Designs on the Billionaire Page 4

“Yeah, well, I’ve got to confess something. After the designer was sacked, I went and grovelled, to try and get her to come back and finish the house off. Only, I all but shagged her, right there in the kitchen of the new house. She showed up on a motorbike and wore these leathers that . . . let’s just say she really turned me on.”

  “You’re kidding? Wow. I wasn’t expecting that when I called you. You seriously need to have a conversation with that fiancée of yours. Work out for yourself if you really want to commit your life to her. If you’re already being turned on by some random girl in motorbike leathers, then you’re in trouble. If you want to clear some air, I’ll rearrange my schedule and catch up with you at the Phoenix around 8?”

  Nick appreciated Alex’s offer. Maybe that was what he needed. A night out with Nick and Dan. They were his best friends from university—the people who’d joined him on jaunts around the Continent on their motorbikes. The Phoenix was Dan’s latest venture—a top-class nightclub venue. The interior was very hip. Dan would appreciate their patronage. He’d been trying to get them to come out for ages.

  “If you can manage it, that would be great. I think it’s just what I need.”

  After he hung up from Alex, the front desk of Nick’s apartment building buzzed. Diana was downstairs. He’d never given her a key to the place. He’d never given any woman a key, as this was his domain and he’d always wanted to keep it like that. He took a deep breath. It wasn’t a good time for Diana to visit. But then, maybe they could sort some things out. He ran his hand through his hair.

  “Okay, send her up.” There was no going back now. It would have to be one way or the other.

  He walked over and opened the door to the lift lobby so Diana could walk in from the lift when it arrived at his penthouse on the top floor. His security team would have a fit that he’d left the door wide open, but he wasn’t going to stand there and wait for her. He spied the whiskey in the drinks cabinet and prepared one for himself. He’d need a stiff drink to face Diana. Good on Mrs Wilson, his elderly cleaner who came in every few days; she’d replaced the ice in the bar freezer. He had just poured the whiskey over the ice as he heard the bell from the elevator. She was here. He took a sip for extra morale.

  He stood up and turned to meet her. He had no idea how he should greet the fiancée who he had become more convinced each minute wasn’t suited for him. Their break-up was beginning to feel inevitable.

  Diana, tall and model-like, entered the apartment, draped in a white dress that looked expensive, with heels and a handbag that matched. The problem that he had, Nick decided, was though Diana had the perfect-sized body, and was, on all counts, an impeccable package of good breeding and class appropriateness. Her fine physical attributes that attracted him in the first place now seemed like a shallow reason for proposing marriage. Though if he was honest with himself, since she’d chosen her engagement ring, something about Diana had changed. She had become rude, overtly classist and arrogant. The act as the gracious fun-loving girl who he’d been attracted to now seemed like a guise that she’d adopted. His friends had warned him that she was all pretence, but he’d chosen not to listen. Diana had seemed like the perfect wife package. She’d duped him long enough, and now that she was showing her true colours there was nothing about her that her turned him in. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She repulsed him with her too contrived, too polished person. He must have been thick to not have seen it before.

  “Nicky darling,” she called out with a wave. With her face fixed to her bright cerise coloured phone, she didn’t even look over at him before she continued “shall we go out tonight? I’ll make us a booking at that new restaurant in Soho, the one next to the gallery.” Her fingers poised to swipe her phone and place the call before she even allowed him a chance to answer. What he would have viewed as Diana being efficient, now grated on him as being bossy and not actually waiting for his response.

  “Sorry Diana, I have plans tonight. Anyway, I wanted to chat about a couple of things. Lorenzo called me this morning.”

  Diana shifted her gaze away from the phone and stared at him. Her face was blank. Nick knew that she had absolutely no idea who he was talking about.

  “The building manager for our new home. Lorenzo Guicco.”

  “Oh. Well, just get rid of him. Get another one.” Diana’s squeaky voice dismissed the topic of the builder as she returned to her phone.

