Escorting the Billionaire by Leigh James
Audrey
James had literally fuckedmy brains out. Good thing I’d sent that paperwork in while I was still lucid. Now my mother couldn’t take any more funds from New Horizons. At least there was one less thing to worry about.
I couldn’t have forced myself to worry about anything right now, anyway. James held my hand as we walked down Newbury Street in the early afternoon heat. We were lazy and loose, and I swear to God, we were in love. That’s what it felt like, anyway. I was in love with him, my billionaire in his jeans and T-shirt, his sexy steel-colored hair mussed up from our recent lovemaking. I was in love with him, and I was positively drunk on it.
We went to Stephanie’s on Newbury and he ordered a bottle of Chardonnay. I looked at the menu. “Would you like some crab cakes?” I asked him, and he started to laugh.
“What?” I asked, confused.
“I hate crab cakes,” he said.
“You ate them the other night!”
“I only did that for you,” he said. “You were trying to take care of me, and I wanted to be… nice.”
“Well, you suck at being nice,” I said. The waitress came, and I ordered a beet salad, a blue cheese burger, and a side of macaroni and cheese.
“I’ll have the same,” James said, not even looking at the menu, and handing it back to the waitress. He squeezed my hand. “You always get the good stuff.”
“Except for the crab cakes,” I said huffily.
“Don’t be mad at me.” The sunlight played on his face and I saw how relaxed and gorgeous he was right then. Well, he was always gorgeous. But relaxed? Not so much.
“I can’t remember the last time I felt this happy,” he said.
I looked at him again. Tears came quick to my eyes, and I mentally retracted them. I’ve never been this happy, I thought. That warmed me and burned me all at the same time. “Me neither,” I said and smiled at him bravely.
“We have to be at the rehearsal relatively soon,” James said, still holding my hand. “And the wedding’s going to be an all-day affair tomorrow. But then I get you all to myself—well, almost—but I can’t wait to go to the Bahamas now. I was dreading it before. Now I can’t wait. I get to hang out with you in a bikini.”
“I’ve never been to the Caribbean. I’m really looking forward to it.”
He reached over and squeezed my hand. “You’re going to love it.”
“It’ll be interesting to spend a whole week with your family.” I was dreading that now more than ever.
“We’re getting a villa on the edge of the resort,” James said, “so everyone can leave us the fuck alone.”
“Do you promise?” I asked.
“I’ll promise you anything, Audrey.”
We wentto Trinity Church for the rehearsal. James was wearing a light-grey suit with a lavender tie, and I was wearing a pale lavender dress. “You look stunning, and we match. It’s perfect,” James said. He held my hand as we walked through the church doors.
“It is perfect,” I agreed. I’d seen his tie and picked out my dress right afterward; we looked as together as I felt like we were. We walked into the main chamber of the church, and the beauty of it took my breath away. Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows, and the ceiling soared high above us. It was fit for a fairy-tale wedding. I could imagine Evie coming down the aisle in a pouffy princess dress, her pale face behind a veil.
Thinking about it made me sad.
James leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. I looked up at him, flustered. Being in the church with him like this was making me feel an uneasy longing, followed closely by dread. “What?” he asked, watching my face.
“This is just stunning,” I said, turning away from him. “I’ve never been in here.”
“It’s something, isn’t it?” Celia Preston asked, coming toward us. She eyed us suspiciously, taking in our clasped hands and coordinating outfits. “You two are looking very… matchy,” she said, and she didn’t sound pleased. Celia was wearing another Chanel suit, this one black-and-white checkered. Her face looked as if it had de-puffed nicely.
“Mother,” James said icily, giving her a slight bow.
“Hi, Mrs. Preston,” I said in what I hoped was a casual, friendly way. I was trying to balance out James’s formal coldness. After what he’d told me, I didn’t blame him for how he felt about her. But now more than ever, I needed to step up my performance. He’d helped me, and I wanted to help him. I needed to make this easier for him. “You look so pretty.”
“My swelling from the filler went down, just as expected,” she said.
“I have to go up front,” James said to me, nodding toward Todd and the rest of the wedding party. “Will you be okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. I smiled at his mother bravely. “Your mother and I can watch.”
“Great,” James said, giving his mother a warning look. “This shouldn’t take too long. I hope.”
