Page 41 of Unforgettable Billionaire (The Hardcore Novels: Special Editions #3)

"You say the sweetest things, Sugar Bare.

" I shake my head, letting his love flow over me, then my thoughts turn to the Goddess gown and the implications of it.

His actions this weekend have all been designed to make sure everyone, family, friends, the media, the community, everyone know that we are a solid couple.

He's sure of us, and he wants everyone to be sure of it too. My heart warms with the thought.

Only Mia right now seems to be the obstacle I have to overcome.

I wonder how I should go about winning her over.

Some women who overstep their authority have a hard time backing back into place afterwards, and she may be one of those.

She is certainly aggressive. Yelling at him, her boss, that way on the phone and coming boldly into his house too to confront him about me.

Bee said she's never liked her. She and Ann have been together a long time too.

But she's his VP, and I need to deal with her.

I have to deal with her. I let our fingers go and grab his wrist. He looks at me.

I motion for him to remove his helmet, so he does. "Aurei, tell me more about Mia."

"No." He says simply.

"Yes." I stop Rosso for emphasis, but Aurei continues walking, so I kick Rosso and trot past.

Aurei is frowning when he looks at my determined face, but he doesn't stop, so we continue walking side by side.

As he hooks the helmet onto the saddle, he says.

"There is nothing more to tell. She's a selfish bitch that stirs shit up.

I've tolerated her because she's good at her job, and I needed her to hold down the fort when I was deployed. That's it."

I watch the helmet as it moves up and down with Caesar's gait. "Aren't you forgetting the part about 'she was my first fuck?'"

"And she was my first fuck." He states but doesn't take the bait to tell me more on that.

I look up at him, and our eyes meet. I see thunder in his.

I know he doesn't want to talk about Mia, but I feel compelled to.

My eyes narrow, and I ask, "Is there more to that?

Because she seemed awfully possessive of you entering your house to confront you, knowing you had your whore in your bedroom and were fucking her brains out. "

He stops now and says to me. "Listen to me, Siri.

Mia is a nonissue. She isn't important. She used me, and I let her, but I used her too.

Then and now. That's the extent of our relationship.

" We stare at each other. Neither backing down.

"I see you giving me your Wild Thang look. " He finally smirks.

"Aurei, best I can tell. She is Enemy #1 to us, and if she is as manipulative as you say, she will make our lives hell, but if I can understand her better, then maybe I can bring her around.

Tonight will be my first opportunity to win her over.

I want to be prepared to battle her, but I want to win!

There is strength in knowledge, so tell me everything about her. "

"You don't have to battle her."

"There you go again with your naive assumptions.

Yes, the fuck I do. She is playing a game of Chess within your organization.

She thinks she is the Queen to your King.

" He frowns. "And she probably has been, but she sees me as the Enemy Queen trying to dethrone her rather than both of us being on the same team.

Your team!" His eyes narrow, but he doesn't say anything.

"Listen to me, Aurelius Moore. I was right about Ruthless, and I'm right about Mia.

If I'm going to become a part of all this .

.. Oh!" Aurei's hand grabs my arm and snatches just as Rosso bolts.

As I slide out of the saddle, reaching for him, he pulls me easily into his lap.

I sit cuddled in his arms as he steadies Caesar. "What the hell?"

He chuckles. "Rosso always bolts right around here. Ann and I usually race back to the barn."

"Remind me to spank Ann! Shit! That scared the hell out of me."

He laughs. "I'd like to see that!"

Now I laugh, "Fuck. I forgot what I was saying."

"Good."

I pinch him, and he flinches. "Oh yeah, I was talking about Mia. I'd rather find a solution than constantly clash with her."

"Little Thang, you are worried too much about Mia. Trust me. She will be a nonissue if it comes to that, but I liked the last part."

"What was that?"

"About becoming a part of all this."

"Oh, yeah."

He talks to Caesar as he cradles me, controlling him. "Easy boy. Steady now. We aren't going to run this time.... Whoa there...."

While I listen to him calmly command his Warhorse, I see the Goddess gown and feel the choker against my throat. My fingers go to it, and I stroke the inscription becoming quiet and trying not to think about my slip of the tongue.

Becoming a part of all this. Oops. Don't let on you think you know now. He has to translate on his own time. Maybe by then, I will have an honest answer for him.

Back at the barn, Aurei helps me ease off Caesar onto the fence.

