Compromising the Billionaire_A Scandals of the Bad Boy Billionaires Novel Read online

  Beyond all of that, they were famous for scandal and murder. Aiden’s aunt and uncle had died in a mysterious murder-suicide when he was a child, and his parents had been killed in a seemingly identical crime years later. I didn’t remember the first, but when his parents died they were all over the tabloids.

  None of the Winters children could set foot outside their gated estate without facing a swarm of reporters. In the years since, the media had hounded all of them, eager for any hint of scandal they could spin into drama.

  Knowing that, it was hard to imagine they could keep any secrets, much less that Aiden was hiding the kind of secret I could use as leverage against him. For two weeks I’d been right outside his office, privy to every detail of his business, and I hadn’t seen or heard a single thing that led me to believe he was the kind of man who would steal a company.

  But, I knew what I knew. I’d been there, seen the buyer he’d sent by proxy, met with him alongside Chase. If only we’d reviewed the contracts line by line the way Aiden did his own. If only we’d realized our corporate lawyers were susceptible to bribery. We had a lot of if only’s.

  Chase had given up and walked away. I wasn’t willing to do that. Not yet.

  Aiden said I was a puzzle, but he was a mystery I had to solve. I knew he was guilty. Hadn’t I spent two months working in a department that had been created from the ashes of Chase’s company? The proof was right there. I was a fool to doubt it. And an even bigger fool to feel a tingle of excitement at the idea of going to a party with Aiden Winters.

  This was going to end in disaster, and I couldn’t bring myself to walk away.

  I left the mess in my bedroom and headed for the kitchen. I needed a glass of wine before I thought about cleaning up. I was going to have to find time to go shopping because nothing I had was suitable for a formal event. I refused to consider any of my three bridesmaids dresses. I didn’t do ruffles. I was pushing the cork back in the bottle when the doorbell rang.

  Weird. Chase sometimes had friends drop by at odd hours, but since he’d been gone on this consulting job they hadn’t bothered. A quick check on the security camera showed a uniformed courier standing outside my door holding a large rectangular box. I pressed the button on the intercom and said, “Yes?”

  “I have a delivery for Violet Hartwell.”

  “A delivery? Who is it from? I didn’t order anything.”

  “It’s from Aiden Winters.”

  Of course, it was.

  I unlocked the door and swung it open, taking the oversized, unwieldy box from the courier’s arms. “Hold on just a second,” I said, intending to get my purse and scrounge up a few dollars for a tip.

  Freed of the box, the courier stepped back, gave me a friendly wave, and said “It’s already been taken care of. Have a nice night.”

  He disappeared down the hall, leaving me balancing the heavy box on one arm as I struggled to flip the lock closed on the front door. By the time I reached the kitchen table, I was about to drop it. I recognized the name on the lid as a high-end boutique I’d never stepped inside, even the smallest accessory far outside my budget.

  My hands shook a little as I pulled up on the sides of the glossy, white box. I shouldn’t open it. I shouldn’t accept whatever was inside. I couldn’t stop myself from lifting the lid and carefully peeling back the white tissue paper.

  I sucked in a breath at the sight of the dress inside the box. Strapless tulle, the color of midnight, set off by a burst of gold at the waist that sent streamers across the bodice and down through the full skirt, ending in gold stars. The navy would perfectly complement my pale skin and odd bluish-purple eyes. The gold was only a few shades darker than my hair. The dress might have been made for me, though I never would have chosen something so feminine and fanciful myself.

  If I’d bought a dress, it would have been black and probably boring. Carefully, I lifted the gown from the box and checked the tag. A long sigh escaped me. I’d never thought I’d wear Valentino. For just a second I felt like Cinderella. Except Aiden wasn’t the prince, he was the evil stepmother. Or the wicked witch.

  Never mind, he was the bad guy, that’s all I needed to know.

  I remembered that I was lying to him and sneaking around inside his company to try to find information I could use against him.

  Fine, then we were both the bad guy, and this was no fairytale.

