Bedding The Billionaire

Everyone faced tough choices, but not everyone always made the wrong one. “Al, Jake knows someone hacked his computer.”

“What? How do you know?” Alethea’s voice went up a pitch.

Back on the sidewalk and heading home, Lil said, “He got a phone call while we were at lunch and I heard him say that they had made changes to their firewall to ensure that something like this couldn’t happen. What if he knows it was Jeremy? What if he traces it back to him…to you…to me?”

Alethea said, “Jeremy did say that he’d encountered a snag.”

“A snag? A snag?” Lil heard her own voice rise with panic and took a deep breath. People on the street were beginning to stare at her. Great, maybe I’ll end up in a video on the internet and round this week out. She lowered her voice to near a whisper. “You said no one would ever know.”

“Knowing that someone breached your security is a long way from knowing who did it. Jeremy is careful. He has several dummy, dead-end accounts. No one will ever find out about today, Lil, unless you tell them.”

“I know,” Lil said with little conviction as she gratefully ducked into the privacy of the high-rise building she still didn’t consider her home. She leaned her head back against the cold wall of the elevator as it carried her up to the top floor.

“Lil, I recognize that tone. You want to confess.”

“I know I can’t.”

“Exactly. Jeremy and I could be in serious trouble with the law if you do. This is the kind of secret to take with you to the grave, Lil.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Only a fool would want to risk everything for a man who’d made it pretty clear that he didn’t love her. Lil let herself into her penthouse.

Alethea shared her opinion by saying nothing at all.

Lil removed Colby from the stroller and took her to the bedroom to change her. The contrast between the mundane and the insane made it difficult to reconcile the two. Lil said, “Trust me, if I didn’t spill the beans this morning, I can keep my mouth shut through anything.”

“That bad?” Despite the tension of their conversation, Alethea sounded sympathetic.

“That good. He even asked me to move in with him.”

“What did you say?”

Lil grimaced. “I said no. What could I say?”

“Were you tempted?”

“I don’t know. He says the stupidest things, but then he does something that shows me that he cares about what’s important to me and I want to believe that something is possible between us. Oh, Al, I think I’m falling in love with him, but I ruined everything, didn’t I?”

Ever the practical one, Alethea said, “You can have your happy ending, Lil, if we mutually agree to forget what we did today.”

Lil had done plenty in her life that she considered rash, but she’d never hidden. When you are doing something that you believe in, you don’t have to hide – at least, that was what she’d always believed.

Deceiving Jake ranked highest on her list of what she regretted doing. Looking back over her time with him, it was clear to Lil that he’d tried to protect her-even from their attraction. Not telling him was a blackness growing in her heart. “I don’t feel right about lying, Al.”

All sympathy left her friend’s voice. “How right will you feel when we’re sharing a cell at the local penitentiary? It won’t be only me going down. You’re just as culpable.”

I know.

Lil said slowly, “Maybe Jake would understand why we had to know what was going on.”

“Or maybe not.” Lil blew out an exasperated breath. “We’re not kids anymore, Lil. No one is going to lock us up for one night and try to scare us straight. We all have too much to lose. Do you want Abby to raise Colby for you? Because that’s what will happen if you forget how serious this is and end up in the slammer with me.”

Lil shuddered at the thought and confused tears made it difficult to locate the wipes as she changed her daughter’s soiled diaper. When she’d agreed to the hack, she hadn’t thought this far ahead. She’d risked much more than she’d understood at the time. Colby was her number one priority. How could she have done something that put her in jeopardy?

She secured the new diaper, arranged her daughter’s clothing and hugged her daughter to her as she walked back to the living room.

“I have to go see Jeremy and warn him,” Alethea said.

“See if he can cover his tracks better?” Lil asked, settling Colby on the floor with some toys.

“That, and to warn him that they know someone was there. He planned to go back in one more time.”

“Back in? Why?”

“He said he found something he hadn’t expected to and it made him curious.”

“Oh, no. Alethea, he’ll get caught for sure if he tries to access their system again.”

“That’s why I’ve got to go to his house. He doesn’t answer his phone most of the time-not even texts.”

Lying on one side on the floor, Lil forced a smile for her daughter’s sake. Colby wasn’t fooled, she let out a loud wail. I totally know how you feel, Colby. In a shaky voice, Lil asked, “Al, this is going to work out, isn’t it?”

Alethea answered with more bravado than she likely felt. “It all depends how smart your boyfriend is.”

Shit.

Lil remembered reading a magazine that estimated Jake’s IQ to be around the 190 range. He might be irritatingly sexy, frustratingly stubborn, and emotionally thrifty, but there was no doubt that Jake was brilliant.

Oh, this is going to go really badly.

Maybe it was time to start being extra nice to her future brother-in-law. He might be the only one able to keep her and her friends out of jail.

Chapter Twelve

Although, Lil had arrived mid-day, she and Abby hadn’t said more than a few sentences to each other. Lil had claimed fatigue from the short flight and had retreated with Colby to the suite Dominic’s staff had prepared for them.

A set of five rooms, two bedrooms, dressing room, lounging room and bathroom were all perfectly stocked with everything Lil could imagine she or her baby could possibly need. Abby showed her an intercom on the wall and instructed her to use it if she needed anything. A cleaning woman, a nanny, and a stylist were all on location and on call for Lil if she wanted to use any of them that weekend.

“I’ll be fine,” Lil had said.

Abby had searched her face, noted the strain around her eyes and asked, “Are you sure everything is ok, Lil? You know you can tell me anything.”

“I’m just tired.”

Abby had hesitated. “If you’re still worried about the interview, don’t be. No one blamed you for that and you handled it perfectly. Dominic said he was impressed.”

The interview? Wow, that felt like a lifetime ago. If only that were still my greatest concern.

“I said I was tired.” She hadn’t meant to sound as harsh as she had.

Abby looked a bit sad suddenly, which did nothing to improve Lil’s mood. “Of course. Get some rest. Dinner is at six. The Andrades are joining us. I hope you’re feeling better by then.”

Lil turned away from her sister and said angrily, “I won’t embarrass you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Abby sighed, a clear sign that she wanted to say more but wouldn’t. “I’m glad you’re here, Lil.” She closed the door softly behind her as she left.

I don’t know how you could be.

I’m ruining everything-just like I always do.