House Of The Billionaire (The Billionaire's Contract Series) Read online

  ‘She hasn’t,’ Tyler said, cutting him off. ‘I want to spend more time with her. I want to get to know her.’ He turned to face Keith and said, ‘I think I’m in love with her.’

  ‘Whoa.’ Keith pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and peered at Tyler as if he were examining a new species of life through a microscope. ‘You sure about this? You’re one of the most eligible men in the world. You could have any woman you wanted.’

  ‘I want Kirsty.’

  ‘Maybe you should take a break, Tyler. Rearrange your schedule. You’ve hired some good people to run your companies, let them keep things ticking over for a while. Maybe a couple of days. Make a weekend of it and catch a show in the West End or something.’

  ‘I’m taking a month off.’

  ‘A month? Tyler...’

  ‘As you say, I employ good people. They have the skills to keep everything running while I’m away.’

  Keith laughed but there was no mirth in it. ‘What are you going to do for a month? You’ll go crazy.’

  ‘I’m going to go to Darkmere House.’

  ‘What? Where’s that?’

  Tyler watched the sun disappear beyond the horizon. An impenetrable gloom fell over Milan. ‘It’s a place I’ve been running from for years,’ he said softly. ‘It’s time to stop running.’

  ‘What?’ Keith asked, confused.

  ‘I need you to rearrange my schedule. Call a meeting in London and let the Board know I’m taking a leave of absence for a month. Delegate my duties to our best people. Postpone the Nakatomi deal until I get back; I need to handle that personally.’

  ‘OK,’ Keith said, getting up. ‘I’ll get started.’

  Tyler saw him to the door but when they go there, Keith stopped and said, ‘Are you sure that Romance novelist is worth all this? Putting your life on hold for a month?’

  ‘I’m not putting my life on hold, Keith. I’m putting it back together.’

  After his assistant had left and Tyler had closed the door, he leaned back against it and whispered to himself, ‘Yes, she is worth it.’

  Chapter Three

  Kirsty sat staring at a blank page on her Mac. The rain from yesterday had continued through the night, keeping her awake as it lashed against the window and thunder rumbled in the distance. Now she felt tired and the story she wanted to write wouldn’t come forward from the murky recesses of her mind. She wondered if she should just scrap the idea...or relegate it to a notebook, anyway...and start something else, something fresh. Maybe a story where the hero and heroine broke up. No, that wasn’t what the Red Rose Bound readers wanted. They wanted to read about new relationships with optimism for the future, as well as a dose of light BDSM. Kirsty shut the laptop. She wasn’t in the mood for that right now.

  Tyler should be back from Milan now but he hadn’t called her. Maybe he wouldn’t call. Maybe that was it, they were over. He probably had time to think about what he wanted while he was in Milan and decided he didn’t want to commit to an overweight Romance novelist. She supposed she couldn’t blame him. He was the type of man who was usually seen with movie stars or models hanging from his arm. Why would he be interested in an overly-curvy writer whose only claim to fame was that she had written a few Romance novels? It didn’t make sense. She had been a fool to think anything serious would blossom between herself and a successful billionaire businessman.

  She considered calling Jane and going for lunch at a pub where she could drown her sorrows. Her phone rang and she wondered if Jane had somehow picked up her thoughts by psychic means and was calling to arrange the lunch date. But the caller ID said, “Tyler”. Kirsty’s heart did a swan dive. Was he calling her to say he was back in the country and he wanted to see her or was he calling to dump her?

  ‘Hello?’ She tried to sound calm.

  ‘Kirsty, it’s Tyler.’

  ‘Yes...I know.’

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m fine. How was Milan?’

  ‘Terrible.’

  ‘Oh...I’m sorry.’

  ‘Don’t be. A few things became clear in my head while I was there.’

  ‘I see.’ This was it. The break up call.

  ‘I thought about what you said.’

  ‘Right.’ The phone shook in her hand. She knew at that moment that she was falling in love with Tyler Blake. And now it was all about to end. Would she be making a fool of herself if she begged him to reconsider?

