BILLIONAIRE (Part 7) (7 page)

“Yes. 
A gold key.  It’s the key to my office.  And my bedroom.  And it’s yours now.”

After
all the recent melodramas, this gift was a heavy statement: a promise. 
The
key to my bedroom. 
I would never again be trapped, or locked in.  My
freedom was his new priority, one that was, at times, difficult for him to
allow; it meant that he had to relinquish total control.

And
here, too, was the key to his office.  Knowing what I did about Alexander, this
was significant.  He was allowing me out and allowing me in.  His office was
his kingdom, the control center of his vast empire, the one he’d struggled and
sweated and toiled his whole life to build, driven by desperation at times,
spurred by dreams and also nightmares.  The same office he’d been very reticent
to allow me to step into, once our relationship had taken on the intensity that
had begun that very first day I’d met him.  Still, I wasn’t sure what this
meant.  Maybe this was the key he gave to all his assistants, to tidy up, to
take notes, to file away the paperwork he hadn’t quite gotten to.

“I
don’t want you to be my assistant,” he said, reading my mind and dashing my hopes
with a single, brusque pronouncement.

I
didn’t answer right away, but I could tell he could read my disappointment by
the way his chin dipped lower and he assessed me from under his long
eyelashes.  I was slightly irritated when he grinned again, as though he found
my disappointment amusing.

“I
want you to be my business partner,” he continued.  “I’m going to train you to
work alongside me.”

I
couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  He wanted to
share
his publishing
empire with me?  Not just as a minion but as an equal?  I didn’t know what to
say.  I was completely, utterly speechless.

He
took another step closer, holding out the blue box.  “None of it means anything
without you, Lila.  I want you.  I love you.  Now open this one.”

I
think my jaw had dropped open by this point.  And it only got worse when
Alexander bent down onto one knee in front of me.  Before I could reach for the
small blue box, Alexander looked up at me.  Slowly, tantalizingly, he opened
it, revealing the biggest, glintiest diamond ring I had ever seen.  The obscenely-large
rock was set on a band made of honey-colored gold.  It was simple and luxurious
and exceptionally beautiful.  Solid and mesmerizing, catching light.  I
couldn’t take my eyes off of it.

Until
Alexander began to speak.  Then it was his face that held my attention.  His
sincere, heart-breaking face.  “I figured since I can’t bear to let you out of
my sight,” he began, “and I can’t breathe when you’re not near me, and nothing
is as important to me than your well-being and your happiness … well, that I
better make a few changes around here.  Will you make me the happiest man alive
by saying yes to me?  Lila, will you marry me?”

It
took me several seconds to respond to him.  He reached for my hand, taking the
ring from the box and sliding it onto my fourth finger.  It fit perfectly, like
it belonged there.

Then
he tugged gently on my hand, pulling me down to him.  I kneeled in front of
him.  His presence and his love fed me a kind of comfort I’d never experienced
before.  Contentment, joy, unadulterated hope.

“Yes,”
I finally said.  I hadn’t realized I was crying until I felt the warm slide of
a tear on my cheek, and my throat felt tight when I choked out my reply.  “I’ll
marry you.  I’ll marry you.”

Alexander
took my face in his hands.  “Thank God for that.  I already bought you an
engagement present.  It’s down below, in my garage.  How do you feel about
Porsche 918 Spyders?  I can get you something else if you don’t like it.  Of
course you’ll also have your own limo and driver, and the use of mine whenever
you want it.  But it’s always nice to have your own wheels.  Do you know how to
drive, Lila?”

“No.”

“Great,
I can teach you.  And when –”

“Alexander.”

“Yeah?”

“You
don’t have to buy me a car.  You’ve already –”

“Too
late,” Alexander said, cutting me off.  “We can argue about that later.” 

But
then he smiled at me.  He kissed me, tenderly, hungrily, endlessly.  Our hands
were all over each other, our mouths insatiable.  Until we were rolling on the floor,
clothes tossed aside.  Until I was naked except for my new diamond ring, which
I had no desire to ever take off.  Until he was all around me, on me, inside
me.

I
believed that Alexander and I were destined to be together.  Our attraction had
begun with an uncontrollable lust and grown into an all-encompassing, deeply
meaningful, wholly necessary bond.  There would be bumps in the road along the
way, I had no doubt about that.  He’d given me his key and his ring, and he’d
promised me he’d try to curb his obsession, to give me room to breathe while
still keeping me safe.

I
couldn’t see the future, and I hoped that our love would sustain us.

Time
would tell …

$

eBooks
now available:

BILLIONAIRE (Part
1) by Juliette Jones

BILLIONAIRE (Part
2) by Juliette Jones

BILLIONAIRE (Part 3
& Part 4) by Juliette Jones

BILLIONAIRE (Part
5) by Juliette Jones

BILLIONAIRE (Part
6) by Juliette Jones

BILLIONAIRE
(Part 7) by Juliette Jones

AND

BILLIONAIRE
(Complete Book)

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Coming
soon:

BILLIONAIRE
(Book 2)