  “I’ll not just get rid of him. He’s very good at his job, and the crew he has working on the house have done some amazing stuff. I’m not sure what you’ve done to upset him, but you need to apologise,” he replied in a clipped voice.

  Diana looked up in surprise, a bemused look on her face.

  “Why would I apologise? Just employ another builder. London is full of builders. Any will do.”

  He swallowed in a bid to calm himself down. Never had there been a moment when he had disagreed with someone so wholeheartedly.

  Suddenly, he wanted to be rid of Diana right then and there. He needed to be as far away as possible from her His cheeks burnt, and anger flooded through his body. At any moment, he felt as though he would turn into a cartoon character with steam coming out of his ears seconds before his entire body exploded.

  “Diana.” He said her name in a slow, soft measured way.

  “Please listen to me. I don’t think this is going to work. The way you were with the interior designer and now with Lorenzo is not acceptable. I am struggling to see your side of the story, as you are sounding like a petulant spoilt child who needs to learn discipline.”

  Diana’s bottom lip stuck out. “Oh Nicky, don’t be like that. Here, forget about Thai food, come to bed with me, and we can make up. I can do that magic thing that you like.” Her promise was neither tantalising nor a temptation. If anything, it repulsed him. She repelled him.

  His eyes narrowed as he looked at her and wondered for the millionth time that day, how he had ever been attracted to someone like her.

  “I don’t think so, Diana. We’re over. I have no intention of marrying you. Not now, not ever. You and I have very different views of how the world is, and to be honest, I don’t think I like your view.”

  Big drama queen tears streamed down her face, but he stood immobile, unmoved by her.

  “You can’t cancel our wedding. It’s all arranged. I have a dress made exclusively by Pratha. Everything is ready to go. The media for the publicity shots, the entertainment at the reception. What would I tell everyone? What would I tell my bridesmaids? What would they say?”

  Her words were muffled between dramatic sobs. The one thing that was clear to him was that nowhere, in all her antics, was there a single mention about their relationship, nothing about how she loved him and would miss him. Her only concerns were centred around some perception of status and what other people would think.

  Nick shook his head. He was happy to be rid of her, but he still wanted to ensure that she made it home safely. He pulled out his own phone and spoke with his security team. Once he had ensured that they would see Diana home, and that she wouldn’t be able to enter his penthouse again, he looked back at her. She’d be alright. The tears had been crocodile tears. In the time that he’d spoken with his security team, she had taken a handful of selfies of herself crying and had put them up on her social media. She’d move on and find someone else.

  He turned around and walked out of his apartment leaving Diana to her selfies. His step was much lighter and the ball of fury that had settled in his stomach had evaporated. In the elevator, he texted Alex.

  Just broken up with Diana. How about we have a double of whatever the special of the week is at the Phoenix?

  Seconds later Alex’s response came through in two separate messages.

  Are you okay?

  I’m caught up on phone conferences until 7. I’ll meet you there.

  He sent the thumbs up icon to Alex, before he dialled his personal assistant to organise a good-bye gift for Diana. It was what he did whenev
er his relationships ended. Plus, he wanted to do as much damage control as possible before his own mother found out. She was going to be difficult. She’d liked and approved of Diana. But that was something he’d deal with on another day. In the meantime, he’d contact the builders and reassure them that Diana wouldn’t be returning to the building site. Then he’d go and get drunk. Seriously drunk.

  What on earth should he do with the house? It was almost finished. His own city apartment suited him fine, so there was no need for him to shift into it. He’d have to get his PA to get in touch with a real estate firm that could help.

  His security team buzzed him. “Where are you? Diana has been safely delivered to her mother’s house. You weren’t in the apartment.”

  Nick looked around him. It had been years since he’d just walked out into the streets of London without his driver cum security accompanying him. He had no idea where he was. And he didn’t care.

  “I’m fine. I need to be alone at the moment. I’m meeting Alex at the Phoenix at 7. I’ll contact you from there.”

