Resisting the Billionaire Collection (50 page)

"I've got to get off at this stop." She
said.

She kissed MJ on the forehead and then stood
to wait for the train to stop. As she got off, she never looked
back. MJ watched her melt into the crowd.

God, I should have given her something, some
money or even just given her the address of the soup kitchen. Who
knows when she last ate?

Chapter Seven

Then Adam remembered where he had seen that old lady
before. She had ripped him off for ten bucks while he bought a
ticket at a station near here. She was a con artist and a
pickpocket. He yanked on the train doors, but they were locked.

He started shouting but the noise of the
trains shunting was too much. He watched as the old lady moved MJ's
bag behind her and then with one expert hand, slipped out her
wallet and smartphone as she spoke to MJ and squeezed her with her
free arm. Eventually MJ lifted her head and they exchanged more
words.

Adam banged on the glass but it was like he
was invisible.

The old lady handed the emptied bag back to
MJ and then kissed her on the forehead. MJ looked like she was
thanking her for her kindness.

God damn this heartless city.

"MJ!" He shouted. "MJ!"

The train came to a stop and he jumped out.
Already the commuter crowds were beginning to form. He ran after
the old lady as the train pulled away. If the old thief really had
MJ's wallet, he could find her address there anyway.

"Hey you! Stop! I saw what you did, come
back with MJ's wallet, you damn thief!"

The old lady began to hurry on, but she soon
realized she wasn't going to outrun the fit young man. It wasn't
worth it. She took out the wallet and threw it at him, still moving
away.

"Take it, you shithead. Now fuck off and
leave me alone."

"Give me the phone as well, you damn old
witch. Then I'll leave you alone."

The old lady took it out and flung it
straight at his forehead. She was a good shot. It hit him right
between the eyes and he went down like a felled prize fighter.

Chapter Eight

Joshua Drummond took the call immediately.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Is that how you answer the phone to someone
who’s doing you a favor?"

"I’m sorry, Ally. I’m kind of stressed-out
now. What is it?"

"It’s MJ. She’s coming around."

"Are you sure? What time will she get
here?"

"I said she’s coming around, as in she’s
considering not hating the Drummond family so deeply anymore that
the idea of dating one of you doesn’t want to make her run a
mile."

"Oh. I thought you meant coming around as
in--"

"I know what you meant, Josh. Not everything
is as quick as that. MJ is a person, not a luxury car. You can’t
just have her delivered to your door."

"Maybe not, but it’s a hell of an idea. How
soon do you think you can put her in front of me?"

"Jesus Christ Josh, if I didn’t know what a
sweetheart you are I wouldn’t let you within a million miles of one
of my best friends. I hope you aren’t going to act like this when
you meet her, because she won’t care one tiny bit how rich you are.
She’s not like those stick insect starlets who leave their panties
at home when they get invited to a Drummond brother bash."

Josh sniggered heavily.

"I’m counting on it Ally. I mean, just look
at you and Sebastian, or Daniel or whoever he is now."

"I like Daniel better."

"Whatever. And then there’s Melanie and
Alex. I’m telling you I want this woman."

"You mean my friend."

"Yes, your friend. MJ. I want her and I
don’t intend to give up until I have her in my…"

"In your bed?"

"In my life. I was going to say ‘in my
life’."

"Sure." Alison laughed. The three brothers
were so alike in their determination. Once they wanted something,
they had to have it. It was something she loved about them, the
intensity. Nothing was ever done in half measures by the Drummond
brothers. That’s why she had to hold him back. The kind of crazy
things they got up to just wouldn’t fly with MJ, and she didn’t
want things to backfire for her husband’s younger brother.

"Just don’t’ do anything crazy without
me."

"I wouldn’t dream of it."

"Is that why you’re in New York already?
Because you plan to do nothing about it?"

"Alison, come on. You’re helping me out
here, why would I lie to you? I’m just here because I trust you and
I want to be ready as soon as possible once she wants to meet me.
That’s all."

