Shadow Billionaire (3 page)

Despite the
fact, Gabriel’s grandfather was now a wealthy man in his own right.
Wealth he accumulated from decades of contacts assisted by Malcolm
through guilt, in a feeble attempt to make recompense for what they
did. Outside of this business arrangement, Gabriel’s grandfather
wanted little to do with the Trenton’s. He held a grudge both deep
and powerful against the family, in oppose to his grandmother’s
views, which had not softened with time.

Softened,

Gabriel
supposed, was a strong word. His mouth tightened as he contemplated
the great divide between his grandparents. Separated but not
divorced, apart, but still together, they still loved one another.
There were some things, however, that came between people.

As
well-intentioned as his grandmother was, the matter dividing them
being something in which Gabriel fully sided with his grandfather.
Some things could not be forgiven. As far as his grandfather was
concerned, Malcolm Trenton, and every puffed up, ignorant man like
him, deserved to pay.

Despite the
issues that sometimes came between them, Gabriel couldn't even
imagine life without his grandmother. Rita had been both mother and
grandmother to him.

She was also
the reason he'd met Sasha Trenton.

Repressing a
groan, Gabriel tried to put all thoughts of Sasha from his
mind.

Sasha... As far
as he was concerned, was the epitome of femininity. He watched her
prance around the house in clothes that cost more than he made in a
month, pumps that accentuated long, luscious legs, and a consistent
frown.

Even with that
frown, sometimes it was all he could do to stay in the shadows. He
wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms. Straighten out
those frown lines with his thumb, before brushing the back if his
hand down her cheek. He would run his fingertips along her jawline,
then travel down her neck to the hollow resting there.

Taking her
chin, he would raise her head so he could gaze into the pools of
her eyes. Feel them burn through him to his very soul, before
bending his head to claim the sweet nectar from her mouth with his
own. Most of all he wanted to kiss her worries away.

Things between
him and Sasha had grown...complicated. To say they were friends
wouldn't be an overstatement, but denying he wanted desperately
every voluptuous inch of her would be a flat out lie.

He dragged his
attention back to the task at hand, Gabriel tried to ignore his
mouth watering at the piles of pastries, plates of Hors d'oeuvre,
and decadent looking main courses that greeted him as he entered
the food holding room. He was swift with the arithmetic, multiplied
and divided numbers in his head, taking an acutely efficient
inventory, shelves and tables at a time.

Contrary to
popular belief, Gabriel had not only attended college, he'd gone to
Harvard. Atop that, he'd graduated with an Advanced Maths degree,
in the top ten percent of his class. It was a little titbit despite
merciless teasing and goading, he kept to himself, by strict orders
of his grandfather. No one else, not even his grandmother, knew how
much schooling, he'd completed and he planned on keeping it that
way for a while yet.

Amazed, the
things people would do when they assumed you weren't educated. His
grandfather, for his part, had paid for Gabriel’s education, and
keeping it a secret was his grandfather’s idea, a secret, which fit
nicely with his grandfather’s master plan. A plan fueled by his
obsession, and ever growing scorn for the rich – Eleanor and
Malcolm Trenton in particular. This contempt, and its underlying
cause, helped to divide him and Gabriel's grandmother.

Halfway through
the last page of counting, a low enraptured moan caught Gabriel’s
attention, caught off guard, for a moment. He paused in his
calculations, without moving a muscle he waited, just as he'd begun
to think he was hearing things. The sound came again, a little
louder this time.

Stealthy as a
panther, Gabriel ducked between the huge heat-safe containers
covering some of the food, and walked along the back of the room
until he reached the corner, where the pastries had been placed.
Standing next to the table, currently partaking of a cream-cake
with a glimmer of divine pleasure on her face, was the heir to the
Trenton fortune.

For a moment,
Gabriel was struck, by her easy beauty. Clearly she'd already begun
getting ready for the party tonight as her face was expertly made
up, her hair drawn back in an elegant up-do. However, what drew his
attention, the entrancing line of her neck, and shoulders, exposed
by the silk dressing gown, which had slipped down over her
shoulders.