  ‘You were right. I’ve let work take priority over everything else. I’ve rearranged everything to give myself a month’s vacation.’

  ‘Really? Wow! A whole month. Will you manage to survive that long without work?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But I won’t manage to survive that long without you.’

  Her heart did a second dive, this time with an added back flip. ‘What?’

  ‘I want you to come away with me. You said you wanted to know more about who I am. I’m going to take you to my childhood home in the Lake District.’

  Kirsty realised she had been holding her breath. She let it out and said, ‘Yes, of course, that would be lovely!’

  He laughed. The sounds was deep and masculine. ‘Well since I’m in London and you’re in Nottingham, it’ll be best if I meet you there. You’re much closer to the Lake District than I am. I’ll have to set off early and hit the motorway. I’ll bring the food and drink, you just bring yourself.’

  ‘Are you driving yourself?’ She had never known him to travel in any other way than his chauffeur-driven Bentley.

  He laughed again. ‘Yes. I haven’t forgotten how to drive. I’ll email you the address so you can put it in your sat nav.’

  ‘OK,’ Kirsty said, still trying to take in the fact that they were going to be spending time together. Real time.

  ‘See you tomorrow,’ he said and hung up.

  Kirsty couldn’t stop smiling. She decided to call Jane and go out for lunch and then go shopping. She wanted to get some new clothes and some lingerie. A girl needed to look her best if she was going to be spending nights with a man like Tyler Blake!

  Chapter Four

  The drive to the Lake District took three hours. Kirsty had a suitcase packed with new clothes, lingerie and makeup sitting on the backseat and she sang along to the radio as she drove her Corsa along the busy motorway. The rain from yesterday had disappeared and the morning was warm and sunny so she cracked the windows to get some fresh air into the car once she left the M6 and got onto the winding country lanes that led to Darkmere House.

  Darkmere House. The name intrigued Kirsty. She knew that the word ‘mere’ meant lake, so it was logical that the house would be next to a lake named Darkmere, or Dark Lake. It sounded kind of spooky and made her overactive imagination travel down shadowy paths that led to crumbling gothic mansions and windswept moors. She knew she was being silly but it might make for a scene or two in her next Red Rose Bound book.

  When she arrived at a pair of looming iron gates set into an ivy-covered wall by the roadside with a sign that read ‘Darkmere House’ half-hidden by the ivy, she wondered if her imaginings had been so fanciful after all. She turned the sat nav off, glad to be rid of the annoying woman’s voice that sounded too mechanical as it read out directions, and got out of the car. The gates unlatched easily and she pushed the huge gates aside before returning to her car and driving it off the road and through the gates. She got out and closed them behind her.

  Ahead, the narrow dirt road led through the trees. There was no sign of house or a lake. Kirsty got back into the car and turned the radio off, setting off down the road at a slow pace. So this was Tyler’s childhood home. Very isolated place for a boy to grow up in.

  The road led for a mile through the trees before the trees gave way to a large lawn and Kirsty could see Darkmere House. It was a big place with Victorian architecture and its size, along with its secluded location spoke of wealth. Kirsty had always assumed that Tyler came from a wealthy background, despite the fact that h
is success came from his own efforts. She pulled up in front of the house, noticing that although there was a closed garage door next to the house, a green Lexus was parked outside. Parking next to it, she wondered if the car belonged to Tyler.

  Leaving her suitcase in the Corsa, she climbed the steps to the wooden front door and pressed the doorbell button. She heard a chiming sound somewhere within the house but no one came to answer to the door.

  She waited a few minutes and rang the bell again. Nothing. But someone must own the Lexus and there wasn’t anywhere else they could be unless they’d gone for a walk in the woods surrounding the house.

  She turned the doorknob and the door swung open, revealing a dark corridor beyond. ‘Hello?’ she called into the darkness.

  From somewhere within, a low murmur sounded.

  ‘Tyler?’ Kirsty said loudly, stepping into the house.

