I’m your secretary. I’m supposed to help you out with things.”

“Don’t stress yourself out too much,” Ryan said
,
“and remember to think about us, or else.”

“I’ll be spending too much time
not
thinking about you.”

Ryan’s hand landed on my ass for the umpteenth time
.
I let out a soft yelp and glared at him. He responded with a blood-curdling smirk.

They gave me one last final goodbye and entered the plane. I paced back to the car where Tyrone waited for me, thinking over Riley’s words.

Wife? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

***

“They are
totally
into you,” Kristie said, stirring her cup of coffee.

I hadn’t met her since I moved in with the twins. Between personal time with Ryan and Riley, and work, I didn’t get the opportunity to meet up with her last week. Looking at my bubbly friend again was quite refreshing. We lounged in front of the twins’ gorgeous swimming pool. Riley had given me the go-ahead for inviting Kristie over.

I shoved another piece of cheesecake into my mouth. Without properly swallowing before speaking, I replied, “They said only two words that very loosely imply they like me—‘love’ and ‘wife’. How is that supposed to indicate anything?” I swung my fork around in an unrefined manner as I spoke.

She rolled her eyes and looked at me as if I were stupid. “They had a fight with their mom, who doesn’t like you. I'll bet they were fighting over you—"

"I think you're being a little too optimistic."

"—and then they said they loved you before giving you the best sex of your life. How could that mean anything else? You’re so bad at looking out for signs. It’s no wonder you always end up with the wrong guys.”

“But I thought you mentioned I had to find another job, or I'd be in trouble.”

“That’s different. You guys had only just met then, and the twins are notoriously infamous for sleeping around.”

“We met, like, one week ago. It hasn't been too long.”

“It’s long enough to fall in love, or at least raise some interest.”

Her cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation. She picked it up. “Hello? Oh, Keith, hi! How is it?”

I silently munched on my cheesecake, suddenly feeling like an outsider.

“Yeah. No problem. I miss you, too. Nine-fifteen? I’ll see you there. Love you, too!” She made kissy sounds into the mouthpiece and hung up the phone.

“Who was that?” I asked. She didn’t have a boyfriend when I got fired last week.

“My new significant other.” She sighed contentedly and looked up at the sky. “He has
awesome
biceps.”

“When did you meet him?”

“Two days after you left. And I think I’m in love.”

I pointed my fork at her. “You’re in lust.”

She squinted. “Can’t you be a little more dreamy? It’s love. I know it’s the real thing this time.” She clasped her hands together and stared off into space, acting like a Disney princess.

“That’s what you said about the last one.”

“And I was right. I loved him, but life got in the way. Jim got transferred, so I couldn’t be with him anymore. That doesn’t mean we didn’t love each other. You’ve got to have more faith in your twins. You have to be the luckiest woman in the world right now.
Two
super-hot, rich twins like you. Give it a shot. Even if it doesn’t work out, it’s worth the risk.” She took a swipe at my cheesecake. “Wow. You really can bake.”

“I don’t know…”

“Shut up and enjoy what you have, Scarlet. Or I’ll need to smack some sense into you.”

I still couldn’t wrap my head around what Kristie was saying. The prospect sounded too good to be true, like a dream. I had to constantly remind myself I was a stand-in plaything whenever I hung out with Riley and Ryan, I couldn’t simply do a three-sixty with my mindset and imagine them loving me right away.

“You should try asking them how they feel about you.”

I waved my hands. “No, no, that’ll be a complete disaster. They’ll think I’m one of the clingy types.”

“Well, you seem really confused now. It sounds like the best option. If they reject you, you’ll be ending it before falling in too deep, and if they don’t, you can kiss and have some great sex.”

What she proposed made sense, but the notion of going up to them and asking, “do you love me?” scared my wits out. “I might give it a shot.”

