Sweet Billionaire Stepbrother(47)
“Of course I did. I may not look like I’m paying attention, but I listen to every word you say, baby. And today you get to shop here, anything you want, my treat.”
Playfully I slapped his arm as I shook my head. “Oh, Grayson, that’s not the reason I wanted to come here. I wanted to see the famous building and its Egyptian influences, not to shop.”
“What? A women who doesn’t like to shop and won’t help me dispose of my billions? Are you sure you’re not an alien?”
“You’re the doctor. You tell me.”
He rubbed his chin as he appraised me with a sparkle in his eyes. “Well, you are a freak in bedbut . . . you’re more like a tigress than an alien.”
“Is that a compliment?” I smirked indignantly.
“Sure is. My little tigress. Fuck, I love when you go from nerdy girl to predator as soon as your clothes come off. It’s like a dirty little secret and know what I love even more?”
I licked my parched lips and shook my head. Tiny beads of perspiration formed between my eyebrows and I wiped it away with the back of my hand. Just his talking about it made me horny as f*ck. I would’ve thought I’d be used to it by now but no, my body reacted to his words as much as it did to his hands, mouth and cock.
“That it’s our secret. No one else knows that under your sweet and caring exterior lies a feisty woman who can light a fire in this man and drive his cock crazy.”
“Yeah, let’s keep that between us, okay?”
This was wrong on so many levels and I was certain our affair would not be met with approval from our family. For starters, the scandal that would send the media into a shark-like feeding frenzy and would cause so much damage, a shudder ran down my spine just thinking about it.
Just after the divorce, his whole company nearly crumbled. Milton’s wife—and mother to the heirs of the mining dynasty—running off with another man couldn’t have come at a worse time. Global setbacks had already caused the share prices to tumble, the scandal just added fuel to the already raging fire. Built on family values and virtues, the board of directors were old school and unforgiving.
That was when my mother met Milton Forbes, when he was at his absolute lowest. Left with two children and an empire that was on the verge of collapsing, he wasn’t exactly the perfect catch. But against the odds and with Mum by his side, Milton had fought back and survived the onslaught.
He saved his company with sheer determination, even though his hard work took a serious toll on his health, mentally and physically. Amidst everything that was happening, Milton had a heart attack that nearly cost his life. It was only because of his personal assistant—my Mom—taking quick action that he lived.
She helped Milton through his darkest days and holding-on-by-a-thread nights.
Milton vowed to never let anything come that close to destroying his legacy or his life ever again. I couldn’t blame him, not one bit and that’s what made this situation so damn difficult.
Grayson’s eyes darkened. His lips pressed together as he grabbed my arm and steered me toward the entrance.
“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled, his mood changing from cheerful to frustrated in a matter of seconds.
Crap. I was ruining his surprise by bringing up our messed up reality.
Even though we never spoke of it, it was always there, in the shadows. Marring the most wonderful moments of my life were pangs of guilt and anguish. What if we were found out? What if this destroys our family?
I couldn’t ruin Milton. I couldn’t rob Grayson and Taylor of their inheritance. I couldn’t watch my mother lose another husband, the chances of Milton surviving another heart attack was slim according to his specialists.
“Sorry,” I murmured under my breath, stealing a glance at Grayson.
He gave me a twisted half smile. “It’s not your fault this is screwed up. Let’s just forget about all of that right now and just have fun for a few more days, okay?”
I bit the inside of my lip and nodded.
I never wanted this fairytale to end, but I knew it had to. There was no other way.
The stakes were too high for us to allow our relationship to evolve. Back then our parents had painstakingly built back confidence in the company by promoting our new family unit. Milton had made a big deal of selling us as a close knit family and gone as far as even adopting me.
I became a Forbes.
I was given a trust fund and shares in the company.
I got to be Milton’s daughter.
18: Grayson
The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach soon disappeared as I convinced Layla to try on a few dresses. Watching her try on the dresses I had selected from the plush leather sofa outside her dressing room lightened my mood
I wasn’t trying to change her or the way she dressed; I loved that she lived in jeans and t-shirt instead of constantly wearing ridiculous short skirts and precarious high heels thwat were sure to catch male attention. The place I was taking her for dinner had a strict dress code that I was certain she hadn’t packed for.
Layla had a style and charisma all of her own. I loved how unaware Layla was of just how f*cking sexy she was. It added to that something special and intangible quality she possessed that couldn’t be bought with all the money in the world.
So far she’d had a smartass comment about every single item I’d picked and she made me laugh out loud several times with her quirky sense of humor.