The Billionaire's Secretary (Billionaire's Series Book 1) (8 page)

“Can I just go ahead and make my way through?”

“Certainly, sir.”

As Milo approached the first security check, he took out his cell phone and scrolled up to Aurora’s number. He handed the security guard his passport and ticket, then pressed the SEND button.

“Aurora, its Milo.”

She and Adrian were just stepping through the door of her hotel room at Morrison Place to wait while Fitz got the jet ready.

“Hey, are you OK?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Listen, I’m sure all my stuff has been trashed by now but as I said, I broke the drive and flushed it down the toilet. Did you get the email yet?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“It should be coming through any second now.”

Just then the phone buzzed in her ear.

“Well, I’m going to leave the country for a bit. If I’m not mistaken, that was yakuza that were chasing after me and that scares me shitless. Thanks for the deposit; the card’s untraceable so it’s what I’ve got to use while I lay low. Don’t worry about the rest of the money; I didn’t finish the job and I wrecked your material. I’ll send you a contact soon but I won’t say anything over the phone right now. Take care ,Aurora. And for heaven’s sake, be very careful.”

The phone call ended and Aurora was left wondering what was happening.

“Hey, was that Milo?”

She hated having to lie to Adrian but she immediately decided that she was going to play some things a whole lot closer to her chest than she had before.

“Yes, he says he’s fine and he’ll get back to me with some more information soon. That I shouldn’t wait around in Bermuda.”

“Why, hasn’t he figured out the files yet?”

“It seems it’s a lot more complicated than any of us thought.”

Aurora stood up and stretched as if to punctuate the conversation. She’d had enough for one night and made her way to the bedroom door, but then she paused and turned back to Adrian.

“Could you pour me a glass of that wine, Adrian? I’ll be in here.”

***

Aurora went straight into the bathroom that adjoined her bedroom. The room was opulent with an enormous walk-through closet between the sleeping area and the bathroom. The bedroom boasted a sitting area that was generously furnished and encompassed the fireplace. A real tiger skin rug lay under a modern glass coffee table and was surrounded by wing chairs and a sofa. She left the bedroom door open and went through to the bathroom.

Hurriedly, Aurora turned on the water in the shower and sat on the toilet. She opened the first file that Milo had sent her. It was a series of documents that seemed to be pertaining to several bank transactions; large ones. She closed it and opened the second one. There were lists in it. Names, addresses, telephone numbers and amounts of money. At a glance, it seemed that Alan had possibly unearthed a cache of unauthorized transactions. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions before actually reviewing the information properly.

“Aurora?” Adrian called as he entered her bedroom.

“I’m just taking a quick shower, Adrian. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right out,” she replied.

Aurora forwarded the files to Rebecca with a note that she should start to research the names on the list and their possible connections to Alan, Xaoping and Guyton Industries. Then she forwarded the files to her private email address and deleted Milo’s email. There was no way she could be sure who was spying on her or where the leak about the flash drive and Milo had originated from, so she couldn’t afford to take any chances. She also couldn’t help wondering if Adrian was involved in what was clearly going wrong at Guyton Industries.

She showered quickly and wrapped her body in one of the plush, white terry robes that were in the bathroom. She pinned up her curly hair seductively and dabbed on a little more of her delicious Bulgari perfume. When she entered the bedroom, Adrian was also a little more comfortably dressed. He had shed his jacket and pulled the shirt from his pants; looking ready to relax... or for something else.

He stood and beckoned for her to join him on the sofa in the little sitting area. He handed her a glass of the effervescent white wine and clinked her glass with his.

“To us beating a hasty retreat from paradise,” he announced.

She laughed at his joke and then added, “And to us getting to the bottom of this tragic mystery.”

For the first time since she had gotten Milo’s phone call, she smiled.

They drank together and talked for a short while before she rested her almost empty glass on the coffee table and turned to look Adrian in the eyes.

“Would you like me to pour you some more?” he asked.

“No, thank you. I was actually hoping that we could pick up where we left off before Milo called me earlier.”

“Oh God, Aurora,” Adrian replied breathily. “I thought you’d never ask.”

