Outrageous - Sample Chapters
The Scandalous Billionaires Collection Volume Two
When is the attraction between two people just too outrageous to be acted upon?
Zach is the 28 year old, second in line of the three smoking hot, ridiculously wealthy Demovic brothers. He watched with disbelief as his older brother Jason found love and happiness with quietly hot psychotherapist Dr. Melissa Price.
Suzy Price is Melissa's 21 year old little sister and has just been given a new lease on life with her successful kidney transplant operation.
When Zach caves in to a request to do some 'baby-sitting' the last thing he expects is to be kicked head over heels in lust and in love by the goofy twenty-one year old kid sister of his big brother's love interest. He knows he's not allowed touch her and he knows more than anyone else the real reason why. So why can't he hold himself back? Crossing that line would be just outrageous, but then, outrageous has always been his style.
Will he get his woman this time? Or will the wave of outrage from family and friends be too much to handle when they find out who's next on his hit list? Will Suzy still even want him when she finds out what he's done to influence her life from afar?
Chapter One
The venue was nice, spectacular even, and renowned for its stunning views of New York City. The elegant young woman in the designer dress had chosen it and her date tonight--the fabulously eligible and incredibly hot Zachary Demovic--had felt a bit uneasy with her selection. Not that this was any great problem though, as he was used to ignoring unease. Rather than dwell on the sensation he preferred to look at the twinkling lights of mid-town Manhattan and wonder about how things were going with the massive construction site that was his pet project at the moment. To anyone else it would be the project of a lifetime, but to Zachary it was an amusing sideline. The darkly handsome young billionaire had made his fortune in social media software together with his two brothers and real estate development was really just his way of relaxing.
His date was undoubtedly beautiful and her eye-catching low cut, haute couture dress sparkled almost as brilliantly as the city lights below. Every head in the exclusive rooftop venue had turned to watch when she had arrived and those weren't just any heads--those were the cream of New York society.
She was in her element.
Zachary hardly noticed she was there. He continued looking out the window at the skyscrapers and down to the crawling traffic below in the troughs and canyons of the Big Apple.
The woman stared at him, willing him to pay attention to her, but he was lost.
She began to visibly tremble.
"Zachary." she said softly, trying to contain herself. She was not used to being ignored. He continued to stare distractedly.
"Zachary." She said a little louder. He turned his head to look at her but said nothing, still not acknowledging her presence. He had a slight frown. The truth was that things were held up on his pet project and he couldn't rest easy until the way had been cleared for construction to begin in earnest on the greenfield site he had purchased for his Demovic Technical Innovation University, or DTIU as he liked to call it. An environmentalist group was holding up the project and though he sympathized with their cause, he didn't agree. He was determined to find a way out that would be acceptable to everyone, including the press, the public and his investors.
The woman slowly realized that he was looking through and not at her.
She bristled with anger but managed to restrain herself again. She hadn't known Zachary that long but had revealed herself more to him than to nearly any other man in her life.
He was worth it.
With an estimated fortune of 26 billion dollars, aged only 28 years of age and with smoldering, Mediterranean good looks, he was the toast of New York City's socialites. The common folk could have their pop stars, movie stars and sporting heroes with their meager millions; she had her eye on the prize. Since Zachary's older brother Jason had been taken by some nobody psychotherapist, this automatically made the next brother in line the catch of the century and a fitting mate for her; the apex of glittering, rake thin, born-rich, East Coast high society.
She put her hand softly to his and he jumped.
"Son of a bitch!" He said.
She jumped as well. He glared at her as though she had just appeared in front of him out of thin air.
"You were a million miles away." she said softly.
"Huh?"
"In your thoughts."
"Sorry, uh Trudy, I've got a lot on my mind these days. Speaking of which I'm as hungry as a bear. Have you eaten yet?"
"My name isn't Trudy." She said with dignified restraint.
Zachary waited to hear what her name was. She crossed her arms and looked at him half playfully, half murderously.
He had been roped into dating this woman although 'dates' weren’t really his thing. Since Jason had officially taken a girlfriend his family and friends seemed to have gone crazy. Suddenly everyone was out to match him up with someone worthy of his status and this girl, whatever her name was, had somehow surfaced to the front of the queue.
He felt bad for her.
"Of course." He said. "How could I forget? I've just been a little distracted."
She folded her arms across her perfect breasts and waited.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"What is it?"
"What's what?"
"My name of course. Zachary, this isn't funny. Are you feeling okay?"
He looked at her with the same charming boyish grin that had seduced so many women before her.
Why did I ever agree to this? He thought. Searching his mind he came up blank.
"I'm truly sorry." Zachary said. What else could he say. "I can understand if you're feeling upset."
The woman stood up, dazzling the entire restaurant who had been riveted to the celebrity couple's conversation. She picked up the jug of water in the middle of the table and brandished it.
Zachary didn’t move. He knew what was to come next--it wasn't the first time. Luckily it was a nice restaurant and the staff could be trusted to deal with everything tastefully.
Still the fuming socialite hesitated. Even without the billions she knew he was impossibly sexy and might have considered dating him even if he hadn't been so rich. He would probably look even sexier with wet hair and Norwegian spring water dripping from his chiseled, masculine features.
It would be very satisfying to soak that arrogant face in public with a jug of water; but was it twenty six billion dollars worth of satisfaction?
"Go ahead." He said without a trace of emotion. "I deserve it."
She felt a tear come to her eye and choked it back. How could he possibly forget her name?
"You still don't remember it, do you?" She said.
Zachary closed his eyes in preparation but the Laurent the Maitre d' was too fast and the jug was expertly separated from the woman's hand before a single drop hit the motionless Demovic brother.
Most of it sloshed across his date's designer dress.
She let out a scream of rage like a dying animal.
