Chapter 15. #3
Brian stepped into the office with a lingering smile still curved across his mouth.
The residual heat of Dominique’s body was still vivid under his skin…
the way she had clenched around him over the kitchen island, the broken sounds she had tried to muffle against the marble, the second orgasm that had left her trembling and soft in his hands.
He closed the door behind him and let out a quiet breath, rolling his shoulders once as he crossed to the wide desk.
His new life, he had noticed, evolved a great deal around sex.
It was not something he had planned. It had simply arrived with everything else…
the tower, the money, the sudden gravity that pulled certain women into his orbit and kept them there.
Constance. Holly. Benita. Dominique. Anita.
The circle was already wider than anything he had ever imagined for himself, and it showed no sign of shrinking.
There was the low-level flirting with the other two maids that never quite crossed the line but never fully retreated either.
There was the quiet, unresolved tension with Dani that lived in the brush of her knee in the limousine and the way she watched him when she thought he was not looking.
There was the reporter whose cheeks had colored so prettily when he winked at her in front of the cameras.
There were the women at the bar… Lisa the bold redhead, Winnie the one who had kissed him out of gratitude and something more.
He could have them all, if he wanted.
The thought settled in his chest with a slow, honest weight.
He loved sex. He always had. The difference now was that the opportunities no longer required effort or luck; they simply appeared, willing and often already half-claimed by the life he had stepped into.
The only real question was whether he was prepared for the consequences that came with taking what was offered…
loyalty, expectation, the quiet restructuring of the people around him into something that looked more and more like a deliberate inner court.
He smirked to himself and dropped into the leather chair behind the desk.
His thoughts drifted back to the reporter.
Claire Voss. The way she had blushed under the lights when he answered her question about multiple women and then winked.
There had been real heat in that small exchange, carefully controlled on both sides.
Maybe it was time to see what happened if he brought her closer instead of leaving her on the other side of a press line.
Almost as if the thought had summoned her, the door opened and Constance stepped in.
She took one look at his face and smiled. “You look happy, Boss.”
Brian’s smile widened. “I am. Thank you.”
Constance’s eyes held a knowing glint as she crossed the room and stopped in front of the desk. “Dominique’s food made you feel good?”
He smirked back at her, unrepentant. “Dessert agreed with me.”
She let out a soft, private laugh and set her tablet on the edge of the desk. “Anything I can help with?”
Brian leaned back in the chair, fingers steepled loosely in front of him. The residual satisfaction from the kitchen was still moving through his blood, loosening the usual edges of caution.
“Arrange an interview with that reporter,” he said.
Constance’s expression did not change, but he saw the quiet click of recognition behind her eyes. “Claire Voss. Daily Mail.”
“Yes.”
She made a small note. “And the premises of the interview?”
Brian considered for a moment, eyes half-lidded. The idea had formed fully now, and it felt right in the same instinctive way naming Danny as heir had felt right.
“I want to offer her a job,” he said. “Media outreach agent. Personal. She works directly for me… handles the press that gets too close, shapes the narrative before anyone else can, travels when I need her to. Full access, full protection, full compensation. I want her attached to this office, not to whatever desk they give her at the paper.”
Constance’s mouth curved in a slow, approving smile.
The undertone was clear to both of them.
Attaching Claire Voss personally meant bringing her inside the circle.
It meant proximity. It meant the same quiet possibilities that had already unfolded with the other women who now moved through his days and nights.
“Smart,” she said, voice low and warm. “Have her personally attached to you.”
Brian met her eyes and gave a single nod. He did not need to spell out the rest. Constance already understood the shape of his desires better than most.
She added the final notes, the stylus moving quickly across the tablet.
A moment later the information would reach Holly and Dani as well…
logistics, security considerations, the careful framing of an offer that was both professional and something more.
Brian watched her work, the smile still playing at the edges of his mouth, and let the full weight of the morning settle around him.
Dominique had been exactly what he needed.
The circle was still growing.
And Claire Voss was about to learn how small the distance between a press conference and a private office could become.
--- To be Continued ---
--- Billions, with a B – Book 2 ---