Billionaires On Holiday: An Alpha Billionaire Christmas Romance Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Keep Up

  Billionaires On Holiday

  1: Monica

  2: Kathryn

  3: Jasmine

  4: Monica

  5: Kathryn

  6: Jasmine

  7: Monica

  8: Kathryn

  9: Jasmine

  10: Gwen

  Thanks and Connect

  Also Available

  Billionaires on Holiday

  Cynthia Dane

  BARACHOU PRESS

  Billionaires on Holiday

  Copyright: Cynthia Dane

  Published: December 3rd, 2015

  Publisher: Barachou Press

  This is a work of fiction. Any and all similarities to any characters, settings, or situations are purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  Keep up with Cynthia’s latest releases by joining her mailing list! Behind the scenes, first looks, and even some free snippets!

  Billionaires On Holiday

  Chapter 1

  Monica

  The car maneuvered along curvy, somewhat icy roads. Although the tinted windows were closed off to anything but the shadows of frost covered trees, Monica spent an inordinate amount of time gripping handles and making sure her seatbelt was securely fastened. Every time she looked over at her fiancé Henry, she saw him sans seatbelt and chastised him about car safety – especially in this early December weather.

  “I’d rather you not be dead for the holidays,” she grumbled, slapping the end of his seatbelt into his lap. “Let alone for our wedding. I don’t fancy marrying a corpse.”

  Sighing, Henry finally relented. “Just think, though. You get all my money.”

  “I’d rather have you than your money.”

  Henry snorted. “We cremate in my family. You could have my ashes…”

  “Can we not have this discussion?” The car, although expertly driven by Henry Warren’s long-time chauffeur, skidded a bit on a long stretch of road. “I’m anxious thinking about it.”

  “Sorry, Princess.” Henry put his hand on Monica’s, soothing her frayed nerves. “You know I jest.”

  They exchanged wry smiles. Monica took a deep breath and tried to ignore the large car’s near inability to navigate these mountainous roads.

  Across from her, another family member rolled her eyes. “Still pissed you’re dragging me along for this,” Eva, Henry’s younger sister, said. “I could be snug in bed right now. Me, some tea, a dirty book or movie…”

  “We get it,” Henry said, mouth straight. “You’d rather be home.” Before his sister could protest, he undid his seatbelt again and leaned forward, coming a nose length away from Eva. “But if I didn’t get you out of that house, you would have invited all your grad school group project people over and screamed at each other until the staff complained.”

  Eva sniffed. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” She threw a lot of smack into her big brother’s face, but at the end of the day Henry was the only person who could make her cross her arms with a huff. “Not my fault Cornelia doesn’t know her asshole from a thesis statement…”

  Monica tuned them out and instead paid attention to the messages popping up on her phone. They had apparently emerged from a dead zone. The only message of note came from Judith, the woman in charge of Monica’s business for the weekend, the busiest time of the week for work. Wish I didn’t have to be away right now. Yet when her busy fiancé said he scored them a private villa on one of the most beautiful mountains in the country for the whole weekend… well, a woman didn’t say no to that. She and Henry wouldn’t have time for romance on that scale until after the new year. The holidays would be nothing but entertaining his fussy parents and managing Christmas parties on behalf of the whole family. They planned on going to Hawaii in early January, but…

  Still, Monica didn’t like being away from work when it was the busiest. Judith was a capable hostess and manager in her boss’s absence, but it would be the last busy weekend of the year and Monica knew how to milk the most money from clients. Her business would need the extra funds to sustain the closure between Christmas and New Year’s so her employees and staff could go home for the holidays. Some would remain behind to tend the Château she owned and have their own Christmas festivities, but, well, Monica was a control freak at times.

  She may be in a submissive relationship with her Dom and fiancé Henry, but that didn’t stop her from being a control freak.

  “Relax,” Henry said, rubbing Monica’s arm. “This weekend is all about relaxing.” He leaned in and whispered into his fiancée’s ear. “In more ways than one.”

  Monica couldn’t suppress a grin. When she caught Eva’s eye from across the car, she politely sat up straight and pursed her lips.

  They reached the holiday villa in another twenty minutes. The driver produced the invitation from James Merange, the owner of the villa, to the security guard. Henry had sprung the invitation a week ago, stating that he was taking fiancée and sister on a getaway to ease the tension growing at Warren Manor. The weather was making everyone moody. The holidays stressed Monica out… not to mention the wedding plans. It also didn’t help that Eva was finishing up a semester at grad school and experienced such hormonal mood swings lately that one of her maids quit.

  “Madam,” a graying butler said as he opened Monica’s car door and helped her out. The driver opened the doors for Eva and Henry. “Welcome to Winter Villa.” The butler tipped his hat to the Warrens and invited them inside.

  It was a quaint villa. Well, quaint compared to the manor they came from. Quaint compared to Monica’s place of work and weekend home. The villa was only three stories tall, with the third story sectioned off and styled for the year-round help, who consisted of the butler, a chef, and a maid. James Merange and his girlfriend Gwen lived here half of the month, but they were away for the weekend.

