Secret Revenge: An Enemies-to-Lovers Billionaire Romance

6. Travis

Iwoke up to find my penthouse distressingly silent and empty. The silence and the emptiness of it had never bothered me before, but now it did.

If not for the clear ruffles on the bed beside me, I would have wondered if I had dreamt Emily’s presence the night before. I glanced around for a second, half expecting her to come out of the bathroom or something, but she didn’t. The whole place was silent.

So, she really left.

I sat up and swung my legs off the bed, massaging my head where a light headache was brewing. It was quite reckless of me, having a one-night stand like that. It was also out of character in every way, including the way that I held her. If it were just pure physical attraction, she might not have been so irresistible to me. But it was much more than that. I admired her work.

I allowed myself to be carried away by her company. The worst part was not that I had made a silly mistake…it was that I did not regret it, and I wanted to make it again.

I remembered keenly how she felt in my arms. I remembered how her face looked when she moaned my name into the night, her skin flushed with pleasure. I had been with my fair share of lovers, but the night before had been spectacular. There was some sort of tension between us that I could not name. It was as though our minds and bodies molded together like matching pieces of a puzzle. I had a sudden, awful certainty that I would not forget last night. Ever.

If it was rare for me to have a tryst, it was unheard of for me to wake up alone. My past lovers often lingered, hoping for more than just a night.

I didn’t delude myself into thinking that this was because I was such a good lover or even a good man. It was always because they wanted the benefits that came with hanging from a billionaire’s arm.

I didn’t blame them for this, but I never felt deep connections with such people and would end things immediately.

Still, I was not sure if I should be glad that Emily Skye proved different. The one woman who snuck out without saying goodbye, and I wanted her back.

My phone, beeping on my nightstand, drew me out of my thoughts and I picked it up. As I did so, I couldn’t help but notice the glass I drank from the night before was gone. I cocked my head to the side, perplexed.

Didn’t I put it there? Did I move it and forget? Was I that much of a mess last night? I didn’t have any cleaning staff scheduled to come in this morning, so unless someone else had been here…

No, that was ridiculous. I must have taken it back to the kitchen and forgotten.

I looked down at my phone in my hand as it continued to beep. The reminder on the screen made me shoot to my feet.

“Shit, I forgot!” I muttered, dashing to the shower and tossing my phone aside.

It was already noon and I had just woken up. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept so late.

And today of all days. Today was the day I had to pick up my cousins, Alexi and Leo Moustakas, from the airport.

I hadn’t seen the twins in years, but we had been close when we were younger. My closeness to my cousins and my brothers was the only thing that made my awful childhood somewhat bearable. My cousins had always had good heads on their shoulders, and it meant a lot to them that I greet them at the airport in person instead of sending a hired car to do it.

We were all grown men now, but I still felt that warmth and sense of brotherhood when I thought about them. The twins were coming to town because they had business here, and since it was convenient and would allow us all to reconnect, my brothers and I were moving back into the family villa to join them for the duration of their stay.

They were landing in an hour, and I wasn’t even ready yet. This wasn’t like me, and if they knew, they would all be asking if I was alright.

Spontaneity is really not my thing! What was I thinking? Last night had thrown me off -schedule, and worse, off-kilter.

I jumped out of the shower and got dressed in a hurry, taking the few things I needed from the penthouse with me on my way to the car. I wasn’t one to speed when driving, but I had to this time since I was already late. I didn’t want them to get there and think they’d become a second priority in my life.

I made it just in time. I was only just arriving at our private air strip when I saw Alexi and Leo coming down the stairs of their newly landed jet. I parked in front of them and got out of the car.

“Travis!” Alexi was all smiles. The twins were identical in every way, tall, dark, and rugged with strong jawlines. Both wore roguish grins, and they had recently transitioned into married life, settling down after their adventurous youth.. Marriage, admittedly, seemed to have been good for them.

“Alexi, Leo, welcome to my city!” We exchanged brief hugs that were more shoulder bumps and arm pats.

“How was your flight?” I asked as I headed back to the car, the twins behind me. Their crew would handle their luggage and send it to the villa later.

“Mísisa, I hated it.” Leo responded in Greek.

I smiled at the familiar language. I was part Greek on my mother’s side, and she taught me and my brothers the language when we were young because she wanted to share her heritage. It had been so long since mom lived with us, though, and I’d had no reason to speak it in her absence. It was so heartwarming to hear it spoken that even Leo’s irritated tone sounded warm to my ears.

Alexi chuckled as he took the passenger seat beside me and shut the door. Leo took the back seat. As soon as he was in the car, he leaned his head back.

