The Billionaire's Ultimatum: His Absolute Need (A BDSM Erotic Romance Novel) (Book One) (33 page)

"Yes,
they're open every day but Sunday.  They close early today, but we have plenty
of time," I said.

"Right.  So
we'll go, and if nothing else I'll talk with the owner.  Since you're
acquainted with him, I think this will go well, Jessika.  Maybe we can get some
help from him.  He might know something."

"Alright,"
I said, nodding.

"Sounds
good," Jeremy agreed.  "I'll drive, of course.  No funny business in
the back seat, though, you two."  He wagged a finger at us.

He looked so
ridiculous that all I could do was laugh.

We arrived at
Robert's bookstore shortly after it opened.  Unfortunately, no matter how much
I liked the place, it was never very popular.  Robert spent most of his
mornings tidying up and re-organizing.  Except when I came in, in which case he
usually chatted with me and we talked about new books or authors and things
like that while I helped him out a little.  I never worked there, he never paid
me, but I enjoyed it still.  It was fun and I liked Robert.

Before we got
out of the car, Asher took my hand in his and stared at me with a strange kind
of look.  I didn't really understand it and it scared me.  "Jessika,"
he said, "if something happens I need you to stay safe, alright?  I can
handle the situation if it goes badly, but I want you to keep enough distance
that you can find safety if need be."

I smiled at him
and laughed lightly.  "You're talking like this is dangerous," I
said.  "It's nothing, Asher.  Don't worry about me.  We're just going in
to talk with Beatrice.  It's like a business meeting, I bet."

Just talking,
right?  Nothing more than that.  Accusations, yes, and perhaps a heated
discussion, but what was Asher thinking?  It worried me that he was worried,
and I didn't understand it.  This wasn't... this wasn't... I didn't actually
know what this was, but I knew deep down that everything would be fine.

"I'm sure
you're right."  He kissed me on the lips, lingering.  "I'm worried,
that's all.  It's silly."

"You two
getting out?" Jeremy asked.  "You want me to stay here or come
in?"

"It's
probably best if you stay here," Asher said.  "If Beatrice sees all
of us, it could seem overly confrontational.  I want to settle this as
peacefully as possible."

"Sure
thing, boss."

Asher opened the
car door on his side and stepped out.  He stood to his full height and brushed
down his suit jacket, peering at his surroundings.  I watched him, enthralled. 
Asher was the kind of person who looked commanding in almost any setting, I
realized.  In Landseer Tower, yes, and in his home, of course, but when I saw
him look like that now, standing on the street having just exited the car, I
realized this was him always.  It wasn't something he did intentionally, it was
a part of him.

He jogged around
the car to my side and opened the door for me.  When he reached inside, I took
his offered hand and let him help me out.  He smiled and kissed me again, this
time on the forehead.

"Ready?"
he asked.

"I'm
ready," I said.

We walked to the
front door of the bookstore, side by side.  No hand holding this time, not like
when we'd left his office the other day.  I understood, since we needed to act
discrete and not upset Beatrice, even if she'd done more than her fair share of
upsetting both Asher and I, but still.  I would have liked to have the feel of
his hand in mine, that tiny bit of comfort.

Asher opened the
door for me and I stepped inside.  Robert had finished setting up my area since
the last time and I nearly rushed over in glee to investigate what he'd done,
but I stopped myself.  At the counter, older, with fading red and grey hair,
stood Robert.

"Jessika!"
he said, smiling wide.  "Wonderful for you to stop by.  I've added some
new additions to your shelves.  Do you want to see?"

Asher stepped in
behind me and nodded to Robert.

"Oh, did
you bring a friend?" Robert asked.  He never missed a stride and moved out
behind the counter to greet us both.  "I'm Robert," he said, holding
out his hand.

Asher took his
hand and shook it.  "Asher," he said.  "It's a pleasure to meet
you."

"You look
familiar," Robert said.  "Have you been here before?"

"No." 
Asher shook his head.  "It's a lovely place, though.  Jessika has said
nice things about it.  I'm hoping to become more of a frequenter.  I always
enjoy a good book."

"Well,
Jessika's been a great help here.  I should probably pay her, that's how useful
she is, but, well..."

