The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (16 page)

"I don't care. Demovic can afford it."

"He can, but can you? Mr. Demovic will be
expecting you Dr. Price. He'll be flying his own jet all the way
there, he's probably in the air already."

"Well then he can do whatever business it is
he needs to do in Paris while we return to New York and then he can
save the money from the missed flight on this plane. That money he
can offset from whatever it is the turnaround costs are."

"You
are
his business in Paris Dr.
Price. One way or the other this is going to cost him and you a lot
of money if you back out now."

"But how can he just take me like this--"

"He didn't, you filled out and signed all of
these waiver and agreement forms right in front of me."

Melissa's eyes darted to the clipboard. She
hadn't even looked at them.

Bastard.
She thought.
Sneaky,
manipulative damn bastard.

She sighed in resignation.

"How long will the flight be?" She asked,
fearing the answer. Maybe she could still make it back to her
dinner appointment with David.

"Well the captain says we have the wind
behind us so if we don't encounter turbulence or have any problems
landing at CDG then it should be another seven hours or so."

Melissa's stomach lurched.

"That's not an option. I have an appointment
at 8pm, to discuss…"

The flight attendant waited.

To discuss my hearing with David. Oh
shit.

"I have a very important appointment at 8pm
this evening. It can't be rescheduled under any circumstances."

"I'm afraid that's just not the case Dr.
Price." The attendant said as she handed her a telephone from the
armrest in her seat. "Make the call and cancel whatever it is you
had planned or if you want to, you can call Mr. Demovic and explain
to him why you've wasted so much of his very valuable time."

"He can't do this to me."

"I'm sorry Dr. Price, truly, but I'm afraid
it's
you
who can't do this. My understanding is that Mr.
Demovic has absolutely prioritized his time with you for the whole
day today. I don’t think you realize just how much that means. His
time is extremely precious."

Melissa looked at the phone then back to the
attendant, silently pleading with her.

"Melissa," the attendant softened her tone
and leaned in closer to her passenger. "If I were you I'd make this
call. A day with Jason is something a lot of… something that a lot
of women, God a lot of people in the world would give anything for.
Are you sure this appointment you have is really more important to
you than this?"

Melissa didn't move. If she called then she
would have to lie to David and she didn't do lies. All the lies she
had told in the last ten years we're to be found squeezed into the
one or two half truths she had told Jason Demovic during the brief
time she had known him. Now here she was being forced to compromise
her personal ethics yet again because of him.

The flight attendant leaned in closer and put
her hand to Melissa's wrist.

"Dr. Price, there's really only one right
decision here. I strongly urge you to make this call. If you don’t
value your time with Jason then… ", she hesitated and looked around
as though she feared being overheard, "just between you and me if
you promise something to Jason Demovic and then you don't follow
through he doesn't take it very well. He never breaks a promise
himself. Ever. If he says he'll do something then he'll do it.
Guaranteed. It's one of the reasons his business is so successful
and that he's in such demand everywhere as a public speaker and as
a philanthropist."

"So what will he do if I break my word?"

"You don't want to find out. But I'll give
you a tip for free. If you can get him to promise you something
then it's yours. No matter what. You have a whole day and probably
an evening with this man that half the women in America would kill
for. Don't waste it." She drew back and then resumed her
professional demeanor like a shape shifter pulling itself back into
recognizable form as a flight attendant.

"Would you like me to make the call for you
Dr. Price?" She said.

"No, not at all. That won't be necessary.
I'll do it myself."

The attendant left her and she sat for a
minute deciding who to call; Jason with the thrill of her new life
and her new self but with the shadow of being struck off hanging
over her or play it safe with David, just like her old uptight
self, go back to New York for dinner with her increasingly weird
supervisor and, well frankly, still have the shadow of being struck
off looming above her outstretched neck like a guillotine.

"God damn it." She muttered and then stabbed
the number she had chosen into the phone, praying that nobody would
pick up at the other end so that she could just leave a short
message without too much explanation.

A male voice came to the phone instantly.

"Who is it?"

God damn it.
She cursed the
availability that was so typical of him.

"David. It's me, Melissa. How are you?"

"What is this Melissa? You're not calling to
cancel are you?" He laughed at the idea. "I've got a table booked
at the--"

"I can't make it."

"What?" Now he was deadly serious.

"Something's come up."

"Where are you calling from? Why aren't you
using your regular line or your cell phone? What's going on?"

"I'm at a friend's house. She has an unlisted
number."

"A friend? What friend?"

"That's none of your business David."

"Look. I'm trying to help you here. If we
don't prepare for this hearing then it could go seriously
wrong."

The captain's voice came over the PA
system.

"I'm sorry Dr. Price but we'll be
experiencing just a little bit of turbulence in the next few
minutes." The loud ping of the seatbelt sign sounded. "Please
remain seated for your own safety."

"Are you on a flight?" David was
incredulous.

"David…" she came up blank.

"How does the pilot know your name?"

"David…" still blank.

"Why are you lying to me? You said you were
at a friend's house. Are you with
him
?"

"With who?"

"You're with that billionaire sociopath who
wants to ruin you because of his crazy transference issues.
Melissa, for Christ's sake, what is happening to you? Are you
determined to throw your career away? You have to get off that
flight and come back down to earth. Literally. What the hell were
you thinking?"

"I'll meet you tomorrow David. We can talk
about the case then."

"There's nothing to talk about Melissa.
You've gone too far now. I can't vouch for you anymore. I can't
afford to put my professional reputation on the line for this kind
of off the wall behavior."

"Please David, you don't know what he's like,
he forced me into this."

"You mean he kidnapped you?"

"No… God, David, please don’t make this so
hard. Look, I'll call you tomorrow."

