You’re Mine (Crave and Claimed #6)

Chapter Seven

“A briefcase?” George asked.

“Yep.”

“And he believed you?”

“He didn’t argue with me or say anything.” She offered him a smile.

“Well, well, well, who knew little Miss Knight could lie?”

“It wasn’t technically a lie. There was a briefcase at home, it just wasn’t full.”

George stared across his bathtub at her, and he couldn’t look away, not that he wanted to. She was so beautiful.

He’d already fucked her twice today, which was totally new to him. George had never been so close to a second arousal in such a short time. He’d then been the one to opt for a bath. He did have every intention of sending her back to his country home, but then he’d run the bath and found himself sipping some wine opposite her.

She told him the minor details of how she got her brother to give her George’s home address.

“You’re not angry?” Anna-Beth asked.

“Nah, I’m not angry. To be honest, I don’t even know why I ran when I did.”

“I scared you?”

He laughed. “I don’t scare easily.”

“I don’t know, put a thirty-year-old virgin in your midst, and you ran so fast. Faster than I think any horror movie character could run.”

He splashed some water on her. “I freaked out, I know that, but I had a good reason.”

She raised her brow. “Really? You think you had a good reason? Tell me.”

“I’ve never been with a virgin and I’m supposed to be a good friend. You’re my best friend’s sister, and now you’re naked in my bathtub, and I took your virginity.”

“You keep saying that pesky word too. Have you ever thought I gave it to you?” Her brows went up and she gave that smile that to him seemed so sexual.

“You gave me your virginity?”

“Yes, as we keep saying. I’m thirty years old, and even though I hadn’t had sex with anyone, I did know what I was doing.”

“You did?”

She nodded.

“Does that mean you know when you’re pissing off your parents?”

Anna-Beth wrinkled her nose. “Doesn’t every kid?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but not every kid has their parents hide them.”

“True. Being sent to my brother’s friend’s country house wasn’t exactly how I thought this was going to play out. I don’t know if they think forcing me to be a housekeeper will be some kind of punishment.” She shrugged. “I happen to enjoy it.”

“You do?”

“Yep, nothing wrong with it. It’s good, honest, hard work. I’d rather do that than exploit people and get rid of them when they’re past their sell-by date, or usability.”

“Usability?”

“They put me in HR, and trust me, I saw a lot of bad stuff there. I just … I don’t like it.”

“You know your parents only want the best for you, don’t you?”

She snorted. “They have a bad way of showing it.”

“Or the best way of showing it.”

She shook her head. “No, they would accept me for who I am, but the truth is, they just want to constantly make money. They don’t even care who they hurt in the crossfire, just so long as the money is the bottom and only line.” She stopped and he watched as she took a sip of her wine. He didn’t like the sadness in her gaze. “You know, they think I’m useless.”

“No, they don’t.”

She laughed. “You don’t have to lie for them. Trust me, I know what they think of me, and I guess, in a way, they don’t see what I’m doing. They never have. I’m sure if they did, they’d find a way to keep my trust fund from me.”

He frowned.

Anna-Beth smiled. “You don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. That’s fine.”

“Tell me.”

He saw her hesitate, biting her lip.

“If I tell you, you cannot say anything to anyone.”

“You’re making me curious.”

This did make her laugh. “I don’t mean to make you curious, I … it’s not even complicated. I know my parents wouldn’t approve, and they’d find some way to hurt them, and ruin them.”

He didn’t like how little faith she had in her family. “I won’t tell a soul. Does that help?”

She nodded. “It does. Uh, so I was in HR for quite some time, not just HR, but you know when they tried to send me to college, and I did the whole work experience thing. Anyway, you don’t need to know all the details. I met some people. One of them was the amazing cook that worked for my parents. Niah. Then there were a couple of tech guys, and I don’t know, the list kind of goes on. Either way, Niah, as an example, was an amazing cook. She had qualified as a chef, but she didn’t have the money to get a diner off the ground.”

“A diner?”

“She didn’t want to have another restaurant. She had this vision of a family place where people could come and go, and just the whole atmosphere and the food was why they kept coming back. She was nervous about starting up her own company. I knew how good her food was, because I’d been eating it a long time. She’s an amazing chef. One day, I remember seeing her looking so downhearted. The money she had been saving to put aside to open her diner, she had to use it on her husband’s medical bills. It was gone. The place she’d put a down payment on was going to be lost to her, because she could no longer afford to pay for it.”

He was intrigued.

“I didn’t tell her right away, but I went and checked out the space, and I paid for it. It was an amazing location, exactly where she had always dreamed, and I knew she could make it work.”

