The Billionaire Saved My Life (BWWM Billionaire Love Story Book 1) Read online

  “Daddy!” Tanya said, throwing her arms around Walt Herman when he came through the doors where more staff took the guests coats. He had arrived with Tanya's aunt Lucy, who was dressed in all her finest clothes. She hugged Tanya. “I feel like I haven't seen you guys in ages.”

  “You haven't.” Her dad gave a fake frown. “Why don't you come and see your old dad these days?”

  “I'm so sorry, Daddy. I been so wrapped up in work and trying to get this party organized. Decorating my new apartment...”

  “Driving around in your new fancy car.” Her dad smiled.

  “You got me there. But I have been working hard. I promise.”

  “Well I'm glad to see you're keeping busy. But are you happy my darling?” Her father held her hands and whispered the words close to her ear.

  “Why would you ask me that? Don't I look happy?”

  “You do, honey, and you're just as beautiful with it. But I promised your moms that I would take good care of you. If you're getting married, I need to know you're going to be okay. I won't always be around you know?”

  “Don't say things like that. And don't say 'if' I'm getting married. I am getting married. You don't have to worry about me. I am happy, Daddy. I know what I'm doing and promise after tonight, I'll come visit more often.”

  “Good, good,” he said giving her an extra squeeze.

  “Wait until you see the room, Daddy. Grab some champagne, go through and I'll catch up with you and Aunt Lucy in a short while.”

  “Hey, girlfriend!” Kaya and Mae had arrived.

  “Look at you,” Kaya exclaimed. “You look like the woman Beyoncé models herself on. Turn around. Let me see.”

  Tanya did a spin like a model and laughed.

  “My, my, my. I know that dress didn't come cheap and you it wasn’t on sale either, right? That dress fits you like a glove.”

  “It was a present. Kurtis got me a dress designer. You like?”

  “I love,” Mae said. “You look amazing, Tanya.”

  “Thanks Mae. Now you two feel at home, get yourself some champagne and go look around find a place to relax.”

  “You don't have tell me twice,” Kaya said. She wiggled as she approached one of the waiters holding a tray of champagne filled flutes. Mae, who had brought her new boyfriend with her, looked back at Tanya and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

  Tanya had also invited her boss Elena who took one look at Tanya in her dress and put her hands to her cheeks.

  “I need to get a copy of this for the shop,” she said. “You look like a dream, Tanya, you really do.”

  Everything was going well. Tanya was so relaxed, she had not thought about Catherine all night. It would soon be time for everyone to sit down for the meal in the great dining hall at the back of the mansion. Later there would be dancing to a live band. She hadn't told Mae about the live music because the band would be fronted by one of Mae's favorite soul artists and Tanya wanted to see her face when he stepped onto the stage.

  Tanya went up to the bathroom before everyone was seated for dinner and found Jeannie on the landing, sitting on a slim sofa just outside the bathroom.

  “Don't tell me there's a line?” Tanya said as she arrived upstairs to see Jeannie just sitting there.

  “Oh, I think it's empty, darling, I was just contemplating getting rid of these awful heels. My feet are killing me.”

  “Take them off, then,” Tanya said. “Only, be warned, you won't get them back on again once your feet expand. Anyway, you're so tall and elegant you'll get away with bare feet.”

  “Okay, I'll do it. Better that than suffering all night. You know you really are something special, Tanya, if you don't mind my saying so.” She smiled at Tanya who had taken a seat next to her. “Not like some people I could care to mention.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I ran into that ghastly James McConnagh. Sorry to bring him up just before we eat but he's just such a creep. I was depressed for three whole days after I saw him. He said the strangest thing.”

  “Oh?”

  “First he asked me if the engagement party was still happening. I asked him what he meant by that and he just shrugged his shoulders and didn't tell me. Then he spent half an hour, following me around Macy's and trying to pry the address of the party out of me. I kept telling him it was on a need to know basis and if you or Kurtis wanted him to know he would have been invited.”

  “So, you didn't tell him, right?” Tanya asked her.

  “Of course not. Why would I tell that little snake? He kept going on about having met up with you and that you were a really nice person. Then kept wishing he could get back into Kurtis's life so he could get to know you more. Yuck.” Jeannie took off her shoes and looked at them.

  “Feel better?”

  “Much. In the end, I threatened to call security and have him thrown out.” Jeannie gave a cheeky grin.

  “And did he leave you alone?”

  “ I turned around and he was gone. Scuttled off into oblivion like the slimy snake he is.” Jeannie gave a shiver and downstairs a bell was sounded for the start of dinner.

  “So he didn't say anything else about me or about Kurtis. Or Catherine maybe?”

  “Why would he say anything about her?”

  “I don't know?”

  “So it was true? He did run into you, then?”

  “Um, yes. Yes he did.”

  “When?”

  “Oh I was on my way to see a client...”

  “How unfortunate for you. Was he begging for an invitation?”

  “Not exactly.” Tanya's eyes drifted away across the wide landing.

  Jeannie got up and tucked her extraordinarily high heels under the sofa and Tanya followed her to the top of the stairs.

  “I thought you were going to use the bathroom,” Jeannie said. “You know you're allowed to be late for dinner. You're the glamorous hostess. You can make your entrance in that dress.”