"Is that why you’re donating a million
dollars to a homeless charity?"

"Did you tell her already?"

"God no. Why would I do something as crass
as that?"

"Crass? How can totally upgrading,
refurbishing, and expanding a soup kitchen and homeless shelter be
crass?"

There was no point explaining. A man with
his kind of money had no understanding of modesty or doing good
deeds in private.

"Are you volunteering at the same place as
her?"

Joshua hesitated. He didn’t want to admit
the truth to Alison, but he didn’t want to lie to his sister-in-law
either.

"I work there on Friday night, she works on
Thursday."

Alison felt her blood rise. The Drummond
brothers never failed to exasperate her with the obsessive
determination they brought to every task. Maybe it was why they
were all legendary lovers; at least it was certainly the case with
Daniel. She had never experienced anything like her husband's
obsessive, toe-curling lust.

"I can’t stop you from going near her Josh.
But trust me, if you truly want her, don’t go doing anything
without telling me first okay?"

"Sure."

"Promise me."

"Look, Ally, I really gotta go, okay? There
are people here." He ended the call and looked around his
beautiful, empty, penthouse apartment.

"Don’t worry, Ally. I won’t do anything
crazy without you. What I have in mind isn’t crazy at all." He
scrolled down through his contacts and made another call.

"Where is she?" He said.

"She left work, Mr. Drummond. She’s heading
for the subway."

"It’s only 3:30. What the hell is she
leaving early for?"

"There was some kind of exchange between her
and Mr. Milligan."

"Why the hell didn’t you call me?"

"She left very suddenly and there’s a guy
following her."

Joshua jumped out of his plush leather
armchair.

"What does he look like?"

"Tall, good-looking, blonde. He’s a cycle
courier. He delivered something to her earlier today."

"God damn it." He hissed. "Where are they?
I’m on my way."

"Almost at her stop."

"Stay on them. Stay on him. If he goes
anywhere near her, take action. I’ll meet you at her place." He
jammed the phone into his pocket grabbed his jacket and ran from
the apartment.

Within minutes, his driver had delivered him
to MJ’s home stop. He found an inconspicuous spot and sat with a
newspaper to hide his face as he scanned the people getting off the
latest train.

He spotted her immediately.

Oh my God. There she
is.
He thought, as though a movie star had
just walked into the station. Better than that even. Joshua knew
plenty of movie stars. They bored him to death with their
insufferable name-dropping stories about what happened on the set
of whatever flick they happened to be working on.

Although he had researched her and talked
endlessly to Alison about her and to his brother formerly known as
Sebastian, he still hadn’t met the girl who had filled his thoughts
day and night for the last two weeks. The idea of speaking to her
thrilled and excited him, but also left him with the very, very
unfamiliar feeling of being nervous.

With something as unpredictable as human
attraction and with MJ’s history with his family, he had no way of
controlling the situation and he hated it. Joshua Drummond was all
about control.

MJ walked right past him and he held his
breath as her clothes brushed against his wrist. It was his closest
encounter with her to date.

God damn you,
Sebastian.
He cursed his brother for
having made everything so complicated for him. Then he grinned. On
the other hand, he did like a challenge.

He let her go some distance before he stood
up and began to follow her.

He took out his phone and quietly called his
contact.

"Where are you now?"

"Still with him. He chased a bag lady off
the subway and she just threw something at him. Oh shit!"

"What is it? What’s going on?"

"Whatever it was just hit him smack between
the eyes and knocked him senseless. He’s down. That’s gotta
hurt."

"I didn’t ask for a medical report. Just
stay with him and don’t break your cover. Got that?"

"Roger that."

Joshua ended the call.

"It’s just you and me now, MJ." He said as
he watched her make her lonely way home.

Chapter Nine

The heavy smartphone clunked to the ground from
Adam’s forehead, cracking the screen and landing beside him on the
ground. He lay there stunned for a minute. By the time he had
recovered himself, the phone, and the wallet, the old lady was
gone.

