Undercover Billionaire Boss: A BWWM Contemporary Romance (19 page)

Her heart constricted with fear. Raina had been lucky that the company had not pressed charges. Kelly knew that if Roger went ahead with his plan, she could very well find herself behind bars. There was no time to waste now. She had to find someone willing to listen to her story.

She returned to the company’s website again and this time she focused on the CEO himself. It would be her last ditch effort to get
someone
to listen to her. His name was Christian Del Mar. There was not much information about him on the company website—not even a picture.

She typed his name on a search browser. She hit the jackpot immediately. There were
tons
of information about him. Evidently the gossip blogs and society pages just
loved
him.

Kelly perused all the stories that came up in her search. Every once in a while she looked up nervously, worried that Roger would walk in, though it was unlikely. He had given up on her and had already decided to punish her by framing her. She read more about this man and hoped that he was a good person, though if he was anything like his uncle, Pervy Roger, she was in deep trouble. But Christian Del Mar was her last hope. If she couldn’t get him to look at her evidence she might as well start planning for a stay in the county jail.

She got his office telephone numbers and email addresses without much excitement. She knew that his assistant and secretaries would not let her through. She had to think of another way to speak to him.

As she scrolled through his impressive biography, she felt a little hopeful seeing the kind of person he was. He seemed to give a lot to charities and had apparently taken a year off to work with students in the developing world.

An idea came to her then and her heart raced. He had taken a year off to help the underprivileged, which meant that it was probably his passion. Surely he would not just stop after the year was up.

He probably had other talks and charity events scheduled throughout the year. With mounting excitement, and feeling a bit smug at her own cleverness, Kelly searched again, looking for a list of events, but coming up with nothing until she came to a college website announcing that Christian Del Mar of the Del Mar hotel group, would be giving a talk at Paramount College. It was free to students, but interested outsiders could buy tickets if space was available.

Kelly immediately fired off an email to book a reservation for herself. Then she returned to the browser and she hit another jackpot. There was a video on him giving past interview. Kelly clicked on him, knowing that she would need to recognize him at a glance if she was going to catch him before or after the talk.

The video played and the camera zeroed in on an attractive man, with intense blue eyes and a teasing smile. He was very charming as well as being handsome, and it was clear why the society blogs were obsessed with him.

But the more she watched, the more Kelly started to feel a nagging sensation that she knew him from somewhere. He seemed strikingly familiar yet Kelly could have sworn she had never met the CEO of Del Mar Group of hotels.

Huh
, she shrugged to herself.
He must just have one of those faces …

O
ver the rest
of the day Kelly kept going back to her computer, checking for more videos of Christian Del Mar. Something was bothering her—something just didn’t sit right. She tried to put her finger on it, but her mind was stubbornly refusing to work out what was bothering her.

Kelly screwed her eyes at the computer screen. She could have sworn she had seen the face before, but where?

She groaned and leaned her head against the desk, closing her eyes in frustration. As the video continued to run, the velvet voice of Christian Del Mar played in the background.

And then,
she got it.

Kelly almost fell from her seat.
She knew that voice.
Eyes wide, she turned back to the screen and wondered how she could have missed it.

The eyes were blue now and the hair a jet black, but the shape of the face and the easy smile were the same.

“I’ll be damned!” Kelly said out loud. “It’s Christopher the maintenance guy.”

Her mouth hung open as she watched video after video, reaching the same conclusion each time.

She thought back to all their encounters and then grew hot with embarrassment when she recalled how strongly she had come on to him, except … his eyes had always been on Raina.

Oh God, Raina!

Kelly wanted to pick up her phone right there and then and call her friend with the news, but experience had taught her to think things through before making a decision.

This one in particular was too huge to screw up. She couldn’t believe that she had rubbed shoulders and spoken with a billionaire. Oh, God, Kelly felt as though she was going to choke on her tongue, so great was her excitement. She stood up to pace unable to sit still any longer. She paced a while and then sat back down to watch the video again.

Without a doubt, the man was Christopher the maintenance guy. And to think that Raina had thought he was homeless! Kelly found herself laughing out aloud.

They had all been taken in. But what had been the purpose of his undercover stunt? She thought back to whether he had seen anything inappropriate during his time with them.

