Escorting the Billionaire by Leigh James
Audrey
We snorkeled all afternoon, laughing and talking and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. I finally got a minute alone with Jenny on the boat when the others were in the water. The captain was out of earshot, checking his instruments.
“So, are things better with you and Cole?” I asked. They’d taken a long walk down the beach earlier. Since then, they’d been holding hands and kissing, looking very much together. “You two seem like you’re being very romantic.”
“I decided to talk to him. Like you said.” Jenny took her sunglasses off and stuck them on her hat, so I could see her eyes. They were brimming with happiness.
“Being brave was your idea, if I remember correctly,” I said.
“That’s right—’cause I’m so wicked smart,” Jenny said and laughed. “He told me he loved me just now, Dre. He said he wants to move in with me when we get back.”
“That’s so awesome,” I said, because no other word would do. Jenny was my best friend, and she was finding happiness that she thought she’d never have.
“It is pretty frickin’ awesome,” she agreed, her eyes still shining. “We can double date,” she said, “and it’ll be box seats all the way, baby.”
“It’s crazy, right?” I asked. “Who’d have thought?”
“Me,” Jenny said. “This is where I get to say I told you so.”
“You did,” I admitted. Then I sighed. There was a black cloud hanging over me, in spite of the bright sunshine. “But it’s not all fun and games, unfortunately—last night, after we went to the bathroom? Mrs. Preston cornered me, remember? She hired a private investigator to find out about me, Jenny. She knows that I’m an escort. She knows about you, too.”
“She’s evil,” Jenny said, crossing herself. “I can’t stand to be in the same room with her. What’d she say?”
“She threatened me and offered to pay me off to go away. You know. Pretty much what you’d expect.”
Jenny snorted. “Did you tell James?”
“I did. He’s furious,” I said. “He told her this morning that I’m moving in with him and that he loves me.”
“I just got the chills.” Jenny ran her hands up and down her arms. “What’d she say?”
“Not too much. I don’t think she wanted to make him any angrier,” I said. “But just watch out for her. She’s a barracuda.”
“I can handle her.” Jenny tossed her curls. “It’s just too bad I can’t use a spear gun on her bony ass.”
With all thesunshine and the happy news about Jenny and Cole, I almost forgot about Mrs. Preston and her threats. Almost.
When we got back to the resort, James went with Todd and Cole to have a beer and smoke cigars. Wanting to give them some guy time I begged off, citing a desperate need for some shade. I was headed back to the safety of my villa when Mrs. Preston practically jumped out of the bushes and grabbed my wrist again.
“Ow. Jesus,” I said. “Were you waiting to ambush me?”
“Something like that,” she said, giving me her best fake smile. A shiver ran down my back. “Where’s my son?”
“With Todd and Cole. But within shouting distance,” I said. I wasn’t sure if that was true, but she didn’t know that.
“Why didn’t you get on that plane this morning?” she asked.
I took a deep breath. “Because I love your son, Mrs. Preston. And he actually loves me back. I can’t just leave him because you don’t approve of me.”
I looked at her for a beat. “I’ve listened to everything you had to say about how I’m not the right person for James, and I actually agree with a lot of it. But the thing is, Mrs. Preston, we really do love each other. When that happens, all the things you’re supposed to do—like get on a plane and accept a bribe from your boyfriend’s mother—those things don’t make sense anymore. The only thing that makes sense is staying together.”
She dropped my wrist, and I took a step back.
“I’m sorry to let you know that, despite what I said this morning, I still do not approve of your relationship.” Celia studied my face. “My son might be more sentimental than I’d realized.”
“Maybe he’s just happy,” I said, rubbing my wrist. “It’s been a long time. I just wish you could be happy for him.”
“He can’t marry a hooker,” she said matter-of-factly.
“We’re not getting married,” I said, refusing to let her under my skin. “We’re going to live in sin first.” I fake-smiled at her, and I meant it.