Nobody even looked at him.

"Thanks, New York City." He said in anger at
the crowd around him. The burly man next to him in the sharp suit
hadn’t even interrupted his phone conversation as Adam had hit the
ground, and hadn’t lifted a finger to help him. "Just stopped a
thief here and got assaulted, but don't let that bother you."

"Screw you." A voice came from across the
platform.

He found a seat and went through her wallet
to look for an address. He couldn't resist checking for signs of a
boyfriend but the only picture he found was an ancient photograph
of a lady from the 1950s or thereabouts. It was of another beauty
with the same stunning features as MJ, except the photo was black
and white. He imagined it in color. The lady was every bit as
beautiful as MJ for her time.

It had to be her mom.

It looked like her whole life was in the
wallet. Together with the smartphone, he reckoned he had really
saved her ass today. Kudos.

Oh yeah baby, worth a
clunk on the forehead any day.
He rubbed
the aching spot between his eyes.
Today is
my lucky day.

"I just saved my dream girl's ass, New
York!" He announced loudly. "So screw you!"

"Whatever."

And what an ass it was, too. He had followed
it like a hound for a good half hour and Jesus he could not wait to
get his hands on it.

"Thank you God." He said, squeezing the
wallet shut again.

If I don't get laid tonight, I’ll eat my
pants.

He hopped onto the next train and dreamed
his way to MJ's stop.

Chapter Ten

When MJ got to her apartment, her cat Blackjack was
waiting to meet her, hungry as always. She had rescued him from the
street as a kitten and raised him from a tiny ball of fluff to the
big ball fur he was now. He always had a huge appetite. She went to
the kitchen to find cat food but the last tin had been emptied.

"
God damn it.
" She hissed.

Her own pantry was pretty bare as
well. 

Better go shopping. At least I don't have to
go to work tomorrow, I can sit here and watch movies and eat
ice-cream all day if I want to.

She opened her bag to check her wallet for
cash. She liked to keep things organized and her wallet was always
in the same compartment, but it definitely wasn't there. She
searched the whole bag and then emptied out everything onto the
floor.

Her heart began to pound.

Her whole life was in there: credit and bank
cards, her driver's license, her social security number. And
what about her smartphone? Where was that?

Oh my God. Please. No!

Panic began to set in. Her vision narrowed.
She felt like she was going to pass out.

No wallet. No phone. No damn food in the
house. No job. No friends.

Come on, MJ. Come on. That
won't help.
She lived alone in her tiny
apartment. Passing out would just delay the shitstorm needlessly.
She had to get on this right away.

There was a harsh and insistent knock on the
door.

MJ knew who it was. She stopped moving.
Stopped breathing. 

"O’Rourke! Come on, open up. I know you're
in there. I can hear you screaming and yelling to yourself
again."

Please go away, please go away, please go
away.

"Don't make me use the master key, O’Rourke,
because I will. You know I have the right. This building has a
no-pet policy and I can hear that damn cat in there with you."

Please, please, please give up and go away.
Just this once.

She heard the keys rattle in the
door. 

"Okay, okay!" She shouted, jumping to her
feet. "Mr. Dunne, please. Just give me a minute."

"I'm through waiting for you, O’Rourke. Open
up now."

She fumbled with the locks and then opened
the door a crack, wiping tears from her pretty face as she did so.
Mr. Dunne was middle-aged, single, a chain-smoker, and great
example of a negligent Manhattan slumlord. He looked MJ up and
down.

"You got this week's rent?" He said.

She didn’t. And she had just been fired. And
her wallet was missing, together with all her credit and bank
cards.

"I do. Of course I do." She lied. "I just
came from work."

"You get paid on a Thursday?"

"No, but I can pay you tomorrow. I get my
check tomorrow. I'll cash it first thing tomorrow morning
and--"