An unpleasant thought crossed Kelly’s mind. If Christopher was Christian that meant that he had believed that Raina had stolen from the company. That would explain why he had disappeared completely from Raina’s life.

Oh, God.
Roger was responsible for destroying Raina and Christian’s romance.

A plan was starting to form in Kelly’s brain.

She would convince Raina to take a day off and go with her to the talk. The college was South of Palm Beach and about a four hours’ drive. They would make it a day road trip but Kelly would keep the real reason of their visit a secret. She fired off another email to the organizers of the talk to book for two tickets instead of one.

Kelly was determined to fix what Pervy Roger had destroyed and bring the two back together.

She had not seen Raina that alive and happy in ages. Besides, you didn’t just let billionaires like Christian slip through your fingers without a fight, she thought with a giggle. Not that Raina would be impressed by the money.

She paused what she was doing when another realization hit her. Raina had told her about the private scholarship from an anonymous source. It had all been very mysterious and confusing, but it made perfect sense now.

Christian had spent a lot of time with the kids and had seen how bright and talented they were. Kelly was sure that he was the one who had offered the scholarship, and Raina didn’t have a clue as to who her real benefactor was.

Seeing that it was a Friday, Kelly decided to spend the weekend at Raina’s. That way she had a better chance of convincing her friend to go on the road trip with her. Her heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings. She calmed herself down and then made the call.

“Hey, girl,” Kelly said, suppressing her excitement. “Do you need an extra hand over the weekend, I could come down today after work.…”

* * *

H
alf past five
found her driving down the highway, headed to Raina’s B&B. She switched on the radio and chose a station with soulful music. She hummed along, suddenly feeling as though all was well with the world. The fact that Christian Del Mar was not a stranger would make it easier to approach him. She just had to picture him in ripped jeans and a flannel shirt instead of an expensive suit. Kelly suppressed a giggle.

She swerved her car into the parking lot and sat for a moment to admire the tall, brick building. A swell of pride rose in Kelly that her friend had done so well for herself. From what Raina had told her the last time they spoke, the B&B was doing better than she had hoped.

Kelly glanced at the time. It was quarter past six, probably dinner was being served now. It was far better if she went straight up to the apartment, rather than interrupt Raina’s work. She walked in carrying a small bag.

“Hi Rita,” Kelly said, walking into the reception and smiling at the red and blue haired girl.

“Kelly! How’re you?” Rita said smiling at her.

“Great, I know Raina’s busy, so I’ll just go on up, if that’s OK.”

“Sure, the kids will be happy to see you.”

“Thanks,” Kelly said and stepped up the stairs behind the reception desk.

She knocked slightly on the apartment door before pushing it open.

“Anybody home?” Kelly called out.

“Yes, we’re in the dining room. Is that you, Aunt Kelly?”

Kelly smiled at Crystal’s voice. It had been too long since she’d seen them.

She dropped her bag on the floor and walked past the living area to the dining room. When the kids saw her, they yelled and rushed over, wrapping their arms around her. Oh, Raina was blessed to have the children in her life, Kelly thought as the three bodies snuggled against her. Just then she became aware of another presence and when she looked up, she saw a brown haired woman walking in from the kitchen.

“Hi, I’m Susan from next door. I’m watching the kids for a few hours. I take it you’re a family friend?” she said, eyeing Kelly closely.

“Yes, she’s our friend!” Jeremiah exclaimed. “Kelly, I want to show you the new soccer ball I just got!”

“I am.” Kelly replied to Susan. “My name’s Kelly and it’s a pleasure to meet you.” To Jeremiah she added, “I can’t wait to see it, sweetie.”

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard Raina mention your name.”

The women chatted a little as Jeremiah ran to get his ball and the girls returned to their homework. Realizing she might be in the way, Kelly decided to return downstairs and see if she could lend a hand.

The dining room was buzzing with conversation and Raina was moving among the diners, making conversation. Sometimes she threw her head back and laughed at something a patron said. Kelly just watched and admired her friend’s easy manner with clients.

Raina caught Kelly’s eyes when she noticed her friend watching her, and rushed to her side.

“I thought you said six, it’s going on seven now,” Raina complained, while embracing her.

“I was upstairs and I met your new babysitter,” Kelly said.

“I use her services most days after school. Even though I’m downstairs, the kids were spending too much time alone with no one to supervise them,” Raina explained.

“She seems nice.”

