Breaking The Playboy's Rules (Wanted: A Billionaire, Book 2) Read online

  Hunter walked back to the table and she glanced up from her phone. One of her neat eyebrows rose and her smile had a cynical tilt. ‘One of your many lovers checking if you’re free this evening?’

  Hunter rarely spoke to anyone about his sister’s circumstances and was certainly not going to do so now.

  ‘Not this time.’ Hunter sat opposite Millie and picked up his drink. That was all the explanation he was prepared to give. He didn’t need her sympathy. He didn’t need endless questions about Emma’s condition and treatment options. It was pointless talking about something that could never be fixed. Emma was a part of his life that was sectioned off, mostly out of the desire to protect her from intrusive attention, and not just from the press.

  Emma had a loving and trusting nature, and quickly formed attachments to people, but when they left she was completely and utterly devastated, just as she had been when their father had abandoned them. In his early twenties Hunter had made the mistake of introducing her to a girlfriend who had made a big fuss of her, but then, when she’d broken up with him, Emma had been dropped too. Since then, he had never introduced his sister to any other lover. They were too temporary, and he didn’t want them using Emma to ‘impress’ him.

  ‘Would you like another?’ He gestured to Millie’s now-empty glass.

  She shook her head, her lips twitching, as if she was trying not to smile. ‘No, thank you. I like to keep a clear head when I’m talking to a lawyer.’

  He laughed at her dry wit. ‘Good for you.’

  There was a strange little silence.

  Hunter couldn’t stop looking at the shape of her mouth—ripely curved, evenly full lips with tilted up corners, as if smiling was their preferred position. He wondered if her lips were as soft and pliable as they looked. Wondered why he was even tempted when she was exactly the sort of woman he usually avoided. She wasn’t the type for a quick hook-up or short-term fling, even if her gaze kept drifting to his mouth as if she couldn’t help it. She was still in love with her dead fiancé, for God’s sake. Her fiancé’s ring was still on her finger. But there was something about her that captivated him in a way he had never been captivated before.

  ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ Her voice jolted him out of his study of her face.

  He gave a slow blink and brought his gaze back to meet hers. ‘You know exactly why I’m looking at you like that. You’ve been looking at me exactly the same way.’

  Two small circles of colour bloomed in her cheeks. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

  Hunter gave another soft laugh and rose to his feet. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow in my office at eight a.m.’ He handed her a business card with his contact details on it. ‘This is just the initial consultation to get the ball rolling. I usually meet with my clients several times, depending on how things go, and how cooperative the other party.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Her index and middle fingers ever so lightly brushed against his palm as she took the business card from him, and lust slammed him in the groin. As first touches went, it was tiny, and yet it packed a knockout punch to his senses. His body tingled from head to foot and he could only imagine what would happen if he kissed her. That she had felt something too was obvious in the way she’d pulled her hand away, as if it had received an electric shock.

  She slipped the card into her bag and rose from her chair. Her teeth sank into her lower lip and she added, ‘Erm, would you mind if you didn’t mention anything about us having dinner tomorrow evening, when my mother comes to your office in the morning?’

  Hunter wondered why the need for secrecy. Most women he took out to dinner couldn’t wait to broadcast who they were seeing to all and sundry. It was a refreshing change, and an intriguing one that his ‘date’ with Millie be considered something to be kept private. ‘No problem. It can be our little secret.’

  * * *

  Millie stood with her mother outside Hunter’s office building the following morning with her heart doing funny little trots, hops and skips. ‘Right. Here we go.’

  ‘Are you sure he’s the right person to act for me?’ her mother asked, casting her a worried glance. ‘I’ve heard he’s terribly expensive.’

  Millie linked her arm through her mother’s. ‘Don’t worry about the expense. Think of the outcome. He’s the one to get the job done. “Get him and get justice” is his tagline.’

  Eleanora chewed her lip. ‘You haven’t told him about my...?’

