The Billionaire's Secretary (Billionaire's Series Book 1) (13 page)

Aurora looked up at him in awe.

“I’m not, Adrian. I’m shocked. I can’t believe that you were looking out for me all that time.”

“I wanted you to have what you deserved, Precious. I’m just glad that I finally think that I’m a part of that as well, because I know for sure that I don’t deserve you.”

They walked back into the ballroom hand in hand and glued to each other’s side. They danced and talked and mingled. Most of all, they fawned over each other, kissing easily and embracing each other constantly. Every time their eyes fell on Aaron Guyton’s face, there was a look that could kill anyone in the room squarely centered on them.

At about eleven o’clock, Adrian was engrossed in conversation with his family about the evening’s success. Aurora had remained at the bar to give him the opportunity to bond with them since Aaron was, as usual, trying to dominating the group. When Aaron excused himself and left the room, Aurora decided to make her move. She walked slowly over and slid in beside Adrian, pressing her svelte body sensually against his and holding on to his arm with both her hands. Instinctively, he bent to give her his ear.

“If you want to ever stand a chance of peeling this dress from my body, you had better say your good nights now.”

“Dad, I’ll say good night now. There seems to be a matter of extreme urgency that requires my attention.”

Upstairs in Adrian’s sprawling apartment suites, Aurora pushed the sleeves of the dress over her shoulders, teasing him as he sat on the bed watching her. She turned around and let the fabric fall lifelessly to the floor. By the time she could turn to face him again, Adrian was seated at the end of the bed. He caught her hips in his hands and pulled her to him. He kissed the skin of her belly and then pulled her down to the bed with him.

“You are the most intoxicating thing I have ever encountered. I could drink you in and never get drunk enough to stop.”

Chapter Fourteen

Adrian sat in a black sport utility vehicle at the end of the street, watching the collection of trash cans on the corner. It was where he had placed the bag containing the $150,000 payoff, exactly as the blackmailer had instructed Derrick to do. He had been waiting for over an hour now and still nothing.

It
sure does take all sorts for the world to go around doesn’t it?
he thought as he watched the people on the street in front of him.

There was a couple arguing at the corner across from the trash cans; several homeless men sat with their backs against the wall on the shady side of an abandoned office building which took up most of the block; and of course, at the mouth of every alley along the street, there were one or two prostitutes out on the daylight strut. He looked at his watch. It was already three thirty; if no one picked it up in the next half an hour, he was going to retrieve the bag and leave. Just then, a prostitute strolled down the street directly toward the trash cans. She paused for a second at the corner, lit a cigarette and looked around in all directions before she quickly dipped her hand in the bin and retrieved the bag. Once she had it, she made a quick walk toward a car parked halfway down the street and got in.

Adrian picked up the phone and pressed the SEND button. Almost instantly, Maxwell James answered the phone.

“One of the prostitutes took the bag and is pulling out in a gold Toyota. She’s heading in your direction.”

“I see her; I’ve got it under control. Head down the adjacent street in case she notices me and tries to give me the slip.”

“Okay.”

Maxwell followed the car at a distance until they were back on familiar surface streets near downtown Alpharetta. Suddenly the car turned off the main street and was headed for the freeway. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed Adrian.

“She’s headed onto the freeway. Get over here quickly; it’s gonna take both of us to tail her at that speed without being seen.”

Maxwell took the turn and saw Adrian’s SUV at the corner ahead of him. They both sped onto the freeway, trying to catch up with the gold car. They carefully followed her as she went three exits over and doubled back into Alpharetta. Soon, the car pulled over in front of what looked like a costume store. Nothing happened for about ten minutes and then the driver’s door opened. The woman who got out of the car was no longer dressed as a prostitute and she was carrying a large brown paper bag. Quickly, Maxwell pressed the gas and drove right past the car and as she turned to lock the door, he discretely took her picture with his phone. Around the corner, Adrian pulled up beside him and got out of the car.

“I got the photo; we know who our blackmailer is now,” Maxwell said jubilantly, as he shoved the phone toward Adrian.

Adrian took the phone and looked at the photograph. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Trying to hide his emotions, he collected himself and said, “Email this to me immediately, would you, Maxwell?”

“Sure thing. So what now?”

“I want you to stay on her tail and see where else she goes, who else she talks to or meets. Take notes and take pictures. Meet me at the coffee shop around the corner from the office tomorrow at 10.”

“Okay, boss. See you in the morning.”

As soon as Adrian was back inside the car, he took out his phone to check for Maxwell’s email. He could not believe what he was seeing. He started the car and turned straight for home. If he got onto the freeway quickly enough, he just might beat the five thirty traffic. That stupid woman had kept them driving around in circles for almost two hours.

He parked the car in his street parking spot and ran up the front steps.

“Aurora,” he called as he stepped through it.

“I’m in the kitchen, babe. How did the drop go? Did you and Maxwell get anything we can use?”

“You will not believe this when I tell you.”

Aurora took one look at Adrian’s face and she knew that all hell was about to break loose.

“What is it Adrian?”

“Its was Cheryl... Cheryl Smith, my secretary.”

“What?”

“Cheryl picked up the money. She was waiting on the street dressed up as a prostitute. It’s such a good thing that I thought to get Maxwell’s help or she would surely have seen me. I have no idea how long she was on the street before she made the move.”

“Oh, God! Suddenly, what Colton Reader said to me today all makes sense.”

“You spoke to Colton, the private investigator that Aaron hired?”