He immediately took her in his arms and kissed her. His hands went to the belt of her robe and tugged on it, easily undoing it and allowing his hands access to the treasure within. He cupped the round of her breast, never taking his mouth from hers and she moved slightly away from him to grant full access. When Adrian rolled the nipple between his thumb and forefinger, she gasped in excitement and began to undo his clothes as well. As the jacket and shirt made their way backwards over his shoulders, Adrian’s mouth left Aurora’s and dipped to the sweet enclave of her chest. His mouth closed around a nipple and she gasped as his tongue flicked over it. She threw both her arms around him and drew him closer to her, running her fingers down his back in emphasis. Adrian groaned with pleasure again as he was sucking tenderly at one breast after the other. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. Aurora could see the raw emotion gathered there as the lust and desire for her was mounting in his loins.

As he blazed a trail of wanton kisses down her stomach, she knew what he would do next but nothing could prepare her for that first lunge of his hot, wet tongue into the folds of her sex. Expertly, he licked at the swollen bud that gave her so much ecstasy. Aurora’s hands found their way into his hair once again and as he plundered her with his mouth, she could not stifle the cries that fought their way up her throat.

“Oh, Adrian,” she moaned.

He knew she would explode soon if he continued, so he trailed off with deep kisses on the inside of her thighs while she calmed down and her breathing regained a steady pace. She put both hands around his neck as he gently lifted her and took her to the huge four poster bed, laying her down tenderly before discarding her robe and then his now restrictive pants.

The sight of Adrian’s engorged member brought back distant memories of lustful nights from her past; she could only hope for some of those feelings again. Aurora lay him against the multitude of soft, white pillows and got on top of him. He put his arms around her and drew her close, sitting up in the bed as he did so and took her swollen nipples into his mouth again. She threw back her head as she felt his member pressing against her pelvis. Deftly, she writhed against it, evoking the sounds of unbearable desire she loved to hear from her lover. Unable to abide it any longer, he took her mouth with his, lifted her up and pushed himself deep within her moist loins, thrusting greedily at first until she moaned in delight, then slowly and gently allowing the anticipated pleasure to build. He looked deep into her eyes as he moved and felt her body begin to tremble as her thighs plunged to meet his every stroke. Determined for their encounter to last longer, he pulled out and tossed her on her back, held her to the bed and kissed her deeply. His tongue once again blazed the trail down her neck to her breasts where they teased both nipples until she arched her back.

He moved on, planting tender kisses on her soft stomach and licked the seductive indent of her navel. He traveled further kissing the feminine groove of her sex and parting it with his hot tongue. Holding her thighs firmly, his mouth explored the tender junction. His tongue lashed over the swollen bud that was the object of his desire repeatedly. Aurora reached down with trembling hands to claw at fistfuls of his raven hair. She thought that it would slow the onslaught of pleasure, but she only drove him further on. He made sure to work her into frenzy before he re-entered her. He placed her legs around his waist and pushed his engorged manhood slowly inside her silky sheath. She moaned in pleasure and anticipation. He placed his hands beneath her and held her buttocks firmly, pulling her close and burying his love deeper inside her. He moved purposefully inside her, pulling out and pushing deeper with each thrust. Measuring the pace that would prolong the mindless pleasure they were experiencing. Then she cried out, gripping the sheets between her fingers in abandon.

“Oh, Adrian!” she called, as convulsions wracked her body, plying him with the awesome sensations of her orgasm. He moaned loudly and then they were both crying out with delight and complete ecstasy.

Chapter Nine

As they lay in each others arms, they talked more about themselves and how much their lives had changed since college. Deftly, Aurora shifted the conversation.

“Do you have any idea what Alan was working on before he left for the States?” she asked.

“Not at all. I had been working really hard getting ready for the Venezuela deals to drop and I assumed he was working on Tsang Wei’s initial IPO sale in Hong Kong so we could pick up as much stock as possible. I think Aaron was part of that team, though.”

“Is there any chance he may have uncovered some unsavory deals that were going down at the company? Deals that possibly weren’t sanctioned by your dad, or the management, for that matter?”

“Hey, with what I’ve learned over the years, especially after how the bank executives behaved after the government bailout during the financial crisis a few years ago, anything can happen without a lot of people’s knowledge.”