“Fysiká kai to misoúses, Of course you hated it!” Alexi said to his brother before turning to me and jerking his thumb towards Leo.

“Don’t mind that one, he is more testy than usual because he did not sleep at all for the past 48 hours. He was following a race and wouldn’t even take a break on the plane.”

“Aah.” I did not even pretend to understand Leo’s plight.

Alexi and I chatted in hushed tones while I drove to the villa, giving Leo some time to rest his head. Alexi and I flowed easily. Much like me, Alexi was more active in the business and handled most of the dealings within his family too. So, we had a lot more to talk about. Although admittedly, there was one subject I trouble broaching with Alexi?his new family.

I was still getting used to the fact that he’d fallen head over heels for a woman and seeing the way his eyes lit up when he spoke about her could be painful. It reminded me of how broken my parents’ marriage had been, of the hopes of marital bliss I had abandoned in my youth. When he spoke about Aimee, I tried not to think about Barbara.

“Do you still like paintings?” I asked him to keep the subject away from Aimee as we had drifted into a conversation about our hobbies.

“Oh, indeed! In fact, there is a piece I have been eyeing recently. Hopefully I’m able to add it to my collection,” he said. “What about you? Are you still obsessed with your pet projects?”

My brows furrowed of their own accord. “Don’t call them that… you know I hate that.”

“I heard about the decision you made. The ten percent foundation thing? That had you written all over it,” Alexi smiled, his dark eyes sparkling with warmth.

“Brendan and Jackson agreed to it too,” I said with my eyes on the road. “Although I’ll admit it was my idea.”

Alexi laughed. “Sígoura den állaxes poté. You haven’t changed a bit. Your father must be rolling in his grave right now.”

My eyes darkened slightly. “Let him roll.”

I liked helping as much as I could. I had always been like that ever since I was a child. An injured bird, a stray cat, a hungry dog… it didn’t matter. I always wanted to help. I wanted to help people too. People who needed it. My father had viewed this as a weakness and called my disposition towards helping ‘pet projects’.

He insisted that, at heart, I was like him and would ultimately make the same choices he had as I grew older. He was convinced that no one could really care about anything more than money or power. He could not imagine anyone truly being different from himself, deep down.

“Well… how is the foundation going? The opinion online isn’t looking very good,” Alexi said carefully.

I looked at him. “You’ve been doing your research.”

My cousin shrugged. “Your business is my business,” he said simply.

I sighed. “Public opinion is terrible. Someone keeps fanning the flames of doubt towards us. We’re setting up a team to begin working on that, but we’ve had trouble even recruiting writers for it.” As I said it, Emily Skye came to mind again, but I shrugged off the memory.

“Your father’s legacy leaves a lot of rehabilitation for your family’s image,” Alexi said. “Give it time. You’ve only been at the helm for a year.”

“How much longer before we can start making the world a better place?” I wondered. Would a decade be enough to wipe out the damage from my father’s crimes? A century?

Alexi leaned his seat back slightly and shut his eyes, signaling that our conversation was over. “It’s been a long flight and I’m jet lagged. Wake me up when we’re almost at the villa. I wonder if Brendan and Jackson are there yet.”

“Will do,” I murmured. “They probably are.”

I drove the rest of the way silently with my thoughts. When we arrived at the villa my younger brothers were standing outside, waiting for us.

“Welcome cousins,” Jackson said, opening his arms to offer Alexi and Leo a hug.

“Good God, did you get even bigger? What are you eating?” Alexi exclaimed as he hugged my beefy youngest brother.

Alexi was tall and muscular himself, but he was right… Jackson was the biggest of us. He was ex-military and we joked that it was why he was built like a tank. His muscles were massive, and he even towered over me. He ventured into private security after leaving the military, and he now handled that aspect of the conglomerate.

Jackson was also the scarier looking brother. His hair was close-shaven, and his eyebrows always sat low over his blue eyes. He didn’t look like he had ever left the military.

“Looks like he’s been eating Brendan’s share,” Leo grumbled.

“Ha. Ha. You’re so funny,” Brendan dead-panned.

The rest of us had to laugh. Brendan was on the leaner side, and he was also the shortest at 6’2. He worked out just enough to maintain his body, but most of the time, he was in front of a screen. That was why he kept his hair long. So he could cut it less. It was also why he wore glasses.

“This is the most sunlight he’s gotten all week,” I joked.

“Can we just go inside?” Brendan raised his hands in surrender as he headed in ahead of us. “Everyone’s always dissing the tech guy.”

Our collective laughter filled the air as we went in.