The Billionaire Saved My Life - The Finale Read online

  He vowed to himself that from now on, that's how he'd be, again. Women would have to take it or leave it. The first time he'd dropped his guard was with Catherine but to disastrous effect and now, Tanya. He was putting a stop to the emotional side. From now on, the physical was all he needed from a woman, no more than that.

  A buzz through from his personal assistant, Edith, snapped him out of his reverie.

  “Yes, Edith?”

  “Reception on the ground floor has called up. Apparently, Catherine is there. Should I get security to remove her?”

  “Er, no. Send her up.”

  “But, Mr. Reed...”

  “Thanks, Edith.”

  Kurtis leaned back in his chair. He was about to test his resolve on a sex only policy and what better way to start than with someone he had a history with. If he could sleep with Catherine and walk away without emotion, then it would be a good test for him.

  Catherine was all smiles when she walked in the door.

  “Kurtis, I'm glad to see you're back at work.”

  “And why wouldn't I be?”

  “Well, I'm not going to pretend I don't know about what James did. He's been bragging about it to me. But don't worry, Kurtis, I made sure it won't go any further.”

  “I find it hard to believe that James could have slept with Tan... could have slept with her and not taken out a page in Time magazine.”

  “No, really. It wouldn't serve any purpose, and good riddance to them both. They deserve each other. But I didn't come here to bring that up. I came here as a friend. I told you I'd be here for you, Kurtis, and here I am.”

  “Yes, here you are. Thank you, Catherine, I thought I could rely on you.”

  “Of course. And to show you how much, I've come to invite you for lunch, on me. In fact it's a lunch surprise. What do you say?”

  Kurtis sat pondering the idea until a sly smile came across his face. “You're on, Catherine. I haven't eaten a thing today. I've had a bad taste in my mouth. But I could eat right about now. Let's go.”

  Catherine sprang to her feet and Kurtis put on his jacket. They left the office to Edith's surprise, all smiles.

  “Um,” Edith said. “What time can I expect you back?”

  “Don't,” Kurtis said and strode away to the elevator with Catherine tottering beside him in four-inch heels and a short, summer dress.

  When they left the building, Kurtis turned to her and asked where she had in mind.

  “Well,” she said, “I have something all planned. I thought you might need to talk, so I went ahead and got us a room at the Radcliffe. I thought we could order room service and be away from the crowds and if you wanted to talk, you could, and if you didn't, we could just have lunch out on the garden balcony and enjoy the great food they have there.”

  “The Radcliffe? We always used to eat there.”

  “Oh, we did, didn't we? You don't mind do you?”

  “Not at all.”

  When they arrived at the Radcliffe Hotel, Kurtis realized straight away that Catherine had booked the same south facing roof-terraced suite they'd stayed at few times.

  In their early days of dating, when Catherine was working just blocks from Reed Records, they would often meet there for lunch and an afternoon of love making, before going back to their respective offices. He had not forgotten those days but a time came when their relationship moved on from just the physical. But the physical was all he really wanted right now.

  They ordered their meal and sat quietly on the floral terrace, the city traffic barely audible and the sun not too hot for it to be uncomfortable.

  “I remember this place being like another world. You'd never think you were in New York when you were here,” Catherine said.

  “It's true and I've never been back here since...”

  “Since me? Well that's good to know. I wouldn't have wanted you to have memories of anyone but me coming here.”

  “What are we really doing here, Catherine? You didn't bring me up here to be my friend did you?”

  “Why do you say that? I told you, I know you don't love me now, and I'm willing to accept that. In fact, I've moved on, Kurtis.”

  “You have?”

  “Yes, I told you before. I've had some tough times before I came back here. I'm more resilient now. I won't crumble like a pathetic little flower or burst into tears and beg you to take me back.”

  “Really?”

  “Really Kurtis. When I said I was your friend I meant it. And I can be any kind of friend you want me to be.”