He unhooks the helmet and hands it to me.

I slide it on and sit there on the top rail, watching him through it as he dismounts and puts his horse in the paddock.

He unsaddles him, and as soon as he releases him from the bridle, Caesar jumps away, shakes his head, and runs to the other end, strutting his stuff again. I laugh, "He loves both worlds."

Aurei throws the saddle over his shoulder and walks over, grinning at me. "He's a lot like you. A Wild Thang, who only pretends to be tame because he loves to show off!"

"Ha!" I tell him as I jump off the fence and land lightly next to him. The helmet slips, falling down on my face, and I push it up as I cinch our fingers again. "The same could be said for you!"

He chuckles as we walk to the barn. "Did you like the Celebration?"

"I know you didn't just ask me that." I put his arm around my shoulders and wedge up against him, slipping my arm around his waist. "I spent five whole minutes of the ride back telling you how fucking awesome the whole thing was and how fucking amazing you are!"

He laughs as a ranch hand comes over to take the saddle and bridle from him. "I heard you."

"Ah! You rascal! You were playing me?" I swat his ass, and the leather straps slap his legs.

"Be careful there. I don't play fair." He teases as we walk off arm in arm.

"Mmhmm. I know how you play." I hook my thumb in the loop that holds his sword.

"How's that?" He sinks his hand in my back pocket.

"You play by your rules."

"Nothing wrong with that."

Our gaits sync.

"Not to you! They are your rules."

"Are you complaining?"

"Maybe."

He chuckles, then he turns the helmet on my head, and I can't see a thing.

I turn it back, then hold it in place and glare at him through it. "Hey!"

"I play by the Golden Rule."

"Ha! The Golden God Rule."

He laughs. "I like that! Clarify."

"The Golden God rule says 'don't do unto me, unless you expect to unleash the beast. You might get more than you bargain for, and you might not like it."

"Ha!" He squeezes my ass. "But then again, you might."

"Mmhmm. That's affirmative!" I cut my eyes up at him. "I might!"

We arrive at the BBQ right on time, but we cut it close.

We had to hurry because we ended up soaping each other up in the shower and getting completely carried away with the suds.

When we were finished, I sat at the dressing table combing my hair and putting it up in a simple ponytail when he came in with a white towel wrapped around his waist and hit the spinning rack.

"Let's see if the dress I ordered for you to wear tonight has arrived."

I almost panicked because I thought the Goddess Gown might come by. I jumped up and ran to the bedroom. He called after me. "Where the hell are you going?"

I laughed and told him I totally had to text Cat before we left. "I know she stalks my ass, and she can't discover that awesome shit on her own. She would never forgive me! I trust your taste, Sugar Bare." I took my phone, and there was an unread message from her. Fuck! She's already seen it!

I swear, Baby Girl. James is acting like he is on crack! He keeps giggling and saying. A Cirque du Soleil show! Wow! We are producing a Cirque du Soleil show! The whole place is rocking with the news! You are going to kill it! Can't wait to see you!

I stared at the message for what felt like an eternity.

When Aurei came back in, wearing a plaid shirt, tucked in tight blue jeans and cowboy boots, he was carrying a simple bright pink formfitting t-shirt mini dress, matching bra, panties, and high heel wedge angle boots.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw my face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

What Cirque du Soleil show are you talking about? Did Bart negotiate to bring one into the club? OMFG! He did, didn't he? That's awesome! Can't wait to hear all about it! We should be leaving Italy tomorrow!

I told him as I typed, "Cat said Bart is bringing a Cirque du Soleil show to the club, and James is on crack because of it!" I giggled. "I'm texting her about the Celebration event page and asking for a video of James!" My eyes were dancing when I looked at Aurei's frown. "Why are you frowning?"

"Is that all she said?"

"Yes." I danced over to him. "This is fantastic news! This means I will be able to perform in a Cirque du Soleil show too." I threw my arms around him and leaned my head back. "Karma, you bitch! I love you!"

He smiled at me and said very calmly. "Set your phone down. You're leaving it here."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Bossy Britches!" I danced over to the table and set it down, then spun around. "That's not very much dress to wear to a family function. I couldn't hide it in there if I wanted to."

He grinned. "It's perfect. It glows in the dark."

"I see what you are doing with that. All eyes on me, huh?"

"Affirmative."

"The boots too? Do they glow as well?"

"Affirmative."