The Billionaire's Craving

He wouldn’t take it kindly, she guessed. Sabela didn’t want to know what sort of a man lurked beneath his controlled exterior.

Besides, what would she say if someone heard her screams and came to her aid? Just because she was having second thoughts about letting a stranger whisk her away, didn’t mean she was being kidnapped or something. Did it?

City buildings whizzed by beyond her window as the car sped onward. When would she see them again?

Would she see them again?

They had to be headed to the airport. Sabela sat back in her seat and pressed her forehead against the tinted window. There were too many questions and not enough answers.

And there were even more questions a half hour later when the car took a turn away from the airport. What was happening? She’d presumed the airport was where they were headed. The man in the suit wasn’t going to drive her into another country, was he?

“Hey, what’s happening?” Sabela asked, noticing how panicky her voice sounded. “Where are we going? Tell me!”

Her only answer was the mechanical whirr of the partition between the front and back seats rising. The thick glass clicked into place to separate her from the man in the suit. He wasn’t interested in fielding any more of her questions.

She took several deep breaths, calming herself. Be strong. Don’t let him intimidate you. If he was going to be like that, she’d have to take matters into her own hands.

Glancing up to make sure the man’s gaze was on the road and not on the rear view mirror, Sabela dug into her purse and took out her phone.

Should she call the police? Tell them that she was being whisked away against her will?

It would have been a lie. Sabela traced her fingers around the edges of her phone, thinking it through. Even if she called the police, nothing would come of it.

She’d allowed herself to be led from her apartment and into the sedan of her own free will. The man in the suit hadn’t taken her phone, and he’d only asked her not to reach out to anybody, not enforced it. What were the police going to do?

The man hadn’t done anything wrong. And if she caused trouble for Mr. Morgan, what would the repercussions be? She owed him so much money.

Sabela was the one who’d made the mistake that had led to all of this, not the man in the front seat. For the last couple of months she had received money, and lots of it, from a mysterious benefactor. There was no denying that.

She recalled the day the first fat deposit arrived in her bank account. It was like a gift from a guardian angel. She remembered with perfect clarity how much weight had been lifted off her spirit when she saw her available balance. A moment of bliss, pure bliss.

And now this.

There had never been any indication that the money needed to be repaid. Except for in the contracts, of course … which she barely skimmed before she signed.

Now Mr. Morgan had come knocking, and he wanted his money back, her promised obligation, assuming both were one and the same.

Sabela’s few months of financial relief were over, obliterated. Sabela had nearly gotten used to not having men knocking down her door demanding money she didn’t have.

But now her biggest debt was due, whether she’d realized she had one or not.

There would be no more burying her head in the sand. Sabela was young, but she wasn’t naïve. Things weren’t ever given for free.

Even guardian angels had their price.

Chapter Five

THE TRIP TO SWITZERLAND WAS uneventful. Colin took conference calls and caught up on work so he could devote more time to personal matters. Currently, his schedule needed fluidity. The less work he had to do while at the chalet, the better.

Everything was under control, and that fact tempered the roiling burn of his usual state of mind.

It was a long drive from the airport, which Colin usually enjoyed. Switzerland was a beautiful country, from the charming houses to the cobblestone streets, but nothing could compare to the mountains.

The Swiss Alps were breathtaking.

Jagged peaks dipped in snow set against a blue sky. The mountain range decorated the horizon. Beauty like this was hard to come by, and the first time he’d seen it, Colin knew he had to make it his.

Tucked within the heart of the Alps was Colin’s chalet. Sleek wood design paired with old-world European beauty had attracted him from the first time he’d seen it, and he’d put in his bid to buy it the next day.

He’d closed on the property in record time.

Who would’ve thought that a kid from the wrong side of the tracks would end up with a multi-million dollar chalet in the Swiss Alps? Then again, who would have ever thought that a boy like Colin Morgan would have amounted to anything at all?

Practically no one. No one, other than his mother, had thought Colin would amount to more than a bum. Some might have placed wagers on him becoming a career felon, but they’d have lost their bets.

Colin Morgan had grown up to become a billionaire.

The impossibility of it still boggled his mind at times. Granted, Colin had always been a quick learner, and his mother had taught him the value of hard work. She herself had worked as a waitress at a rundown diner right up until the end.

His mother’s infectious, warm smile was still branded in his memory. She’d often tell him, “If you put your mind to it, there’s nothing you can’t do. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, my son.”

Her belief in him had meant everything, and did to this day.

If only she were alive to see him now. Billions of dollars of assets and liquid funds at his disposal, numerous properties around the world, and a successful business he’d taken from a small-town establishment and grown into an internationally acknowledged chain, Colin had made it.

Eight years of hard work was all it took to set him up for life.

His mother would be proud. And he believed his father, who passed away when Colin was young, would have been proud, too.

As successful as Colin was, he still felt the sting of what he couldn’t have. There was another life he’d once wanted, a life that was no longer an option. Four years ago. He’d lost everything that had really mattered.

Blanca.

Colin swallowed the knot forming in his throat and stared out the window instead. His driver, Bruno, wasn’t talkative today, and Colin was grateful for it. The trip to the chalet was spent in silence.

How had it been so long since the accident? It seemed like a lifetime and the blink of an eye at the same time.

The familiar pangs of grief hit, and he shifted in his seat as he processed the pain. Four years might as well have been four minutes, he still missed her so.

He took several deep breaths, and chided himself for giving in to the weakness of sentiment. He told himself to stay focused, that soon he’d get what he needed … and what Blanca deserved.

The car crawled through the switchbacks leading to the chalet. Located outside of Andermatt, the site was secluded. It was isolated, serene, and best of all, his and his a

lone.

It was the perfect place for his plot to unfold.

And that plan was well underway. Colin had been preparing months in advance.

Step one was easy. Sabela was en route. Ensnaring her had been well worth the minor financial investment. All he had to do was snap his fingers, and her old debt had disappeared like the flame of a match thrown into a bucket of water. Her new debt belonged to him.

Step two wouldn’t be as simple, but Colin was confident it would go as planned. He had it worked out.

Making Sabela fall in love wouldn’t be hard, not out here in the mountains, far away from everything she knew. Flaunting his wealth wouldn’t hurt, either. Women were all the same, and they all loved money. God knew he had that part covered.

Sabela Vaughn was only an average waitress from nowhere. In the grand scheme of things, she counted for little and was nothing but a pawn in his game. She’d do exactly what he expected her to do, to be shallow and gullible and easy to use.

A voice whispered in his mind … his mother’s voice. She reminded him that everyone counted, and that she thought she’d taught him better. For shame, son, she said.

A spike of guilt sent heat spiraling up his neck and onto his cheeks. It annoyed him that his conscience always spoke in his mother’s gentle tones. It annoyed him even more that he’d been chided a lot lately.

He wouldn’t listen, though. His conscience was confused. Colin’s plan was all about justice.

Revenge.

The single word floated in his head, not something he wanted to hear.

What you’re doing isn’t about justice, the tone of the voice implied. Revenge is actually what this is about, all these plans and schemes you’ve put into motion.

Colin watched his glorious chalet come into view and let the beauty salve his festering doubts. The brilliant sun backlit the spectacular structure, and sparkled on the pristine powder layered over the grounds.

Pristine. Untouched.

Colin rolled the words around in his mind. And again his thoughts returned to Blanca.