“That’s the spirit.” She grinned. “And while you’re mulling over things you shouldn’t be mulling over…” She took off her coat. What in Heaven's name was she doing? “How about a skinny dip in this pool?”

Kristie was in her undies before I had enough time to stop her.

“Carpe diem!” she shouted, before cannon-balling in.

***

We skinny-dipped a couple times during college. Back then, I would’ve joined in willingly, but I’ve packed on more than a few pounds after leaving the track team; I wasn’t that comfortable with my body anymore.

Kristie, on the other hand, looked just as slim as before. She didn’t have an inch of belly fat. Naturally-skinny people were so lucky.

“What are you waiting for?” Kristie said, swimming to the side of the pool. “Why don’t you join in?” Her blonde curls clumped together, and the water made her makeup run. How she still managed to look effortlessly-beautiful after that, I couldn’t figure out.

I had built a bit of a pooch, and I didn’t foresee I would get naked in front of another person while the twins were away, so I was wearing ugly, mismatched undergarments. “No, thanks, Kristie, I’m not in the mood.”

“You need to loosen up a little sometimes, you know? You’re always so uptight about things. This pool is amazing; it’s deeper than it looks.” She pushed herself from the edge of the pool and waded around before dipping her head in and doing an underwater somersault.

It looked incredibly fun, and I wanted an excuse to go wild again like the old days. I’d be more willing if my panties weren’t green and my bra an awful color of beige.

“I’ll go change out into a bikini,” I said, smiling.

She pouted. “Really? And here I am in my underwear. That’s not fair.”

I laughed. “Whatever.”

As I turned to make my way to the bedroom, I met my worst nightmare.

The twins’ mother watched us from the window of the living room, crossing her hands and wearing a distasteful look. A tall man in a suit stood next to her, a silver briefcase grasped in his hand.

Shocked, and a tad bit frightened, I shouted, “Kristie!”

“Yeah?” she responded, her head popping from the water’s surface.

“Put on some clothes.”

“Why?”

“Their mom is here."

"What?"

"Their mom. The wife of the CEO of Crawford. She's watching us from the window."

“Oh, my God.” The sound of water splashing followed by the tap of footsteps echoed from behind.

“I'll have to greet her first.”

The doors to the living room were see-through and automatic, similar to the kind they installed in malls. I walked through them to confront the middle-aged, ice-queen bitch from hell.

Mrs. Crawford narrowed her eyes at me. Without giving me a chance to say hello, she said, “I don’t appreciate having a half-naked female swimming in my sons’ pool.”

My palms got clammy. She looked like the devil, ready to eat me alive. “I’m sorry, um, ma’am.” She stared silently, as if trying to evaluate my personality. I pulled down the corner of my lower lip, feeling nervous and awkward. “So, what brings you here? It’s quite late.” I’d normally go up to people who didn’t like me and tell them to fuck off, but this woman was the twins’ mother. I wanted her to like me; if not, at least show a hint of acceptance.

But all she showed was plain disgust.

Tipping her chin up, she turned around and gestured to the man to follow her with a finger. “I have a proposal for you.” The man placed the briefcase onto the coffee table. She sat on one of the couches, but I remained standing, not having gotten permission to sit down. “Stay away from my sons, and you'll be duly rewarded.” Her servant opened the briefcase and presented a giant heap of money to me. How much was in there? Thick stacks of hundred dollar notes filled the briefcase.

I’d never come across so much cash in my life.

“There’s a hundred thousand dollars in here,” she said. “I can have another few hundred thousand wired to your account by tomorrow. I promise to pay you as much as you want, as long as you stay away from my sons. Name your price. Of course, it has to be within reasonable limits.”

Her words took a while to sink into me.

“What?” I asked, raising my head and tearing my eyes from the money.

“Five hundred thousand? A million? You will have to move, of course. I don’t want you staying near them. I’m sure two million will have you comfortably settled for the rest of your life.” She crossed her legs and pressed her lips into a thin line.