The Billionaire Saved My Life (BWWM Billionaire Love Story Book 1) (6 page)

Chapter6

“Let me see that ring again!” Kaya grabbed Tanya's left hand and gasped. “Girl, you can by a small country with this and still have change to take out shares in Microsoft!”

“It's beautiful, Tanya,” Mae agreed. “You must be really happy.”

“I am, Mae. I've never been so happy.”

The girls were sitting around a wooden dining table on Tanya's balcony. They were under the shade of a large parasol, taking long cool cocktails.

“I keep looking at the ring and smiling,” Tanya beamed. “Sometimes I'm scared to wear it on the street in case someone steals it or I get kidnapped.” Still gushing, she looked at the diamond ring on her left hand and remembered Kurtis's proposal.

“Did that only just occur to you?” Kaya said. “I mean, dating a billionaire like Kurtis and you're in danger of being swiped off the street any time and being held for ransom.”

“Why are you trying to frighten her?” Mae crossed her arms and frowned at Kaya.

“I'm just saying,” Kaya continued. “It happens, okay? Not that it will happen to you, Tanya, but maybe you ought to ask Kurtis to give you a bodyguard.”

“No way, Kaya. I'm not having some burly guy hanging around me all day.”

“Well, get Kurtis to hire someone like that anyway and send him to my house.” Kaya laughed.

Tanya and Mae shook their heads.

“But,” said Tanya, “getting back to the engagement. Kurtis and I are going to throw a great big engagement party. He's left most of the planning to me and I haven't got a clue where to hold it.”

“How about the roof garden of the International? That place would be perfect. I went there once for a wedding and I was completely blown away,” Mae said.

“That's a brilliant idea. It's the one place I didn't think of. I'll get onto them and see what they have free.”

“So when is this party going to be?” Kaya asked. “Any celebrities?”

“Most probably.”

“What's the matter, Tanya? You don't want celebrities at your party?” Mae asked.

“It's not that. It's just I didn't want my party to be in the public eye.”

“Well you can forget that,” Kaya said. “People see your face in the newspaper and on the news whenever Kurtis shows up somewhere public with you. You're just gonna have to get used to it.”

“It's so hard sometimes. You know I'm not used to all that attention. But I guess I'm going to have to change how I feel for Kurtis's sake. I mean this is his life isn't it? And one day I'm going to have to come to terms with that.”

“Well, surely,” Mae said, “that day has got to start from right now. You're engaged. You're going to get married. Your life has already changed.”

Tanya stared off into the distance. She had been so wrapped up in the romance between her and Kurtis that she hadn't looked at what it all implied. His fame and fortune would never go away. Every one in New York knew him, or of him, and that his name was synonymous with power and wealth.

As a young girl, she may well have dreamt of riches but most of all, love was the thing that was the most important. At least she knew she loved Kurtis, she couldn't deny that.

“I know what I'll have to do,” Tanya said.

“What's that?”

“In terms of the media and paparazzi plaguing what should be a private affair, I will have to call on security.”

“Really?” Mae raised her eyebrows.

“Definitely. I'm going to need security to cordon off a wide radius so no newspapers, television camera or anyone press related can get through. I want this party to be just Kurtis, me and our friends and family. Anyone else isn't welcome and I'm going to make sure damned sure it stays that way.”

*

It was less than a week to go until Tanya's engagement party. She had chosen a secret location just on the outskirts of the city and only those with invitations knew where to go on Saturday night. She had little else to organize and was busy rushing to see a new personal shopping client and was on her way over to the client's apartment for a first meeting.

When she arrived at the address, she was met with tall, shiny railings, which surrounded the apartment building. There were two security guards sitting in a small cabin by the locked gate.

“Name please, Miss,” one of them asked her.

“Oh, hi. I'm Tanya Herman.”

The other guard looked at his list and picked up a phone.

“We have a Miss Tanya Herman on the gate for you.” He nodded his head and replaced the receiver. “You can go through, Miss Herman.” The guard smiled at her.

She heard a buzzing sound and saw the tall, heavy gate begin to swing slowly open. She walked onto a driveway. It was wide and had a slight incline. It seemed to take Tanya a long while to reach the front doors. She wished she'd driven.

She walked into the vast, communal entrance of what looked like an old stately home. It was very grand and must have once belonged to a very rich or important person in the community.

Tanya walked up to the first floor, as instructed, and rang on apartment number eight. The door was opened by a servant.

“Miss Herman I believe?” a man with a long pointed nose said. He barely opened his eyes but smiled all the same.

“Yes, I have an appointment.”

The servant stepped aside and waved her through.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Just through to the drawing room, if you would.” The servant pointed to a door just ahead of her that was slightly ajar.

Tanya smiled and made her way to the door, tapped on it, lightly, and entered. There didn't seem to be anyone in there. Maybe she was supposed to wait. Straight ahead of her was a desk with a chair behind it. The chair wasn’t facing into the room but out towards the window that looked onto a rich, green lawn. Inside the room, there were a few lavish armchairs with cream and gold upholstery. The rest of the furniture, a small coffee table, occasional side tables and a chaise longue, were all antiques. Two of the walls were lined with bookshelves, the other with portraits of people from a time long passed.

“Hello?” Tanya said, looking all around.

The chair by the desk began to slowly turn towards her. Tanya smiled, expecting to see her new client but there in front of her was James McConnagh.

“You!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here? I'm supposed to be meeting a client.” She dropped her bags and pulled out her cell to check the details. “I'm supposed to be meeting Charlotte M...”

