ALL THAT HE WANTS (Volume 1 The Billionaire's Seduction) (52 page)

Then I slapped his hand away.

“Ohhhh no, you ain’t gettin’ none o’ that!” I said in my best
oh no you di-int!
voice.

“I think I will,” he grinned as he followed me.

“Dream on, Mr. ‘Let’s Conserve Water.’”

He caught me again right in front of the door and spun me around. I fought him (not really), but his strong arms circled around my waist, pulled me against his body, and then he pressed his lips against mine.

I struggled for about two seconds – and then sank into the kiss.

I swear, it had to have been the pheromones. Sweaty or not, he smelled irresistible.

After about ten seconds, he broke it off and pulled out a keycard, then inserted it in the slot. “We’ll go in and take a shower…
together
… right after I finish getting reamed out by Johnny for ditching him again.”

Oh crap, that’s right.

In the crazy afternoon smorgasbord of sex – phone, car, and outdoors – I’d totally forgotten.

My stomach did a sick little flip-flop as I anticipated the angry reception waiting for us.

Connor swung open the door to the penthouse –

Speak of the devil.

Connor’s bodyguard was standing right in front of us, staring us down, before we took a single step inside. He was dressed in his customary dark suit, but without his sunglasses, so we could get the full impact of his scowl.

“Although I didn’t expect him to be waiting at the door for me,” Connor said, as though to an invisible audience. Then he pointed at me. “It’s all her fault.”

“My fault!” I cried out, turning to him. “I didn’t – ”

“Connor,” Johnny said in a strangled voice.

I turned back to Johnny and realized I’d misinterpreted his expression.

I’d thought he was angry – with us. With
me.

Instead… he looked worried.

Really
worried.

“What is it?” Connor asked, suddenly concerned.

“I’m sorry… I tried to get him out, but…”

Johnny trailed off without finishing the sentence.

I had a bad, bad flashback to
The Empire Strikes Back,
right before Lando Calrissian betrays Han and Leia to Darth Vader.

(Yes, I’m a nerd.)

Someone walked into view on the other side of the room. A man, very tall and very imposing, wearing a black business suit and a dark blue tie. He was older, probably in his late 50’s or early 60’s, but his broad shoulders and solid chest made him look powerful enough to take on someone half his age. Though his silver hair was receding up his forehead, he was still incredibly handsome, with a chiseled jaw, strong nose, and cruel lips.

In fact… he looked unsettlingly familiar.

“Hello, Connor,” he said in a dark bass voice.

I looked up at Connor, who gave a little smartass smirk, like
Great. Just great
.

“Hello…
Dad.
”

About 17 different things were going through my mind at this point.

First and foremost was one word:

Crap.

Crap, crap, crap, crap, Crap, CRAP,
CRAP.

‘Meeting The Parents’ is stressful under the best of situations.

It’s even worse when you’re standing there sweaty and rumpled after just having had kinky sex with their son.

Oh, and you’re not wearing any panties, either.

Yeah. So. Not at my best at that particular moment.

Second thing:

This is Connor’s father?!

This is the guy who cheated a nine-year-old at Monopoly?!

I peered even more closely at him.

If you are a huge nerd like me – or even if you’re not – perhaps you’ve watched
Game Of Thrones.
If so, then you know who Tywin Lannister is. He’s the badass, grim, ‘totally lacking in empathy and the milk of human kindness’ patriarch of the Lannister clan. He is played by Charles Dance, who has a gravelly voice, dangerous eyes, stands about 6’ 3”, and is one of the sexiest men on the planet over age 60.

This guy looked a lot like Charles Dance. Sounded a bit like him, too, without the British accent.

I usually like guys my own age – well, give or take six years in Connor’s case – and am
not
attracted to older men. Except in a few, very specific cases.

Go to Youtube and search for ‘Charles Dance 50 Shades Of Grey.’ Go on. I’ll wait.

Still waiting.

