Yes, that’s him. How do you know him?
How come you don’t know him? Grace replied. He’s an Irish billionaire. Easily one of the richest man in the world. He had dinner with the vice president last week. Apparently he’s got companies all over the world. He’s filthy rich.
Denora felt discomfited as she replied. How come I never heard about him before?
Maybe because you live under a rock? her friend answered. Anyway, let’s meet up for drinks after work. You need to tell me all about it!
You got it, Denora typed back.
She closed her mailbox and opened Max’s picture again. Behind the polite smile, there was that same cold look in his eyes. As attracted as she was to him, there was something unsettling about him. She couldn’t quite place her finger on it.
Shaking herself, she forced herself to close the picture and get to work again. Darren was right. She was being considered for senior reporter and she couldn’t afford to slack off now. Besides, there was hardly any chance that Max would ever contact her again. If he truly was the big deal Grace claimed he was, he could probably get any woman he wanted. There was no reason why an Irish billionaire would be interested in someone like her.
Chapter 2
Max’s thoughts were whirling as he paced the spacious living room in the penthouse suite. He glanced at the grandfather clock. Any minute now. On impulse, he checked his Blackberry again, impatiently scrolling through his inbox. But there was nothing. Not yet, anyway.
The doorbell suddenly rang. “Room service.”
Muttering under his breath, he walked over to the door and flung it open. The uniformed butler gave him a polite smile as he wheeled the trolley towards the dining room. “Should I set the table for you, sir?”
“No, that’s fine, you can leave everything here.” Max grabbed a handful of bills from his pocket and handed them to the butler.
“Of course, sir. Thank you.” The butler quietly retreated.
Ignoring the delicious smell of steak, Max reached for the bottle of red and uncorked it in a practiced gesture. He poured himself a full glass and downed it in one gulp before reaching for the bottle again. He was just about to pour himself a second glass when his Blackberry buzzed with a call. He answered at once.
“Yes?”
“I just sent it to you, sir.”
“Thanks, Nate.” Max cut the call and walked over to his laptop. A satisfied smile spread across his lips as he logged in to his inbox. There they were, every single email that Denora had sent and received during the day. Ignoring the work-related messages, he headed straight for the emails she’d exchanged with her best friend. This would tell him everything he needed to know. He scoffed as he read the emails.
I met this delicious hunk of a man afterwards. We went out for coffee. He’s apparently an Irish cowboy or something.
Irish cowboy? Max scowled as he scrolled down to the very last mail but there were no additional exchanges with Grace. He wished there was some way he could know whether his plan had worked or not. But from the looks of it, he was on the right track. A deep sense of satisfaction ran through him as he closed his laptop and reached for his phone again, speed dialing the ranch. It was early morning over there. With any luck, he would be able to speak to Charlotte before he went to bed.
His housekeeper answered on the first ring. “Hello?”
“Hi, Bertha.” Max grinned at the familiar voice. “How are you? Is Charlotte awake?”
“I think she just woke up, Max. Please hold on.”
A few seconds later, a sleepy voice rang down the line. “Hi, Max.”
“Hey, sweetie,” Max said tenderly. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. I just woke up.” Charlotte gave a loud yawn.
“I’m sorry for calling so early but I was about to go to bed and I wanted to say hi first.” Max glanced at the clock.
“I miss you,” Charlotte said forlornly. “When are you coming back?”
“I miss you too, love.” Max let out a loud sigh. “I wish I could have brought you here with me but I have some…complicated business to take care of. But I’ll see you real soon, okay, Charlie?”
“Yeah.”
He laughed. “Quit sulking and give me a kiss.”
She blew a kiss down the line. “Come back soon.”
“Will do, baby. I should probably go to sleep. It’s late.”
“Yeah.” Charlie let out another loud yawn. “Good night, Max.”
“Have a great day, sweetie.”
His smiled died on his lips as he cut the call and started pacing the room again. Talking to Charlie was a stark reminder of why he’d come here. He needed to get close to the bitch, whether he wanted to or not. Cold hatred filled his chest as he thought of how happy and positively carefree Denora had appeared earlier.
And yet, deep down, buried behind the smoldering layers of rage, he was dangerously aware of the fact that she was easily one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. Accidentally bumping into her had been a carefully calculated plan, but Max had been completely unprepared for how struck he’d been when he’d first seen her in person. He clenched his fists, remembering the warm, wide chocolate colored eyes that beautifully complimented her black, velvety skin. Weeks of watching her from afar had not prepared him for actually seeing her in person.
Remember why you’re here.
He tore his thoughts away from Denora’s spectacular body and reached for the thick folder on the coffee table. He knew its contents by heart now and yet, he sat down and scanned each page carefully, determined not to miss a single piece of information that might help him. The glacial feeling in his chest expanded as his eyes ran over the all-too-familiar words. Accident. Brake failure. Head injury. David James. Denora James.
Charlotte’s face filled his mind and he slammed the folder shut with a curse. He couldn’t care less how alluring Denora James was. She was going to pay. He would make sure of that. By the time he was done with his plan, they would all wish that they’d never been born.
With grim resolve, Max scrolled through his phone until he found Denora’s number. He glanced at the clock. It was quite late for a social call, but right then he couldn’t bring himself to care. She answered on the third ring, sounding surprisingly alert and awake.
“Hello?”
Revulsion throbbed through him at the sound of her voice but he willed himself to keep his composure.
“Hi, Denora. It’s Max.”
“Hey.” She sounded genuinely pleased to hear from him. “I was wondering whether you’d call.”
Max injected as much warmth as he could into his voice. “I wanted to call earlier but I got caught up with work. I do apologize for calling so late. Were you asleep?”
“Oh, no, I just got in,” she said. “I went out with my best friend. We were only supposed to meet for drinks but we couldn’t stop talking.”
I can guess what you talked about, he thought wryly. Aloud he said, “I was actually calling to ask whether you would be free for dinner tomorrow night. I read about this great harbor-front place. Apparently they serve the best lobster risotto.”
She didn’t hesitate. “Yes, sure. That sounds great.”