“But is it possible that maybe money is being siphoned toward unauthorized stock purchases or maybe something even more sinister than that?”

“Aurora, I’m still just the VP of Latin American interests. It’s unlikely I’d know what was going on in Alpharetta, much less Hong Kong. Aaron’s the guy to ask. But then, if anything like that was going on and he found out about it, it would have been dealt with immediately. Furthermore, if I knew about it and didn’t do anything to stop it, I could be implicated in any scandal that might arise at that point.”

“I know that, but...”

“Let's not discuss this any further. I don’t know what it is that got Alan in trouble over there, but rest assured if something is going on at Guyton, I want to get to the bottom of it.”

Adrian was clearly agitated by her line of questioning. He lay stewing at her words for a while longer before he got up and got dressed.

“Are you leaving me?” she asked.

“I didn’t know you wanted me to stay.”

Aurora moved to the edge of the bed and pulled him between her legs. She undid the zipper of his pants and impatiently pushed them back down to the ground. Licking her lips, she took Adrian’s manhood whole into her wet mouth and moved expertly back and forth on it until it was fully engorged again. Smiling, he pushed her back on the bed, covered her mouth with his and entered her as lustily as he had ever taken a woman in his life.

***

The scent of their sex was heavy on the sheets as Aurora woke in the pale morning light. Adrian’s kisses were tingling along her back and then her neck where he was drawing closer to her earlobe.

“Mmmm, Adrian,” she moaned as his caresses intensified.

His hand was already tweaking her nipple and traveling the length of her waist and thighs.

“I want to feel you again, Aurora; it was even better than I imagined.”

“It was, but we’ve got to go. Fitz should just about be ready to fly us home this morning. Lu Wei is expecting us and so is Rebecca, remember?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

The two showered together and Adrian couldn’t help but pin her svelte body up against the shower wall. He moaned loudly as she wrapped her legs around his waist and delighted in every stroke as he took her again and again.

***

On Monday morning, Aurora left Adrian to entertain Lu Wei and his family with tours of all the Guyton facilities, followed by lunch at the house in Stone Mountain. They had spent all day Sunday in the bed of her Alpharetta home, making extensive plans for Alan’s defense, Lu Wei’s visit, the Tsang Wei negotiations and their new jobs at Guyton. In between planning and working, they’d made love.

Aurora and Rebecca made it across town to the Alpharetta City Courthouse and into Judge Remington’s chambers just in time.

The judge had only granted the district attorney a four hour extension and had advised them to gather in his chambers at 12 noon sharp. It seemed he had also smelled a rat. While Rebecca waited outside, Aurora hurried through down the hall toward Judge Remington’s door as she wriggled into the light black jacket she had brought along and smoothed it down over her hips. When she knocked on the door and entered, Assistant District Attorney Lewis Grey was already seated with a solemn look on his face. The judge was carefully signing a stack of papers. Eric Caplan was also already seated engaged in conversation with the others about the city and the weather. Aurora was reminded that they were all colleagues, even friends, outside of the courtroom; business was business and everything was whatever it wanted to be.

“Gentlemen, good afternoon,” Aurora greeted as both men stood to welcome her and Rebecca into the room.

“Good afternoon, Miss Aldridge,” Judge Remington replied while Lewis and Caplan only nodded in her direction. “Shall we begin?”

Aurora took the seat beside Eric and placed her files on her lap. The judge looked at them both before proceeding.

“I have received and considered Miss Irvine’s petition to dismiss the case against Mr. Guyton on the basis of lack of substantial evidence, as well as the requests filed by her firm for the exclusion of all evidence gathered by the police under search warrants 645213A and 645213B, and for the declaration of mistrial based on the attempt by the Alpharetta Police Department to bring unlawful charges against and defamation of character of Mr. Alan Guyton, their client.”

“Judge Remington, these claims are ridiculous...” Mr Grey protested.

“Mr. Grey, be quiet,” the judge warned. “I advise you that I have perused the documents filed by Mr. Caplan’s team and the Guyton & Lexington firm very carefully and unlike what the police and your office have, they have been very precise. Mr. Caplan, do you have anything that you would like to present to me additionally at this time?”