Seen it? Yes, it’s a hilarious clip, especially when he’s doing Anastasia’s voice. But when he does Christian’s?

‘Yeah… that’s what I thought.’

Daaaaaaaamn.

And the fact that this was what Connor would most probably look like in 30 years?

Not bad. Not bad at
all.

But there was a problem.

Like Tywin Lannister and the other villains Dance has played, this guy embodied the worst possible qualities:

The arrogance.

The coldness.

The total lack of empathy and kindness.

He looked exactly like someone who would crush his kid’s dreams to teach him some sort of effed up lesson about ‘the real world.’

And then would go to work and destroy real people and real lives to add another $100 million to his bank account.

He dressed just as expensively as Connor did, if a bit more conservatively. And he exuded wealth, privilege, and power.

It was like a king or an old-time lord had walked into the room… and not a particularly nice one.

Just like
Game Of Thrones.

He was tall as Connor – maybe even a hair taller. His eyes were the same piercing blue. And he had the same powerful build.

But he had none of Connor’s warmth. None of the mischievous charm.

Just cold, grim power.

Third thing:

Connor had greeted him like somebody seeing their deadbeat dad for the first time in months… but who had been expecting him to show up. No real surprise in his voice. Just irritation and a bit of fatalism, wrapped up in Connor’s smartass humor.

Fourth thing:

I noticed for the first time that there were other people in the room. Like, a
lot
of them.

Well… compared to normal.

Four tall, powerfully-built men in suits and sunglasses stood guard over the four corners of the room. They were silent and stone-faced, their hands folded behind them. They looked for all the world like Secret Service agents standing at attention.

Connor’s dad had apparently decided to err on the side of caution after Mexico.

I could see why Johnny hadn’t been able to clear the room before we arrived – though I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why he’d let them
in
in the first place.

But that question, along with a bunch of others, got answered in short order.

Connor strolled past me, completely at ease, as though finding his father and a bunch of hired goons occupying his hotel room was just another day at the office.

I snuck in behind him, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible as I smoothed down my dress. Johnny closed the door behind me.

Connor stopped about ten feet away from his father. The lack of a handshake or a hug was glaringly obvious – at least to me.

“I’d ask what you’re doing here, but I’m pretty sure I know the answer.”

“I would wager you do,” the older man said.

“So I’ll just ask the obvious question: what are you doing
here?”
Connor asked as he pointed at the floor. Then he looked back at Johnny. “I thought I paid you to keep out the riffraff.”

“Don’t be too hard on Mr. Inaba,” Connor’s father said drily. “The management was kind enough to let me in before he arrived.”

I looked around at Johnny.

He grimaced in pain, as though his professional pride had been bruised.

“I’ll have to speak to them about that,” Connor said.

“Don’t bother. I’m better friends with the owner than you are. I was expecting you back about an hour ago, but…”

Here Mr. Templeton tilted his head slightly to look around Connor – at
me.

The disdain on his features was subtle, but brutal nonetheless.

“…apparently you got
delayed.
”

I could’ve sworn he put an extra emphasis on the last syllable… like de-
laid.

My face flushed scarlet.

It didn’t faze Connor in the slightest, though.

“Oh – I’m being rude. Lily, this is my father, Augustus Templeton.”

Augustus. Just like Caesar.

Fits him.

Connor turned back and looked at me. His expression was slightly bemused. “Dad… Lily Ross.”

Mr. Templeton’s disdain suddenly became a lot less subtle. “Scraping the bottom of the barrel, are we?”

I was so shocked I couldn’t speak for a second.

Nobody had been that rude to me since –

Well, since Herr Klaus.

Maybe my last encounter with him had made me a bit more resilient, because when I spoke, I sounded
furious.
“
Excuse
me?”

But Connor had my back.

“Keep a civil fucking tongue in your head,
Dad,
or I’ll have you removed, friends of the owner or no.”