  ‘No, Mum. I haven’t.’ Millie was well used to covering up her mother’s literacy issues. She had been reading and interpreting letters and documents for her mum since childhood. Her mother could sign her name and read basic sentences, but legal documents could be hard for anyone, let alone someone with severe dyslexia. Millie knew her mother felt great shame about her problem, but every time Eleanora had taken a remedial class she had given up after only one or two sessions. She relied on her current partners or Millie to do things for her. At times, she even relied on her household staff—some of whom had also taken advantage of her.

  They took the lift to the top floor of the building where Hunter’s suite of offices was housed. The shiny brass plaque read: Addison and Associates, Legal Services, and the swish reception looked like the foyer of a top-notch hotel. Plush ankle-deep carpet, a finely crafted timber credenza and priceless works of art on the walls spoke of a legal eagle who was at the top of his game. The beautifully dressed, coiffed and made-up young female receptionist behind the polished credenza gave a welcoming smile that was blindingly white. ‘Good morning.’

  ‘Good morning,’ Millie said, with an answering smile. ‘We’re here to see Hunter Addison. Millie and Eleanora Donnelly-Clarke.’

  ‘I’ll tell him you’re here.’ The receptionist leaned towards an intercom on her desk, which was connected to her headset and microphone, and informed Hunter of their arrival. Millie didn’t hear his reply, but the receptionist pressed the ‘off’ switch and pushed back her chair. ‘I’ll take you to his office right now. Come this way.’

  Millie and her mother followed the receptionist down a wide corridor with more beautiful works of art, a mixture of modern and classical, that somehow didn’t clash at all but worked in perfect harmony. The receptionist opened the corner-office door—of course he had the corner office—and indicated for Millie and her mother to go in.

  Millie stepped over the threshold and her eyes went straight to Hunter seated behind his polished mahogany and leather-topped desk. Behind him was the most spectacular view over London, and if he hadn’t been so heart-stoppingly handsome she would have been tempted to stare at the view rather than at him. But no view could ever rival his superb male form. He was wearing a crisp white business shirt with a blue tie with silver stripes, the charcoal-grey jacket of his suit hanging off the back of his chair. He rose from his chair with a welcoming smile and her breath caught somewhere between her lungs and her throat.

  ‘Good morning.’ He came from behind the desk and offered his hand to Eleanora first. ‘Eleanora, nice to meet you.’

  ‘And you too,’ Eleanora said, blinking rapidly and blushing as if she had just been introduced to a rock star.

  Hunter then offered Millie his hand. She disguised a quick swallow and slipped her hand into his. The gentle but firm pressure of his long, strong, tanned fingers closing around hers sent a shock wave throughout her entire body. Flickers, darts and tingles passed from his hand to hers in a current of electricity that made the fine hairs at the back of her neck stand up. His fingers were warm and dry, and she couldn’t stop thinking of how they would feel gliding over other parts of her body...her breasts, her thighs... His eyes meshed with hers and her heart did a somersault in her chest, the sensual heat of his palm and fingers travelling through her body to stir warm liquid longing in the secret heart of her female flesh.

  ‘I hope our eight a.m. meeting wasn’t too early for you to get out of bed?�
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  His deep voice and the smouldering glint in his whisky-brown eyes sent another wave of heat through her. She was aware of her body’s quiet but chaotic response to him. The fluttering of her pulse, the molten heat of arousal between her legs, the near-desperate urge of her body to get closer to him. It was like the powerful pull of a magnetic force drawing her to him, one she had to do something—anything—to counteract.

  Millie slipped her hand out of his, but it continued to tingle, as if his touch had permanently disrupted the network of her nerves, like a powerful lightning strike on a computer. ‘No, not at all. I’m an early riser.’

  The glint in his gaze brightened. ‘So am I.’

  Millie could only imagine what part of himself to which he was referring as an early riser. Her mind was suddenly filled with images of him in a tangle of sheets, his gloriously naked body in full arousal. She could feel her cheeks glowing and her mouth went completely dry. She took a step backward to put more distance between them, and somehow almost lost her footing, but his hand shot out just in time and steadied her.

