The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (77 page)

The orgasms that shuddered over them were
like destructive earthquakes and clearly this was a new level of
ecstasy that only a very few people could experience in a life
time. This was the kind of sex that made it to the record books and
exposed dildos for the pale substitutes of human flesh they
are.

When the last explosion was over the couple
lay together and tears of relief and streamed down Bella's
cheeks.

"Marry me Bella." Harrison said. "It's too
late for anything else. Too late for no. You're mine now and you
know it. You always have been."

She clung tighter and squeezed harder with
her channel.

"Of course I will Harrison. It’s yes. One
thousand times over. A million times over."

She felt him squeeze her harder and his
member return to iron girder stiffness inside her.

"Fuck me again." She hissed into his ear and
his body rose instantly to the command.

Bella felt a powerful kick to her abdomen and looked
down. Actually it was more like a kick in the ribs as though her
unborn child, the little girl that would see the light of the world
in only three short months, was letting her know that it was time
to move her butt and do what she should have done years ago. She
looked around the room at the assembled dignitaries, at the members
of the press and then stood up to walk towards the podium where she
would give her speech.

She had been dreading this moment for days,
but she had been terrified of the whole idea for years.

She was about to come clean to the world.

Looking around and found Harrison's face in
the panel of dignitaries and board members to her left. Despite
their being engaged and seeing each other every day and every
night, still he remained a gorgeously sexy mystery to her. Nobody
had shown more confidence in her than him and if Harrison Demovic
believed you could do something then you had a force behind you
unlike any other. She would not let him down.

In the front row she could see her mother
flanked by the elder Mrs. Demovic and Catherine on one side and by
Suzy and Melissa on the other. They had taken care of her like
their own since the day Frank had been banished from their lives
forever. The woman had lived in fear of her husband continuing to
hurt her daughter and had been willing to sacrifice her own
happiness if it kept her daughter safe. Now that he was locked up
the mother and daughter had finally, against all odds, been
reunited and Bella had not hesitated in giving the elderly woman
the second chance she herself had been given by her own loved
ones.

Jason and Zachary were next to their wives
and even Lacey McMahon and Marsha Smith were here for the show as
well.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Bella began and then
faltered, her vision blurring, her legs unsteady beneath her. She
looked around again and saw Harrison beginning to rise from his
seat.

"Come on Bella." She heard from the front
row; Suzy was smiling at her, willing her to continue, her mother
was looking at her as though she were the happiest, proudest woman
in the world. All these people already knew and accepted her for
who she was. What the rest of the world thought of her paled into
insignificance by comparison.

She took a deep breath and steadied
herself.

"Ladies and gentleman, I'm here today to
introduce myself to you as the future spokesperson of the 2nd
Chance Foundation and as the future wife of the founder and
benefactor of the organization Mr. Harrison Demovic."

Complete silence reigned.

"Like every person who walks through the
doors of 2nd Chance looking for help, I too have a past."

The silence became distinctly uncomfortable.
It was okay for respectable people to offer help to those who had
made their mistakes, but to marry them? Allow them into your
family?

"In the year 2006 I assaulted my own father
with a length of lead pipe about thirteen inches long."

There were murmurs from the audience as that
piece of information sank in.

"I continued beating my father repeatedly
over the back, head and shoulders until he lay unconscious on the
ground before me. Then I put that piece of piping down and called
the police convinced that I was doing the right thing. I was
defending my mother who is sitting here before you today."

Bella looked down and saw her mother already
reduced to tears, but she had to continue.

"Unfortunately the law didn't rule in my
favor and I spent four years incarcerated to pay for my crime."

There were more murmurs from the crowd but by
now Bella didn't care what those murmurs meant; this was her truth
whether they liked it or not they would have to accept her or
leave.

"I paid my debt to society while the victim
of my crime went on to be dismissed from the police force he served
in on multiple counts of corruption, excessive use of force, racial
discrimination and other crimes. He never served a single day in
prison for any of those transgressions."

Bella paused to draw breath. She looked to
Harrison and he was holding her in the same fixed gaze that had he
had locked onto her the first day they had met.

She turned back to the crowd.

"When I tried to hide my past four years
later it drew down a storm of intrigue, deceit and evil upon me
that threatened to tear this wonderful family apart, together with
all of the dear friends who had stood by me and believed in me
since my release from prison. The problem was that I was still
lying, still denying and trying to cover up who I really was."

She looked down at her friends and could see
the emotion welling up in their eyes. She struggled to control her
own.

Just a little to go Bella, come on, you
can do it.
She told herself.

"Today I realize how wrong I was. If your
friends can't accept you for who you are then you have the wrong
friends. Today I reveal to you exactly who I am and as friends I
ask you to accept me into the family of this great organization
that is helping so many people to start afresh and make a new life.
Ladies and gentleman, this is who I am and I promise to represent
this organization to the very best of my ability and for as long as
I can be of use to the truly great men and women who give freely of
their time here every day of the week. Thank you all very much. If
there are any questions, I'm happy to answer."

Bella looked around the room at the distant
faces, still watching her in silence. From her left she heard a
slow but thunderous clap begin to grow in pace. Looking over her
shoulder she saw Harrison on his feet pounding his strong hands
together as he looked towards her, both humbled and proud. The
front row was next to rise up; her mother, her friends, the Demovic
family all ringing out their applause. Then before she could take
it all in the entire room was standing and, as the applause rang
out, Bella watched the burden of secrets she had carried for so
long rise up into the air and disappear on a wave of thunderous
human forgiveness and acceptance.

