The Billionaire's Proposition (The Romero Brothers, Book 4) (8 page)

Oh,
what a kisser
, she mused. Venus couldn’t believe
how good Carl’s soft, passionate lips felt on hers.

Heat throbbed between her legs, her nipples
tightened at the tenderness of his hungry kiss. Her mind was in a whirlwind
daze, her legs felt delightfully weak as she leaned against the rail on the
yacht making out like crazy with her hot and magnificent boss.

She relished the sweet taste of his tongue
and his lips as they continued to kiss hungrily. She could feel the moisture
increase inside her panties. She even hoped he had a condom with him so that
they could go much further. That was how badly she wanted to have him—all
the way.

Carl.
Oh, Carl.

She wanted him, craved him. Now.
Right there and then on the boat, on the lake.
Out in the
open. She didn’t care about anything else than having Carl make love to her,
thrusting inside her. Never before had a desire so strong, so powerful
overwhelm her by just a kiss. No. Not just a kiss, a passionate lovemaking of
the lips.

He murmured, “Oh, Venus.” His breathing was
heavy and labored as he moved his hands down her dress, lifting it up. She felt
the delight of his hardness tenting his loins. Now. She wanted Carl now. She
was going to go crazy inside if she couldn’t have him now. Her body pulsed
uncontrollably. The anticipation of having passionate sex with Carl sent
currents of desire ricocheting through her body. Her emotions whirled and
skidded as she thought about consummating their relationship.

The sound of a man clearing his throat
interrupted their sensuous lip-locking session. It was the waiter. He was
standing a few feet from them looking rather sheepish.

“I’m sorry, sir,” the waiter apologized.
“Your grandfather has summoned you back at the house. It’s rather important.”

For some reason, the waiter, or butler,
sounded more British than earlier before. Or maybe, Venus simply hadn’t noticed
before.

“Thank you,” Carl said, concern befalling
his countenance. He was breathing hard, the passion left him panting as it did
she. “My phone was switched off. He must have been trying to reach me.”

“Very well, sir.”

Venus straightened her dress. She knew from
working for the Romeros that if Toni called at a late hour like this, it was
often something important. And the Romero family always stuck close together
and dropped what they were doing for the elder Romero. No matter what time it
was. She respected them for that. Their grandfather had done so much for the
brothers over the years and it was a blessing that they never forgot where they
came from—no matter how high in life they’d reached.

Still, Venus’s mind was reeling from that
damn hot kiss.

What just happened?

She was left breathing hard, panting. His electric
kiss left her dazed and confused. She reoriented herself to what she was doing
on the yacht with Carl. Oh, right. The agreement. The arrangement. The
proposition. She knew this was only for a year. A taste of what was to come.
But would a year be nearly enough? Could she possibly be his without breaking
down and revealing her dark secret to him—something he may very well
find…unforgiveable?

“I’m sorry,” he said, breathing hard.
Hungry passion still blazed in his dark, sexy eyes.

“It’s okay. I have to get my son anyway.
It’s getting late.”

“As I said, I’ll take you home and the
offer still stands,” Carl said, reaching for his cell phone and powering it
back on. “I just need to make a phone call first.” Carl excused himself to make
the call while Venus gathered her notes and her contract off the table. Oh,
God! Did the waiter see what was on the table when he approached? She
immediately dismissed the thought from her mind. Even if he did, the Romeros
only hired and vetted discreet and reliable people to work close with them. She
should know. They vetted her before she started working for them. Although her
past in Murumba was a closed vault that not even the federal government could
open.

“Is everything alright?” Venus turned to
Carl after he’d finished up with his phone conversation.

“Yes and no. I will explain later,” he told
her as he guided her down the steps to the lower deck. Her shoes clanked
lightly as she stepped down after him. He looked worried, concerned. Oh, dear.
She hoped everything was okay with Granddad Romero. She was so fond of that
man. If it hadn’t been for Toni Romero, she may not have even landed the job at
the Romero Estate, first working for the vineyard and winery and now for Carl
and Jules in their corporation.

“We still need to go over some fine details
about our marriage and arrangements. I will speak to you about that later.”

“Okay,” Venus said, disturbed by Carl’s
sudden change of tone and his seriousness. She knew that more than anything
else,
Toni was an important factor in Carl’s life. Period.
Then another thought struck her. Would Toni, as much as he always spoke about
the boys getting married, agree with their plan to stage a marriage—for a
year? Toni always spoke about respect for the institution of marriage as
sacred.

Venus swallowed hard.

She hoped Toni would go along with the plan
Carl had developed knowing how influential he could be with his grandsons. Venus
prayed he would go along with it.
 

Carl drove Venus along the country road
from the waterfront to the main house in his convertible. He used the automatic
power button to close the
roof top
as night fell over
them. The evening breeze began to drop the temperature slightly. Venus felt the
temperature inside her body chill at the thought of only having Carl for just
one year. Then it would be all over. She tried desperately to squash the
thought from of her mind. Instead, she diverted her eyes to the sightseeing of
the grand Romero estate.

My
God! The Romeros own all of this?

Venus’s eyes drank in the massive land and
the green mounds of hills on the way to the manor passing by the grand vineyard
in the distance. The Romeros owned almost 20,000 acres of magnificent countryside
property including the gorgeous wrap-around land by the pristine lake that housed
several yachts at the dock. It was a popular waterside getaway—privately
owned. It was mind-blowing. Surreal. And…

Where on earth would she and Carl be living
while he ran the city—assuming he won the election?

“Carl, where will we live?” she blurted out.
“Here? At the manor?”

Carl tilted his head back slightly and
chuckled.