“James—it’s your brother’s night. Let it take as long as it needs to,” Celia said. She motioned for me to follow her to a pew closer to the front, and I obeyed. Of course I obeyed—Iwasn’t about to argue with her. I sat down next to her, careful not to get too close.
“So,” she said, arranging her skirt and turning her unnaturally smooth face to me. “James seems more enraged with me than usual. I assume you told him about our conversation about grandchildren at tea.”
That, and he told me you made his high-school girlfriend cry so hard she hydroplaned her car into a guardrail and died.
“I might have mentioned it to him,” I said carefully. “But I had no idea how upset he would get.”
“Did he talk to you about the trust?”
I did not care for Celia Preston, but I did admire her ability to be direct. I didn’t want to tell her the truth, but I didn’t see a way out. “He did,” I admitted.
She sighed and sat back a little. “He’s never understood my perspective—he takes moral offense to it. But that is limited thinking on his part. What James doesn’t understand is that having a family requires an enormous sense of duty. One must put one’s family before oneself. You have to protect it. Your family is all you’ve got in life, Audrey.”
She gave me a quick look. “Oh—sorry dear, I forgot that all your family’s dead.”
“No, you didn’t,” I said.
She gave me a terse smile. “You’re right. I didn’t.”
I wanted to roll my eyes at her but I didn’t dare. We sat there in silence for a minute, watching the priest discuss the ceremony with Evie and Todd. James stood behind his brother, his arms crossed tight against his chest, glaring at his mother.
“James doesn’t approve of Evie,” Celia continued. “But what he sees as a lack of a personality and good judgment, I see as an opportunity.”
“How’s that?” I asked.
“She has the proper family and the proper pedigree—her parents met at Tabor Academy. She has a trust fund. She registered at Shreve, Crump & Low, and I didn’t even have to tell her to. She’s an appropriate addition to the Preston family.”
Everything that Evie had, I didn’t. Celia was telling me in no uncertain terms that I was an inappropriate candidate for the Preston family. And she didn’t know the half of it. She’d thought Danielle—of the full-boat biology scholarship to Brown and the poor but respectable family—was bad. Next to me, Danielle was like the Patron Saint of Louis Vuitton.
“I know everything there is to know about Evie,” Celia said.
I looked at her doubtfully, and she raised an eyebrow at me. Her filler had absorbed enough so that it actually lifted a little. “Oh, but I do—I know that she tried to sleep with James.”
I must have looked shocked, because Celia looked triumphant and patted my knee. “Todd tells me everything, dear. Unlike James.”
“So—why do you want them to get married?” I asked bluntly.
“Because she’s easy to control, of course.” She smiled at me. “Evie loves money more than anything. She and Todd have signed an airtight prenuptial agreement. If Evie cheats, Evie gets nothing. If Evie tries to divorce Todd, Evie gets nothing. If Evie wears a blouse I don’t like, Evie gets nothing. Just kidding about that last one. But close enough.” She watched her son holding Evie’s hand, still talking to the priest.
“I think Evie loves him,” I said. I was surprised to hear myself defending her, but still.
“You’re a funny one, Audrey,” she said. “But I agree: Evie does love Todd, at least right now. Right now she’s a bride, and they’re the center of attention, and they’re having wild sex. She’ll get bored eventually. In a normal situation, that could be a problem. But I’m here. And I can take care of her.”
“Don’t you think Todd’s capable of taking care of her? And himself?” I probably shouldn’t have been so blunt, but I was following her lead.
She shook her head. “Not Todd,” she said. “Todd’s too nice. He needs to be with someone that I can take care of for him. I haven’t told her yet that I know about the incident with James, but I can dangle it over her head if and when I need to.”
“But if Todd already knows, who are you going to tell?”
“Everyone else,” she said and smiled. “Their children. Her cousins. Her mother. Her friends. And I’ll tell them all that James refused her and said she was a bony, disgusting whore.”
“Well, hopefully you won’t ever have to do that,” I said, mildly appalled.
“We’ll see,” Celia said and shrugged. She sounded as if wasting that information might be a disappointment.
“Mrs. Preston, I appreciate you being forthcoming with me… but why are you telling me all this?”
“Because I don’t want you to take this personally,” she said. “I can tell that James has feelings for you.” I started to protest but she held up her hand to stop me. “You might not see it, but I’m his mother, and I know him best. Even if he wishes that weren’t true.