"Melissa, be home, at your place by 8pm
tonight or I can't help you. You'll lose your license to practice
and I won't be able to do a thing."

"He just wants my help David. I'll see you
tomorrow we can talk everything through face to face and
then--"

"Did you fuck him?"

Melissa was speechless.

"Answer me Melissa. Tell me the truth. Did
you… God damn it Melissa did you--"

"No. God no." Technically, it was the truth.
"Look, he just won't take no for an answer. He insists that I help
him."

"So you've taken him on as a client?"

Shit.
That would have been the logical
thing to do.

"David…"

"Please tell me that you are at least going
to be professional to that degree. If you've signed an agreement
with him then just put him off until next week, until after you've
had the hearing and we can deal with this situation together when
you're off the hook with the committee."

"We're… discussing the terms."

"Thank God for that. Look, just don’t sign
anything drafted up by him or by his legal team."

She glanced at the seat where the attendant
had put the clipboard with the documents but it was already
gone.

Too late David.

"Don’t worry. I'll get him to agree to the
usual terms by tonight and he will be an above board client,
nothing that the board can find fault with. But I can't make our
appointment tonight, I just can't physically make it there in
time."

There was silence from the other end of the
line.

"David? Are you there?"

"Melissa… okay. I'll wait until tomorrow. But
that's it. No more bending of the rules."

"Thank you David, I appreciate this, I really
do."

"And please, please, please don’t lay a
finger on him."

"Of course not."

"I mean it Melissa, not one finger, anywhere.
And don’t let
him
touch you either. Got it?"

"Got it."

David was silent again. His dissatisfaction
was palpable as he searched for the words, the exact turn of phrase
that would pacify his excruciating anxiety and make him believe
her.

"Promise me that you won't fuck him."

The phone was shaking in Melissa's hand. This
was nothing like David, he sounded a hell of a lot crazier than he
was claiming Jason Demovic was.

"I promise David."

"No Melissa, I want you to say the words to
me. Promise me you won't fuck him."

Her eyes darted around the cabin. It was too
crazy. There were no crew members around. Hunching down in her seat
she put her lips very close to the handset and closed her eyes.

"David, I promise I won't…"

"Say it Melissa, say the words. If you want
to get through this hearing then say those words to me now."

He sounded totally insane.

"I promise I won't fuck him."

There was a sigh of relief from the other end
of the phone and then the line went dead.

Still shaking from the conversation Melissa
looked up and a pair of eyes met hers. It was her flight attendant
looking as robotically professional as she had when she had greeted
Melissa boarding the flight.

"Can I get you anything to drink
now
?" She asked.

When Melissa arrived at the Jules Verne restaurant on
top of the Eiffel Tower. She had already been only slightly calmed
by the rest of her first class flight and by the incredible
experience of Paris by night flowing past her in yet another limo.
As the view of the city became ever more spectacular and romantic
with each floor she rose higher in the private elevator to the
highest floor her fragile calm gave way to a quiet, irresistible
and jittery excitement.

Is this it?
She thought.
Am I
throwing it all away for just this?

She looked stoically out over the legendary
vista one more time and tried to bring her problems to mind.

David.

He was the key to all this right now; his
word, his ability to influence the ethics committee and his
increasingly unhinged demeanor.

The hotel she had freshened up in was an
incredible six stars, one above the usual scale, and the evening
attire that had been left out for her fitted perfectly. A personal
assistant, another pretty young woman who sang Jason's praises, had
been on hand just in case anything needed to be altered.

The lift trundled still higher above the
lights of Paris and her hearing in just four days time seemed very,
very far away.

Enjoy it Melissa.
She told herself.
It's all over on Tuesday anyway so you might as well live
tonight like there's no tomorrow.

When she entered the swanky restaurant the
final, stunning view of the city took her breath away and there
waiting for her was Jason Demovic; smartly attired in black tie
evening wear, he was enough to take her breath away again. She
needed to get them back on track, client and therapist, just as he
had wanted when they first met, before he had rocked her world with
an orgasm from heaven and then whisked her away on this magic
carpet ride to Paris.

There was still a chance--get him on board
with the new program, don't fuck him, hold him off until Wednesday
and be home tomorrow in time to deal with David.

I can do this.
She told herself.
Stay focused Melissa, come on, this is easy. He wants me as his
therapist so what's the big deal.

Vivid images flashed through her mind and
intense sensations through her body.

Oh yeah, that. Earth-shaking unilateral oral
sex…

He took her hand and smiled.

"You truly look more beautiful than all of
Paris to me." He said.

"And that sounds more cheesy than the whole
of France to
me
. What do you mean by tricking me into coming
all the way here? You're a hair shy of kidnapping and false
imprisonment Mr. Demovic."

He kissed her hand while looking directly
into her eyes. Cliched, affected and enough to make her panties
moist again.

"I'm sorry." He said. "But I didn't think I
could convince you to come here and it was important for me to give
this experience to you."

"You're right. You wouldn’t have convinced
me, so that's why you had to fool me into it. Is that how you
usually get your women?"

"It's usually not so hard, but you're a
different case Dr. Price. Besides, no-one put a gun to your
head--you could have asked the pilot to turn the plane around any
time you wanted to."

"And pay for all that fuel? Risk the wrath of
the dreaded Jason Demovic? I wouldn't exactly call that a
choice."

"Well honestly speaking, why would you have
wanted to around anyway? This is Paris for God's sake--just relax
and enjoy it. You deserve this Dr Price. I know what you've been
through; sacrificing yourself to take care of your sister all these
years and I know that you're just like me; always looking after
other people and never looking after yourself. Well tonight, just
for one night, that's all going to change."