  “Nick, I don’t think that’s a good idea. The reason you have security is to keep you safe. If you’re out wandering the streets, we can’t keep you safe.”

  Nick sighed. The perks of being a billionaire was that everyone wanted to be your friend or your acquaintance. The pitfalls were that you were never alone. And sometimes, people potentially wanted to hurt you. Today, he just wanted to be a plain Joe, just another someone on the street walking.

  “It’s fine. I’ll see you later at the Phoenix.” With that, Nick hung up.

  Now that he wasn’t betrothed to Diana, he was free. If he wanted to, he could pursue someone who held his interest. Someone like Lacey. But if he was honest, she wasn’t the kind of person that would just drop everything for him, nor would she hook up with him on the rebound. It would take a lot to convince her to give him a shot. Luckily, he was a guy with endless resources.

  Chapter 4

  Nick didn’t know why he had decided to return to the house again. He wasn’t going to ever live in it. His lawyer would complete any formalities, then sell it on his behalf. He’d be relieved when it was sold. In his mind, it represented a poor choice in his relationship with Diana, a family house which would never hold a family – not his family anyway—and the most perplexing of all, his lack of control and urgent lust when it came to Lacey. Never had he been so overwhelmed by the chemistry with a woman.

  He shook his head. No, he corrected himself. He had one other time. At the charity ball when he had led Lacey out to the garden. What was it about her that left him feeling so out of control?

  During drinks at the Phoenix, Dan had mentioned, partly in jest, that his sister wanted to buy a family home in or around Muswell Hill, the same area of Nick’s home. Two rounds of drinks later and Nick had offered to sell it to her. He hadn’t really formulated any plan with what to do with the house. But if Dan’s sister wanted it, she was welcome to it.

  Dan had texted through earlier to check on whether or not Nick had changed his mind.

  Me and Ebony are meeting the builder and your designer at the house this morning. 10 am. Are you sure you’re okay selling?

  Earlier that morning, he’d had no intention of ever returning to the house again. But Dan’s message changed it all. Lacey would be there. The problem was, he’d been able to think of nothing else except for the liaison that he’d almost had with Lacey the last time they were at the house. Thoughts of Lacey in her leather jacket had pervaded his mind.

  Right at the last minute, he’d called through to his PA and made his apologies, then arranged for his driver to take him back across the city to the building site. He was just tying up loose ends, he had told himself, though he was hardly convinced that was his only motivation.

  There were already three other silver luxury cars parked in parallel to a collection of tradesman’s utility trucks on the gravel driveway. Nick recognised Dan’s driver and gave him a cursory wave. The other cars he didn’t recognise, nor did he identify the drivers. Lacey’s motorbike was not to be seen. He let out a breath in part relief and part disappointment. She either hadn’t arrived yet, or one of the unknown cars was hers. Though he couldn’t conceive her having a driver at her disposal. It wasn’t an extravagance that the typical Brit could afford. Aside from the cost, she had a motorbike. There was a certain freedom once you’d ridden a bike, and he couldn’t envisage her preferring being driven to riding her bike.

  The front door had been left open and a radio bleared with a song from the eighties in a nearby room. There were sounds of activity too, with several tradesmen at work inside. He walked in; regret rushed over him. This was not his pride and joy anymore. A plasterer put down his bucket of bright white slop and pointed out to the back. “They’re out the back Geezer.”

  Nick nodded and made his way to the back of the house. The rooms had come to life since he was last here. He neared the open French doors that led to the back deck and noticed Lacey first. She sat with her back to him. She wasn’t in leathers, so that explained the lack of motorbike in the driveway. He took a moment to look at her. What was it about this woman that captivated him? He had no answers.

  Dan, Lacey, Dan’s sister, Ebony, and her twin girls all sat around a picnic rug on the oversized decking. The decking had been his suggestion. He took a moment to admire the way the finished decking swept around the house and down to the yard. It provided an optimal view of the unfinished backyard; it would look incredible when the plants were all in. For a brief moment he was disappointed that this wouldn’t be his deck.

