The Billionaire Wins the Game (5 page)

There was a short pause on the end of
the line and then a more pleasant sounding Lucas spoke again.
“Well, that’s good. I don’t like dating between my employees, but I
still need that address.” He still spoke with authority, although
not quite as cold.

Lucas wasn’t happy having to repeat
himself. He was still miffed she’d run from his vehicle the night
before. He didn’t like to be ignored and no one had ever been so
repulsed by his presence they’d felt the need to run away from him,
and now he had two employee’s who didn’t seem to want to give him
what he needed. He was trying not throttle them both.

“The thing is, I don’t have the
address. I pick her up and drop her off at the bus stop nearest her
place. She refuses to let me take her to the actual house. I don’t
like doing it that way but she always calls me when she’s inside
and at least I get her as close as possible.” Tom wasn’t happy
about the arrangement, but Amy was strong willed and he took what
little bit she was willing to give him.

On the other end of the line Lucas was
barely keeping his temper in check. He’d figured out she’d lied to
him about where she was living. That had been easy enough. He’d
simply called the management company of the apartments and asked
them if she lived there.

They told him she wasn’t currently a
resident but at the beginning of the week she’d put in an
application for one of their apartments. They had a unit coming
available in three weeks and she’d reserved it. Her being new to
the workforce had been a negative but they’d spoken to his father
earlier in the week and since Joseph backed her up, they were
thrilled to have her for a tenant.

“Look, Mr. Anderson, I really have to
get going. I know she’s in a really crappy place right now but I’m
going to offer her a place to stay for a few weeks until she gets
her new apartment. She told me she just finished up with college
and got hired to your company and was excited to have her first
nice place,” Tom spoke quickly before Lucas was able to cut him
off.

“Thank you, Tom. I appreciate the
information. I’ll speak with Ms. Harper personally.” He hung up the
phone without bothering to say goodbye.

Tom was forgotten about the second the
phone touched its receiver. All he was thinking was he’d be finding
her that day. After about an hour of speaking to various people,
Lucas had the information he wanted. He’d grown up with money, but
had been taught from a young age not to use it against people. But
there were times when having money made life simpler and being able
to gain information that was needed was one of those
times.

He was uneasy as he neared her house.
The neighborhood wasn’t somewhere he’d hang out in comfortably in
the daytime and never at night. By the time he saw the actual place
she was living in, he was appalled and beyond angry. What was she
doing there? How could she so casually risk her own safety? He
wouldn’t wish his worst enemy in the house, or the neighborhood,
she was residing in. When he saw places like the home she was
staying at, it was a humbling experience for him and he knew he
needed to make more time for his volunteer work, because there were
so many people who needed help. It was easy to forget about those
things when they were out of sight, but not when it was right in
front of his face.

He’d been doing volunteer work since he
was a young boy, as had his brothers. The busier he got in his day
to day life, the easier it was for him to forget about people in
need, but as he looked upon the sad excuse for a house, he made a
vow he’d make the time no matter what else was going on in his
life.

Lucas carefully walked up the steps,
afraid he was going to fall through the rotten porch at any moment.
The door looked no better and he would’ve been grateful to have
some Lysol on him after placing his hands anywhere near it. He
reluctantly raised his fist and knocked loudly so he could be heard
above the screeching of animals, which seemed to be coming from
every direction.

Chapter Three

After about five minutes the door was
answered by a man reeking of alcohol and wearing nothing but a pair
of dirty boxer shorts. “Hey dude, you sure don’t look like the
pizza boy. Did I win something?” the man blubbered.

“I’m looking for Amy Harper please,”
Lucas said with disgust.

“It figures that the first person to
visit that snob is a suit,” the intoxicated man mumbled. He looked
Lucas up and down and then muttered, “I should’ve been charging her
more rent. She’s obviously doing well.” He then turned around and
shouted for Amy.

“Amy, you have some high and mighty guy
here to see you,” he said before walking away from the door. Lucas
hoped that was the last he would see of the man. He couldn’t
understand how she could feel safe with him nearby.

Lucas heard a door creaking open
somewhere in the house and then Amy was standing before him. There
were no other words to describe the look she gave him other than
horrified. She looked like a deer caught in the hairs of a crossbow
and he knew that she would rather sink through the floor than stand
there in the filthy house and speak to him.

Amy felt her heart pounding. She was
sure that he could see it through the thin shirt she was wearing.
How had he found the place? She was sure that he was horrified that
she could live in such horrible conditions but she’d been willing
to do anything and everything to get through school, even if that
meant sleeping in a place she wouldn’t want to even give to an
animal for shelter.

Lucas would’ve found humor at Amy’s
look any other time but with her standing in the filthy house with
that disgusting man nearby made all traces of humor wash away. He
wanted nothing more than to throw her over his shoulder and remove
her from the house. She was far too vulnerable and naïve to survive
in such an environment.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
Lucas asked between clenched teeth.

“
Mr. Anderson, how did you
find this place? I’m only here temporarily, I swear. I’ll be moving
into those apartments in just a couple of weeks,” she sounded
anxious.

“I made a few phone calls. You were in
such a hurry to get away from me last night you left your purse in
my car,” he replied. She looked down and noticed him holding her
purse.

Amy reached out to take the purse from
him but he held it back and then he finally stepped inside the
doorway. She backed away from him, avoiding physical contact. “Mr.
Anderson, there’s really no need for you to come inside. I
appreciate you bringing me my purse but I was just getting ready to
step out.” She wouldn’t make eye contact with him and he could
barely stop himself from grabbing hold of her chin and forcing her
head up to meet his gaze.