“McConnagh. Yes, I know. That's my mother. She's running late and I said I'd keep you company until she got here.”

“I don't understand. Did you know it was me coming?”

“Everyone knows you, Tanya. You're personal shopper reputation goes hand in hand with style.”

“That's crazy. I have so few clients, it's just coincidence your mother hired me.”

“She got you on recommendation from a valuable source.”

“Who?”

James just looked at her and smiled

“You set me up. You...” Tanya turned to leave but James had already leapt from his chair and was at the door before she could escape.

“You can't just walk out on your responsibilities. What will Mummy say?”

“Mummy? I'm not even sure this Charlotte person really exists.” Tanya was taken aback by just how quickly James appeared at her side. She backed away.

“Oh, she exists, all right,” James said. “And she's on her way. You wouldn't want to let her down. Mummy is very good at giving people a bad name. You wouldn't want to lose your clients would you? Or any new clients in the future? Remember, Tanya, in business the customer is always right.” He put his arm around her and led her to a side cabinet where there was a tray of drinks bottles and glasses.

“Now let's just relax and I'll pour you a drink,” he said. “What would you like?”

“I'm fine thank you,” she said shrugging him off and walking over to one of the high backed chairs and taking a seat.

“Tut, tut, Tanya. What did I just say? The customer is always right.”

“You're not my customer, James.”

“No, but I'm your customer's son. A son she listens to a lot.”

“Okay, fine but don't think I'm afraid of your threats.”

“I'm not threatening you. You're a big girl, you can come and go as you please. All I'm doing is trying to be friendly, offer you a drink while you wait and engage in some friendly chatter with me. We're friends. We can be nice to each other.”

“We're not friends.”

“Any friend of Kurtis's is a friend of mine.”

Tanya turned away from James. She did not like that sly look in his eyes or that creepy way he had of smiling at her. When he looked at her it was up and down and all over her body. She pulled the neckline of her low cut dress up but it settled back down, still revealing the large cleavage under her tight top.

“So,” he said.

“So?”

“What is it to be?”

She looked over at the drinks tray. “A Club soda.”

“Nothing stronger?”

“I'm working James, and I'm a professional. I'm not about to start drinking on the job.”

“You sound like a policewoman. No drinking on the job for you.” He handed her the drink.

“Cheers,” he said clinking his whiskey glass against the tumbler of Club soda. He sat in the chair alongside hers.

“Isn't it a bit early to start drinking?” she said looking into her glass and not at him.

“Not for me. You see I've got a lot on my mind, Tanya.”

She did not answer.

“The thing is, ever since I met you I've been a little, shall we say, worried?”

“Worried? What have you got to worry about?”

“You may not know this about me, Tanya, and I'm sure you've heard many things about me, but I actually really care about people.”

“You mean you're a philanthropist?”

“Not exactly. My concern is for people around me, People I care about.”

“Really? So you help out at a soup kitchen, do you?”

“Don't tease, Tanya. I'm only trying to be your friend. See, from the day I met you I liked you straight away.”

“You don't even know me.”

He finished his drink and went over to the drinks tray. He picked up the whiskey bottle and walked with it back to the chair. He poured a large amount into the glass, crossed his legs and held the bottle in one hand, the glass in the other.

“You say I don't know you, Tanya, but I think I'm a very good judge of character. A lot of girls see men like me and Kurtis as a meal ticket. We've slept our way through a lot, and I mean a lot of women and not one of them have been genuine.” He took a sip of whiskey. So far, Tanya had drunk nothing.

“I don't know what this has to do with me?” she asked.

“Oh, more than you know. Your fiancé, Kurtis and I, once had a conversation. It was a while ago now when you could say we were BFFs. That is, if men are allowed a BFF or is that solely the domain of women?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“No, I'm not so sure either but let's for argument say, like you women, us men tell each other everything. And I mean everything. We're not as insensitive as you women may think.”

“Not all women think the same.”

“Like I say, most of the women we met were out for what they could get. Then Kurtis met Catherine. He fell for her like I'd never seen anyone fall for a girl before. I mean, he ate slept and drank Catherine. Never stopped talking about her. Catherine, Catherine, Catherine. She was all he wanted.”

Tanya stood up and went to stand by the window, wishing she could climb out of it and run.

“I don't want to talk about her. I don't want to know,” she said.

“Oh but you should.” His voice went up in volume. “I'm telling you this because I care about you, Tanya. I can see you're not one of those gold digging, money grabbing women I've got sick to death with. You're a good person and you deserve to know the truth.”

“What truth, James? Why don't you just spit it out instead of talking in circles? I'm getting bored with it.”

“Well, you won't be bored with this.” He put the whiskey bottle and glass on the floor and walked over to her at the window. “Our Kurtis has not gotten over Catherine. As soon as I knew you guys got engaged, I wanted to warn you about him. Before it was too late.”

“I'm going.”

James caught hold of her arm. She looked down at his hand gripping her forearm.

“I'm sorry,” he said, raising both hands. “But I'm finding it hard to sleep at night and to concentrate on anything when I know I'm the one who holds the key to your future.”

She rounded on him and placed her hands on her hips.

“What the hell are you talking about? If you have something to say – say it!”

“Okay, Tanya. Kurtis's love for Catherine is still there. As strong and as real as the day he first told me that he would die for her. Only thing is, he couldn't prove that. She's dead and he's still here. It's eating him alive and any day he'll crack and this charade he's playing with you will all come tumbling down. He'll toss you out in the cold, Tanya, because that man cannot live with anyone else but her.”