Boxed Set: Dominated by a Billionaire - Part 10-12: Irresistible Billionaire

The world is divided between mortals and vampires. Society seems to have adapted to the coexistence of the two species, but doubts persist.
One night, a big sedan comes careening down the road and runs over Héloïse, a 22-year old woman. The man who steps out is obviously in a hurry. He picks her up and carries her to the car. This man is Gabriel, a gorgeous, mysterious vampire. Héloïse is going to have to stay at his house until the next new moon, 27 days later.
Sienna Lloyd describes their sensual and fascinating relationship with eloquence. A troubling, enchanting book at the crossroads between Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey!

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Liz is young and beautiful, Sacha is seductive and filthy rich. Maybe they're not destined to be together, but their affair is red hot! Just how far is Liz willing to go to follow her fascinating new lover? And what does Sacha really want from here?
Enter the extraordinary world of Lisa Swann's new saga...will Liz succumb to the lure of luxury and pleasure? Will Sacha be able to satisfy the burning desire of this young woman?

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Young, pretty Julia is spending six months in New York. Working as a receptionist in a luxury hotel, she's found the perfect way to improve her English. But just before she's due to go home, she unexpectedly meets the multi-millionaire Daniel Wietermann, aka Mr Fire, heir to a large jewellery label. She's captivated, submitting to his wildest fantasies and in the process discovering her own desires... How far will she go to satisfy the whims of this unfathomable man?
Discover the new saga by Lucy Jones, the most sensuous series since His, Body and Soul!

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I hate Monday mornings. Like everyone. But right now, I’m the only one that has my hands on four years of stolen shots and confidential notes collected by an unscrupulous ex-FBI agent. Who is behind this underhand and intolerable hunt that lasted for years? The man I love. The man I placed all my trust in, the man I would devote my whole life to and who is just a few doors down from me right this minute, unaware of all my anger, but perfectly aware that he lied to me.

I go across the long hall that separates us, my heels clicking on the waxed parquet floor. Millions of thoughts collide in my head. Millions of words pound on the door of my lips, ready to burst out. I storm through my damn CEO’s office door, without bothering to knock. Akiko and Alistair’s surprised faces turn around at the same time. They see the furious look on my face and immediately look to Vadim for instructions. As for me, I stare at him and him alone. So he knows how urgent this is.

And that I’m about to give him a hard time.

Maybe even the hardest time of his life.

"We’ll resume this meeting after lunch. Go fine-tune the details we’ve already talked about," the boss says, standing up behind his desk, his big hands flat on the desktop, keeping his eyes on me.

His gray eyes drill through me. My two coworkers stand up in a rush to leave and I struggle to keep quiet. The pretty Japanese woman flees in little hurried footsteps, pretending not to see me, and Lloyd brushes by me, giving me an uneasy smile.

"Shut the door behind you," Vadim adds calmly.

"Now, it’s your turn to shut your mouth," I trounce, as soon as the door closes.

"I don’t like your tone, Alma… and the look in your eyes even less."

"Well, I just love this picture!" I exclaim, throwing one of the snapshots in his face. "And I love this one, too! Oh, and this one, have you seen it? Really nice angle! Here, what about this report, have you read it?" I continue, throwing all the photos and papers in the file, one by one.

Some of them fly all the way to his chest, others land on the ground or pile up on his neat desk. Vadim’s eyes panic, but his hands don’t move. He doesn’t even attempt to look at the pictures or read the notes: he knows them all by heart. And he knows perfectly well what is happening.

"Can’t think of anything to say, King?" I lash out, in the face of his silence.

"You told me to shut my mouth, if I’m not mistaken…"

"Oh, right, I forgot, that’s your specialty, isn't it? Whatever you do, don’t say anything! About investigating your father’s death, about your marriage, and now, about the fact you’ve had me followed! Four years, Vadim! My whole life is in this file!"

"I asked Adrian to throw it all out. He should have. And why wasn’t it hidden any better?" he says out loud.

"That's too easy! Just shoot the messenger!"

"If you'd stop shouting, I could explain."

"And if you stopped lying, we wouldn’t be having this conversation!" I scream even louder.

"If you hadn’t left me, I wouldn’t have needed to do all that!" he answers harshly, clenching his fists and jaw.

The straw that broke the camel’s back.

Stunned, I step backwards, to leave, wiping my tears so he doesn’t win. At the door, I turn around and lay my hand on the handle. Before I have time to open it, Vadim comes around his desk, and in a few strides, grabs me. He takes hold of my arm and presses me against the cold wood.

"Twelve years," he mumbles in his deep, calm voice. "I waited for you for twelve years. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I asked Adrian to find you…"

"So that’s why I’m here right now, is that it? You set everything up! My so-called job at King Prod, our staged reunion from the biggest stroke of luck! You’ve been lying to me since the beginning!" I lash out in his face, freeing my arm.

"No, none of that was planned! For all those years, I never got close to you! I just needed to know, to see you, to… It was either that or I’d have gone crazy!"

"And so, what you saw didn’t please you enough?" I ask, bitterly.

"When I heard you were with someone, I ordered Forester to stop."

First stab!

"Without even trying to get me back?" I say without thinking, shocked and deeply hurt. "You should keep your mouth shut, Vadim, it’s even worse when you open it!"

"You had replaced me… I never thought you could. Do you realize how much that hurt me?" hissing through his white teeth, still just inches from my face.

Second stab!

"Oh, so now it’s my fault? YOU chose to spy on me, to have me followed and to hide the truth from you. Personally, I would never do that to you."

"I didn’t mean to hurt you. I wanted you to be happy, Alma," he sighs, backing up to let me breathe. "I still loved you and you loved someone else. I accepted it and I let you live your life."

Third stab!

"
I
was waiting for you as well!
I
was dying not knowing what had become of you as well!
I
was trying to survive as best I could as well! Do you realize how many years we could have saved?"

"You left. It wasn’t my role to come and look for you."

Is this ever going to stop?

"You and your damn pride!" I finally explode. "How many more things are you hiding from me, huh? What else am I going to find out about the bastard that says he wants to marry me? Wake up, Vadim! Because you are ruining everything!"

This time, I lower the handle and leave without looking at him. I go lock myself up in my office and decide not to go out for the rest of the day. Running into him again today is out of the question. My colleagues will have to deal with my mood through emails and phone calls. I take the opportunity to tell Clem I’ll drop by her place tonight: she’ll complain about the last weeks of her pregnancy, me about the almost-end of my love life and I’ll put off going home.

If I ever go home…

7:15 pm. I squeeze two oranges for Clémentine who is no longer able to get up off the couch since I got her settled there, by the sweat of my brow. Water retention, swollen legs, aching back. This eighth month of pregnancy seems especially trying for my best friend. In the kitchen, I serve myself another glass of Chablis and join her again in her messy living room, just about tripping over a forgotten doll, with the two glasses in my hands.

"I asked the girls to tidy up, but I can’t even bend over to do it myself anymore," she says, half apologizing, one hand lying under her bulging stomach.

"No, that was great! Flattening the face of a doll made me feel really good!"

"Shitty day? Go on, tell me all about it."

"No, you first," I say, sympathizing, as I see her pull on her now too-short pregnancy T-shirt.

"Same as yesterday and the day before. I’ve still got nearly a whole month left and as soon as I sit down somewhere I look like a beached whale. It takes me about ten minutes to get up, snorting like an ox and I have to go to the bathroom about every fifteen minutes. Do the math," she laughs, making circles with her forefinger next to her temple. Oh yeah, and besides the whale and the ox, I’ve got brown spots popping up all over my face, so pretty soon I’ll look like a giraffe, too!"