  It was just how he had envisaged it. A family enjoying the early summer sun on the deck. The young girls giggled at something that Lacey had just done or said. He couldn’t quite hear the conversation.

  Dan waved out to him. His best friend stood up, walked over to him and gave him a friendly slap on the arm.

  “Hey, I have to say, you have good taste. This house design is amazing.” When Dan had first queried what he was going to be doing with the house now that he’d broken up with Diana, Nick had no answer. Dan’s persistent questioning hadn’t been just idle curiosity. He’d been looking out for his sister. Nick would be glad if Dan’s sister bought the place from him. The house needed a family. And he needed it to be sorted out sooner than later.

  “Ebony loves the house and the village. Apparently, there’s a grammar school the girls could go to in the neighbouring village.” His friend looked around in appreciation.

  “This is an amazing block of land that you have here. You did say it was fantastic, I just had no idea how much.”

  Nick nodded in agreement. The block itself expanded back well beyond the tree line at the quarter acre mark. Large sized blocks in semi-suburban London were difficult to find.

  “You sure you want to sell? Because Ebony is keen. I mean really keen. But if you want to pull out, you can.”

  “Absolutely. You’re right, it’s a wonderful house and location. I was looking forward to living here, but it doesn’t make sense for a bachelor working in the city. Besides, I can’t fault my apartment. I can always find another house in the future if I need one.”

  “So, no regrets?” Nick knew that Dan referred to the break-up and not the house sale, and he shook his head resolutely.

  “No. No regrets. Mother’s been difficult. She won’t talk to me. She’s still harping onto poor Father about what her friends will think and say.”

  “Your Mother’s always been like that though. Great to hear that you have no regrets. Well I have to say I’m impressed with your designer. If I didn’t know you had the hots for her, I’d chat her up myself. Lacey’s pretty chilled out. She’s been amazing with the kids. Although, with a kid of her own, it’s probably not a surprise.”

  Nick’s eyes narrowed at the mention of a child. A child? He didn’t know she had a child. Lacey hadn’t mentioned it to him. But then, they hadn’t really talked. Not about their explosive sex after the charity ball.
Not about anything.

  “I guess you haven’t gotten that far yet then? There’s still time,” Dan said with a smile as Nick furrowed his brow. The problem with his best friends is that they knew him too well. That little titbit of information had unsettled him. Lacey was a mother. Was she married too? He hadn’t seen a ring on her finger, but then some modern women chose not to wear a ring. She might be one of those women. No, last time she’d made that comment that she wasn’t the kind of woman to fool around with a man in a relationship with someone else. He was pretty convinced that she wasn’t in any relationship.

  He followed Dan across to the picnic rug, feeling like a child intruding on someone else’s playdate.

  “Hi Nick. It’s been a while. Girls, say hi to Nick.” Dan’s sister Ebony was tying her hair back into a ponytail. She looked frail and not at all the like radiant bride she’d been seven years ago. Her wedding was the last time Nick had seen her.

  “Hi, Nick.” The girls sung back at him in chorus before they dashed away to run around on the bare garden.

  “Good morning.” Lacey’s eyes came up shyly as if she was unsure how to greet him.

  Nick chose the spare corner of the rug next to Lacey and sat down sprawling his large frame next to hers. He could sense her discomfort as his leg brushed hers, prompting her to shift away and onto her knees.

  Nick tried in vain to act oblivious to her presence. He purposely averted his gaze and directed his attention to Ebony, questioning her about the house.

  “So, do you think this will suit you and the girls?”

  “Yes. Yes. And Yes! I have been looking around in this district for a few months, and there was nothing that was calling out to me. But this is just fabulous. The builder and Lacey have made some excellent suggestions on modifications that will be more kid friendly. We’re pretty much changing all the décor in the girls’ rooms, but leaving it be for the rest of the house. Oh, and we’re getting a slide from their bedrooms upstairs to downstairs. The builder has confirmed that there will be minimal delay to our moving in date.”