“Yeah. He said that I didn’t want to be an Alice in Wonderland. That I wouldn’t like it when I found out how deep the rabbit hole went. He insinuated that there were several people very close to the both of us that were trying to take your father’s company down. He said that Aaron felt that if he couldn’t have what he deserved, then no one would have it for very long either.”

“Aurora, I think we are in over our heads. It’s time we turned this over to the police.”

Chapter Fifteen

Aaron made sure that the pre-dinner cocktails flowed freely for an hour before dinner would be served. To distract Aurora from her anxiety, Adrian engaged her in deep conversation with Rebecca and the two of them tried their best to act normally. The two women talked continuously until dinner was announced and walked into the dining room on each other’s arms, the Guyton men close behind them. Adrian took the opportunity to seat Aurora on his left since he knew he would be sitting beside his brother. Any eye contact they couldn’t have would be for the best. When Aaron and Andrew walked in, everyone had already been seated.

Andrew stood at the head of the table and raised his glass in a toast.

“To good family, good food and good friends,” he said.

“Here, here,” they all responded, raising their glasses.

When the appetizers were served, the conversation at the table turned to the company’s Christmas formal and how Aurora was doing with the plans so far.

“Well, we had such a grand time at the Waldorf for the awards, I thought to myself that we definitely had to top that. So this year, we’ll host the event here at Guyton, on the East lawn. We’re having the garden lit up with Christmas trees everywhere. Snow on the ground and a heated, covered enclosure for the party to be held in. What do you think about that idea, Aaron?”

A stunned silence fell over the room and everyone looked at Aaron, waiting for his response. Under the table, Adrian took her hand and squeezed it for support as Aaron lifted his napkin to his mouth and swallowed.

“I think you have an exquisite vision. Winter wonderland on the lawns of Guyton; it will be beautiful.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I was aiming for. That is a perfect description... winter wonderland.”

There was almost a collective sigh of relief at the table when their exchange was over. Everyone had been anticipating what would fall out of Aaron Guyton’s mouth in Aurora’s direction. It was no secret anymore that he despised her and the relationship she had with Adrian. During the main course, several little conversations started around the table as each couple chatted about their day or other personal matters. Adrian and Aurora were a little quieter than the others, taking the time to listen to what was being said around them.

“I didn’t mean for the checks to go out late, Dad,” Aaron said. “When I brought them in for your approval yesterday morning, you weren’t there.”

“Yes, I’m sorry about that,” Andrew apologized. “But I’m not your CEO anymore Aaron. You should have had Adrian look them over. That’s his job now and he’s quite capable.”

Aurora could not believe the blatant lie Aaron had told his father. He was in Atlanta the morning before, hugging Cheryl Smith on the curb after collecting the blackmail money from her.

After dinner, they retired to the drawing room and Aaron once again made the rounds with the wine and whiskey bottles. When everyone’s glasses were full again, Aurora patiently waited for the different conversations to strike up before she went over to confront Aaron Guyton.

“Aaron,” she said, “may I speak to you in private?”

“Umm, why of course, Aurora,” he replied. “Let’s step into the study.”

He closed the study door behind them and went to stand behind the desk, making sure to keep an appropriate distance between them. Aurora sat on the other side of the desk and placed her glass on it.

“Why did you tell Andrew that you were looking for him yesterday morning?”

“Because I was...”

“We both know that you were in Atlanta; more precisely, at Cheryl Smith’s house. I saw you so let’s just move over all the B.S. Tell me why you’re blackmailing our people and whatever else you’re involved in.”

“I can’t do that, Aurora.”

“Oh, no. You have to.”

“Anything you want to know about it, you will have to ask Xaoping. I cannot answer any of your questions.”

“What does Xaoping have to do with any of this? Come on Aaron, spill it. If you’re in deeper than you can swim, we can help.”

“No one can help me, Aurora. Especially not a grasping, upstart bitch like you!”

Aurora was shocked, but she also knew she wasn’t going to get another word out of him so she turned and went back into the drawing room. Aurora knew she wouldn’t be able to set her mind at ease until she knew what was going on with Aaron. The police were going to arrest him that night, but if this was even deeper and it involved the yakuza-funded Xaoping Exports, Adrian had to be advised. She picked up the snifter of Bristol cream she was sipping and went in search of him. She found him leaning against the balusters of the terrace looking out over the lawns.

“Hi,” he said as she walked toward him, “Too stuffy in there for you?”

Aurora laughed and shook her head. Instinctively, she made her way into the valley of his shoulder and rested her head against him. His nose went to her hair and he breathed in the scent of peaches and vanilla. They stood like that for a while before she raised her head to look at the sky. Stars were shining down by the millions that night.

“Walk with me?” she asked, pulling on his hand.

“Okay.”

They went down the steps from the terrace and out into the yard. After a few moments of silence, Adrian spoke up.

“What’s wrong with you, Aurora? You’ve been disengaged ever since you came home last night.”

She stopped walking and turned to look at him.

“Yesterday morning when I was pulling up to my yoga studio in Atlanta, I saw your brother walking down to the street with Cheryl Smith. I was so shocked I pulled over so they wouldn’t see me. They talked for a while on the curb, then they hugged and Aaron left. When I confronted Aaron for lying to your Dad about where he was, he said he wouldn’t tell me why he was there and that I should ask Xaoping.”

“Well, that’s too suspicious. What did he mean by ‘ask Xaoping’?”

“I think your brother is in more trouble than we know that he caused around here. I think he’s being used by Xaoping to take us down from the inside and that he’s being threatened by the yakuza to do what they say.”

“If that’s the case, the sooner he’s in police custody, the better. Let’s leave it to the lawyers and such now, Aurora. I think we’ve fought this battle long enough.”