The way she
licked a spot of cream from the corner of her mouth, her eyes
almost closed in near erotic bliss, as she took a bite...

He almost
wished he was the spot of cream on her lips, so she could run her
tongue along him, and suck him into her mouth, mmm…what ecstasy.
Christ, when had his fantasies for Sasha gotten so out of control?
First earlier, and then now. A startled Gabriel began to ponder how
it happen. When did he start getting so worked up over her?

Unable to
pinpoint the date exactly; all Gabriel knew as far back as he
remembered he'd lied under the same roof of the Trenton house,
which was almost his entire life. He remembered vividly running up
and down the expansive halls of the estate, where he and Sasha were
home schooled together for the first fourteen years of life.

They had been
close in those days. Playing whatever game Sasha wanted, he
recalled helping her hide, mud pies in obscure places when they
were children. He remembered her earnest attempts to out-run,
out-jump and out-eat him, as they grew older. Most recently, he
remembered when his grandmother had started to warn him about
spending so much time with her.

The
relationship between them was one she never approved of. Had it not
been for his grandfather, his and Sasha's relationship would have
been very different. He had reminded his grandmother that Gabriel,
and Sasha were the only two children in the house. How was Gabriel
to grow socially, if she kept the two children segregated with her
old fashion values.

It hadn’t
worked for their daughter so what made her think it would work for
their grandson. So grudgingly, she had left the children alone.

Until the day
his grandmother had seen Sasha kiss him on the lips. It had all
been innocent. Sasha had broken the chain on her bike, which
Gabriel fixed. She rewarded him for rescuing her, the same as
usual, and had done for years with a kiss. However, this time being
different he'd felt something, and blushed, seeing Gabriel’s
blushes his grandmother marched up to him, and dragged him home by
his ear.

Through her
fears of the children getting to close, Gabriel's grandmother
persuaded Eleanor that home school was no longer an option for the
children. They needed exposure to other children, especially Sasha,
as a socialite elite she needed to interact with others with
confidence not just poise and grace. As a result the children were
sent to school for the first time in their early teens.

As puberty had
changed them both, the time had come where Gabriel spending large
amounts of time with Sasha was no longer appropriate.

Rita had
warned.

They'd gone
from being able to wrestle with ease, to Gabriel having to hide his
reaction to Sasha’s nearness. As the years past he'd no longer been
able to stand seeing the slickly outlined curves of her figure when
they sneaked out in the rain together. Most importantly, their
conversations had switched from bugs and knee-scrapes to both of
their inner fears and desires.

Gabriel found,
despite her huge amounts of money, and her father's identity,
Sasha's character was exactly the opposite of what his grandfather
assumed. She was kind, she listened, and she empathized, no matter
how small the problem.

That's when
things had gotten dangerous.

And so, he'd
thrown himself into doing odd jobs around the mansion, his
grandmother wanted him to secure a job outside of service. However,
he wanted a way to continue to be near her. Sasha, on the other
hand, continued to be groomed by her mother, in the art of shopping
and hosting fundraisers.

As the years
slipped away, Gabriel had notice Sasha was smiling less and less,
as what was expected of her began to dwarf what she truly wanted.
He knew after she'd worked hard for four years on an undergraduate
biology degree, graduating at the top of her class. Her mother had
refused to let her take the internship she'd wanted so much, simply
because it would take her beyond Beverly Hills and out of her
control.

Where many
people saw a rich, spoilt heiress, Gabriel saw a profound
discontent young woman who had to sneak around to indulge in the
things she loved.

In that, he
supposed, they weren't so different.

“Sasha?”
Gabriel called to her softly.

When he spoke,
the young woman whirled, on high alert. When her large eyes locked
with his, a long moment passed in which they stared at each other
before Sasha visibly relaxed. It took years off her face, making
her look like the wide-eyed, gorgeous girl he remembered

“Oh good, it's
just you. Thank God. I'm starving.” When she finished the cake in
her hand, she carefully looked over the offering to select another,
“I haven't eaten anything since one.” She plucked a still-warm
croissant from an elegant silver tray, fixing him with an accusing
stare, “You're not going to tell on me are you?”