“Oh, no, beautiful,” he answered. “There’s
no way I would run a city from this place. Do you think the hard working
taxpayers would appreciate it?”

“No,” she agreed quietly. “You’re right. I
guess you think of everything.” She admired the way he planned ahead. He was so
right. It would send the wrong message—yet again. And that was the last
thing Carl would want to do in his run for mayor.

“Unfortunately, Venus, life isn’t always
simple,” Carl opined, steering the car towards the main road leading to the
house. “It’s not enough to
do
the
right thing. One must
appear
to be
doing the right thing in life, as Granddad said.”

She noticed his grin faded fast, his eyes
penetrated the dark roadway ahead of them.

“Of course,” she said quietly. Why did life
have to always be about appearances? Or keeping up appearances?

“I own a modest property near…” he
hesitated for a brief moment. She thought she saw raw pain clouding his eyes.
“Near the place where we grew up,” Carl said, continuing as they drove closer
to the manor. “It’s nice in a decent neighbourhood.
Four
bedrooms, three bathrooms, detached, two-levels.
I think it would be perfect
for us and we’ll be closer to the community I’m going to serve. It also has a
good size backyard where Tristan can play.”

Yes. It sounded perfect. Perfect for their impending
marriage of convenience.

Still, Venus admired him for his purpose
and intent on making a difference in the community. “You know that is so
commendable of you, Carl. Here you are, ensconced in so much luxury and yet you
don’t mind living modestly.”

“Money isn’t everything, Venus.”

“Says the man who has all the money in the
world,” she teased him.

His face melted into that sweet, boyish,
handsome grin again. God, he looked so charming, so adorable. And her lips
still tingled from the memory of their sweet, passionate kiss only a few
precious moments ago. Oh, she couldn’t wait to taste his lips again—and
so much more.

“Being content with who you are and what
you do and what you represent in life means a lot more,” he said, arching his
brow.

“So true.” Her voice trailed off. Was she
content with whom she really was? Her heart plummeted again inside her chest.
She wasn’t even up front with him about her past. She began to feel distressed
about her past and what she had become—her belief about being true to
herself was not in tune with her actions.
 

Venus was beginning to experience cognitive
dissonance. She detested the feeling. It was unbearable. Distressing. She hated
to deceive him. She hated that she could not be upfront about…her past. But it
didn’t matter now, did it? She was protecting him by not telling him what
really happened to her. If he ever found out, which she prayed he would not,
perhaps he would forgive her and know that she really had no choice but to
leave her past out of the equation. In any case, she was an entirely different
person now. That was all that mattered.

At least that’s what Venus wanted to
believe.

*
   
*
   
*

“Granddad, are you okay?” Carl whispered,
leaning over Toni’s bed.

“Yes, Carl. I just had another little
scare.
Nothing to get all up in arms about.
I’m not
sure why Shelly called everyone here.” Toni Romero was reclined up in his
special custom-made adjustable bed. Shelly was by his side.

Carl and his brothers Jules and Zack had
commissioned the design of the unique bed for their grandfather after his
stroke a couple years earlier. The luxury mattress was therapeutic and had
a soft
memory foam that enabled their grandfather to have
the most relaxing, restful night’s sleep. Heck, the old man deserved it. He’d
worked tirelessly around the clock his whole life just to provide for others. Giving
them nothing but the finest he had to offer. He deserved only the best.
Anything they could do to make his life a bit easier was good to them.

“Your grandfather had an absence seizure,”
Shelly clarified, as she lovingly hugged Toni. Being married to a nurse had its
advantages for his grandfather. At first when Toni had announced that he was
marrying his young nurse, the family was up in arms.
And
rightfully so.
The wealthy tycoon had many previous marriages, not
including the one to their beloved, now-deceased biological grandmother. The brothers
summed up his previous brides as gold diggers who ended up with the old man
paying plenty in alimony soon after the nuptials dissolved.

“Dr. Ademe just left,” Shelly continued,
rubbing Toni’s arm. “He came in to check on your granddad when I called. I
didn’t know what else to do.”

Toni heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes in
mock exasperation. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do with her. She
gets too worked up about things.” A grin played on the old man’s lips.
That made Carl feel
a bit more at ease. At least his
grandfather wasn’t taking things too seriously.

“What do you mean by absence seizure?” Carl
asked.

“I just stared off into space for a bit and
Shelly went ballistic because I wasn’t paying attention to her,” Toni chimed in
playfully.

“Now, Toni, you know that is not quite
true.” Shelly then motioned to Carl. “I’m just going to speak to Carl and Jules
for a minute. You need your rest. Okay?” she said, getting up and placing her
hands on her hips.

“Fine.” Toni picked up the newspaper on the
bedside beside him. “I’m going to read a bit more first.”

“Toni, I really don’t think you should be
reading that now.”

“Please, woman. Let me be!” Toni waved her
off dismissively.

Soon after, Shelly and the boys went out
into the hallway outside the room.

“Okay, now tell me what’s really going on,”
Carl demanded.

“Well, Carl,” Jules interjected. “Before
you got here, Shelly filled me in.”

“Oh?”

“Carl, your grandfather is worried sick
about you,” Shelly explained. “And yes, he has been having these little absence
seizures.
Nothing to worry about.
We just need to
monitor him closely. Basically, they are seizures that can last for a few
seconds. Sometimes it’s hard to detect. It’s rare for absence seizures to occur
in adults. But it can happen.”

“Hard to detect? Few seconds?” Carl repeated
in shock. Why the hell wasn’t Carl told about this sooner? “And what do you
mean, he’s worried sick about me?”