  At least I got the dress. Pulling it completely free of the box, I discovered a matching pair of midnight blue and gold spike heels. I love shoes. I mean, I really love shoes. I kept my work clothes simple, professional, and mostly dull. But not my shoes.

  Shoes were my weakness and my indulgence. Heels, sandals, more heels. I owned one pair of sneakers, a single set of flip-flops, and countless pairs of stilettos, wedges, pumps, kitten heels, cone heels, ankle boots. None of them anywhere close to as expensive as the heels Aiden had bought for me. I slipped one on my bare foot and sighed again as it fit perfectly.

  I didn’t have to try on the dress to know it would fit as well. I did anyway, and as I pulled up the zipper, the bodice closed around me as if it had been hand sewn for me alone. For just a minute I thought about sending it all back, telling Aiden it was over.

  I knew I wouldn’t. I wanted to wear this dress. I wanted to go out with Aiden.

  I was a complete, total idiot.

  Putting that thought out of my mind, I removed the dress and shoes, carefully putting them away for the next day. Then, I made myself deal with the pile of discarded dresses on my bed, responsibly pulling out a few I could donate, including the mint green chiffon bridesmaid dress. Maybe someone could make some use of it because it wouldn’t be me.

  When I was done, I curled up in bed with my tablet and pulled up videos of formal hairstyles. If I was going to go to the ball with Prince Charming, I was going to do it right.

  Aiden didn’t mention the delivery at work on Friday. In fact, I barely saw him all day. He left for a meeting before noon and didn’t return until three-thirty, when he stopped by my desk, stared down at me and said, “Why don’t you leave early, Ms. Hartwell.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said, and started the process of shutting down my computer and gathering my things. I heard the resentful whispers from behind me. I ignored them. I was getting very good at ignoring my coworkers.

  Just that morning I’d driven Peter and Marisela crazy by drinking my salted coffee as if there were nothing wrong with it. The more serene my expression, the louder I could hear Marisela’s teeth grinding together. I’d almost lost my composure and burst into laughter at her frustration, but that would have ruined my fun.

  I was ready well before seven-thirty, my hair pinned up into an elaborate twist of curls and braids, formal enough for the event, but fanciful enough to suit the dress. I buried my nerves in preparation, taking more time with my makeup then I had since my first dance in college.

  I wouldn’t know a soul there aside from Aiden, and I didn’t want anyone to question my right to be on his arm. He went out with the most beautiful women in Atlanta. In the country, really. I couldn’t match up to them—I wasn’t an actress or a model—but I was going to give this everything I had.

  I opened the door at Aiden’s knock. His expression when he saw me was more than gratifying. I took a tiny step back at the heat in his eyes as he took in the swell of my breasts, tightly contained by the strapless bodice, my bared shoulders, the curve of my waist and the flare of the filmy skirt.

  “You’re stunning,” he said, simply. “I knew you would be.”

  “Thank you for the dress.” My cheeks warmed under his stare.

  “You’re welcome. Shall we?” Aiden offered his arm, and I took it, pushing away all my doubts. It was too late to get out now. I might as well do my best to have fun.

  All I could do was hope that if my charade came to an end, it wouldn’t be tonight.

  Chapter Seven

  Violet

  Aiden led me to a limousine waiting in front of my
building. I don’t know why I was surprised. He held the door and helped me inside, lifting my skirt so it wouldn’t trail in the street as I settled myself against the smooth leather upholstery. Aiden got in on the other side, sitting next to me, a little too close for comfort.

  I was in way over my head. He knew what he was doing every step of the way, and I was running to keep up. Proving me right, he opened a cabinet opposite our seat and pulled out a chilled bottle of champagne, already opened.

  Wasn’t this romantic…

  Did he think this was a date?

  A real date?

  I accepted the champagne and took a long sip, not sure if the idea thrilled or terrified me. Maybe a little of both. I did not want him to kiss me again. I didn’t. Okay, maybe just a little. Once. I wouldn’t mind if he kissed me one more time.