  Three stories, a handful of bedrooms, and a spacious study that was cozy enough to keep out the winter chill. Monica was grateful to sit in front of the roaring fireplace and let the butler handle her luggage. I’m just glad to be out of that damned car. She accepted a small drink of brandy to bash away the last of her nerves.

  “You’ll be in the second room from the right,” the butler said, pointing to the staircase in the foyer. “Miss Warren will be across the hall.”

  “Great,” Eva mumbled as she poured herself a glass of brandy. “I can hear these two going at it all night.”

  Monica shrugged. “Probably.”

  Eva made an exasperated look. Although she was used to Monica making references to kinky sex with Henry, Eva still made faces. The grossest thing Monica could do was infer that Henry Warren had sex. Sometimes it became a fun game to play when she was bored and Eva was restless around her.

  This would be a fun weekend, indeed.

  “Talked to the chef in the kitchen,” Henry said, sitting in a chair across from Monica, although he also addressed his sister behind him. “Roast and all the trimmings for dinner.”

  Before Monica could express how salivating that sounded, the butler loudly walked by the study and threw open the front door. “Get the Fourth Room ready, Bernadette,” he told the maid. “We’ve got more guests.”

  The Warr
ens gave each other perturbed glances. Oh, brother.

  Chapter 2

  Kathryn

  “Whose car is that?’ Kathryn asked, pointing across the dashboard of boyfriend Ian’s Ferrari. “I thought James and Gwen weren’t going to be here this weekend.”

  Ian parked the car and brushed a new frost off the rearview mirror. He followed Kathryn’s pointer finger and shrugged. “Perhaps this is a car they keep here. No big deal. We’ve got the place all to ourselves this weekend.”

  He flashed Kathryn a wicked grin. The heat had yet to dissipate from the car, even though the engine was off. This gave him plenty of ample time to take his girlfriend’s hand and move it toward his thigh.

  “Yes, plenty of time,” Kathryn said, snatching her hand back. She checked her blond French twist in the mirror, pretending that Ian was the least interesting being in the world. His poor, fragile, manly ego. “So keep it in your pants for now. We can fuck all night.”

  She opened the door, stepping into the frosty air. Although it was three in the afternoon, it was already halfway to dark, with twilight looming on the horizon and the trees blotting on what light there was. Kathryn didn’t doubt that Winter Villa was even better in the summer, but James swore up and down that there was no place more romantic than his side villa up here in the mountains. Kathryn didn’t give a shit. She wanted a getaway with the boyfriend she hadn’t seen much of in the past few weeks due to international conferences keeping them apart.

  “My baby is going to get cold standing out here.” Ian curled his arm around her, sharing his thick jacket and scarf with her. Kathryn was dressed in a wool vest, jeans, and boots, but she had to admit that even without snow she was starting to freeze in her bones. Best to go inside.

  Ian pulled their bags out of the back of his car. Kathryn took hers, although Ian offered to carry it. “Do you want my hand turning blue and freezing off?” It was only a few yards to the front door. Somehow, Kathryn would live fine without Ian’s chivalry. I may be a billionaire heiress, but I know how to carry my own stupid bags. Even if hers were heavy. She had packed… a few things. Because the thought of borrowing James and Gwen’s was gross.

  The butler met them at the front door. “You must be Mr. Mathers and Ms. Alison.”

  Ian extended his free hand and shook the butler’s. “We heard you were expecting us.”

  Something quaked in the butler’s voice. “Indeed. Mr. Merange informed me that you and the others would be arriving.”

  Both Ian and Kathryn stopped cold in the heat of the foyer. “The… others?”

  “Kathryn!”

  She stood straight with a start, whipping her head around to find the source of her best friend Eva’s voice. What is she doing here? Last she saw Eva was three days ago, for lunch. She said nothing about being at the Winter Villa this weekend!

  And yet there she was, draping herself across the study room door with a dumb grin on his striking face. Cheekbones made of razor wire cut into the air as Eva opened her mouth once more. “Fancy seeing your fair ass here. Oh, and you brought Mathers with you.”

  Ian looked like he was about to throw up a landmine. The last person he probably wanted to see on his weekend getaway with Kathryn was her best friend, a woman constantly threatening to chop off his dick and feed it to designer dogs. Kathryn knew her friend was joking, but Ian…

  “That’s it. We must have skidded off the road somewhere and died. Because we have stepped into hell.”

  “What are you doing here?” Kathryn asked.

  “Should be asking you that. We were here first.”

  “We?”

  Sure enough, two more people appeared behind Eva. Her brother Henry, looking cross at the butler, and his fiancé and sub Monica, looking amused.

  “Seems there has been a double booking,” the butler apologized. “Mr. Merange told me there would be guests staying in the villa this weekend. I didn’t realize they were coming separately…”

  Nobody mentioned the elephant in the room… that James Merange had probably done this on purpose. For some fucked up reason.

  “Bernadette will take your bags up to your room,” the butler said. A stout woman in a uniform came forward to take Ian and Kathryn’s suitcases. “You’ll be on the other end of the hall. Hopefully that will be sufficient distance for all parties involved.”