  ‘Careful.’ His fingers were a steel bracelet on her wrist and a shiver travelled the length of her spine as she thought about where else those fingers could touch her. Where else she wanted them to touch her. She was shocked at her body’s betrayal. It had been years since she had even thought of her sexual needs and urges. Her sensuality had been put in a coma by her experience of taking care of Julian’s needs. But now, with just a touch of Hunter Addison’s hand, a wave of sexual awareness swept through her body, awakening her sleeping senses, stirring them into a feeding frenzy.

  The hunger in her body was out of control. Could he sense it? Could he see the impact his touch had on her? She prided herself on being good at hiding what she was really feeling but she wondered if Hunter would all too easily see through her mask of indifference to the burning, yearning hunger buried deep inside her.

  ‘Thank you.’ Millie gave him what she hoped was an impersonal smile and his hand fell away from her wrist.

  ‘Take a seat and let’s get started,’ Hunter said.

  ‘Here’s the paperwork you asked for,’ Eleanora said, pushing a folder of documents across his desk. Millie could see her mother’s nervousness but hoped Hunter would assume it was only because of the stress of going through yet another divorce. Millie had attended many meetings with her mother in the past—lawyers, accountants, doctors and even her own parent-teacher interviews as a child and teenager—all in an attempt to protect her mother from the shame of exposure of her severe learning disability.

  ‘Great, thanks,’ Hunter said. ‘The less research I have to do on your behalf, the less money you have to pay me. But I’ll try and keep expenses down as much as possible.’ He picked up a pair of rectangular horn-rimmed glasses from his desk and put them on, pushing them further up the bridge of his nose with his index finger. Millie couldn’t have taken her eyes off him even if she’d tried. The glasses only made him look more attractive. Dangerously attractive.

  After a couple of minutes, Hunter glanced up from the documents to address Eleanora. ‘The property in Surrey—that was in your name originally?’

  Millie jumped in to help her mother out. ‘It was left to Mum by her father-in-law, my paternal grandfather, but it was put in both Mum’s and Derek’s names soon after their marriage.’

  Hunter gave a slow nod, his expression mostly unreadable, but Millie could almost see the working of his clever brain behind the screen of his brown eyes. Processing, calculating, assessing, analysing. ‘And these shares that were sold in January...’ he again aimed his comment directly at Eleanora ‘...which account did the money go into after the sale? Or was it used to pay off debt?’

  Eleanora looked at him blankly for a moment but, when Millie opened her mouth to speak on her behalf, Hunter put his hand up in a silencing gesture and she clamped her lips together. ‘Eleanora?’ he prompted.

  Eleanora flicked a worried Help me glance at Millie before turning back to face him. ‘I—I don’t really know. I always let my husband see to that side of things. He’s got more of a head for business than I do.’

  He quietly assessed Eleanora for a nanosecond before responding, ‘That’s okay. Lots of married couples manage things that way.’

  He leafed through a few more of the documents and Millie held her breath until she thought her lungs would explode. She hadn’t been happy about Riversdale being changed into Derek’s name, but it had happened before she could do anything to stop it. Riversdale was where her father had grown up and it pained her to think it might have to be sold to cover legal costs. It was her only link to the father she had lost before she’d been born.

  But it might not just be Riversdale on the line. She’d barely had time to cast her own eyes over the papers before the appointment with Hunter but she’d seen enough discrepancies to raise her alarm. Large sums of money had been taken out of her mother’s accounts. Why hadn’t she stepped in earlier to protect her mother? Why had she let it come to this? It was financial abuse and it had happened—again—on Millie’s watch.

  After another few minutes that felt like an era, Hunter took off his glasses and placed them on top of the sheaf of documents on his desk, a small frown pulling at his brow. ‘Okay, here’s what I think we need to do. I have a friend who is a forensic accountant—one of the best, if not the best. Matteo Vitale. He’s based in Italy, but he travels back and forth to London for work. If you’re agreeable, I’ll get him to run his eyes over your accounts and track all the activity during your marriage. Hopefully, it won’t take too long, then we’ll be in a better position to choose our approach going forward.’

