Chained to the Billionaire

ic Spring for Los Angeles, and I’d know

he’d said. “Friends of mine pr

e I didn’t have any either, and working as a kitchen hand in a restaurant at minimum wage wasn’t something both of us planned for the rest of our lives. Andy wanted to stud

ia. We won’t have to worry about money. You can quit that

ared out the small window to my right. “Asshole bo

wanted to see this exquisite scenery for real since I’d spotted it in a beauty magazine I bought from a secondhand bookstore. I even had the pic

t even wanted to visit. Paris, Tokyo, and Rome were the cities I desperately wanted to see. Not Los Angeles. Never Los Angeles. And the fact I didn’t know where I was going or wha

ined paralyzed, seized by fear of the unknown. Fear

I murmur

though it seemed to happen a lot more for us. But we had to carry on living, didn’t we? And Andy? He was just that gullible, more than the most gullible person on the plan

he wolves, those billionaire businessmen who didn’t hes

a shiver passing down my spine. Even the name itsel

ening email—from a man simply called J. Maxwell. That email was shor

Dono

riends have swindled and lost two million dollars of mine in a gamble. He is currently under our prote

Max

d his so-called friends had swindled millions from the billionaire, and now it was my job to replace them. Once again

I could, clutching my backpack close to me. I knew I looked like a fish out of water here, and those staring at me with the

t. So hot in fact I had to take off my sweater. I knew I had to take the bus into town because a taxi w

of me. I kept to myself throughout the whole journey. When the bus stopped in town, I took another up to Beverly Hills and then anot

rinted out and peered at the white, neatly folded piece of paper. The glare was getting to my eyes, so I moved around, tryin

head, and my eyes rounded with dread. Panic seized me the moment I saw the car heading toward me.

ralyzed with fright when the door of that expensive car opened. Shiny

iently for me to lift my head. And I did. My eyes slowly drifted up the long legs in trousers and then to the slim wai

found in fashion magazines. The male models in ads for cologne and expensive suits. The type that

My breathing became shorter and faster. At that moment, I just wanted to run. M

ng down to one knee. I was surprised he actually allo

ced me, I

sian

the sky I’d seen when I opened my eyes that day many years ago, my whole body aching in agony and my bones broken. The sound of sirens and people shou

lip. I subconsciously licked them—a mistake. His Prussian-blue eyes drifted to

me, making me almost breathless. I was trembling more fierc

at the sudden, electrical sparks t

When he grinned at me, one that would take any girl’s breath away, I knew it was the lat

he asked, the timbr

ne. I tentatively nodded an

that moment, I didn’t understand my own feelings. Yes, I wanted hi

over my arm. I jolted at the touch, and my body we

followed. My head barely reached his massive broa

d without looking at whe

till not lo

ack. I felt his hand releasi

m cocking his head to one side before turning away. I was still