  I didn’t want to play a game any more than I had to. Taking another sip of champagne, I swallowed and asked bluntly, “Why am I here? A hundred women would jump if you needed a last-minute date for a party. Why me? And why that scene in your office yesterday?”

  I expected him to laugh and blow off my question. Instead, he said, “I don’t want a hundred women. I want you.”

  “You can’t.”

  “I do,” he said, simply. “And to answer your other question, that scene in my office was my ex-wife doing what she does best. Tormenting me. She fought me on the divorce tooth and nail, and I only managed to get rid of her with a huge payoff. I’m assuming she’s run out of money and before she goes and hunts up another sucker, she’s making a run at her original piggy bank.”

  “Cynical,” I said.

  Aiden sipped his champagne and shook his head. “Accurate.”

  “If she’s that awful, why did you marry her in the first place?”

  “Valid question.” Aiden’s eyes met mine. I couldn’t look away as he studied me for an endless minute.

  I don’t know what he was looking for, what he hoped to learn, but he must have arrived at some conclusion. “I married her because I thought I was supposed to. I was twenty-four, trying to run the company, trying to be head of the family, and out of my depth with both of them. I missed my parents and I thought Charlie needed a mother. She was fifteen, her only female cousin was gone, and my brilliant solution was to marry Elizabeth, who did a very good job of playing the sweetly devoted girlfriend right up until we said our marriage vows.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Sometimes it’s too easy to make bad decisions for the right reasons. Why did you decide to divorce her?”

  “You met her yesterday, right?”

  A laugh bubbled up, and I covered it with another sip of champagne. “Well, yes, and she did seem fairly horrible.”

  “Honestly, I probably would have put up with it for longer. She went out of her way to make my life comfortable, as far as I know she never cheated on me, and she was—” he paused, considering, “adequate in bed.”

  “Did you cheat on her?” I asked, suddenly needing to know. He wasn’t painting a picture of marital bliss.

  “No. I was tempted a few times, but I never did. I believe in keeping vows.”

  “So what was it? What happened to make you decide you didn’t want to be married anymore? She doesn’t seem to understand that you don’t want her, and you’ve made it clear you can’t stand the sight of her, so I don’t get it. What did she do?”

  Aiden looked at me again with that solemn, penetrating gaze that made me feel like he could see all the way to my soul. Finally, he said, “I heard her call Charlie fat. I know it seems like a small thing, but Charlie and I are close. She was only ten when our parents died. I did my best but I was no stand-in for them. I confronted Elizabeth about it and she went off in a litany of Charlie’s faults. I talked to Charlie, and I found out that Elizabeth had been cutting her down for years. Charlie kept it to herself because she didn’t want to cause problems in my marriage. That killed me, the idea that my baby sister was being systematically demoralized by my wife and I didn’t even know. I was supposed to be looking out for her. Our home was supposed to be a safe place, and I’d made it the opposite.”

  “You didn’t know they didn’t get along?” I asked. I didn’t have any trouble imagining the woman I’d met in Aiden’s office being a raging bitch to his little sister. She was the kind of competitive female who wouldn’t be able to stand her husband adoring another woman, even if that woman was his younger sibling.

  Aiden shrugged one shoulder and looked away. “I knew they weren’t close, weren’t friends, but I didn’t realize how cruel Elizabeth could be. No one deserves that, but especially not Charlie.”

  He sat up and poured us each another glass of champagne. I looked at it doubtfully. I wasn’t sure I needed another glass. I wasn’t a big drinker and too much alcohol seemed like a bad plan. I took it anyway.

  Aiden went on, “I can see why she thinks we might get back together. Charlie’s out of the house, happily married, and we got along well enough when we were married. I worked all the time, and she spent my money.”

  “The ideal marriage,” I murmured.

  “For Elizabeth, I think it was. She wanted social standing and a bottomless wallet.”

  “And what did you want?” I asked before my brain fully formed the question.

  “I thought I wanted a wife. I was young, focused on work and what was left of my family. I convinced myself that if I just got married, everything would fall into place. It took me six years to realize that I didn’t want a wife. I wanted a marriage like the one my parents had. Not the same thing.”