He grinned,
baiting her for a few moments before he finally answered.

“How old are
we? Twelve.” He asked, she tilted her head, pursed her lips and
stared him down. “Okay, my lips are sealed.” He drew his fingers
across his mouth in a zipping motion before miming locking them
tight and throwing away the key. The idea, she'd actually been
starving herself all afternoon just for tonight raised his ire.

He'd never
understand the way the Trenton’s treated their daughter anything
less than ideal. If he were lucky enough to have in his care
someone like Sasha, he'd worship her. She had curves that could
send men to war.

However, since
he’s prohibited from flirting with her, Gabriel contented himself
with teasing her instead.

“Hey, don't eat
too much.” He smiled, splitting his face showing deep-set dimples,
watching her start on her second croissant. “You might not be able
to fit into your fancy dress.” Halting mid-bite, Sasha stared at
him a moment before she took an exaggerated dramatic chunk out of
the baked goods, her expression daring him to say more.

Gabriel only
laughed, stepping up next to her to pick up a pastry himself. “I'm
kidding. I hope you know that many men are of the opinion that you
are an extremely healthy woman.” He said finishing the cake in just
a few bites before licking his fingers.

“Yeah,
'healthy' is just another word for fat.” She returned, her
expression somewhat uncomfortable. “I'm not completely dense.”

“Hey.” He
turned to her, unable to mask his intensity at the way her parents
had conditioned her to think of herself. Without a thought to the
gravity of the action, he took her face between large hands, his
thumb smudging her lipstick a little from his grip.

“When I say
healthy, I mean glowing, pink, and radiant. You are radiant,”

For a moment,
he stared into the depth of her blue eyes a tug of awareness
travelled through him. The heat of her body a sweet temptation, it
would be so easy to drag her against him, banish any lies they
might have filled her head with.

“Gabriel,
aren't you done in here yet?” The two jerked apart as the loud
voice of Henri approaching, shattered the moment. The cook’s large
frame filled the doorway as he entered. “I swear if you've touched
one morsel of food, you're going to be scrubbing… Oh! Miss
Trenton!” The chef's mouth snapped shut at the realization his
employer's daughter was present. The guilty look on Gabriel's face
told the brown-nosing man all he needed to move between the two,
taking Gabriel by the arm.

“Was he
bothering you, Miss Trenton? Please forgive me. He's my
responsibility tonight.”

“No, he isn't,
he's mine.”

Everyone
present turned to see the imposing figure of Rita Nevarez entering
the room. Gabriel, struck as always at how regal his grandmother
was. Her posture ramrod straight, her eyes piercing yet calm, her
stature radiated quiet control.

She crossed the
room to stand with intent in front of her grandson. Gabriel groaned
on the inside. He was busted.

“Miss Trenton.”
She directed at the guilty-looking young woman beside him. Gabriel
realized his grandmother's address Sasha the way she always did
when upset with the young heiress. More emphasis placed on the Miss
Trenton when Sasha did something his grandmother didn't approve of.
“I believe you were instructed to remain upstairs.”

“Well, Gabriel
and I were just talking.” Sasha frowned as she replied, gazing with
unease at the imposing figure, which was Rita Nevarez. “He's in the
middle of…”

“You're aware
if the dress no longer fits, your mother will have both our
heads.”

Gabriel winced
as his earlier jibe came back to haunt him.

Sasha reddened
at being told off in front of others.

“Never mind how
inappropriate you’re being here alone with Miss Trenton appears.”
Rita's gaze on Gabriel hardened as she turned to face him.

Jeez, these
people, they sounded like broken records. Inappropriate,
inappropriate, inappropriate. She was 25 years old, a grown woman;
yet deemed incapable of being alone in the same room with a member
of the opposite sex? It was fucking medieval.