I shook my
head.  "No, no.  I like it.  I just come in for fun."

"I know.  I
appreciate it.  Shall we go see the new additions to your section?  Maybe your
friend will find it interesting.  I'd love to—"

"We didn't
actually come for that right now, Robert," I said.  The confused look in
his eyes hurt to see, but I promised myself I'd make it up to him later.

"I was
hoping you'd know my wife," Asher added, taking control of the
conversation.  "Beatrice Landseer?  Or do you know a Solomon Royce?  He
works for me, and..."

"Oh,"
Robert said.  "Oh!  You're
Asher
.  Asher Landseer.  Yes, I
recognize you.  I... this isn't really... I should have tidied up.  It doesn't
always look like this, you see, and..."

"No, no. 
It looks wonderful.  It reminds me of my library at home.  I'd love to look
around after, but I have pressing matters to attend to with Beatrice and
Solomon right now."

Robert nodded. 
"I think they're out back.  It was a surprise when they first came here,
actually.  I don't know what brought them, but they've offered to help me out
quite a lot.  I'm sure you're aware, since you're Beatrice's husband.  She's a
little harsh sometimes, but I think deep down she's a good person.  Should I go
get them?"

"Oh, no. 
Jessika knows her way around, right?"

I nodded. 
"You can stay here for the early morning rush, Robert.  We'll only be a
second."

Robert
guffawed.  "Early morning rush.  Right!  I think having you four in the
store is the most people I've had this early in the morning in years."

I grinned. 
"We'll buy four times as much before we leave.  How about that?"

"That would
be wonderful," Robert said.  "You don't have to, of course, but that
would be wonderful.  Your wife and that other fellow are in the back, Mr.
Landseer.  It's a little hectic over there, so please pardon the clutter.  I
use it as storage for extra bookcases mainly."

"I'll show
you," I said to Asher, tugging on his jacket sleeve.  To Robert, I added,
"Thank you, Robert."

Robert nodded
and shuffled back around the counter, fiddling with a few of the books stored
back there.

I led Asher
through the bookstore.  We passed by my section briefly and I whispered to him
about it, explaining how Robert had set it up for me.  He smiled and glanced at
a few of the books before we pressed on.

Robert's
bookstore was mostly orderly, but nothing like a conventional bookstore.  He
set up little reading areas behind bookcases shaped into rooms, with blank
spaces as doors.  Asher and I walked past the children's reading area, where
some local parents brought their younger kids for special readings after
school, and then through the gaming room.  That was my idea, too, even if I
knew nothing about it.  The older kids, high school level or so, loved playing
these trading card games and adventures and dragons or something, so why not give
them a place to do it here?  The bookstore was nearly an impromptu after-school
daycare in those regards, but Robert seemed to like it.  He made a few sales
from it, and it filled the store with more people and kept him busy.

There were a few
more cornered off spots, also, and we passed those on our way to the back
warehouse; a romance readers group section and a sci-fi/fantasy one, too.  I
fondly remembered one time when there was a group of romance readers trying to
discuss something in their section while a bunch of fantasy lovers had decided
to come by the bookstore before heading off to a movie premier.  The fantasy
guys(and one girl) had dressed up as characters from the movie and were making
a bit of a ruckus, play-acting out scenes.  The romance people huffed about it
to Robert and he let them use the book club room until the fantasy movie-goers
left to catch their flick, but the looks on their faces were priceless; a
little upset, a little confused, and kind of laughing but not quite.

We arrived at
the entrance to the backroom.  Nailed to the door was a sign that read
"Employees Only."

"Don't
worry," I said.  "I think Robert's just hired you.  You'll make a
good librarian."

Asher grinned. 
He stepped forward and twisted the doorknob, then opened the door and gestured
for me to go ahead.  I did and he followed behind me, closing the door after
us.

Rows upon rows
of bookcases greeted us inside.  Some were fine, stacked next to each other in
no particular order, but others were rickety and on their last legs.  A few
broken shelves lay in a pile to the right, tossed their carelessly to await
their fate in a heap on the street when garbage day came.  The backroom was an
old, small warehouse of sorts, where the previous owner had stockpiled goods
and received truckloads of supplies through a single loading dock far in the
back.  Robert didn't use the loading dock often now, since he never ordered
enough books to find it necessary, but the large door was still there.