  I stared at Aiden, my eyes wide with shock. “You stayed married to her for six years? Six years?”

  The side of Aiden’s mouth quirked and he said, “I worked a lot.”

  I took a sip of champagne and muttered, “I bet.”

  I couldn’t quite imagine Aiden married to Elizabeth. They would have looked good together, no question there. She was cold but beautiful and I hadn’t met many men as handsome as Aiden. But I was coming to see that the core of him was warmth. He cared about people. He loved his family. From what I’d seen and heard, Elizabeth only loved herself.

  The limo cruised to a stop outside the Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead. The door opened, but Aiden came around to help me out.

  He’s not Prince Charming, I reminded myself, and you’re not Cinderella.

  Though I was starting to think Elizabeth was definitely the evil stepmother. It sounded like Aiden’s little sister would agree.

  He led me in, filling me in on the event we were attending, a fundraiser held by the Winters Foundation in support of literacy programs. We’d barely cleared the doorway to the ballroom when a stunning woman in a red ball gown glided up and stopped in front of Aiden, reaching up to press a kiss to his cheek.

  “Abigail,” he said, warmly, “everything is beautiful. It looks like you have another success on your hands.”

  “I hope so.”

  A striking man with dark hair and silvery eyes came up behind her and wound his arm around her waist. “She works so hard putting these things together and then when they finally happen, the nerves hit.”

  She poked him in the side and whispered, “Don’t tease.”

  He ducked his head to kiss her cheek and whispered back, “I love to tease.” Those silver eyes landed on me and he raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know you,” he said. Abigail poked him in the side again.

  “Jacob, Abigail, this is Violet Hartwell. Violet, this is my brother, Jacob, and his fiancée, Abigail. Abigail works for the Winters Foundation in event planning, and, as you can see, we’re very lucky to have her.”

  “It’s nice to meet you both,” I said, the resemblance between Aiden and Jacob clearer now that I knew they were brothers.

  I’d heard whispers about Jacob around the office. People said he was scary, a shark in a business suit who made Aiden look warm and cuddly. Seeing him whisper in his fiancée’s ear, the blush that rose on her cheeks, I had a hard time imagi
ning the stories were true.

  “I’m going to get Violet a drink,” Aiden said, “we’ll catch up with you later.”

  I let Aiden lead me across the room to the bar, nodding when he asked, “Champagne?”

  Why not?

  This was a one-time thing. I was going to drink, have fun, and enjoy ogling Aiden. His brother was attractive, but Aiden was easily the most devastating man in the room. He wore his tuxedo like he’d been born in it, and his neatly arranged hair left me wanting to mess it up, to sink my fingers in the silky strands and pull his mouth down to mine.

  Uh-oh.

  No, Violet.

  No kissing Aiden.

  That was also a one-time thing, and that time was over. I tried to tell myself that getting closer to Aiden, being his date for the night, might shake loose the kind of information I was looking for. People were drinking and gossip would run rampant. Maybe someone would say something I could use.

  I could barely convince myself that was my motive for being here. I didn’t know what I was doing anymore, and when Aiden pressed the champagne glass into my hand I took a long, indelicate sip.

  “Hey, slow down there. We haven’t even had dinner yet,” he said.

  “It’s fine,” I reassured him, even as I felt bubbles of champagne tickling my brain. “I never get drunk.”

  “There’s a first time for everything,” he said under his breath.

  “I won’t embarrass you,” I promised.

  “It never occurred to me that you would,” he said, smiling down at me, the combination of affection and desire in his eyes making me a little dizzy.

  No kissing, I reminded myself.

  I felt the burn of eyes on my skin and glanced across the room to see Aiden’s cousin Gage glaring at me. I met his blue eyes and didn’t look away. I expected him to move toward us, to break my gaze, something, but he just stood there and stared, looking furious. Aiden noticed his cousin at the same time a sweet looking blonde beside Gage scowled up at him, then glanced curiously across the room at me.