A Bossy Proposal (Bossy Billionaires #1)

1. West

Chapter 1

West

M oney can buy almost anything, but it cannot buy what I want most. Not when Felix Featherstone has been hinting at putting a ring on her finger.

By her, I mean my executive assistant, Amelia Ross.

I take another sip of eighteen-year-old Scotch. The burn distracts me from Amelia’s laugh at something a passer-by said.

We’re in the Grand Ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton. It’s full of Silicon Valley’s elite, eager for a piece of NeuroPort’s new neural interface tech.

I should be the one talking to them. I am the COO. But I can’t keep my eyes off her. The way she moves through the crowd is effortless, like she was born for this world of wealth and power. But she’s different. She doesn’t chase status like others when they learn who I am. In fact, I'm sure she’d prefer not to be here at all.

She travels between clusters of investors and tech journalists when my phone vibrates.

I pull it from my jacket pocket and groan when my father's face fills the screen.

I silence it and drain my glass.

Eleven years tomorrow. The memory hits like a fresh wound - standing in Dad’s office, hearing him lay out the succession plan.

“Five years, West. Show me you can handle the responsibility, and the CEO’s position is yours. Another five years, and NeuroPort is yours.”

Those five years turned to seven, then nine, and now eleven. There’s always another milestone to reach, another test to pass.

Amelia catches my eye from across the room. She lifts an eyebrow. She can read my moods better than anyone else. Only she knows when I’m spiraling into dark thoughts. That’s what makes her invaluable as my EA - she anticipates my moves. She understands me.

She’s also the reason I haven’t told the board to go to hell.

My phone buzzes again. This time it’s a text from my father.

Need to discuss Q4 projections. Call me.

I shove the phone in my pocket. The scotch isn’t doing its job anymore. It’s just leaving a bitter taste. Yet I gesture to a server for another drink.

“Sir?” The server appears with a fresh Scotch.

“Thanks.”

I watch Amelia as she steers a potential investor to our neural imaging division head.

For just over one year, she has been my Executive Assistant, and she has become indispensable. One of the most competent people in this room.

She’s the only one who gets the company politics, my father’s impossible demands, and how to manage my life.

“Your father texted me asking about the Q4 projections, West.” Amelia’s voice pulls me back to the present as she appears by my side.

My eyes roam over her face as she stands beside me in a red dress that makes my mouth go dry. Her dark hair is swept up high and exposes the elegant line of her neck, but it’s her eyes. The color of the Caribbean Sea, and those eyes are watching me.

I hold my cell in the air. “I know, and the projections are solid,” I say in a calm manner. “We’re looking at a thirty percent increase from last year.”

My phone vibrates.

This time it’s my best friend, Dominic’s name, that flashes on the screen.

“Excuse me,” I say, touching Amelia’s elbow as I step away. “You’re doing brilliantly. Keep up the great work.”

Her smile tells me she can handle everything until I return. But it’s also a look that makes me forget for one moment that she belongs to someone else.

“What is it?” I ask Dom without my usual pleasantries.

“Felix is at Club Elysium. You asked me to call whenever he came in.”

“Who’s he with?” I ask, turning to look at Amelia. She turns her back to the event photographer. Not sure why? She’s the most beautiful girl here.

“Not Amelia. He’s with some girl,” Dom tells me.

“Amelia’s here.” My jaw clenches as I stare at her, watching her charm the room with that perfect smile. A smile that hides her brilliance. She deserves better than that cheating bastard.

“Convenient…”

“That’s what he thinks,” I interrupt Dom. “Do what needs to be done. What we planned,” I tell him. “It’s time.”

“Are you sure about this?” Dom asks.

I take another sip of scotch. “He had his chance. He blew it.”

I end the call; my decision made. Felix had too many chances with her. But I’ve watched him hurt her for the last time.

She deserves to know the truth about her boyfriend and how much he loves her—she deserves everything.

She deserves me.

And I want her.

“What happened?” I ask Dom as I sit in the VIP section of Club Elysium. It gives us a view of everyone in the club, dancing and at the bar. From our VIP perch, I take in the sea of masks below. Bodies writhe against each other, as silk and lace barely conceal what’s underneath.