“You became a silent partner?”

“Yes. I paid for the space, and all the start-up costs, and for the first year of her … um, fees, I don’t know. After that, I started to make some money back, and my investment was paid back, but she kept me on as a silent partner. I don’t have a large percentage. Niah offered to go fifty-fifty, but I refused.”

He frowned at her.

“I know some people would say it’s bad business sense, but I wanted to help her, so we agreed to twenty percent. I would have gone for ten, because I know over time she will go from strength to strength, and she does.”

“Tell me more.”

George listened in shock as Anna-Beth told him that she was in fact silent partner in not one, but multiple small businesses, to which none of them compete against each other, but they do attempt to rival large businesses.

The Knights didn’t even realize they had a rare gem in their midst, and all they wanted to do was marry her off.

Anna-Beth had a vision, she saw promise in people, and worked to build on it.

Even without her family, from what he could quickly calculate, including the taxes and everything else, Anna-Beth was a millionaire within her own right, and no one knew about it.

****

Anna-Beth sliced into the steak and took a bite. It was delicious, with just the right amount of cracked pepper.

She felt her mouth watering for another taste. “That is exquisite,” she said.

He’d ordered in the steak as he didn’t like to cook. She had offered to raid his fridge, only there was nothing in his fridge. In fact, it had only held beer and bottles of water. He didn’t have time to cook.

“The best French restaurant in the city.”

She smiled and he watched as she speared some potatoes and put them in her mouth. Anna-Beth was very aware of his gaze on her at all times.

“You’re not going to tell my parents or my brother, are you?”

“You’re still worried about that?”

“You’re the first person I’ve told, and I think I’m doing the right thing, you know, helping people.”

George took a bite of his steak and sat back. “I know of the companies you’re a silent partner in. In fact, six months ago, I even approached the tech guys you helped, in the hope of having them join my tech firm, and they refused. Their silent partner had faith that they would be able to take their latest project the whole way.”

Anna-Beth gasped. “That was you?”

“Yes.”

“They didn’t tell me the name of the company, I had no idea. Really?”

George nodded. “I was disappointed but I also respected them for their decision. I have to say, though, Anna-Beth, you’re looking tempting, and not because you’re wearing one of my robes either.”

He saw her cheeks heat. “Tempting in what way?”

“I love to find talent, to bring it into my company, let it flourish, and allow it to expand. What you’re doing is what I want to start. I’ve been working on it for months. Consider it like a division of my company that goes out, finds talent, and we work to build on it. If it fails, the company helps, we fund, and we help to build,” George said.

“That doesn’t sound like something a large company would do. Usually it means taking all the credit, swallowing up the product, and turning it into something else. Trust me, I have seen how that works,” she said.

She had watched so many people nearly get destroyed because of it, through her own parents’ company.

“I know exactly what you mean, but … I think you have a real eye for seeing something in others.”

Anna-Beth frowned. When it came to work and business, she was used to being criticized for her ideas and what she would love to see. Now that George was saying she did, it was kind of unnerving.

“George, I help people that I know have been treated incorrectly. All the businesses I’ve helped were at some point connected to my parents.” She nibbled her lip.

“Exactly, have you ever thought that the reason you went to help them wasn’t just because you felt bad for them, but maybe you saw a vision? You’re not losing money, Anna-Beth. You’re making a fortune.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I try not to go into much detail.”

“Okay, how about this? Tomorrow, we go to my company, I show you some of the ideas that have come our way, and we’ll see what happens?”

Anna-Beth sat back and looked at him. “You’re giving me a chance?”

“Yes.”

“You actually believe I can do this?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I have no idea why you have this much doubt inside you when you have already proven time and time again you know what you’re doing. You’ve not squandered your trust fund. You’ve invested it, and have seen a return.” He reached out and she loved when he touched her hand.

Staring at him, she waited.

“I’ve just been lucky, George. I … I don’t want you to get too excited.” She’d been told time and again how useless she was. Her parents, especially her father, had called her many names to say how much of a pain in the ass she was.

He shook his head. “I don’t believe that. I believe you have this gift, this way of seeing something more. Give me a chance,” he said.

“I don’t need to give you a chance.”

He moved and knelt beside her. For a split-second, she kind of hoped he was proposing to her, but she also knew that was not going to happen. They were having sex, amazing sex, and that was all it was.

“Trust me,” he said.

“I trust you.”

“Good.” He gripped the back of her neck. “Because I am always right, and I’ve got a good feeling about this.”