  The murmur again. It sounded like a woman trying to call out. Kirsty paced along the hall, listening for the sound and following it to a door that opened into a living room. The walls were lined with bookshelves and a low fire burned in the fireplace. Lying on a sofa near the fire, a woman who looked like she was in her sixties looked at Kirsty with blurry eyes. On the rug next to the sofa, a bottle of vodka lay half empty. ‘Who are you?’ the woman drawled.

  ‘I’m Kirsty. I’m here to meet Tyler.’

  ‘Oh, Tyler,’ the woman said, sounding disappointed. ‘What about Dwayne? I was dreaming about Dwayne.’ She looked around, confused.

  ‘I don’t know Dwayne. I’m sorry.’

  ‘I need to lie down for a while,’ the woman said, getting up unsteadily. She held onto the edge of the sofa for support. ‘Well, are you going to help me?’ she asked Kirsty.

  Kirsty go the woman’s arm around her shoulder and led her out of the room. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked.

  ‘Upstairs. I need to lie on my bed for awhile. I have a headache.’

  ‘OK,’ Kirsty said, thinking that the half empty bottle of vodka had more to do with this woman’s headache than anything else.

  ‘Didn’t you say Tyler was here?’ the woman asked as they climbed the wide dark wood stairs to the second floor. ‘Why isn’t he helping? Dwayne would help me.’

  ‘Tyler isn’t here yet,’ Kirsty said. The woman was growing heavier in her arms and she hoped the bedroom wasn’t too far away. ‘Are you Mrs Blake?’

  The woman eyed her suspiciously. ‘I might be. And who might you be, coming into my house unannounced?’

  ‘I already said. I’m Kirsty. Kirsty Moore. I’m a friend of Tyler’s.’

  ‘The bedroom’s here,’ the woman said coldly. ‘Just let go of me. I’ll be fine.’

  ‘OK, if you’re sure.’

  The woman nodded curtly and entered the room, closing the door behind her. Kirsty stood in the hallway, wondering what to do next. Should she go back out to the car to wait for Tyler to arrive? She hadn’t been invited into the house but she supposed helping a drunken Mrs Blake to bed qualified her to be here.

  She went back downstairs and wandered into the living room. The dying fire seemed to be spluttering its final sparks so she put another log onto it from the pile next to the hearth. The house felt cold and Kirsty shivered slightly but she wasn't sure if the cold she felt came from the actual air temperature or the unfriendly atmosphere of the house, She wished Tyler were here.

  Unable to sit and relax while she waited, she paced the large room, hugging herself both to stay warm and to give herself a feeling of security. It didn't seem to work on either counts.

  On the windowsill, she discovered a line of framed photographs and peered at them to see if she recognized Tyler. There he was, a boy of no more than eight, wearing a cowboy hat and carrying toy pistols, looking over at an older boy who slouched on a swing in a garden. Kirsty assumed the picture had been taken here because the house in the background of the picture looked like Darkmere House. Was the older boy Dwayne? His strong good looks resembled Tyler's so she guessed he was an older brother.

  Another picture showed the same boy, now much older, maybe eighteen, in a tank top and jeans, working on a car engine in a garage hung with tools and car parts. Dwayne - if that's who he was - grinned at the camera mischievously and his face and clothes were covered in muck and oil.

  The next picture in the line showed a similar scene. Dwayne was leaning out of a half-built red car and putting his thumb up to the camera while behind him, sat on a pile of tyres, a young Tyler sat watching with a cracked-open copy of Catcher In The Rye on his knee and a look of awe on his face.

  The final picture in the row was a portrait of Dwayne. He wasn't quite as good-looking as Tyler. The features were all similar but the symmetry of Dwayne's face wasn't as perfect as that of his younger brother's.

  The throaty sound of a car pulling up outside the house made Kirsty look up guiltily. She wasn't sure why she felt like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't but this place made her feel uncomfortable. Through the window, she saw a white soft-top sports car park near the front door. Tyler! At last!

  She almost flew out of the house and reached him just as he was climbing out of the car. Dressed in jeans and a tight dark blue sweater, he looked gorgeous and he was definitely a welcome sight. Kirsty threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Surprised, he held her tightly and looked into her eyes.

  'Are you OK?'

  She nodded, unsure why tears were welling in her eyes. 'I just missed you,' she said.

