The Billionaire and the Virgin (The Billionaires 1)

She nodded. “It’s mainly sunshine, Lia.” (She was the only person who ever called me that. I was her special Lia.)

I beamed at her words. “I thought so.”

We didn’t know that the lightning would strike her down and leave ongoing storm damage.

Death is strange when you’re young. You don’t fully understand what is happening. All I knew was my princess sister had died and her prince had left forever, brokenhearted.

For years I had kept all my family photos in my room. I pored over photographs of Vee and of Henry. Eventually, as my teens hit, I found myself looking more and more at the photos of Henry. The prince with the smiling face, and I wondered whether he’d found another princess, another wife. But I’d searched for him via the internet and realized pretty quickly that he’d never settled down again. He was broken, just like me. We were missing a piece. A piece called Vee. I needed to find him and talk to him.

When I’d walked into the room, those kid-like feelings of seeing Prince Henry had come to the fore. He was Mr. Sunshine and I’d flung my arms around him. Then he’d held me at arms-length and I’d seen in his eyes that there was no sun shining there anymore. His gaze was intense. His long, prince-like hair now short and stripped away like Delilah had done a Samson on him.

But he was beautiful. The man was a beautiful storm, and I’d realized the truth of why I was really there. I’d crushed on my prince for many long years while I had mourned my sister and now I’d found him. A broken prince I was determined to save.

To bring the sunshine back.

For a short while the next morning as the alarm on my cell phone slowly awakened me, I wondered where I was. The vast king-size bed dwarfed my thin frame and the thick comforter was wrapped around my legs. I kicked it off and stared at the ceiling. It was my first full day in Manhattan. As I didn’t know how I would be spending the day yet, I fixed my hair into a ponytail, placed a robe over the top of my pajamas, and made my way towards the kitchen. The aroma of fresh coffee coupled with bacon drifted down the landing and my stomach growled in anticipation.

“Good morning, Amelia. Did you sleep well?” Mary turned away from the stove. “Take a seat and I’ll bring you some breakfast. Coffee, and bacon and eggs, okay?”

“Oh my, that sounds like heaven, Mary. Thank you.” I said honestly, my stomach growled with the thought of a home-cooked breakfast.

“Toast is on the table.”

She brought my food over and I added some buttered toast and tucked in heartily. The food was delicious, and I told her so while still chewing.

“It’s nice to see someone enjoying my food.”

I turned to her and tilted my head. “Do you mean Henry doesn’t enjoy your food, or other, erm, people?”

“There are never other people.” She emphasized the word other as she spoke it. “Henry always says thank you, but I never see the look on his face I just saw on yours.”

“He’s a mess isn’t he?” I asked her, even though I already knew the answer.

“He’s a complex man. A hugely successful businessman. But he’s closed off. Emotional situations shut him down. He avoids them.”

I pick up my coffee, “How?”

Mary’s paused for a moment in thought. “Say an acquaintance of his is getting married. He’ll send them the most perfect present he can get them. It will be carefully considered, but he’ll always have a business trip that means he can’t attend the occasion.”

“Weddings are boring; sounds like a great excuse to get out of them.” I quipped.

A small smile appeared on Mary’s face. “Well, there is that. I’ve four daughters. I have to admit that by the fourth one’s wedding, I was praying none of them remarry! It’s more than that though. It’s like he can’t face anything like that. Still. After all this time.” Then Mary puts a hand to her chest. “I’m sorry, Amelia. I’m forgetting she was your sister.”

I waved her off, “It’s fine, Mary. I’m the opposite of Henry. I like to talk about my sister because I don’t remember her all that much. We, as you know, had different parents and Vee was fourteen years older than me. She stayed over sometimes though, once she’d left, just to see me.”

“It must have been very difficult for you.”

“It was strange because my mom changed. She became very overprotective, which now I’m older I understand, but at the time it was hard. She wouldn’t let me do the things other kids my age did. I couldn’t roller-blade or ride a horse. I felt like Rapunzel, you know, stuck in my ivory tower.”

“Morning.”

Mary and I turned our heads towards the doorway simultaneously and there he was, Henry. Already immaculately dressed in a sharp gray suit, with a pale gray shirt, and a black and navy striped tie. He sat down at the kitchen island and Mary passed him a coffee and a slice of toast.

“Are you not having the lovely breakfast Mary’s cooked for you?” I asked him.

He looked up at me, a frown on his face. “I only ever have coffee and toast. I need to rush to the office.”

“But she cooked, there’s bacon and-”