Bad Boy Billionaire (A Standalone Romance) Read online

  Maria shrugged and smiled modestly even though she wanted to kick herself for getting the damn report so wrong.

  Breton leaned across his desk and fixed her with an intense look. “Really Maria. It’s an outstanding piece of work. More than I’d expect from our analysts.”

  Maria was unaffected by his gaze. “I guess I’m used to working in a small team. We all had to pitch in and help one another out from time to time.”

  He smiled. “I’d almost ask you if you wanted to transfer to the analyst team…”

  Maria raised her eyebrow. “almost?”

  Breton looked up and Maria was almost floored by his penetrating blue eyes. She pretended not to be. “But then I wouldn’t get to see you every day.”

  “Oh please,” Maria laughed. “That’s real cute. Have you run out of skinny catwalk wannabes?”

  He shook his head. “No it’s not like that. I just…”

  Maria couldn’t help but be surprised by his reaction. She’d been rebuffing his flirtation for days but he’d never been so forward before. And she’d never reacted so bluntly. His bumbling response seemed completely out of character. But she wasn’t gonna fall on her back for him, no matter how panty-meltingly hot he was. And it was time to stop his flirting, no matter how much she secretly enjoyed it. “You just thought that your trust fund could buy me too, along with the others.”

  Chase stared at her. “That’s a little harsh…”

  Maria sighed. “Is it? I’ve seen practically every human being with a vagina in this place totter to your office in the past week. You sure have a lot of business meetings.”

  Chapter 5

  No matter how hard Chase Breton massaged his temples with his knuckles, he couldn’t rid himself of the memory of Maria’s face earlier that afternoon. Her eyebrows had flown up in scorn. He knew how cheesy he must have sounded: he hadn’t meant for it to sound that way. He had tried to make it better but he just made himself sound worse and worse and worse. He had shrugged sheepishly when she referenced the other women in the office parading themselves in front of him, no matter how much he cringed inside. Maria would think he was a lying asshole if he told her the truth: that he just hadn’t been interested in anyone else since she arrived in his office. It seemed like she thought he was a lying asshole anyway.

  There was no way he could leave things between them like that. He downed his scotch in one and picked up his desk phone.

  “Maria.”

  “Hi. It’s Chase. Could you step in here a moment?”

  “Sure Mr. Breton. Should I call my lawyer?”

  “What?” he asked frowning. “No, it’s not like that, I—”

  Maria chuckled. “I was kidding, it’s okay. I’ll be there in a sec.”

  The sound of her deep, throaty laugh made his cock stir. He readjusted himself and stared out the window. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the image of her out of his head. Specifically, the image of her lying on her back on the cowhide in the corner, naked except for a thick, expensive gold chain around her neck.

  He exhaled deeply as the door opened.

  “You wanted to see me?”

  He looked up. Maria was demurely dressed in a caramel turtleneck and gray skirt that reached her knees, but nothing she could wear would ever hide those curves. He fought with his instinct to drink in the sight of her voluptuous body, standing just inside his office, hands on hips.

  “Mr. Breton?” she said, impatiently.

  “Yes.” He cleared his throat. “I did. I wanted to apologize for… hey, why don’t you take a seat?” he pointed at the chair in front of his desk.

  She sat down in front of him and watched with a faint smile as she waited for him to continue.

  “So, yeah. I just wanted to say sorry for earlier. I didn’t mean to offend you—”

  “You didn’t offend me.”

  His heart rate skyrocketed. “Don’t interrupt. Would you like to go to dinner with me?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “As in, a date?”

  He shrugged. “I guess so.”

  She stared down at her hands. “I told you before,” she whispered. “You can’t buy me with your trust fund.”

  He shook his head. “Back to that? Really? I’m disappointed.”

  “So am I. I need this job. I didn’t expect to be propositioned by the boss.”

  “It’s not like that,” he groaned. “I’m not trying to blackmail you. I just want to take you to dinner.”

  “I’m busy.”

  He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t mention a day.”

  She shrugged, still avoiding his eyes. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll still be busy.”

  “Why?” he asked with a frown. In spite of her cold rejection, he still couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  “I’m just trying to do my job.”

  Chapter 6

  Bitch.

  Maria spun around in surprise. “Excuse me?”

  It wasn’t like no-one had ever called her a bitch before – she’d been called far worse names than that. She was just amazed to hear the word come from Rachel’s beautiful mouth. The woman looked like an angel, whatever about her desk crawling habits.

  Rachel shook her head innocently. “I said nothing.”

  “I heard you,” Maria said calmly. “And I don’t know what your fucking problem is.”

  Rachel looked taken aback. “My problem is you. Before you started he couldn’t get enough of me. Now he’s not interested.”

  Maria snorted. “And you think I’m fucking him, is that it?”

  Rachel stared at her accusingly.

  “It is. Oh what the fuck have I gotten myself into,” Maria breathed, throwing her head back and staring at the ceiling. “The last time I had a conversation like this was in high school.”

  “Admit it, it’s true, isn’t it,” Rachel said, looking like she was going to cry at any moment.