A woman in a golden Venetian mask grinds against her partner. His hands slide under her dress as another masked figure joins them.

The heads of the security teams stand alert at strategic points in the club. Marco and his team are by the bar. Tony’s team hovers near the lower-level private rooms. Jake’s team watches the dance floor.

They’re here to ensure none of the women feel unsafe or pressured.

Sam drops into the leather seat beside me, loosening his tie. “I need a fucking vacation.”

“Be glad you’re not Henry. He’s going to need more than that,” Dom says, laughing. “Fiona’s pregnant. Again.”

“Seven?” I shake my head. “Someone needs to introduce that man to birth control.”

“Or tie his tubes already,” Sam laughs, checking his phone. “Speaking of siblings, I’m meeting East for drinks at Murphy’s. He’s freaking out about his date with that venture capitalist’s daughter.”

“It’s a date,” I tell Sam. “He’s not getting married.”

“She’s not the one, though…” Sam says. “And he’s sick of your father pushing dates on him.”

I laugh. “Ten years and he still isn’t over Sloane.”

“He told me he doesn’t want anyone.” Sam runs his hand through his hair.

“He’s a fucking liar.” I know my brother all too well. East will tell our father he is happy to date his friends’ daughters, but he’ll never commit.

“Maybe.” Sam checks his watch again, stands, and straightens his jacket. “I’ll see you guys this weekend.”

I watch as he leaves the upper level and heads to the elevator. He weaves through the crowd below. Women’s heads turn as he passes. Same old Sam - leaving a trail of broken hearts wherever he goes. But I know better. All those meaningless hookups are his way of running from what happened with Varna years ago.

After Sam leaves, I turn to Dom. “Tell me about Felix.”

Dom’s jaw tightens. “He showed up with some woman and asked for a private room.”

The bass pulses through the club as I look at the surveillance feeds Dom has pulled up on his tablet. Felix is on the dance floor, his hands all over some girl who definitely isn’t Amelia.

My blood boils at the sight, but I force myself to stay calm.

Dom continues, “I told him all our rooms were booked solid for the next four hours.”

I smile. Everything is already in motion.

“And?”

“He laughed it off and said it didn’t matter, that he’d take the girl home. That Amelia was at a tech function all night, anyway. His words were: ‘she’ll never find out.’”

My fingers squeeze around the crystal tumbler. The scotch inside barely registers as I drain it. Felix thinks he has become untouchable since his sister married our friend Henry. He thinks that because we granted him membership in this club; he is one of us.

He thinks we’ll cover for him.

He’s about to learn how wrong he is.

“West?” Dom watches me with careful consideration. “What are you going to do?”

I set the empty glass down. “Do you have proof of him being here with her? All of it.”

Dom nods. “As promised.”

I look out over the dance floor where bodies twist and writhe together in the dim light. The air is thick with expensive perfume and cologne. Sweet smoke from hookahs creates a hazy veil over everything.

Perfect for hiding sins. Perfect for secrets.

A woman in a black dress throws her head back, laughing as two men press either side of her.

“She might stay with him anyway,” Dom says, his voice careful. “Some women forgive anything.”

My jaw clenches. “No. She won’t.”

“You sound pretty sure about that.”

“Because she’s mine.” The words come out like a growl. “She doesn’t know it yet.”

Dom raises an eyebrow, a familiar glint in his eye. “Yours? Nobody has ever been yours.” He leans forward. “Are we going to share her?”

I squeeze my tumbler; the glass is on the verge of shattering.

Countless women have passed between Dom and me over the years, but Amelia won’t. The thought of anyone else touching her, tasting her, hearing her moans, turns my blood to ice.

“No.” I meet Dom’s gaze. “Never. She’s different.”

“Different how?”

I don’t answer. I can’t explain how watching her bite her lip when she concentrates at work makes my chest tight. How her quick wit and sharp mind challenge me in ways no one else dares.

And how seeing her with Felix makes me want to tear him apart with my bare hands.

How I’ve wanted her since the first day I saw her.

No, I will never share Amelia Ross with Dom.

She’s only mine.