  “I can't tell you how much I like the sound of that.”

  “Good.”

  They were quiet for a while. They sat staring at each other. Kurtis looked at Catherine, at the light summery dress she was wearing and at the way the top buttons of the already low cut top was seductively unbuttoned. It revealed a shocking pink, lacy bra and Kurtis could see a fair amount of cleavage. The top flapped slightly open and closed with the wind and Catherine began to run her fingers along the soft mound of her breast that the open dress revealed.

  “That's a nice dress Catherine. I've never seen it before.”

  “Well, you can imagine I've got a whole new wardrobe I brought with me when I moved my things back to the city.”

  “I see.”

  “Kurtis, if I'm not mistaken, by the look in your eye I can tell you want to see more of my new wardrobe.”

  “How could you tell?”

  “Oh, come on. I know you I know that look in your eyes. But ... if you want to talk, we can talk, if you want to go for a walk we can do that, too. Anything you want to do, Kurtis. I'm here for you.”

  Kurtis's eyes swept across to the room beyond the balcony doors. The enormous, round bed was looking very appealing to him. His eyes swept back to Catherine and her fingers, which were undoing a further two of the front buttons of her dress.

  He smiled. Catherine stood up and continued to undo her dress. Walking over to the open windows she dropped the dress on the ground and entered the bedroom. She slipped off her shoes and lay down on the bed. Very shortly afterwards, Kurtis followed her in. He looked at the long, toned body of Catherine, stretched out on the bed, her arms along the pillows and one leg hitched up at the knee. The cups of her bra were all lace and her panties matched. She let the hitched knee drop to the side. His jacket was off from earlier but Kurtis pulled his shirt out from his pants and began undoing his buttons.

  He slid up the bed and onto Catherine's waiting body, immediately cupping her breast and kissing the soft skin visible above the top of the bra. Catherine stroked the back of his hair, running her fingers through it and pulling his face level to hers so that their lips were almost touching.

  Kurtis was hesitant and Catherine rolled their bodies so that she was now on top of him. She straddled him and undid her bra, tossing it to one side and arching her body as though she were dancing on top of him. He stared at her breasts. She took hold of his hands and cupped them over them, and they remained there, unmoving.

  Smiling now, she dipped her head down to his body, his shirt lay open and she began to kiss the skin under his navel and working her kisses up to his chest. She licked his nipples and ran her teeth up to his neck where she started kissing his neck and making her way to his lips. He did not open his mouth.

  Catherine looked up at him.

  “What's the matter?” she asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “It's not nothing, Kurtis. You're not into this, I can tell.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  She lay on top of him, staring into his eyes. Her breathing became heavy with anger.

  “It's her, isn't it?” she demanded

  “What's her?”

  “That Tanya. That's what you're thinking about. You still love her, don't you?”

  Kurtis moved his body out from under her and stood to do up his shirt buttons while Catherine jumped off the bed, putting on her bra and dress in a mad flurry.

  “How could you do this to me,
Kurtis?”

  “What exactly did I do, Catherine?”

  “You got my hopes up.”

  “Only for sex. Nothing else. You said friends, remember?”

  “Oh don't be so ridiculous.” She stood facing him. “You really think I can turn it on and off like that? You think I can really just stand to be your friend?”

  There was a knock at the door. “Room service!”

  “Shit,” Catherine said and went to open the door.

  “Would you like this out on the terrace, ma'am?”

  “Yes please.” Catherine stood holding the door open, glaring at Kurtis who was in the middle of the room with his head bowed. “You better go, too,” she told him.

  Kurtis picked up his jacket but the waiter had come through.

  “All ready for you, ma'am, sir.”

  “Thank you,” Kurtis said and took out a $50 bill and gave it to the waiter.

  “Thank you, sir.” He bowed slightly and left the room.

  Kurtis walked to the door where Catherine, still fuming, was holding it open.