  “No, it’s not,” Maria said, leaning her hands on her desk.

  “Liar. You’re always in there. All of the time. It was never like that with his last assistant.”

  Maria frowned. “Really?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me,” Rachel hissed.

  “I’m not. I have no interest in Mr. Breton. He’s all yours.”

  “Not any more he’s not,” she sniffed. “He never wants to see me anymore.”

  Maria was halfway between Rachel’s desk and the bank of elevators. She debated whether to make a run for it or stay. Sighing, she turned back to Rachel. It didn’t make sense to make enemies with her, especially when she felt slighted. Those were the most dangerous people, Maria knew from experience. The ones who felt like you’d wounded them.

  “Okay, then,” Maria said softly. “Maybe it’s time for you to meet somebody new?”

  Rachel looked up with tears in her eyes. “But I love him.”

  Maria smiled as sweetly as tenderly as she could. “Sweetie, if you’re looking for love, I’d steer well clear of a guy like Chase Breton.”

  “You’re just saying that.”

  “I’m not, I promise. I’ve got no interest in the guy. I’m just trying to do my job and make ends meet.”

  Rachel glared at her. “You better not.”

  Maria suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she smiled. “Well I gotta go. See you tomorrow.”

  But Rachel was intent on making her point. “Because if you do,” she continued in a hiss. “I’ll tell Mr. Breton what I know about you.”

  Maria stopped dead in her tracks and just managed to wipe the look of surprise off her face before she turned back to face Rachel. “I don’t imagine that conversation will take much time.”

  Rachel smiled smugly. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

  Suppressing the urge to grab Rachel and shake her until she spilled what she knew, Maria shrugged and turned back to the elevators.

  “Okay. See you tomorrow,” she said cheerfully.

  Chapter 7

&n
bsp; Maria leaned against the misted tiles and turned the water up as hot as she could bear. She tried not to wince as the scorching water hit her cold skin. She couldn’t believe how she’d reacted in the office earlier. The sensible response would have been to politely decline his request for a date, or even to go along with it. Instead, she’d been cold to the point of rudeness. But she’d had no other choice. She knew that her resolve would be tested even more if she were to spend one-on-one time with him outside of the office. Even within the professional environment of the office she struggled sometimes.

  She reached over to the faded plastic shower unit and picked up the half-empty bottle of shampoo. As she lathered her hair, she tried to make sense of the day. She had to keep him at bay, but he wasn’t taking no for an answer. It was as if her coldness only increased his enthusiasm. And then there was Rachel. The girl obviously thought she knew something. And Maria needed to find out what that was. ASAP. Best case scenario, Rachel had noticed she’d been late back to work on Wednesday afternoon. But Maria knew it was something else. Rachel’s gorgeous tear-stained face had looked so smug. If she knew the truth, it could jeopardize the entire operation.

  She leaned her head back and let the water cascade onto her hair, muffling her ears to any outside sound. But if Rachel knew the truth, she reasoned, there was no way she would have sat on the information. She would have gone straight to Breton. Maria sighed. She knew it wasn’t going to be a straightforward job, but she hadn’t expected it to be this complicated.

  Stepping out of the shower, Maria swaddled herself in her threadbare robe and tied it tight around her waist. She grabbed a towel from the shelf beside the shower and roughly towel dried her hair as she padded out of the bathroom to the tiny kitchen-lounge.

  She didn’t care about the apartment’s size: that was the cost of finding a place in the city without roommates. Not that she would have disliked company. But people overheard things they shouldn’t. In her industry, roommates were a strict no-no. She spent so little time there that it didn’t matter anyway. She was just about to switch on the coffee maker when something in the corner of her eye made her freeze on the spot, her senses on high alert. She glanced around the room. There was nobody there. Her hand slid along the counter to the bread box.

  “I wouldn’t bother,” said a voice behind her.

  Maria swung around and squeaked in surprise. There was a man dressed in head-to-toe black standing in the doorway that led to the bathroom and her bedroom. He was barely taller than Maria, but his stocky frame was strong and powerful, and the scar that ran from his eyebrow to his jawline made it even clearer that this wasn’t a guy to be messed with.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered, after they’d stood facing one another for several seconds. Her fingers explored the space underneath the raised wooden bottom of the box. Sure enough, there was nothing there.

  He held her gun up with his left hand. It still had a crisscross of electrical tape on the barrel. “Getting sloppy?”

  She shrugged, praying she was doing a good job of seeming hopeless. She eased her left hand behind her back and slowly opened the cupboard under the sink, praying it wouldn’t squeak. She’d been meaning to oil the hinges for some time. It had never seemed like a big risk: shitty as it was, her apartment was her safe place.

  “What the fuck are you doing here Johnny? You can’t just come into my home uninvited.”

  His face contorted. She wasn’t sure whether he was grinning or snarling at her.

  Maria’s fingers landed on an empty hook where her hunting knife had been.

  “You won’t find it there,” he hissed, baring perfect white teeth that looked out of place given his otherwise untidy appearance.

