Billionaire's Temptation: Big Bad Billionaires
By L. Steele
4/5
()
About this ebook
Two best friends.
Seven years ago.
One secret...
She turns her face and I catch a glimpse of her profile.
The upturned nose, the curve of her lips, the creamy skin that glows in the late afternoon light. She throws her head back and laughs, and my heart begins to pound in my chest. Sweat beads my palms and I wipe them on my jeans.
What is this reaction to her? I have not even properly met her, yet something inside me insists that I know her.
She's the girl whom I have tried hard not to think about...
The girl I'd gotten a glimpse of so many years ago.
I have never forgotten her.
I nod, glance up toward the train compartment where she had disappeared into.
I jog toward it when, with a beeping sound, all of the doors of the train slide shut.
No, no, no... I race forward, but I am too late.
The train starts to move...
Note: This is the prequel to Edward, Baron, and Ava's story in the Big Bad Billionaire Series. You don't need to have read the previous books to pick up the story from here. However, for maximum enjoyment read the seris in the following order...
Vicious Billionaire (Free prequel to series)
The Billionaire's Fake Wife
The Billionaire's Secret
The Billionaire's Christmas Bride
Marrying the Billionaire Single Dad
The Billionaire's Baby
Billionaire's Temptation (Free prequel to next trilogy)
Billionaire's Sins
Billionaire's Promise
Billionaire's Bride
Read more from L. Steele
Mafia Heir: Arranged Marriage Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Holiday Hotness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Billionaire's Temptation
Titles in the series (2)
Vicious Billionaire: Big Bad Billionaires, #0 Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Billionaire's Temptation: Big Bad Billionaires Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related ebooks
Vicious Billionaire: Big Bad Billionaires, #0 Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Pleasure Payback: A Scorching Hot Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Angel: A Dark Mafia Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOut of Reach (Alpha Billionaire Romance): Alpha Bad Boy Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAccidental Savior: Accidental Hook-Up, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreaking Bennett: Rock Falls, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Irresistible Boss: Office Affairs, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Billionaire's Wife: This Billionaire, #23 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPretty Plaything Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Protector Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Boss With Benefits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdair (Book 1): Patrizzio Family Mafia, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Covet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Perfect Man: The Hardcore Series, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAidan: Dublin Kings, #3 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Sweeter Than Hate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ruthless Princess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirty Billionaire: A Billionaire Boss Steamy Romance Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Straight Up Irish Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gloves Off Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHis Obsession: A Bad Boy Romance Series: A Bad Boy Romance Series, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5King's Baby: A Dark Bad Boy Mafia Romance: Rossi Family Mafia, #1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dark Devotion: A Blackmore University Prequel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTrapped in Evil: Dark Mafia Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForbidden Lust: Kingpin, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The High Priestess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreak Point: A WINNING ACE NOVEL, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShattered Ink Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mr. Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Billionaires Romance For You
Not In A Billion Years: A hilarious, enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy from Camilla Isley Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alpha's Temptation: Bad Boy Alphas, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Merry Men of the Dark Web Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Oxford Year: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meet Me Under the Mistletoe Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wild Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Call Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love to Hate You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Christmas Surprise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Her Billionaire Best Friend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forbidden Stranger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Brothers of Sin: A Reverse Harem Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tied & Taken By Billionaires Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Their Secret: An MMF Bisexual Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Holiday Terminal: The Warren Family Holidays, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Double Dare: A MMF Bisexual Fake Fiancee Romance Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Double Down & Dirty: Doms of The Covenant, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll the Best Men: A MFMM Menage Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forbidden, Book 1: A Novel of Love & Betrayal Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Savannah's Secrets: A Sexy Workplace Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daddy's Pretty Baby: A Dirty Daddy / little girl Romance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Undaunted Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Arrangement: Unbreakable Love, #1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Twisted Lies: Dirty Secrets, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnexpected Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHoliday Fake Date: The Warren Family Holidays, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Defaced (A Dark Romance Novel): The Monster Trilogy, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daddy Esquire: Older Man Younger Woman Age Gap Billionaire Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Billionaire's Temptation
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Billionaire's Temptation - L. Steele
1
Claim your FREE contemporary romance
Claim your FREE paranormal romance
Follow me on TikTok
Join my secret Facebook Reader Group here
Edward
I stab the needle into my vein. Depress the plunger and the transparent substance sinks into my blood. Even before I’ve pulled out the syringe and sunk onto the dusty floor of the drug den, the numbness kicks in.