  “So you're really going to go back to her after what she did with James?” she said, her eyes exploring his face.

  “No, I never said that and I'm not going to either.”

  “You will, I know you will. You'll forgive her and take her back, I can see it in your eyes.”

  “That's not it at all, Catherine. I'm not going back. Not to her and not to you. I'm sorry. I made a mistake.”

  “You'll go back to her, she's got you wrapped around her little finger.”

  “You believe what you like, Catherine. I don't think you and I can be friends. We have too much history. And there's too much history for me to go back to Tanya. That's it. I'm done.”

  He left the room. He was tired of this. No more Catherine, no more Tanya, he thought to himself. His days of one night stands with the New York glamor models and wannabe's would suit him better. He needed to stay clear of relationships that lasted more than a few hours of fun.

  Chapter3

  Tanya didn't want to trouble her father by letting him drive her back to the city. She felt like he'd done so much for her already. He'd sat with her when she cried, made sure she ate and listened to her plans of starting afresh when she got back. He tried to give her money to put down on a new apartment but she insisted she'd had enough saved and finding a place would be easy.

  “If you get into any trouble, anything at all,” he told her, “you just give me a call and I'll come help you out.”

  “I will Daddy, and thank you for everything.”

  “You don't have to thank me. I'm your father and I'm here for you.”

  He waved goodbye from the front gate as the taxi driver took off along the road. It was an -long drive and Tanya put on her earphones, plugged in her music and sat back. She closed her eyes every now and again. This was a well-traveled road for her and she needed to calm down and stop fretting about finding a place. She had been secretly worried if she were being honest, but she wasn't about to tell her father that. She didn't want him to stress at all. Besides which, she'd coped before finding a place to live when she first moved to New York City, so why not now?

  Very soon she was approaching the bridge where all her troubles first started. She was wishing there had been no Catherine, no Kurtis and especially, no James McConnagh. These rich and influential people had made her life a misery in one way or another and she was glad to be turning her back on the high life she had shared with Kurtis.

  She didn't want any part of it. A leaky room above a dry cleaners like she used to have when she first started seeing Kurtis, would do her just fine.

  As the taxi pulled up in front of the plush apartment building, she took a deep sigh. Looked up at it and mounted the stairs with heavy feet. She was worried about going back into the apartment and the terrible memories it held for her. The first was seeing Kurtis drive away in a fury and remembering the look on his face.

  Then there was the smug James. He was beside himself with glee at pulling off this disgraceful plan of his. She had ordered him out of the apartment and warned him to stay away from her.

  “What will you do if I don't?” he'd said in a slimy, condescending way as he put his clothes back on.

  “I'll kill you!” she had shouted back. “And I mean it.”

  She had not cleared anything away that night, just showered until her skin was crinkly and sore, pulled on some clothes, dragged a few garments out of her closet and into a bag, and bolted. She ran to a main road, the taxi driver wasn't sure about the hour drive out to her father's house in the suburbs but he gave in to her in the end.

  But here she was, back again in New York City. The first thing she did was go over to the bed and rip all the bed clothes off. Something black and shiny fell onto the floor. It was her cell phone. She looked at it and saw the number of missed calls she'd had from her girlfriends, including their messages. She looked at the sent emails to the girls. James must have sent these, telling them I was fine after he accosted me at Rafaelo's, she thought. There was not one missed call or message from Kurtis of course.

  And then she saw the text to Kurtis, the one that brought him out there to catch her in bed with James. She read it. It looked like a cry from someone about to commit suicide. How stupid of Kurtis to think that of her and how wrong about her character he was. She was not a weak little flower and she was about to show everyone that she was strong.

  She grabbed some plastic garbage bags and stuffed all the bedding into them. She wouldn't need those anymore. Next she started to look for boxes to put her things into. It would be a good idea to go out and buy a newspaper so she could check the advertisements for vacant rooms. She'd also needed to call her boss Elena at the boutique again and re-establish all her clients.