The old man smirked – a colder, meaner version of the expression I was so used to seeing on Connor’s face. He looked only at Connor, and not at me, as he spoke.

“Forgive me, young…
lady
…”

The knife-twisting pause he inserted before ‘lady’ let me know he didn’t consider me anything of the sort.

“…I have an unfortunate knack for speaking my mind.”

Connor gave a brief, unamused grunt. “Don’t worry, Lily – he’s an asshole to everybody.”

“Just not as crude as my son. Or as stupid.”

“So – what are you here for, besides trading insults?”

“To try to dissuade you from the utter idiocy of your current course of action.”

“What, you mean me continuing to listen to you?”

Mr. Templeton glanced at me before speaking. “I would prefer to continue this conversation in private.”

“No need,” Connor said, and I could hear the smile in his voice, even though I could only see his back. “Lily knows all about the desert. And my meetings with the governor and the congressmen.”

For the first time, Connor’s father looked surprised. Shocked, even – which is what I guess Connor was aiming for.

Mr. Templeton looked at me again, as though reassessing who I was.

As the lady on the GPS says,
‘Recalculating…’

Then he seemed to reach the same conclusion he’d had when I walked through the door.

“You really shouldn’t expose
all
of yourself to the… hired help,” he sneered.

At that, Connor lost it.

“That’s it. Get the fuck out, now.”

“Calm down. I was merely suggesting that she’s your… employee.”

By the tone of his voice, he most certainly meant
hourly
employee.

And one hired down on the street for something not legal, even in Las Vegas.

“I know what you’re suggesting,” Connor fumed. “Fuck you. Get out.”

“So she’s not your secretary? Or your personal… assistant?” Templeton asked, putting his own snide spin on the last word.

“Lily and I are dating.”

My eyes bugged out and my heart did a triple-flip.

I knew we were… well… I knew
something
was going on… but to hear him say we were ‘dating’…

It almost made it worthwhile to put up with his king jerk of a father.

The old man scoffed. “You’ve come down a ways since Miranda.”

Miranda?

I didn’t even care about the diss.

Who’s he talking about?

Connor shook his head angrily. “You know what? You can insult me – fine. You insult her?
Fuck you
and get out.”

At that, Connor strode towards his father.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw all four Secret Service agents move forward.

Johnny was even faster; he dashed past me in a blur.

“STOP IT!” I cried out, terrified for Connor and Johnny.

This was going to be
horrible.

But then Mr. Templeton spoke.

“
Wait.
”

It was a commanding tone of voice. The voice of an emperor or king. The voice of someone who was
never
disobeyed, on pain of death.

I’d heard Connor use a similar tone of voice… but even he wasn’t
this
intimidating.

Everyone in the room froze – even Connor. But he was right up in his father’s face, less than a foot away from him now.

Johnny stopped, too, but he was right by Connor’s side, body tensed like a steel spring, eyes focused on the left two Secret Service guys.

Connor and his father stared each other down. It seemed to drag on forever, although it was probably no more than three seconds.

Then Mr. Templeton glanced over at one of the Secret Service guys, tilted his head, and half-closed his eyes.

Stand down.

All four bodyguards slowly retreated back to the walls.

Johnny stayed where he was, though he relaxed noticeably.

Mr. Templeton looked back at his son with a scowl… and then relented.

However, he never looked at me the entire time he spoke – only at Connor.

“Ms…. Ross, is it? As my son can tell you, I’m not the most pleasant of men at times. Especially when he’s deliberately flouting me. My apologies.”

Though his lack of eye contact was dehumanizing, and there was no warmth in his voice, there was no sarcasm, either. I figured this was about as straight-up an apology as he’d ever given in his life.

The guy was a raging jerk, there was no doubt about that. But, when a multi-billionaire apologizes to you – no matter how insincerely – it’s not something you brush off lightly.

Though I considered my options for a brief second.

Be a bitch back at him, or take the high road?

No matter how much I disliked him, though, he was still Connor’s father.