  Maria pursed her lips as she did a mental inventory. She had other weapons stashed in her bedroom and bathroom, but he was standing between her and the door. There was no way she could get to them without raising his suspicions. She glanced around the room. “Are you gonna tell me what you’re doing here? Or do I need to find out for myself?”

  He grinned menacingly. “Maria…” he started. His smile turned to a look of surprise as she grabbed a half-full bottle of bourbon from the counter and held it over her head. He grabbed her wrist a split second before she brought it crashing onto his head.

  “You seriously have no off switch for that temper, do you?”

  Maria glared at him as she tried to wriggle her wrist free. He held her arm up and away from her, leaving the side of her body completely open and undefended. Usually, Maria would’ve cursed herself for allowing someone to disarm her. But Johnny wasn’t your common thug.

  “What, you’re not gonna try and knife me while you get the chance? I thought backstabbing was your thing?”

  He shook his head with a slow, easy smile. “I don’t need to Maria. Right now, I need you. And you’re gonna stop acting up, right? You need me just as much as I need you.”

  With a frustrated sigh, Maria stopped struggling and allowed him to pull the bottle from her limp wrist and set it on the tiny two-seater dining table.

  “What’s say we polish off the bottle?” he said, sitting down on one of the two molded plastic chairs.

  Maria remained standing. “I didn’t invite you here.”

  Johnny took no notice. He reached over and opened the bottle. “Glasses?”

  She shook her head. “Can’t you hear me? I don’t want you here. What if the neighbors see?”

  He shrugged and put the bottle to his lips, taking a deep gulp of the amber liquid. “What am I gonna do?” he asked, grimacing as he put the bottle down on the table. “You’ve been ignoring my calls.”

  “So? I’ve given you everything you asked for. I just need more time.”

  “Not good enough. We need something fast.”

  “I’m going as fast as I can. There’s nothing more I can do.”

  “Isn’t there?” He rolled the bottle between his hands as if he was weighing up the benefits of another drink. “Janey’s hearing is next month, right?”

  Maria’s throat tightened. “You know it is.”

  He smiled cruelly. “So then. You know what to do.”

  Maria slapped her palms against her forehead. “I can’t just snap my fingers and get the information you want. It takes time. I’ve read through all of his emails from the last two years. Every one. And there’s nothing even remotely incriminating. The guy is like a boy scout. Now I’m working though the file system. But there are literally hundreds of thousands of files. I don’t even know what I’m looking for. It might help if you told me exactly what you want.”

  Johnny bared his teeth. “I’ve told you everything I’m allowed to. Anything more and you’d know too much. It’s there. Find it.”

  “A couple of keywords to watch out for. That’s all you’ve given me. They’re not showing up, whatever they are. I need more.”

  He shrugged. “It’s sensitive information. I want to know everything you can find about those names. Focus on recent stuff.”

  “You don’t understand. Do you know how many divisions there are? It would help if—”

  “I’m not telling you any more.”

  “If they catch me copying those files—”

  Johnny cut her off. “You need to make them do the work for you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “What, just front up and ask them where the incriminating folder is kept?”

  “We’re giving you an out, Maria,” he said, staring at his nails like he was bored. “Give us what we want and we’ll pull strings so Janey gets exonerated. Don’t; we do nothing. She gets sent away for life without parole.”

  Maria leaned over the table, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m doing what you want, aren’t I? I’m working there, going through all their files. I just need more time.”

  Johnny leaned back in the chair and slowly ran his eyes up and down her body. “Maybe you’re not approaching this the right way.”

  “What the fuck do you mean?” she said,
more wearily this time. The past month of working closely with Johnny had given her the ability to read between the lines of what he said. Nine times out of ten, it was something lecherous and gross.

  “I think you know what I mean, clever girl. We all know Chase Breton likes to party. Why don’t you show him a good time? Wouldn’t be hard with that body. He’ll be putty in your hands. Our hands.”

  “Because I’m not a fucking whore,” she screamed, brushing the bottle off the table onto the ground, where it smashed into a hundred shards of glinting brown.

  Johnny stood up and leaned over the table. She recoiled when his hot breath landed on her face. He smelled of smoke and stale alcohol. “Your choice,” he smiled. “You’d be surprised what people do for family.”

  Chapter 8

  Maria emailed Breton the final copy of her report and stared at the door to his office. His absence for the previous two days had given her plenty of time to think about Johnny’s ultimatum. Not that she was any closer to a solution.

  On the surface it seemed easy, she knew. Seduce a sexy, handsome man whom she already knew was hot for her. Maria shuddered. If only it was that simple. People like Breton had been shitting on people like her for a long time. They always got what they wanted, no matter the cost. And now she was going to let him get what he wanted? Just like Janey had done with Daniel; blinded by wealth and charm. And look how that had worked out for her.

  Maria set her jaw. There was no way she’d allow him to win that easily. There had to be another way. Looking around her to make sure there was nobody watching, she opened file explorer and navigated to the root directory of the firm. As the CEO’s assistant, nothing was off limits to her. So if there was something there – and they were so sure that there was – then she’d be able to access it. She was beginning to doubt that there was, though – she was an expert in finding things people didn’t want found. And so far, she’d turned up nothing.