The Billionaire Playboy's Contract Wife

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||"Who do you work for, Henry?" I punched at the headrest of the driver's seat."Your grandfather, Mr. King." Henry replied, making my eye twitch. It was something I had subconsciously picked up from my PA, and it refused to go away."All of you, every single one of you, are plotting against me!" I growled as I pushed the door open, stepping out into the afternoon sun."Plotting your downfall?" Sterling asked as she looked over from the other side of the car. "Not really. But plotting your murder? Maybe."I sighed and gave her a sarcastic smile. "I will be sure to leave a note on who to doubt in the case of my untimely demise."Sterling returned the smile with equal sass and turned to the stairs leading to the mansion.My eyes lingered on those scandalizing ass as she climbed up the stairs, swinging her hips with not a care in the world.Sterling was different. She didn't dress up or tried to kiss up to me.I remembered a time when she was terri

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||I stood at the reception, just staring at nothing for a good two minutes, thinking about what my stupid grandfather had come up with to make sure that I settled down.He went too low, even for him, with this."Do you have a reservation?" A pear-faced woman with eyes so wide apart that she looked like a fish, asked me as she approached me.I raised a brow at her. "Do I?" I asked her instead.Her fish eyes blinked rapidly. "Under what name, sir?""Maybe you should find out." I smirked, watching the confusion in her face.If Sterling was here, she would have given me a disapproving look and made some smartass comment about how not everyone knew who I was.I shook my head to clear my thoughts.Well, Sterling was NOT here. And she should not be here because I was here to have lunch with my girlfriend.Girlfriend.Why the hell was I thinking about my average-looking... okay, maybe above average-looking PA when I was here to wine and dine my supermod

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||I wanted to take my car and Xander made no objections so we filed into my black SUV and head out to pick the lawyer, Mr. Carlson from his home. It was almost ten-thirty when a very annoyed and exhausted Mr. Carlson filed in. "Well, why didn't you guys wait till one in the morning to call?" He asked drily as he got into the backseat of my car. "It was not like we had a choice, Carlson." Xander's tone was so cold that the lawyer instantly shut up and tried to look busy on his phone. I felt horrible for doing that to him on a Friday night but I had to. My baby was scared out of his wits and in a police station. I needed him out. We had three hours of ride to go."Do you want me to drive?" Xander asked out of nowhere fifteen minutes into the drive. We were just getting out of the traffic and into the highway."What?" I turned to look at him, my eyes feeling like even moving them to the side was the most difficult feat on the planet."You've

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||Never. Not even for a moment, think that your life is getting better because that is exactly when it decides to play the cruelest joke on you.As we pulled into the station parking lot, Xander turned to me. "You don't have to say yes if you don't want to."I wanted to laugh in his face. He was giving me the illusion of a choice - one of his favorite business tactic - when we both knew that there was no way I could back out of this, not with my brother's future on the line."What are the terms of this... contract?" I asked, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice.Xander's expression was unreadable, but his eyes held a hint of something unpleasant. "Simple. We marry before my thirtieth birthday. You move into my penthouse. We maintain the appearance of a happy couple for two years. After that, we get a divorce, we part ways."Why did it feel like he was hiding something from me?But what other choice did I have?"If you agree to this, Sterli

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||Sterling... I mean, River collapsed so suddenly that I almost missed, but I still managed to steady her before she hit the ground.Her body was trembling and her eyes were glossy with unshed tears as she stared at Skylar.The young boy lunged forward at the sight of his sister collapsing, "Riv!" He yelled from the other side of the glass, loud enough for it to transmit across the glass.Riv?She had such a beautiful name - River. And he was going around calling her something as stupid as Riv.I will never understand siblings.They looked so much alike, yet worlds apart. She was a shipwreck right now but River was usually so sophisticated and put-together that it felt like a challenge to make that mask of composure of hers crack. Skylar, on the other hand, looked like a shabby teenager, a total nerd, with milk stains still on his cheeks. I knew they were orphans, but it was certain that River had coddled him all his life. It showed.Letting