“Judge Remington,” Eric answered, “I believe that our counter evidence speaks for itself. I would however, like to clarify that our main objective is to have the present case against my client be completely dismissed and all charges dropped. We also feel that should this be agreed in our favor that all media correspondence by the police department regarding the case and my client cease immediately under threat of further legal action. If that can be agreed to, then we won’t press the defamation of character suit against the department and the D.A.’s office.”

The judge took a sip of coffee from the steaming cup on his desk and cleared his throat.

“The case is dismissed and all the evidence gathered is to be excluded and disregarded.”

Mr. Grey jumped to his feet in protest but before he could say a word, Judge Remington stood from his seat and bellowed at him to sit down and be quiet.

“The warrants were bogus, Mr Grey, unsigned and unauthorized. So before you open your mouth to say even one word, hear this. If your office or the police pull a stunt like this again, you’ll all be looking at time in a federal facility for obstruction. Further, I’ve decided to declare these proceedings a mistrial. It is plainly obvious to me that there is no evidence indicating that Mr. Guyton is guilty. His alibi should have excluded him from the very beginning. Unlike other factors implying that he was there, Mr. Guyton’s travel plans, travel documents, corroboration from colleagues and of course, the CNN World Business News interview he did, all prove that he was in Las Vegas at the time, attending the opening of the Hong Kong Engineering and Robotics show. This only exhibits the kind of shoddy, media-marketed investigation the police department has conducted and I’m rather surprised that the D.A.’s office got suckered along with it by propaganda from Hong Kong law enforcement. I’ll leave it to the Guyton & Lexington team if they want to press those defamation charges, but if police Chief Billingsworth – or anyone for that matter from the prosecuting team – even says “Hi” to a reporter about this case, they’ll be looking at time upstate for sure. Now go and don’t let me hear a word about this nonsense again. If he stole from the Chinese, that’s their problem, not mine.”

Aurora left the courthouse elated. As she walked up to Rebecca, the woman could see that they had been triumphant.

“Go on, tell me what the judge said.”

“The charges have been dropped and he declared a mistrial.”

Rebecca’s knees gave out from under her and she sat squarely on the courthouse steps. Aurora sat beside her; she felt as if she would faint from the pent up emotions that were devouring her. Rebecca produced a large Snickers bar from her purse, pulled back the wrapper and handed the first half to Aurora.

Munching gratefully, she asked, “So what next, genius? Are we finally done?”

“Not a chance. Rebecca, aren’t you enjoying yourself yet?”

Rebecca looked at her puzzled. What could they possibly have left to do, apart from informing the Guytons and get back to work?

“Something fishy is going on here, Rebecca and I don’t think I can leave it where it is. I have a feeling someone tried very poorly to frame Alan.”

“Yeah, I do too. It’s just they never banked on him getting singled out for that interview in Vegas, huh? Did they?

“Not at all. I’d say CNN made our case for us and here I was, thinking he was drinking and gambling the whole time he was there.”

The two women sat shoulder to shoulder, smiling, but it wasn’t long before they knew it was time to let Mr. G. know the good news. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Adrian’s number.

“Adrian, I have great news about the trial. Is your dad at the office?”

“Ummm, yes he is.”

“Great! I’m still downtown so I was hoping we could all meet over at Guyton Industries so I can debrief everyone.”

“Why don’t you come here, Aurora? I’m here and so is Aaron.”

“I really didn’t want any of this to taint our dealings with Lu Wei. It’s better that you keep him occupied in Atlanta for the rest of the day and we can all meet in Alpharetta later today.”

“Okay, Aurora. Can we say about 7 o’clock? In the boardroom at the office?”

“Perfect, thanks Adrian. I’ll see you there.”

She felt guilty not agreeing with Adrian to deliver the news in Stone Mountain, but she just didn’t want to create a situation where he was trying to seduce her into any inappropriate behavior. It was true that she wanted to keep Lu Wei and the Tsang Wei deal sterile of Alan’s trial, but she also wasn’t sure she had the self control to say no to him if the need arose. Things were getting hot and heavy with him and though she was enjoying herself immensely, Aurora knew all too well that she would have to end it before the true version of their future working relationship came into effect. How many women in junior positions had had successful sexual relationships with their bosses? Too few to count, as far as she was concerned.