"Do you know how much this dress cost?" She howled.
Zachary nodded to the Maitre d' whom he knew well, indicating that all costs would be taken care of.
"There are other billionaires in this town you self-absorbed overgrown…" she searched for an appropriate word.
"Turd?" Zachary suggested.
"Gaah!" She wrenched herself free from the Maitre D' and tottered, dripping towards the entrance, followed by two fawning, apologetic waiters.
"I'll have the steak, rare." Zachary said to the Maitre d'.
"Of course sir. Anything else?"
"That and the closest thing you have to a beer."
"That will be the house red Monsieur Demovic, from our vineyards in France."
"Whatever." Laurent nodded and turned to go but Zachary called him back. "Just one more thing Laurent."
"Oui monsieur Demovic?"
"Well done on the water jug. Excellent catch."
Laurent nodded his acknowledgement and disappeared.
Zachary sat back in his chair and allowed his thoughts to get return to where they belonged. Logging of all things. Clearing the land for his new project.
His phone rang with a call from his brother Jason. Ever since he had started dating his own shrink, Dr. Melissa Price, his older brother had been like a schoolboy in love. It was mildly sickening to watch, but at least he was back on track business wise and that was what counted.
"Jesus, maybe I need a good shrink as well." Zachary muttered as he picked up the phone.
"Tell Melissa I hope she's feeling better soon." He said by way of greeting.
"What the hell are you talking about?" His brother answered.
"You're not jumping her bones so that means she must be sick which is why you are finally calling me."
"Ha. Ha. You are hilarious. Lucky you know how to program computers because you suck as a comedian."
"Whatever. What do you need?"
"Just saying hello."
"And I repeat: what do you need?"
"Jesus Christ Zach."
"What is it?"
Jason sighed. It was true. He did need a favor and it was related to Melissa. They had been together nearly a year and the flush of early romance still hadn't worn off. He was exhausted and exhilarated all the time. He would never have believed it possible. The issues around his father's role in the family business that had been plaguing him seemed so irrelevant now, and all thanks to his beautiful new fiancée, even if he had never fully explained them to her.
"Can you baby sit Suzy for the night?" He said coming to the point. "Melissa and I have plans."
"Babysit? She's twenty-one years old, she can take care of herself and why on earth would you consider calling me for this?"
"Melissa worries about her and she's still not fully recovered from her surgery. God damn it Zach, if anyone should be able to sympathize with her it's you."
"This wasn't part of the deal Jason. Isn't there some old war horse of a nurse who takes care of her? I can't believe you're calling me about this."
"The war horse is young, attractive, a really excellent nurse and a really, really good person. You could learn a lot from her; manners mostly. However, she's also a human being and occasionally needs some time off too, just like the rest of us. Melissa would take care of it herself but she's…uh, kind of tied up at the moment."
"In your penthouse?"
"No. Nothing like that, we just got a little side-tracked."
"By sex."
"No. Not at all. Not completely anyway.
"Just mostly. I get it. When are you two every going to settle down and become a boring couple just like every other so that I don't have to be filling in for you all the time?"
"Look, I'm really sorry. I know it's last minute and it’s all my fault. Unless you can blame Melissa for being so damned hot all the time."
"Don’t want to know."
"Of course, I know how jealous you are of her."
"I'm not jealous. I pity you."
"Sure you do. Anyway, just so the record's straight, I booked a safari for the two of us and the truth is that I want Melissa to start taking a step back from her sister. She needs to give her more space and this is the perfect opportunity, but I had to compromise. She insists that someone be in the house to keep an eye on her and it should be someone that she knows and trusts, not just a Demovic corporation employee or a security detail."
Zachary drummed his fingers nervously on the white linen table cloth.
"Once again: why exactly are you calling me? I hardly know kidney girl. What makes you think she wants to have me lounging around in her living room?"
"Melissa insists. God knows I wouldn’t waste my time calling you but there's no-one else she trusts with her sister more than you. How Suzy is going to get through an evening with you is another story."
"There's got to be someone else."
"Suzy's best friend Bella would do it but she has to work and can’t get out of it Melissa says it has to be you or we cancel the trip."
"Melissa is your boss Jay, not mine. Call someone else."
A tense telephone standoff ensued. Battles of wills between Demovic brothers had been known to go on for years.
But Zach wasn't putting the phone down. It was true he found it especially hard to say no to Melissa although he could hardly put his finger on why.
"Suzy already knows you're coming." Jason said.
"No way. Tell her I got side-tracked. I'm a busy man."
"Please Zachary. Do it for me." Melissa's voice came to the phone. Zachary hissed his frustration. He knew he was beaten.
"Melissa…"
"Yes Zachary?"
"Isn't there anyone else?"
"I can't think of anyone better and I know Suzy is important to you even if you don’t; spend a lot of time with her." He hadn’t seen her since before the kidney transplant procedure had been carried. out.
"Won't you please, please do this for me Zach? Just this once? Please? For me?"
There was another standoff but the outcome was clear this time.
"God damn it Melissa, you owe me one for this. Making me babysit for the kidney kid is a big ask."
"But not the biggest you've ever said yes to." Melissa's voice was soft, but thick with emotion. In the year that had passed by she had gotten to understand the three gorgeous Demovic brothers and their troubled relationship to their father ever more profoundly. She knew he would do this and she knew it would be good for him too. All three lived in the shadow of the late Jason Demovic Snr.
"Screw you. Melissa, I'll do it this time, this one time only but after that you get another babysitter for the kidney kid. Do you understand?"
"Thank you so much Zachary, I knew you'd say yes."
He hung up the phone and then looked down at the perfectly cooked, juicy rare steak and fine house red that had arrived in front of him.
"Check please." He said wearily to the Maitre d' and then waved the dish away.