Her journey was over, her journey was about
to begin.

End of Volume Three and of The Scandalous
Billionaires Collection.

To keep the champagne flowing, check out
these
Other Books
by Drew.

Prologue

Somewhere In The South Pacific

Blue skies, lapping waves. For what seemed like a
long time, Melanie lay in the warm sand. She didn't want to think
about where she was and she certainly didn't want to move. The
heaviness across her waist made her look down. A tanned and
muscular arm was draped across her, the strong fingers of a male
hand resting lightly against her lower abdomen.

Was she on vacation? She had no earthly idea
where she was or who she was with.

The arm didn't look like her boyfriend’s --
no, wait -- her
ex
-boyfriend Mitch’s arm. It was too strong,
too tanned, too well defined.

She moved her head and it began to
pound.

Panic set in.

She looked around her and all she could see
was sandy beach, brilliant aquamarine sea, and azure blue
skies.

"Oh my God... Where am I? What the hell have
I done?" She whispered.

She turned her head to look at the rest of
the man attached to the arm around her waist.

"Jesus Christ!" She had no recollection, no
recognition of the beautiful stranger. He looked as exhausted as
she felt. His clothes were ragged, and so were hers. She pulled his
arm from her, scrambling to get up, but her head was too woozy and
she landed back on her ass. She was wearing only her bra and her
skirt was torn away, leaving most of her thighs exposed.

The ridiculously handsome stranger opened
his eyes, looked at her intently for a moment, and then sprang to
life.

"Melanie!" He shouted. His voice was full of
concern.

"How do you know my name?" She said.

"What do you mean? We were on the flight
together--"

"What flight? Who are you?"

"It's me, Alex your..." His voice trailed
off.

"My what?" A feeling of dread came over her,
that name… it meant something…

Three Days Earlier

"Do you have family values?" Alex Drummond said to
the elegant woman seated before him in the private booth he had
reserved for their meal. He was immaculately turned out, dressed in
perfect smart casual, manicured and his dark hair just tousled
enough to give the impression of not caring too much about his
otherwise perfect appearance. Rugged but cultivated was the overall
impression, like a movie star in an action role.

"Do you?" The woman said, staring intently
into his eyes, searching for an indication of his feelings.

She had supermodel looks and a figure to
match. Male eyes watched her surreptitiously from all directions in
the Michelin star-rated restaurant of the Four Seasons hotel. She
wore a gleaming white evening gown that perfectly complimented her
flawless, golden brown skin.

"I asked you first." He said.

There was a silence. Alex studied the menu
although he already knew most of it quite well. The award-winning
exclusive spot was one he ate at often, even when he was
alone. 

"I don't know." The woman faltered. "It's an
important question; one I would have to seriously consider."

"Oh, really?" He sounded bored. "To me it's
totally unimportant--"

"Me too!" She said.

"-- what other people think. Family values
are core. Fundamental."

"That's exactly it. Fundamental. And
core."

"If you are a complete idiot."

"A complete idiot."

"So which is it?" He pressed her. 

"I'm sorry," she said, "…which is what? I'm
confused."

Alex snapped the menu shut. "You know what,
Vivian?"

"Valerie, it's Valerie."

"I've lost my appetite. You can stay if you
like. In fact, please do. Tell Andre to put it on the Drummond
account."

The woman stared at him. She was rake thin.
Size zero. If she did decide to stay and eat, the bill would be
negligible at best. 

"Do you know I speak French?" She blurted
desperately. Alex looked at her. "And Italian. My Mandarin
Chinese is also good."

"I'm sure you would make a very beautiful
interpreter." He said.

"Do you think I'm beautiful?"

"Vivian--"

"It's Valerie."

"Valerie. I really have to go."

"I have a Masters from the Harvard Business
School."

Alex sighed.

"Valerie, you don't have to do this."

"I want to. I really want to. With you."

"Now
I'm
confused. What is it you
want to do with me? We've only just met."

"I feel like I've known you my whole
life."

"I'm going now."

The stunning blonde jumped to her feet and
blocked his way.

"Don't!" She said desperately.

"Valerie, please get out of my
way." 

She stepped in closer and turned her eyes up
to look at him seductively. 

"I'll do anything you want." She
whispered.

"Really?"

"Yes, anything." She put her hands to his
belt.  

"That's a relief, because I thought we were
going to have to fight."

"I'll fight you if you want me to."

"No Valerie. Please just sit down. I have
something I want to ask you."

"The answer is yes." She said. "Whatever it
is."

"Great. Then sit down and close your
eyes."

"Except for that. I don't want to close my
eyes." She gripped his belt tightly again.

"Do it or I'll leave right now." He
ordered.

Reluctantly she closed her eyes. He pulled
her hands from his belt and then gently guided her back down into
her chair. 

"Begin counting backwards from 100." He
said.

She opened her eyes again but he gently
brushed them closed with his fingertips. "Shh. I've got something
for you. I'll put it on the table right here. All you have to do is
count all the way down to zero." She peeked through her fingers and
saw Alex place a small dark box on the table. Then he wrote a note,
folded it up, and placed that in the box as well. A thrill of
excitement went through her. She had just met Alex Drummond,
billionaire
, that evening. He was a hard guy to be paired
with through the dating website and it was rumored he was very
picky.

But tonight was obviously her lucky
night. 

"Start counting and then keep going. If you
stop or if you look then I'm taking it back."

"One hundred, ninety-nine..."

Alex stood up. "I'm going to stand behind
you." He said. "Keep counting."