“Rebecca, call up the press. Tell them there will be an all access press conference at the Guyton Industries offices tonight at 7:30. They can get in touch with Maxwell James, head of security about access restrictions as well as anything they might need to broadcast live. Right after I’ve debriefed the family, we’ll open up the boardroom to the press. Eric Caplan is going to make a statement and he won’t be answering any questions.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

***

The lights from the news cameras were almost blinding in the glamorous boardroom at Guyton Industries. Aurora had arranged the family neatly on the far side of the table so as to maintain as much space between them and the media as possible. She stood just to Adrian’s left and listened intently as Eric Caplan made his announcement. She looked around her and studied their faces. Alan was elated at finally being freed from the confines of his Duluth home, Andrew was beaming at having all his boys back together again, Caplan looked proud of himself and his team. Everyone seemed relaxed, happy even; everyone except Aaron. He looked agitated, maybe even a little frightened. Aurora thought that was very strange.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it has been ruled by a judge of the Alpharetta criminal court that the charges against my client, Alan Guyton, have been dropped. The case so far was based on the evidence submitted by the Alpharetta police and the District Attorney’s office, and it has been ruled that none of that evidence is deemed admissible against him. On those grounds, the evidence is void, the case has been dismissed and a mistrial has been declared. We are happy that the ordeal is now over and my clients may now return to a somewhat normal life. Thank you.”

Of course, as soon as he had finished, the crowd exploded in a torrent of questions, even though they had been informed that there would be no further comment made.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure you were advised that neither I nor my clients will be answering any questions for you tonight. Anything that we would like to share will be communicated to you in the usual manner.”

Aurora nodded to the security guards who had been tactfully positioned inside the room. They moved forward in unison, ushering the crowd back out the large double doors and closed them silently behind them. The security team outside the room continued to herd the reporters all the way out into the lobby and through the front doors, locking them securely once everyone was outside.

Chapter Ten

In the weeks that followed things seemed to fall right into place at Guyton Industries. The rest of the floor that Andrew Guyton’s office was on was opened up and the space was converted into two elaborately decorated corner offices. An open area was created between the new offices and Andrew Guyton’s double office doors to accommodate a welcoming foyer, intimate seating areas and workstations for Aurora and Adrian’s new assistants. Aurora’s old desk outside Andrew’s office was now occupied by Rebecca Irvine, Guyton Industries new senior executive assistant.

Aurora had admonished herself repeatedly for allowing the affair between her and Adrian to continue. They were growing extremely fond of one another and neither could deny that they lavished each other with some of the best sex either had ever had. Still, she knew that it wouldn’t last; it couldn’t last. The circumstances just weren’t favorable. It was true that it was better that the two of them would agree to end it than to have someone discover their secret. But they weren’t ready to let it go, so they did their best to keep things professional at work and meet under the cover of night.

***

It doesn’t get much better than this,
Adrian thought to himself as he gazed out the window of his office over the city of Alpharetta.

He still could not believe how being back home and having Aurora in his life was making him feel. It was outrageous that anyone would want to stop him having these amazing feelings. If only his brother could understand what having her meant to...

“Ahem! Great job on the Tsang Wei deal, Mr. Genius. I don’t even want to know how you pulled that one off.”

Adrian looked up at his open office door to see the woman of his daydreams standing there, looking at him.

“Elementary, my dear Watson. Elementary!”

“Well, you look very relaxed, Mr. Guyton. Did I actually catch you clock watching?”

“Not at all, Aurora,” he replied with a huge smile on his face. “I was just thinking.”

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

“What were you thinking about?”

His smile broadened as she sat on the edge of his desk looking at him, then he said, “All the things that I can’t do to your gorgeous body on Guyton Industries property. Besides, it’s Friday and that means when I get a hold of you next, I don’t have to let you go for two whole days.”

She laughed at his response and stood to leave. When she got to the door, she turned and asked, “So, I guess we’re still on for tonight then?”