“Now, you’ve been very direct with me, and I appreciate that. So I’m doing the same for you. Your relationship with my son can’t go on past the trip to the Bahamas. You have to call it off with him after that. I can tell that you’re good for James. But that isn’t the only thing that matters in my world. I have an enormous responsibility to my family. James’s children are going to be some of the wealthiest people in the country. They have to be able to handle the duties that come with that sort of privilege—and their parents have to be able to help them do that.
“James needs someone who can help him, Audrey. Someone who can guide him and make his life easier. He doesn’t need someone to babysit.”
I swallowed hard. She was actually making sense to me, and that was scary. I could only imagine what she had said to Danielle, so many years ago. Celia Preston was being polite right now. Her actual wrath would be terrifying. That poor girl, I thought. James had been her first love, and she’d been so young.
“I know you care about James, Audrey. You want what’s best for him. Think about what I’m saying to you.”
She paused for a beat and turned to me. “And between you and me? If you go quietly, I’ll make it worth your while.” We watched as Todd and Evie knelt in front of the priest.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
“You do that, dear,” Mrs. Preston said.
“What wasmy mother whispering to you about?” James asked me as we headed toward the car.
“Oh, you know. This and that. Stuff. Things.”
“What sorts of things?”
“Things that would make you mad,” I said. I grabbed his hand. “Things that we should only talk about while we’re having alcoholic beverages.”
He slid into the car next to me and scowled. “Was it the same stuff? About how exclusive our family is?”
“Sort of,” I said. Since Celia had ended her diatribe, I’d been struggling with how much to tell James. I decided that the whole truth might push him over the edge right now. He was still so raw from telling me about Danielle. I would tell him everything his mother had said, but not the night before Todd’s wedding. He would be too angry. Tonight and tomorrow needed to be about the happy couple, not crazy, vindictive, and cunning Celia Preston.
“She was just talking about Evie. Why she thinks Evie is a good fit for your family.” James snorted, and Kai drove through the Financial District on the way to the waterfront. The rehearsal dinner was at Il Pastorne, one of the most exclusive restaurants in Boston.
After a few minutes sitting in traffic, Kai pulled up outside of the restaurant. As he went to open the door for us, I saw something on the sidewalk that made me pause. A flash of a familiar blond head, badly in need of a root touch-up. “Oh, shit.” I turned to James. “That’s my mom out there.” Kai opened the door, but I didn’t get out. I watched her for a second. She was smoking and pacing out in front of the restaurant, inspecting all the town cars pulling up to the curb.
She was waiting for me.
“I’ll deal with her,” James said, but I stopped him.
“No, let me.” I jumped out of the car.
The last thing I needed right now was for Mr. and Mrs. Preston to see that my supposedly dead mother was alive and well, smoking like a fiend outside of their son’s rehearsal dinner. “Hey,” I said, rushing up to her and looking around, nervously. “What’re you doing here?”
“Nice way to greet your mother,” she said. I grabbed her elbow and dragged her to the car, shoving her inside. “Ow.”
“Shut up,” I hissed and slammed the door behind me. She was giving me a defiant look, and James was watching her face. “Ma, I would introduce you to James, but I heard you met him yesterday.”
“Hello, Mrs. Reynolds,” James said, a mask of courteousness on his face.
She nodded at him and almost looked abashed. Almost.
“James, do you mind if I speak with my mother alone? I’ll be in in just a minute.”
The look he gave me was annoyed, resigned, and not at all surprised. “Sure. But if I don’t see you in five minutes, I’m coming out to get you.” He gave me one last look. Then with a curt nod to my mother, he slid out of the car and slammed the door.
My mother blinked at me, her eyes beady in her puffy face. “He’s bossy, huh?”
I just glared at her. “Kai, can you circle the block?” He pulled out silently and headed down the street. I ducked down low, thankful for the tinted windows.
“You—ashamed of me,” she said and snorted.
My mother had all the nerve. “Do you understand that I’m on a job? I’m working. I can’t have people from my outside life dropping in on me. I could get fired. If Elena gets wind of this, I will be fired.”
“I don’t really think you need to worry about that. Do you?” She looked at me slyly.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Ma? Are you drunker than usual?”
“I am not drunk. But I had a visit from your friend yesterday. He’s bossy, but he’s generous. I think he likes you.”
“Just shut up. Please.”
She shook her head, that smug look intact. “He gave me money, Audrey. Lots of money. Just so I’d leave you alone. So you could be happy. That’s what he said!” She chuckled at this. The fact that someone wanted me to be happy was amusing to her.
