Chapter Thirteen
It was already nine in the evening by the time Jaak returned to Glory Hall, and a quick scan of the place showed that Ilse was the only one around. She had her legs tucked under her, elbows on the table, and looked too engrossed with whatever she was watching on her laptop to notice his presence.
Walking stealthily behind her, he caught a glimpse of what she was watching—-
A woman wearing a skimpy police uniform, her surgically enhanced breasts about to pop out of it any moment, was licking the barrel of her fake gun like it was a cock.
A bark of laughter escaped him, and the sound had Ilse slamming the laptop shut.
Turning around, she caught sight of his gleaming blue eyes, and she fought against the urge to blush.
Over the years, she had worked hard to adopt a brazen attitude towards all things sexual, but every time she was with the billionaire, he just had this way about him that made her feel like an untutored schoolgirl.
“If you have any questions next time,” the billionaire said solemnly, “just come to me.”
“Because you’re an expert?”
“Have I not proven that in the past three weeks?” His fingers slowly trailed down her body as he spoke, and Ilse’s body trembled in reaction.
Oh God.
The way he was looking at her now—-
His fingers released her first button loose, and the popping sound made her start.
“Jaak!” But she was half-laughing, and she didn’t even think of protesting as he scooped her off her seat, and her heart only hammered against her chest when he propped her on the desk, her legs dangling off its edge.
He stepped between them, murmuring, “I missed you.”
“Me, too.” Her voice was gruff, but the way she wrapped her arms around him belied it.
“Dare I ask how many porn films you’ve watched for, err, review?”
She scowled.
“I mean it, you know. Any time you need lessons, demonstrations, hands-on practice—-”
“Shut up.” But she was smiling, and she was hugging him ever so tightly.
“I simply don’t do false modesty,” he demurred. “I’ve tried everything—-” He stopped when he saw something flicker in her eyes. “Ilse?”
“Yup?”
“I have a feeling you want to say something,” he murmured.
“Nope.”
He eyed her knowingly. “You’re lying.”
“And you’re imagining things.”
“Something I said obviously triggered it so...” The billionaire asked slowly, “Are you thinking of my past?”
She still didn’t speak, but the way her eyes skittered away was answer enough.
Ah. “Is it the Victoria’s Secret thing?”
Ilse stiffened, and her voice was equally stiff as she retorted, “You mean that party where you were rumored to have fucked six women at the same time?”
“Five,” he corrected her mildly.
Five! Ilse didn’t know what she felt more of: horror or amazement, disgust or hurt. Five?
“But it’s all behind me now, obviously.” When she only grunted, his gaze narrowed, and when he tried reaching for a lock of her hair to play with, she slapped his hand away with more force than usual.
“I am sorry for the past, but it is in the past.”
“I know.”
“And while that incident obviously bothers you, I also have a feeling it’s not what’s worrying you the most.”
“I told you, I’m not thinking about anything—”
“The Monaco scandal perhaps?” She stopped speaking, and the billionaire knew he had hit the nail on the head. “Ilse—-”
“No.” She glared at him. “We will not talk about your Monaco scandal.” Her lips tightened at the words.
How deliciously lurid it sounded, and technically speaking, it was.
The viral two-minute video had shown the billionaire at one of the glamorous city’s casinos, and he was being entertained by a rather famous reality TV celebrity with a striptease.
Security had gotten to her before the billionaire could do anything, but by then she had been naked except for a pair of silk panties.
The flash of anxiety in her eyes disturbed him, and taking hold of one of her hands, the billionaire tried to soothe her with slow, gentle strokes of the inner side of her wrist. “You need to tell me what’s wrong,” he said softly, “so I can fix it.”
But she only shook her head, muttering, “There’s nothing to fix.”
“Ilse—-”
She cut him off, saying, “I’m scheduled to work any minute now.”
Knowing how committed she was to work, the billionaire said reluctantly, “Fine.” His eyes glinted in warning. “But we will talk about it later.”
For a few minutes, they moved in silence, their familiarity with each other’s routine allowing them to work in synchrony even without either of them speaking.
He switched her laptop off while she reached for her costume bag. She went inside the fitting room, and he unfolded her costume. She undressed and handed him her clothes while he gave Ilse her costume.
She stepped out when she was done changing, and he saw by the way she smiled uncertainly at him that she was also over with whatever what was bothering her.