  ‘Thank you so much,’ Eleanora said, looking vastly relieved.

  Millie echoed her mother’s thanks and added, ‘It’s very good of you to see us at such short notice.’

  Hunter’s gaze met hers and something warm and treacly slithered down her spine. ‘The pleasure has been all mine.’

  Millie rose from her chair with more breathless haste than grace and dragged her mother up with her. ‘We should let you get on with your busy day. Come on, Mum.’

  Hunter rose from behind his desk and came round to shake her mother’s hand. ‘Eleanora, would you be so kind as to give me a couple of minutes alone with Millie? We have some other business to discuss. My receptionist will get you a coffee or tea.’

  ‘Of course,’ Eleanora said, beaming and clasping his hand with both of hers, as if she was going to crush it with gratitude. ‘I don’t mind at all. Take all the time you need.’ She finally released his hand, turned and left his office before Millie could do or say anything to stop her.

  Hunter turned his gaze back to Millie. Dark, penetrating, intuitive. ‘How well do you know your mother’s husband?’

  ‘Well enough to know I don’t like him.’

  ‘Did you ever like him?’

  ‘Not really. He was charming at first, but I didn’t like the way he spoke to mum once he got a ring on her finger. Or how he convinced her to put his name on the Riversdale deed without telling me.’

  Hunter let out a short, harsh breath that sounded as if it might be code for What a lowlife bastard and I can’t wait to nail him for it. ‘I’ll try to sort this out for her as quickly and efficiently as possible.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Millie’s heart began to thump as if she’d run up the fifty floors instead of using the lift. How would she pay for a long-drawn-out battle in court for her mother? She couldn’t expect Hunter to reduce his fees. He hadn’t become one of the richest lawyers in London by doing pro bono work, especially for someone like her—a woman who had been insultingly rude the first time they’d met. ‘I really don’t want to take up any more of your time, so...’ She began to turn away but for the third time in the space of minutes one of his hands came down on her wrist.

  ‘Wait. Stop trying to run away.’

&n
bsp; She stared at his tanned fingers against the cream of her silk sleeve and something in her stomach swooped. She couldn’t stop thinking of those long, tanned fingers on other parts of her body. Parts of her body that were already tingling as the warmth from his touch seeped into her skin irrespective of the silk barrier of her top. She slowly brought her gaze back up to his. ‘Please, let me go.’ Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper, but she was worried her eyes were saying the opposite. Please, hold me.

  He drew in a breath and released her wrist, and then expelled his breath on a heavy sigh. ‘I probably don’t need to tell you I’m worried about your mother’s situation. It looks to me like her current partner is siphoning off funds into hidden accounts but that’s only a hunch at this stage. But, let me assure you, I will get to the bottom of it.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  He gave a brief smile that melted her resolve to keep her distance like a blowtorch on butter. She could actually feel her stiff and guarded posture relaxing and wondered how on earth she was going to resist him if he didn’t stop being so much of a helpful hero to the rescue.

  ‘Try not to worry too much.’ His tone was gently reassuring and melted another layer of her emotional armour.

  ‘Lately, all I seem to do is worry about my mother. For years, actually,’ Millie found herself confessing. ‘She has appalling taste in men. She falls for good looks instead of good character. And they fall for her because she’s beautiful and compliant, like most men seem to want their women to be.’

  ‘Not all men,’ Hunter said, holding her gaze with gleaming intensity. ‘Personally, I like a bit of spirit and push-back.’

  Millie swallowed and glanced at his mouth, her stomach bottoming out. She moistened her lips and hitched in a ragged breath. Was he flirting with her? Yes, he was, and, even more worrying, she was enjoying it. Way too much. ‘Erm, what other business did you want to discuss with me?’