  The man’s voice dripped in apologies. It would have to, working for a man like James. He was a trickster, an occasional cad, and loved playing every practical joke he could get away with. Arranging for multiple friends to stay at his villa on the same weekend was right up his alley.

  “Well…” Monica pushed past Eva and motioned to the study. “We’ve got a fire and some brandy in here. Won’t you join us? You two look dreadfully cold.”

  It was probably a good thing that someone like Monica was here first. She was a natural hostess, pleaser, and so good at diffusing situations that she could probably work for the police – when they weren’t hassling her place of business, anyway.

  Ian shrugged and went into the study. Kathryn remained in the chilly foyer, exchanging glances with Eva, who was smirking like it was Christmas and her best friend was delivered as entertainment. It’s not that I don’t want to see her… but this was supposed to be a romantic weekend for Ian and me.

  “Throwing some wrenches into your plans, eh?”

  Kathryn gave her friend a cold smile. “I had fully intended on having a Fuckathon this weekend.” She thought of Ian trying to guide her hand to his cock. The reason she didn’t go for it right there was because she thought she could go for it the moment they arrived at their guestroom.

  Now they would have to wait until later. And probably try to keep quiet. What was the fun in that?

  “Come on, Katie,” Eva said, giving her a hard time with Ian’s nickname for her. “Let’s have some drinks and make the most of this prison of ours for the weekend.”

  They went into the study, where Ian was already pouring drinks for himself and Kathryn. After she took a glass, Kathryn sat on the couch by the fireplace, warming her body… although she would have much rather warmed her body with Ian’s. In bed. Or in a closet. They were not above that.

  “If it makes any difference to anyone,” Henry began, standing in a corner where he perused the books on the shelves. “I hear we are having roast for dinner.”

  I can’t wait.

  “Indeed we are,” the butler said, appearing in the doorway. To Bernadette the maid he continued, “Be sure that all eight places are set.”

  “Eight places?” Ian looked around the room. “There are five of us.”

  “Uh oh.”

  As if clockwork, Bernadette announced another car pulling up into the driveway.

  Chapter 3

  Jasmine

  “Holy crap, this place is gorgeous!” Jasmine pressed her face against the glass, taking in the sights of the purple sunlight descending behind a grove of trees. A light snow was blanketing the tops of them. It didn’t stick to the ground, but the driver slowed down anyway. “Who did you say is letting us borrow this place?”

  Ethan, her boyfriend, put his cell phone away. He had been glued to that thing ever since they came out of the dead zone a mile back. “James. The man I’ve been doing some business with recently.”

  Jasmine nodded. She only recalled James because he and his girlfriend came by the Cole Estate one night for dinner, and Jasmine had to be on her best hostess behavior. While James and Gwen were an exceptionally laid back couple, Jasmine always fretted about her manners and not embarrassing her billionaire, CEO boyfriend. Lots of well-to-do people did business with Ethan Cole, the founder and leader of Cole Enterprises. Having a girlfriend who could be as uncouth as Jasmine was sometimes a liability.

  Thankfully, she was a patient woman. She had to be, because Ethan would drag his work with him wherever he went.

  “Put that away,” she chastised, smacking Ethan’s phone out of his hand
. “You said that it would be all about us this weekend.”

  Ethan cleared his throat and looked to the seat across from him.

  “Uh, don’t mind me,” Nadia, Ethan’s office receptionist turned temporary assistant, took her boss’s phone and finished his business texts for him. “You guys relax this weekend. I will… take in the sights, drink some booze, and get paid my overtime.”

  Jasmine sighed dramatically, flinging herself across the back of the seat and landing in Ethan’s lap. Freedom from seatbelts in cars like these! “I can’t believe you brought that much work with you…” She looked to Nadia. “No offense!”

  “None taken.”

  “I’ve told you, my flower,” Ethan said, stroking the top of his girlfriend’s head. “It’s the busiest time of the year. Not only do we have Christmas to contend with, but we need to get everything done before the holidays. Well, if yours truly can do that, then I’ll be able to take the whole week off between Christmas and New Year’s. Not a single conference call… assuming nothing goes to hell, of course.”

  Jasmine groaned. “Don’t jinx it. And you taking a whole week off is like a solar eclipse. Happens so rarely that I’m blinded.”

  Ethan flashed his perfect white teeth at her. “I thought those were my dazzling good looks blinding you.”

  ‘Ha, ha.”

  “There’s a call coming in from Hong Kong, Mr. Cole.” Nadia passed the phone back.

  Jasmine gave her a look that accused her friend of being a traitor.

  True, Jasmine and Nadia were friends, going back to when Jasmine started working for Ethan a year ago. Usually Nadia was the 9-5 receptionist in Ethan’s executive office, but he was currently between personal assistants and desperately needed someone to fill in this weekend so he could get everything taken care of by Christmas. I don’t want him working while we’re on vacation… but this is how he is. Ethan only stopped working when he was too tired to keep going… or when Jasmine convinced him with her feminine wiles. She was only human, though, and couldn’t be on call for sex 24/7. As much as I want to be…