It always follows the same path. Up my toes, my feet, my calves, my knees, my thighs, my hips, my chest, shoulders and finally… Finally, the thoughts swirling around in my head quieten. Silence descends, a hazy, swirling fog that clears to reveal the most beautiful scene ever. I am on the beach, walking at the edge of the water. My feet sink into the powdery, soft sand which clings to my toes with every step I take. The waves swoop in, splash across my feet, pull away, leaving them clean.
If only I could wipe my past with such little effort. Erase everything that happened. Rub out… Remove, obliterate, eliminate, expunge the bloody incident from my life. How many synonyms are there for ‘delete’ in a thesaurus? Ask me. I know. I should know, for I have made a study of them in the seven years since the incident.
You’d think that as the days passed, things would get better... That it would get easier. That the horror of those hours when I had been forced to do things I’d never wish on another kid my age—or an adult, for that matter—would fade. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. It is the opposite, if that were possible. As if every minute that passes since the fateful day only cements the events that had taken place. That every hour that I’ve survived since, sharpens the focus on what happened. That every day I make it through, weighs me down, forces me to reconsider my options. That every month since, my resolve has only gotten stronger. I don’t deserve to live. Not after what I did. Not after what was done to me. Not after what I was forced to feel, to sense, to experience…for I had been blindfolded for days. Then the blindfold was removed only to sear the events that took place into my memory via sight, before being replaced.
Throughout the incident I’d only been aware of one other person in the room, my friend Baron, who had been hauled into that space with me. We’d been separated from the five other boys who’d been kidnapped with us. Boys, I’d figured out, that I’d been acquainted with.
The seven of us had been from the same school. St. Lucian’s. The school where the elite of the country send their spawn. Not ashamed to say, I was one of them. My parents had money. Lots of money. Money I hadn’t cared about… Not until it had dawned on me that it was the reason I had landed up in that bullshit situation.
Kidnapped and held for ransom.
Kidnapped and…made to undergo things that should never be spoken of, or revealed. Kidnapped and helpless, blindfolded and bound, and hidden away for nearly a month, until we had been rescued. But by then, the damage had been done.
I’d been broken. Made to feel helpless, forced to surrender myself in the worst way possible. I’d had my heart, and my soul, and my very sense of being, ripped apart. Degraded and made to hate myself for how I had responded in those circumstances. It’s why I hate myself. It’s why… I must destroy myself.
Obliterate, demolish, raze to the ground... This self that feels like it no longer belongs to me.
I am floating, flying, running up the beach, faster, faster. Legs pumping, heels digging into the sand, kicking up fine particles in my wake. My heart pounds in my chest; the blood pumps in my veins. My pulse rate ratchets up as a gust of wind buffets me. I lean into it, tear through the breeze, push myself to speed up. Sweat beads my brow, slides down my temples. My shirt sticks to my back as I propel forward. Faster. Quicker. Reach for that which is not there. The emptiness, the vacant beyond. The horizon where the stars shine and beckon. The vast skies where I can float, merge, become one with the breeze. Scattered to the four corners.
Where there won’t be any more use of this body. Where I won’t need to live with the grief, the constant recriminations, the guilt, the questions that I pose to myself every bloody day. Where I don’t need to face myself in the mirror. Where I won’t see the features of everything I hate staring back at me day after day. Where I won’t need… Anything. No more. Where I am no longer me.
No more Edward.
No more flinching away from the truth. No more trying to negate everything that has become of me. For there would only be a blank canvas… A life that has been reset. There would be no more need to carry the weight of this helplessness that clings to every pore of my body. This wondering if I could have done anything differently to prevent what had