  An older man who had climbed out of the passenger seat cleared his throat purposefully and Kirsty let go of Tyler. 'Oh,' she said. 'Hello.'

  The man looked to be in his sixties but also very fit. He wore a close-fitting sweater and jeans and his face had a rugged handsomeness. Although he was old, his grey eyes shone with bright life.

  'This is my dad,' Tyler said. 'I saw him walking along the road from the village. Kirsty Moore...John Blake.'

  John came around the car and shook Kirsty's hand with a firm grip. 'Nice to meet you,' he said. 'Any girl who can get Tyler to visit the homestead is alright in my book.'

  'Nice to meet you,' she replied. 'You were walking along the road?'

  'Taking my daily constitutional. At my age, it's good to stay active. Still, I couldn't resist a ride in a Lamborghini Spyder when Tyler pulled up next to me in this beauty.' He patted the sports car and chuckled.

  'You been here long?' Tyler asked her.

  'No, not really.'

  'Where's Evelyn?' John asked.

  'She's...lying down on her bed.'

  A dark, knowing look passed between Tyler and his father.

  ‘I’ll go and make sure she’s OK,’ John said, heading for the door.

  Tyler turned to Kirsty and said, ‘You want to go see the lake?’

  ‘Yeah, sure.’ She definitely wouldn’t mind spending some time away from the house and she didn’t want to be around when Evelyn Blake came downstairs.

  Tyler took her hand and the contact made her forget everything else. The way his strong fingers wrapped around her hand protectively made her feel safe. He led her along a narrow path that wound through the dense trees until it reached the edge of a small lake. The lake was bordered by trees along most of its circumference but on one side a high, sheer cliff rose out of the dark water and pointed jaggedly at the sky. The water lay flat and still like a piece of dark glass.

  ‘It’s beautiful,’ Kirsty said.

  Tyler looked out over the water, his gaze distant.

  ‘You OK?’ she asked him.

  He nodded solemnly. ‘Yes.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘I just haven’t been back here for a long time. It brings back memories.’

  She wasn’t buying it. She had never seen him so distant, as if his mind were lost in a world of its own. ‘Tyler...’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Remember why we came here?’

  He looked at her and frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Y
ou brought me here so I could learn more about you. That isn’t going to happen if you clam up on me.’

  ‘I had a brother once,’ he said, looking out over the lake. ‘His name was Dwayne. He drowned in this lake fifteen years ago.’

  ‘Oh my God! Tyler, I’m sorry for pushing...’

  ‘It’s fine. Like you said, I brought you here so you can find out more about who I am. This lake and Dwayne are part of who I am.’ He walked to the water’s edge and looked out over the dark stillness. ‘He was my older brother. When I was a kid, I idolized him. My mother doted on him but she never seemed to have time for me. My dad tried to balance out our family life by paying more attention to me but the fact that my mother obviously preferred my older brother affected me a lot when I was a kid. I never blamed Dwayne, though. He was my hero. Great with cars, popular with girls...he was everything I wasn’t.’

  ‘I think you’re being a little hard on yourself,’ Kirsty said. ‘I’m sure you were popular with girls.’

  He shook his head. ‘I was a bookish geek when I was younger. Dwayne would be fixing up cars and I would be hanging around with my head stuck in a book.’

  ‘So...how did he drown?’

  ‘You see that cliff there? There’s a dirt road up there that leads nowhere. Dwayne drove up there one night and sat on the cliff edge drinking and smoking. They found empty bottles and cigarette butts up there the following day. They aren’t sure if he fell or if he jumped into the lake. My father was out walking the dog the following morning - we had a border collie called Max - and he found Dwayne floating face down in the water.’

  ‘That’s terrible!’

  'My mother took it very badly. She became an alcoholic. She withdrew from me and my dad and when she did talk to us, she was nasty. She had decided years before that I was never going to be as good as Dwayne but now she believed I wasn't good enough to be her son.'

  'That's awful. How old were you?'

  'Fifteen.'

  'Tyler, that seems a very cruel thing to do to a fifteen year old boy.'