She drew herself up to her full height, as if she was preparing to make an announcement. “Audrey, I believed you had my son’s best interests at heart. Now I see that you are letting him control you. Either that or you are too selfish to see that you’re about to destroy him.”
Fury bubbled inside of me. “I’m not being selfish. I love James, that’s all. And he’s not controlling me, Mrs. Preston—and you are not a candidate for that position, either.” I remembered what she’d said about Evie: that she was perfect for Todd because she was easy to control.
“Oh, you’ve made that clear,” Mrs. Preston snapped. “I can see now that you’re a problem, and that you’re not willing to work with me to become part of the solution. It’s too bad. Because now you really will break James’s heart.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that there is no way on God’s green earth that I am letting a twenty-two-year-old hooker have a relationship with, let alone move in with, my oldest son. Something bad will happen to you, dear. These things have a way of working themselves out. It’s Preston luck,” she hissed.
All of a sudden the sunlight was too bright on my face; I felt dizzy, my world scrambled. Celia had told James it was “Preston luck” that his high school girlfriend had been killed.
“Holy fuck,” I said.
She looked at me innocently, and an icy fear spread over my exposed skin. “Indeed. See you around, Audrey,” she said.
I realized later that, of course, she’d actually admitted nothing.
Celia had just confirmed my worst fears about her. I paced through the villa, jumping at every little sound. Finally James came back, and I unlocked the door for him. He was loose and happy; he looked sexy and tan and he smelled like beer.
He watched me pace back and forth, a quizzical look on his face. “Audrey,” he said, “we’re in paradise. You’re supposed to be relaxing. It doesn’t look like that’s working out too well for you.”
I clenched and unclenched my fists. “I ran into your mother on the way back here.”
“Great,” he said, rubbing his face. “What’d she do now?”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“My mother is crazy.”
“She actually is, James,” I said, fiddling with my hands nervously. “She threatened me.”
“She threatened you yesterday.”
“This was a real threat,” I said, watching his face. “She said that I would never move in with you. That something bad would happen to me first. And that Preston ‘luck’ would take care of it.”
James was looking at me but it was as if he wasn’t seeing me.
“What?” he asked finally. “What were her exact words?”
I swallowed hard. “‘Something bad will happen to you. These things have a way of working themselves out. It’s Preston luck.’”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s sort of branded into my memory by fear,” I said.
“Holy fuck,” James said.
“That’s exactly what I said.”
“She killed Danielle. Or arranged to have her killed…” James was sitting on the bed, still looking but not seeing. “I can’t believe this.”
“She didn’t admit to anything, James. She just used that phrase, and it was like a lightbulb went off for me. But she doesn’t know what you told me. And no matter what really happened, she didn’t actually kill her—she was home with you when Danielle died, right?”
He nodded numbly.
“So it wasn’t her. Not directly, anyway. Maybe she felt she was responsible for making Danielle so upset that night—maybe that’s what she meant.”
“My mother’s not really a loose-ends kind of person. If she’d wanted Danielle… permanently out of the picture… I don’t think she’d leave it up to chance,” James muttered. He sounded sick. “I just hadn’t thought she was capable of something like this. I underestimated her—or maybe I was overestimating her, now that I think about it.”
“Do you think she hired someone? Or had something done to her car?” I’d run through the list of possibilities earlier as I’d paced, waiting for James to come back, filled with dread as I’d imagined the different scenarios.
James nodded. “Either one of those is a distinct possibility.” His eyes finally focused on my face. “I can’t believe I never considered this before. I feel sick.”
“You were just a kid when it happened. And you can’t blame yourself for not thinking your mother could have killed someone. That’s not in the normal repertoire of maternal behavior.” I shivered just thinking about it.
“And now she’s threatening to hurt you.” James reached out for my hand. “I’m so sorry I’ve dragged you into this mess. I can’t even believe this is happening right now.”
“That’s because it’s unbelievable,” I said, squeezing his hand.