Voices crawled
through the air towards us, creepy, wispy sounds, and the lights overhead
illuminated the storage area with a pale, faded glow.  Beatrice and Solomon
were talking to one another, sounding far off and away.

"After this
weekend the insurance policy for every resort will lapse," Solomon said. 
"If they don't receive payment by early Monday morning, that part is
settled.  Then we send the exterminator to that bookstore owner's daughter's
house.  We'll have him fix the girl's bed bug infestation, but he'll collect
some of the bugs and keep them stored.  We don't need a lot for this plan,
since it's mostly smoke and mirrors, anyways.  A couple infested rooms at
Landseer resorts will do the trick.  Asher will, no doubt, find out, but with
the unfortunate loss of insurance, it'll be a financial burden to eradicate
every hotel and vacation resort.  Not to mention the exterminators aren't going
to actually do anything and will just put down generic foggers without
insecticides as opposed to treating the problem properly."

"I've
arranged for someone to follow them today," Beatrice said, confirming
Asher's earlier suspicions.  "I doubt it'll lead to much, but we should
have some juicy photos heading to the tabloid news sources after that.  They
can mess around with the pictures if necessary and make it look worse than it
is."

Solomon
laughed.  "Good, good.  Careful with that, though.  We don't want Asher to
file a lawsuit that he might win."

"Oh, of
course not.  I'll
reluctantly
confirm everything if asked, which
someone's bound to do, and start the divorce proceedings that way."

I gritted my
teeth, becoming so extremely frustrated at what I was hearing.  Did they really
expect this to work?  Granted, it seemed like it should, especially if Asher
and I never found out, but... Argh!  It annoyed me so much.  How could either
of them do this?  Why would they?  They were just so relentlessly vindictive
over nothing and I didn't understand it. 

And exploiting
Robert's daughter's bed bug problem for their own gain?  I knew Robert and his
daughter probably couldn't afford to hire an exterminator on their own, so they
must have put an ad up somewhere asking about a discounted rate or something
like that.  Solomon and Beatrice swoop in, pretending to be nice people and...

"Great. 
Don't forget to sell off the rest of your stock soon.  The price will drop
drastically once word hits the streets about the endless bed bug problem at the
Landseer resorts.  I have a few people lined up to file lawsuits, too.  I'll
send out supposedly good-intentioned press releases in regards to the issue and
confirm Asher's knowledge of the problem months before it grew out of control. 
He doesn't even take a second glance at the reports I show him now, anyways, so
he won't be able to deny it.  I'll make up some excuse, and..."

Asher left my
side.  He strode through the backroom, weaving between bookcases, heading for
the source of Solomon's and Beatrice's voices.  I hurried after him, trying to
keep up, but he was apparently a man on a mission and refused to let anything
stop his progress.  By the time he found them, I was still sneaking between a
close together, tight pair of bookcase obstructing the only access to the
corner spot that Solomon and Beatrice had claimed.

"Hello,"
Asher said.  His voice nearly boomed compared to the sly tones of Beatrice and
Solomon.  "Thank you for inviting me to this meeting.  I definitely
appreciate your concern.  I think we have a lot to discuss, don't you?"

I shoved through
to the edge of the empty spot where we all now stood just in time to see the
end of Beatrice's wide-eyed glare.

"What are
you doing here?" Solomon asked.

"Are we
going to play this game, Solomon?" Asher said.  "Shall I ask you the
same thing, or can we cut through this nonsense?"

"You
shouldn't know about this," Beatrice said, more annoyed than distressed.

"Yes, well,
you can thank Jessika for that."

I'd rejoined
Asher by his side, keeping a step back like he'd asked me.  Turning towards me,
he acted as if he were introducing me to the group.  Beatrice and Solomon
recognized me, but for wildly different reasons.

"So that's
why you were in my office the other day," Solomon said.  "If I had
known Asher would come for you, I'd have dragged you somewhere else and had my
way with you.  Locking the door against the man with keys to every office isn't
much use, I suppose."