Without Warning: A Billionaire Romance (Playboys of New York Book 5), JA Low [book suggestions .TXT] 📗

are the exact thoughts I have been having too. But nothing makes sense. Honestly, I can’t see Madison being that diabolical to plan this.

“Do you think it was Dominic?” he asks.

“Hell, no. That guy has enough money of his own. He’s allergic to work. He wouldn’t want it.”

“A competitor?” Stirling presses.

“I don’t think I have those kinds of enemies, do you?”

Stirling shakes his head. “Maybe it was just a massive fucking mistake.” Letting out a sigh—a mistake that’s going to cost me dearly.

“So why does Madison want the company then?”

“She thinks because we spoke about work in bed, that it makes her my business partner.” Stirling slowly blinks. He’s showing the exact same expression I did when my lawyer explained Madison’s demands.

“Is she not happy with spending all of Dominic’s money? She needs yours, too?” Stirling asks.

Turns out there are feelings between Madison and Dominic after all. All it took was me turfing her out of my apartment to make him realize that maybe Madison is the woman for him. Also helps that she lets him fuck other women as long as he gives her his credit card. You know, true love. Just thinking about the two of them makes me want to punch something. Hard.

“Tell me you’re going to fight this?” Stirling asks.

“Of course. I’ve worked too hard for Madison to come in here and take everything I’ve worked for just because she’s gotten used to living this kind of life.” Angrily making my way over to my minibar, I grab the bourbon bottle off the shelf and pour myself a glass. I throw back the brown liquid which burns down my throat, easing my pain. “My lawyers told me she’s going to fight me all the way.” I let out a heavy sigh.

“You need to get away from all this. Regroup,” Stirling tells me. “Go up to The Hamptons and chill. Clear your head for the weekend.”

“Not really in the mood to go back to the scene of the damn crime,” I reply while pouring myself another glass of bourbon.

“Please. It’s been totally redecorated. Nothing is left of Madison at that home. If you want, I can hire someone for you to erase those precious memories,” Stirling tells me.

“No.” Glaring at him, I continue, “I don’t need to pay a woman to have sex with me.”

“Think of it as stress relief. At least this way, you know she’s not going to be a gold digger compared to some random you meet at a bar.” Stirling stares at me.

Maybe he’s right.

“I’m not in the mood,” I reply, placing the crystal tumbler back down on the bar tray.

“Let me know if you change your mind.” He grins as he leaves me to get back to work. I shake my head and take a seat at my desk and stare at my computer.

Before long, I realize I’ve been looking at my computer screen for twenty minutes and haven’t done anything.

This isn’t working.

I need to get out of the office and clear my head.

Maybe The Hamptons is precisely what I need.

3

Rhys

I pull up out the front of my home. The home I haven’t been back to since that fateful night. My sister, Audrey, and Stirling took over the redecorating of my home. They turned it into something more in line with my classic taste than Madison’s ‘I’ll take the most expensive thing in the shop.’ I appreciate the muted neutral tones.

It’s almost sunset as the streaks of orange ribbons paint the blue sky. I’m dying to get some sand between my toes. It’s been too long. I need to think, and I do my best thinking walking along the beach.

It’s a chilly spring evening. The warmth of the day is quickly vanishing from the sand as I step onto it. Nothing but the sound of the crashing waves fills my ears. I can smell the salt and sea as I inhale the familiar scent for the first time in a long while. I suck in a deep breath hoping it will reset everything swirling around in my anxious mind.

I continue my walk along the beach as my mind tries to sort out the Madison situation. Every scenario that runs through my mind lets her win. She doesn’t deserve to have a single slice of all my hard work. Yes, she worked for me for a year before anything happened between us, but as soon as my ring was on her finger, she quit, and her new job was spending my money.

I’ve offered her enough money for her to start over again and never work another day in her life. I’ve offered homes all around the world where she can visit and live a quiet life, and still, it isn’t enough for her.

What game is she playing at?

I don’t understand.

I find myself further down the beach and come across the new hotel the Stone Group is working on. Lucky bastards, grabbing this old estate. I can’t wait to see what they have done with it.

The closer I get I start to notice a figure sitting in the sand. Her brunette hair whips around her face as the wind picks it up. The lights from the hotel illuminate her face. She’s beautiful, natural-looking, the complete opposite to Madison with her Barbie-like appearance. She looks like she’s been crying.

Is that a wine bottle she is holding in her hand?

Can this beauty be homeless?

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. Why?” She’s startled by my question, lost in her own thoughts, looking as if she has the weight of the world resting on her shoulders.

“A beautiful woman drinking from a wine bottle on the beach. Alone. Usually means something’s happened.” Giving her a small smile, I just need to know she’s okay and isn’t about to run into the ocean, never to be seen again.

“Do you have some kind of white knight complex?” Her chocolate eyes glare at me. “Do you think you have to save women who are drinking alone on the beach from a bottle of wine?”