“She is, and the kids love her. Now come and sit down, tell me all. Are you hungry?” Kelly’s eye fell on the steaming vegetables and mashed potatoes with chunks of steak.

“Yes please, that looks amazing,” she said and sat down while Raina went to the kitchen and returned with a plate full of food.

“Are you serious? How many people are eating that?” Kelly eyed the overloaded plate Raina set in front of her skeptically.

“You need some meat on those bones,” Raina said. For herself, she went and came back with a cup of coffee. Kelly raised an eyebrow.

“Are you not eating?”

“With the smell of food around me all day, I feel full by evening,” Raina said with a shrug. Kelly looked at her friend closely and detected a hint of sadness in her brown eyes. She suddenly noticed how much thinner her friend had gotten, and how much more tired she looked.

“What is it Raina? I thought everything was going well here?”

“It is and … I don’t know, I guess it’s just me being silly,” Raina said and attempted a smile, instead her eyes flooded with tears.

Kelly was alarmed and she placed her knife and fork back down. Something was very wrong; it was not like Raina to act so vulnerable. “Raina!” Kelly cried out. “Tell me what is it?”

Raina wiped her face with a napkin and then looked at Kelly.

“All this seems so pointless. Everything is going much better than I had hoped for yet I just feel empty inside. I know I have the kids but it doesn’t feel enough. I’m lonely as hell here, Kelly and I can’t shake it away. I keep thinking I’ve made a huge mistake by buying this place. What am I going to do?”

Kelly was taken aback and she did not reply immediately. This was so unlike Raina. She was usually the strong one, the one who carried on with a cheerful attitude whatever the circumstances.

“Is it … Christopher?” Kelly ventured.

Raina shrugged. “I suppose it could be.” She sighed heavily, slumping against the back of her chair. “He flooded my life with light and now I feel as though a switch has been turned off. He showed me it was possible for me to connect with someone on that level. Will I ever find someone like that again?’

Kelly fought the urge to tell Raina everything. If she did, chances were Raina would never want to hear his name ever again and she had no hope of convincing her to go on the road trip with her the coming Saturday.

Kelly hesitated, trying to choose her words carefully. “You will Raina. You’re an attractive woman and a really nice person. Any man would be lucky to have you in his life.” Kelly said.

Raina smiled shakily. “Thanks. I’m sorry; I know this is not what you had in mind when you came down.”

“It’s exactly what I had in mind. To be a friend.”

Raina took her hand under the table and held it for a moment.

“Now tell me everything. Is Pervy Roger still being a pest?” Raina said.

“Let’s not spoil the mood talking about that creep. Besides, I have a plan to fix him for good. He’ll never harass another woman again.”

Raina grinned. “You go, girl! Do tell.”

“Another time,” Kelly said, waving her off as though what was going on with Pervy Rog was small potatoes. “Now I have a plan for the both of us. I have a surprise for you next Saturday!”

Raina clapped her hands. “Oh I love surprises.”

“You’ll love this one,” Kelly said firmly, more to herself than to Raina.

There was just no telling how Raina would react when she realized the Christian was Christopher.

“We’ll drive to Paramount in the morning and return in the evening,” Kelly said.

Raina’s face fell. “My surprise is four hours away?”

“Yes Raina. It will be fun, and you need a day away from all this, however captivating it is.”

“What about the kids?”

“What about them? Didn’t you say that Susan is a wonderful babysitter? It’s just one day and I’m sure she’s capable of watching them for a day,” Kelly said, her stomach now in knots at the thought that Raina would refuse.

“I don’t know Kelly. Saturdays are always so busy here. I’d feel so guilty knowing I should be at work.”

“You’ve been at work every day for the last several weeks. Surely even
you
deserve a break? Your staff seem very capable. I’m sure they can cover for you for a few hours.”

“What shall we do once we get to Paramount?” Raina asked.

Kelly waggled a finger at her. “No! I can’t tell you. That’s the surprise.”

Raina gave it some thought while Kelly watched the different emotions on Raina’s face. She had no plan B and if Raina refused to go with her, then she would have to go alone. But that would not be as effective as having Raina with her.

“Ok,” Raina finally said. “Let’s do it. And Kelly, I warn you, the surprise had better be worth driving all that way for.”

“It is,” Kelly said, feeling shaky now that her plan was underway.