  Tanya smiled and made her way to the bathroom. She leaned on the counter under the sink and looked at her reflection. Her heart was pounding and she was breathing deeply. That James McConnagh was out to cause trouble for her and Kurtis. It was clear he expected there to have been a bust up and a fall out between them, which made her more convinced that James expected her to have found the evidence he'd gone to great lengths to reveal to her. So, it was true, then. Kurtis did still love Catherine.

  Tanya turned on a tap and watched the water running into the sink. She half thought she needed to splash her face, to bring her out of the deep and dark reverie she had sunk into. But she didn't want to risk ruining her make up and not be able to hide behind it while she continued with the charade of being a happily engaged couple.

  She composed herself and went back down the stairs. All the guests were already seated before she entered the enormous dining room. There was a cluster of tastefully decorated tables with candelabras in the center with tall, white candles lit on each. There were delicate floral bouquets on the tables too and the crystal glasses sparkled in the candlelight.

  At the far end of the room, there was a string quartet that played light classical music. Around the edges of the room, a line of waiting staff dressed in black uniforms stood in attendance. Just along the corridor, in the kitchen, the staff was waiting for the head of catering to tell them when to start setting up the starters. That call would come as soon as the hostess entered the dining room and was seated.

  And there she was, at last. Tanya arrived at the table next to Kurtis to a ripple of applause. She smiled bashfully, and Kurtis stood as she took her seat.

  “Just beautiful,” he said, for her ears only.

  Tanya looked around the room as the one hundred guests wined and dined, chatting happily and laughing loudly, oblivious to her own private hell.

  “You've hardly touched your food, Tanya.” Kurtis said to her.

  “I'm not actually that hungry,” she said, picking up her wine glass again. Absently, all she had done
was sip wine. Slowly she was becoming more and more heady and the room was beginning to spin. The staff buzzed around and carried plates to and from the kitchen. They refilled glasses, and kept the guests happy. The string quartet stopped playing but the sound of their instruments still rang in Tanya's ears. After dessert and coffee, the staff was busy filling champagne glasses again and serving them to the guests, ready for a toast. Kurtis was about to make a speech.

  He stood up and cleared his throat. Then talking in the great dining hall dulled down to silence and all eyes were on Kurtis.

  “Everyone, I just wanted to thank you for coming here tonight and mostly, for keeping our secret hideaway a secret. Thank you.” He gave a slight bow around the room before continuing. “Tanya and I are so glad to see you all and we're just so happy that you could share our joy. As many of you know, I haven't had a good time over the years before meeting Tanya. And if you didn't, you could always find out on Google why that was.” Here he looked at Mae and Kaya, who laughed aloud. So did everyone else.

  “But seriously,” he went on. “I was at my lowest point, emotionally, and something happened to change all that. I was doing what so many of you know I was prone to do, disappear into the dark and just try to walk my problems away. But on this particular night, there was a bright light ahead of me. It was shining from this beautiful woman here on my left and it showed me a new way. The night I met Tanya changed everything. My whole perspective on life and what I wanted from it. I knew when I saw her, she was the one, that special someone who could return me to life.

  I was so happy when she agreed to be my wife. I honestly have been walking on cloud nine...”

  There was the sound of a commotion out in the corridor; people were anxiously turning around. Tanya thought the staff must be having some sort of problem, so she signaled to the head waiter to go out and see what was wrong. When the door was opened, Tanya thought she caught a glimpse of James. It must be her warped imagination, she thought, but all the same, her heart immediately began to pound. So loudly, she thought Kurtis might hear.

  “...so, I'll stop telling you how beautiful she is. You all know that. Tanya has a beautiful heart. I hope we can announce the date of the big day very soon but first I'd like you to, please, stand, and drink to the love of my life, T...”

  “Wait!”

  A voice from the door shouted, “I need to speak to Kurtis!” It was a woman's voice. One by one, the guests took their seats again and lowered their champagne flutes.

  A brief look up at him and Tanya could see that Kurtis had lost all the color in his face.

  Tanya looked towards the door and saw the woman standing there. The woman had long dark hair and simply stood in the doorway with her arms at her side. She was not dressed for the party. She wore a simple, white silk dress that came to her knees. She was staring straight at Kurtis, eyes penetrating him alone and ignoring everyone else in the room.

  Still, Tanya did not understand why her fiancé had gone as white as a sheet. Who was this woman standing, looking so longingly at him? Tanya looked back at Kurtis.

  “Kurtis?” she said. “Who is that woman?”

  At first Kurtis did not speak.

  Tanya managed to peel her eyes off the woman, as beautiful as she was, and turn to Kurtis once more.

  “Kurtis, look at me,” she asked in a quiet and measured voice. “Who is that?”

  Kurtis, too, had to tear his eyes away from the woman at the door. He looked at Tanya.

  “Th-that,” he said. “It -- it is Catherine.”

  Tanya's head swung back to the open doorway. She looked back at Kurtis, open mouthed, but he had left her side and was walking towards the woman on the other side of the room. He was walking back to Catherine.

  To Be Continued...

  The Billionaire Saved My Life: Part 2

  Kurtis and Tanya are left shocked when a face from his past shows up alive and well. Catherine believes they can carry on where things left off which would put an immediate end to Kurtis's relationship with Tanya.

  The Billionaire has a BIG decision to make, however it seems there is someone out there who is determined to make it for him...

  OUT NOW!

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