  The phone rang just as she was contemplating all of this.

  “Hello?” she said, crashing down onto the sofa.

  “It's Jeannie. Hi!”

  “Hey Jeannie, how did you know I'd be here?”

  “Called your dad's house. I was worried about you and I have a proposition for you.” Jeannie sounded full of enthusiasm.

  “What is it? Don't tell me you need a personal shopper.”

  “Not quite but I could do with a house mate.”

  “Are you serious? I'm looking for a place to stay but your mansion might be on the expensive side.”

  “I didn't ask for rent and I wouldn't. I'm helping out a friend,” Jeannie said.

  “Jeannie, it's a really kind offer but I have to turn it down. I don't want to run into Kurtis. I want to avoid him while I get settled.”

  “I’ll tell you what. Just move in with me temporarily and from there you can find yourself a place. I know you're desperate to get out of that apartment and I don't want you moving into some dive just for a quick getaway. Stay with me and take your time about it. I won't hassle you and I won't allow Kurtis to drop by, not that he really does. He's too busy anyway.”

  “I need to think about this.”

  “Well, think fast because I'm right outside your apartment and I get awfully upset when I can't help out a friend. Besides, you'll be doing me a favor. I rattle around in that big old place. You can get into Manhattan easily so it would be ideal for work.”

  There was a knock at the door. Tanya opened it. There stood Jeannie with her cell to her ear and a big smile that Tanya could not resist.

  “I told Kaya and Mae I was going to do this and they thought it was a great idea. We all know how independent you are but what's wrong with having a friend?”

  Tanya hugged Jeannie. “I really do appreciate this.”

  Jeannie was as rich as the people she said she wanted to avoid but Jeannie was a special kind of friend. She was genuine and Tanya knew she could trust her.

  “Come on, I'll help you pack,” Jeannie smiled.

  In only a few hours, Tanya was pulling up at Jeannie's mansion just on the outskirts of the city. It was her new temporary home. It was tim
e for her to start finding her feet again.

  Chapter4

  A week after moving into Jeannie's house, Tanya had gotten back into the swing of work but she was no closer to finding somewhere to live.

  “Relax,” Jeannie said. “I'm not about to throw you out. Something will come up.”

  “Thanks, Jeannie.” Tanya was in Jeannie's room and saw a bunch of Jeanne's party dresses laid out on the bed. “Going somewhere nice?”

  “Yes and no. It's a party. I'll know everyone but I don't particularly like them. I'd ask you along but I know Kurtis will be there.”

  “I see. Well, no thank you, but have a great time.”

  “Wait, a minute, Tanya. Before you go.” Jeannie sat on her bed in just a dressing gown after having taken a shower. “Have you by any chance spoken to Kurtis, told him the truth about how James set you up?”

  “That's so hard, Jeannie. I know you'll say he has a right to know but it's not going to change anything. It won't bring us back together. I'm beyond that now.”

  “I know, and it's a shame. I never saw a better suited couple.”

  “Well, we'll have to agree to disagree there. There's too much water under the bridge.”

  “I just don't get why that is.”

  Tanya came and sat on the chaise longue in Jeannie's room. “Kurtis has no respect for me now. Firstly, he thinks I'm a liar. I never came clean about that first meeting I had with James and I know he doesn't trust me anymore. Secondly, I took a look at the text that sent Kurtis rushing over to my apartment that night. It sounded like a suicide attempt. Does he really think I'm that pathetic?”

  “Don't you think he rushed over because he was worried?”

  “I knew you'd say that but I didn't want to have this conversation. My mind is made up about him.”

  “Okay, fine, I won't push. You're the one who goes on about Fate. If you believe it wasn't to be, then I respect that. Now, what should I wear? It's a birthday party for some rich bitch. I have to show my face for an hour and then I'm coming home. Will you be here?”

  “Where else would I be?”