“You really don’t hold grudges, do you?”
“Sometimes,” she told him candidly, “I wish I could. But I don’t.”
“I’m glad.” He slowly reached for her hand, and she let him, her fingers twining with his. “Will you tell me now,” he asked softly, “what was bothering you?”
She looked at him, and understanding her silent plea, he drew her close with his free arm, and she leaned her head against his chest.
“That woman in the casino had everything going for her,” she whispered. “She was famous—-” But that was an understatement, really. Beautiful, accomplished, and with a seemingly perfect boyfriend by her side – the actress had the world in her hands and yet—-
“She threw it all away for you.” And that was what Ilse didn’t get. Or maybe that was what she was so terrified to understand.
“Did you lie to her?”
The billionaire stared straight into her eyes. “No.”
“Did you promise her anything you didn’t mean?”
“No.”
“But she still did it,” Ilse said shakily.
That woman had taken a risk on Jaak, and she had lost. When the scandal had erupted, the actress had lost all her endorsements and studios had retracted their offers.
Surely, that woman had known what she was risking.
..and yet she had gambled it all to have Jaak.
“She thought I could be hers. And for a moment, I thought it was possible, too.” The billionaire slowly tipped her chin up. “But we were wrong. Neither of us knew I was fated for you.”
THERE WAS A DISTANCE between them when Ilse’s tour began, but the billionaire seemed to know better than do something about it. From this moment and until the next sixty minutes passed, Ilse’s time was completely devoted to work, and the billionaire respected that.
After introducing herself to tonight’s tour group, consisting of fresh college graduates from Korea, Ilse gestured to the billionaire and simply referred to him as her assistant. Her tour members only nodded, their wide-eyed attention still focused on the ample display of her chest.
She tried her best to concentrate on the tour, but as time passed, it was obvious the billionaire was faring much better than she was.
She just couldn’t stop glancing at him, but every time she did she only saw him hard at work, volunteering to take photos for her Korean clients and offering translations whenever necessary.
He was a billionaire for god’s sake, and yet here he was, acting like he really was nothing but a tour guide’s assistant. He could have made her choose between him and her work, could have made her feel unreasonable about her stubborn bid for independency, but he hadn’t.
He had treated her with respect, and more importantly, he had showed the same respect to her job.
And this was why that woman gambled it all, Ilse realized, and a painful little twinge struck her heart at the knowledge.
Somehow, that woman had glimpsed into the billionaire’s heart – somehow that woman had seen the perfection that the billionaire himself denied existing – and she had wanted it for herself.
She had gambled everything because she knew that nothing in this world could ever compare to owning Jaak’s heart.
And now, due to a twist of fate, a whim of Lady Luck—-
Ilse wasn’t really sure why or how it happened, knew only that it did.
Jaak de Konigh’s heart was hers.
Because Jaak de Konigh loved her.
When the tour ended, the billionaire turned to Ilse and caught her staring at him. “What is it?”
She shook her head self-consciously. “N-nothing.” But she was lying. Right now, she felt everything, and when the billionaire took a step closer to her, it was like having the sun reaching out to her.
“It doesn’t look nothing,” the billionaire commented, his gaze narrowing at her face. “You look like you’re about to throw up.”
A rare giggle escaped her. Oh, the things he would say, if he knew that realizing how much he meant to her made Ilse want to puke.
“Something is wrong,” the billionaire said all of a sudden, his tone abrupt and decisive.
“W-why do you say so?”
“Because you’re not the type to giggle.”
Oh!
And she couldn’t help it. She giggled again, but it wasn’t enough. And before she realized what she wanted to do, she was already doing it—-
The billionaire grunted as Ilse suddenly threw herself at him, and he stiffened when she planted her mouth directly on his lips.
What the—-
When she tried to pull away, he had recovered from his shock, and instead of letting her go, he simply hefted her up, and her silken limbs wrapped around him.
“This is shameless.” Ilse started to giggle again, and he couldn’t imagine hearing anything lovelier.
“Indubitably.”
She shook her head. “You’re trying to turn me on, aren’t you?”
“I prefer to call it an ‘amatory inducement—-’”
She started laughing. “And now you’re just showing off.”
“I knew it,” he said with a sigh. “You just know me so well it’s pretty obvious how much you love me.”
Oh! Ilse hid her face against his neck. That was so sly of him!
“Cat got your tongue?” he teased.