“How much,” I said flatly.
“Twenty thousand dollars!” she said. She clapped her hands together in glee. “I needed a break so bad. And he gave it to me like it was nothing. It was chump change to him, Audrey. There’s a lot more where that came from.” She licked her lips, and I felt nauseous. I almost threw up right there, in the back of James’s hired Mercedes.
“Please stop,” I said.
“Oh honey—I’m just getting started.”
I looked up at her, sick with dread. “You can’t do this to me.” I felt as if I were under water, my words coming out muffled and strange. The world was crashing around me like tumultuous waves, the undercurrent fierce and scary. My mother was dragging me down again.
“All I’m gonna do is ask him for a little more money,” she said.
“He already gave you money. To be kind, Ma. Do you even understand what that means?”
“He’s got more to give. He didn’t even blink.” She paused for a second, her beady eyes studying me. “I bet he’d give you a lot more than that.”
“He’s already paying me. Through the service.”
“He’d give you more. I know he would.”
“I don’t want more. I don’t deserve more—and I don’t make it a habit of trying to suck the people around me dry.”
She smiled again, triumphant and absolutely petrifying in her dull cunning. “But you’ve been sucking him dry. That’s what you do. I bet those fancy people back there don’t know he’s paying you to do it, either.” She took in my lavender dress, my flawless makeup, and the designer bag Elena had lent me. “I bet they don’t know you’re a hooker. I bet he doesn’t want them to know.”
“I fucking hate you.” I stared at her brazenly. I’d thought it a thousand times, but I’d never said it out loud before.
She didn’t even wince. “You owe me. I brought you and Tommy into this world. Your father left me because of you kids. And now I have nothing.”
“You disgust me,” I said, my chest heaving in anger. If I hadn't had to go pretend to be a real person at a very fancy rehearsal dinner in approximately two minutes, I would have thrown myself at her and scratched her face. I was beside myself with fury.
Underneath that, her threat was like an undertow, threatening to drag me out to sea. I couldn’t let her do this to James.
I no longer cared what she did to me.
I had to protect him.
“Ma.” I made myself calm down. “I can give you more money. A lot more.” She watched me, saying nothing. “I just can’t do it now. After next week,” I said, nodding. I would give half to Tommy and half to my mom. I didn’t even care anymore. I would do anything to get her to leave us alone.
“What if I don’t want to wait? What if I think my daughter’s tricking me? And no way you’ll be able to give me as much as Mr. Fancy Pants will.” She jutted her chin out at me. “He’s filthy rich. Him and his family. I can just imagine how much they’d give me to keep quiet. To not tell the papers that you’re a hooker.”
I swallowed hard. “How did you find us tonight, anyway?”
“It was in the gossip column at The Tribune.” She shrugged. “Just fancy rich people, flauntin’ their money, is all. While the rest of us starve.”
I looked at her barrel chest, thinking of all the cartons of cigarettes she’d inhaled into it over her lifetime at fifty dollars a pop. “You’re hardly starving. And the last time I checked, no one owed you anything.”
She jutted her chin out at me. “I don’t like your holier-than-thou attitude, girl. Never have.”
“Just put it on the long list of things you don’t like about me,” I said, my eyes narrowing. “But I’ll give you all the money you want. I mean it. It’s a lot.”
Kai pulled back up in front of the restaurant. I could see James waiting for me on the sidewalk, his hands stuffed into his pockets. “Kai, please take my mother home.” I turned to her. “If you leave us alone, I’ll give you almost all of it,” I said in a small voice. “Some of it has to go to Tommy, though.”
She nodded. She’d already stolen close to six thousand dollars from New Horizons this morning, so maybe that curbed her attitude. A little. “I’ll think about it.”
“You do that.” I looked at her, and suddenly I didn’t want to get out of the car. I wanted to go back to East Boston with her. Back to her desolate apartment where I’d been raised. That was where I belonged. When I was younger I couldn’t wait to leave that place, to be on my own. To try to do better. But I didn’t belong to better. The filth kept coming back up to claim me. I should just give in to it, let it drag me back down, where the people I cared for couldn’t be tainted by me.
“Your boyfriend’s waiting for you,” my mother said, motioning toward the car door. James was right outside, looking antsy.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I whispered, still sick.
“You might want to tell him that. You better go.”