“Let’s get your coat. We need to have a
talk,” was all he said in response to her. Those words finally made
her look up and some color came back into her washed out face.
Good, he thought, he would much rather see her angry than
embarrassed or defeated.

“You may be my boss Monday through
Friday, Mr. Anderson, but the weekends are mine to do as I please,”
she heatedly stated. “You can see yourself out.” She turned towards
her room expecting him to leave.

She didn’t know him well if she thought
he could be dismissed so easily. He quietly followed her into her
room and shut the door behind them both. She turned around at the
sound of the door shutting and glared furiously at him.

“You just don’t listen, do you?” she
shouted. “I told you I have things to get done today. I’m more than
willing to let you be the boss during the week but my personal
time’s my own and I don’t owe you any explanations,” she finished,
losing some steam.

Lucas barely even heard her words. Her
room was almost homey. He didn’t think there was one speck of dust
anywhere in there. It was small, very small. His walk in closet was
bigger than her room but he was impressed with how neat and tidy
everything was.

She had a wire hanging up against the
far wall with clothing hanging on it, some of which was going to
give him more sleepless nights. She also had some sort of bucket in
the corner with laundry soap next to it. On the other wall was a
small dresser with a little fridge and burner on top of it. The
walls were painted a nice shade of lavender.

In the middle of the room, just a
couple feet in front of him, stood her twin sized bed. It was made
up with a very appealing quilt on top. The bed seemed to be sitting
on some sort of blocks.

He could see that she’d put
some real effort and time into her little area but unfortunately
placing a china bowl into a sewer didn’t make the sewer any better
to be around. You didn’t see the beautiful bowl; all you saw was
the muck around and on it. His only thought was
how could anyone live in a place like this?

Well, that was his only thought until
he looked at her bed again. Her bed, which she'd just gotten out of
a few hours ago; the bed he wanted to throw her on right then. His
pants were far too tight and there was a bead of sweat breaking out
on his forehead the longer he stood there.

Lucas took a step towards Amy. He was
losing his internal battle and was about to take her right then and
there. He’d sworn he wasn’t going to start anything until he could
finish it and as disgusting as the house was, there was a clean bed
in front of him, which would work just fine. Suddenly the door was
thrust open and in walked her drunken, mostly naked roommate. Lucas
was close to punching the guy, which was something he hadn’t done
since his college days.

Lucas was getting ready to push him
back out the door he’d come in through, when he spoke. “Well Amy,
since it looks like you’ve been lying to me,” he slurred. “Your
rent just tripled and I want it all right now or you can get your
rich ass out of my house.”

“I don’t have that kind of money…” she
began.

He quickly interrupted her “you’re
always walking around here like you’re so much better than the rest
of us. You’re picking things up and have that look of contempt on
your face. Seeing your boyfriend here I know you have plenty of
dough. That car he’s driving is worth more than three of these
houses. Now I want my money!” He shouted and took a menacing step
in her direction.

Lucas quickly stepped in his path and
the look in his eyes stopped the man from coming any closer.
Normally Lucas would’ve stopped the guy from speaking to her that
way but things were working out better than he could’ve hoped for.
He’d been planning on demanding she leave the place but now he
wasn’t the one who had to look like the bad guy.

The worthless piece of trash was making
Lucas into the hero. He would be getting her out of the house right
then and the drunken slob was the responsible one.

“You drunken bastard, I’ve never once
put you or this piece of crap place down. I’ve always paid you
on-time each month just so you could take my money and get high.
I’ve stayed here only because I’ve had no other choice and for your
information I was leaving here in a couple of weeks anyway. I’m
sick of your stench!” She finished with tears in her
eyes.

“Get out now you snobby whore…” he
shouted before he was interrupted by Lucas.

“That’s enough. You’ll leave this room
now. I’ll help Amy get whatever she wants but you won’t speak to
her that way again or you’ll deal with me,” Lucas said. The man
stepped back and made a quick retreat. Even he knew better than to
disobey Lucas at that moment.

“Amy, you don’t need to take anything
from here. I’ll replace everything. Let’s just get out.” Lucas was
trying to be kind but it came out sounding like her stuff was worth
nothing, which embarrassed her.

“You may make more money in one day
than I’ve made in my entire life but I still take pride in my
belongings,” she snapped at him.

“Amy, I wasn’t trying to put you or
your things down. I just don’t feel this guy is stable and I want
to get you out of here as quickly as possible.”

She finally broke down into tears. “I
don’t take handouts!” Amy spat through her tears.

Lucas moved towards her and pulled her
into his arms. She tried to push him off but it was like moving a
two ton boulder. She stopped fighting him and then sobbed on his
shoulder for a few minutes.

Finally, when he could tell she’d
calmed down enough, he helped her gather her belongings together.
He made a phone call and by the time they finished packing his
brother was there with his truck.

“Hey bro, am I interrupting something?”
Amy looked up to find another Adonis in her room.

“Is it a rule in your family that all
children are born better looking than the Greek Gods?” Amy spoke
before thinking. When she realized what she’d said her entire face
turned bright red.

Lucas looked at her with shock. She
thought he was gorgeous? Well, well, he thought, his assistant was
keeping things from him. She wasn’t as immune to him as she was
trying to lead him to believe. He really liked that and was
definitely planning on exploring it further.

“You must be the famous Ms. Harper
who’s causing my brother many sleepless nights,” Alex spoke as he
walked right up to her and lifted her up in a huge bear hug. Amy
was too stunned to say anything.